THE BUFFALO AND HIS FATE. 147 
the whole landscape, having formerly been met with con- 
stantly on the plains. Emigrant trains used to be delayed 
by the passing of dense herds, and during the first years of 
the Kansas Pacific Railway its trains were frequently stop- 
ped by the same cause. These masses seem to have some 
sort of organization, consisting of small bands which unite 
in migration or when pursued, but separate when feeding. 
The cows, with their calves and the younger animals, are 
generally toward the middle of the small herd, while the 
older bulls are found on the outside, and the patriarchs of 
the herd bring up the rear. Much romancing has been 
wasted on this simple and natural grouping by writers who 
have described the supposed regularity and almost military 
precision of their movements. The sluggish, partly-disa- 
bled old males constitute the “lordly sentinels” of such 
tales, who are supposed to watch with fatherly care over 
the welfare of their “harems.” The truth is, that these 
protectors, fancied so alert, are the most easily approached 
of any of the flock, and the real guardians are the vigilant 
cows themselves, who usually lead the movements of the 
herd. 
The rutting-season is July and August. The period of 
pregnancy is nine months, and rarely more than a single 
calf is born, which follows the mother for a year or more. 
