184 



NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



TYPICAL OAK TIMBER ON BUFFALO RANGE. 



of an acre or more will be found. Even on the mountains and 

 hill-sides this favorite grass is found in abundance, and on the 

 prairie, where at a glance there seems to be blue-stem only, care- 

 ful examination will reveal small bunches of mesquite grass mixed 

 with the former. In fact, on the greater portion of the range an 

 animal can, without moving from its tracks, crop several mouth- 

 fuls of mesquite grass. Even in the fall and winter, when the 

 mesquite grass appears too dry and brittle for food value, it 

 has fattening properties that are truly wonderful, and it is the 

 grass that is most esteemed by cattle-raisers as well as propa- 

 gators of bufifalo. 



After one or two fall rains or snow-storms green blades begin 

 to appear about the roots of the mesquite grass, and naturally the 

 buffalo begin at once to feed on it. A grass known locally as 

 " blue-stem " grows in rank profusion all over the range. This 



