420 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1907. 
Of these parks, that of Chillingham, which belongs to Earl Tanker- 
ville, and which, situated to the south of Berwick-on-Tweed, was on 
my route to Scotland, seemed the most important and the most inter- 
esting to visit, were it only on account of its magnificent castle and 
the collections which it contains. 
The park, surrounded by a stone wall built in 1220, has an area of 
1,200 acres; its upper part, in which the fallow deer, red deer, and 
wild cattle live, is composed of sandy flats, ravines, and wooded hills, 
to which the animals usually retire during the day; its lower part, 
separated from the other by a fence, has large grassy plains, where 
the animals pasture during the night, the gates being left open after 
the forage has been gathered. During the winter there are left on 
these meadows bundles of hay which the animals seek out and eat. 
The wild cattle of Chillingham have, at birth, a pure white pelage, 
which afterwards becomes creamy white; but the muzzle, hoofs, and 
ends of the horns are black; the ears are reddish brown and the hair 
on their interior is brown. The eyes have long lashes, which gives 
to their gaze a depth and peculiar character. The forms of their 
bodies are harmonious, their backs are horizontal, and their shoulders 
are broad. The skin is thin and the weight of the skeleton light in 
proportion to the total weight of the body. 
These animals lie down for the greater part of the day, not usually 
descending to their pastures until night. They are active in their 
movements and in speed of running can rival a horse. They are ex- 
tremely strong, and one of these cattle imprisoned in a small inclosure 
has been known to jump out over a gate 2 meters high without break- 
ing it. 
The Chillingham herd is now composed of about 60 head; this has 
been the constant average for a number of years. There are 30 to 40 
cows, 15 to 20 bulls, and 7 or 8 calves. They live all together, moving 
from place to place under the command, as it appears, of a leader bull. 
When this animal reaches a certain age, an average of 8 years, he has 
to defend himself against the younger bulls, who wish to dethrone 
him; violent combats then take place, and the conquered, who is gen- 
erally the old one, is chased from the herd, in which he is never seen 
to regain his place; he remains solitary and, as in that state he is 
extremely dangerous, he is killed. 
When the bulls are too numerous an attempt is made to capture 
some of them by placing food in a small inclosure; when they have 
entered they are lasooed and castrated; when these oxen are again 
given their liberty they rejoin the herd, where they are always well 
received. 
The cows begin to calve at about 3 years of age and live, on the 
average, about 14 years. They abandon the herd for a time to give 
birth to their young and to suckle them, keeping charge of them until 
