144 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 
third of North America, all are familiar. The male meas- 
ures about nine feet from the muzzle to the insertion of 
the tail; the female about six and a half feet. The height 
to the top of the hump of the male is five and a half to six 
feet, and of the female about five feet, sloping in each case 
to a height at the hips of four and a half to four feet. The 
weight of the old males is nearly two thousand pounds, 
while the cows weigh one thousand to twelve hundred 
pounds. The horns are short, thick at the base, curved, 
and sharply pointed; the hoofs are short and broad; the 
short tail ends in a tuft of long hairs. In winter the head 
and whole under parts are blackish brown; the upper sur- 
face lighter, fading as spring advances. Young animals 
are of a darker, richer brown than the old ones, age bleach- 
ing the thick masses of long, woolly hair, which falls so 
abundantly over the shoulders and face, to a light yellow- 
ish-brown. In the spring the hinder parts are almost naked 
through the moulting of the hair, while that upon the shag- 
gy fore parts remains permanently. Pied coats are occa- 
sionally met, and examination and measurements of skulls 
and skeletons show much individual variation in form and 
proportions. 
As is well known, the buffalo is pre-eminently gregarious 
—herds numbering millions of individuals, and blackening 
