BOS. 491 



according to Prejvalski and Dalgleish, about 1200 Ibs. Basal length 

 of a large skull 20 inches ; orbital breadth 11. Good horns measure 

 25 to 30 inches in length round the curve ; the largest recorded is 

 40 long, and nearly 19 in girth at the base. Cows are considerably 

 smaller than bulls and have smaller horns. 



Distribution. The plateau of Tibet at considerable elevations, 

 from about 14,000 or 15,000 to 20,000 feet in summer; and part 

 of the Kansu province of China. The wild yak is only found 

 within Indian limits in Northern Ladak, especially about Chang 

 Chenmo. 



Habits. The wild yak, according to Kinloch ('Large Game 

 Shooting,' ed. 2, p. 82) and Prejvalski (' Mongolia,' &c., D. Morgan's 

 translation, ii, p. 187), inhabits the coldest, wildest, and most 

 desolate mountains, and is found at a greater elevation than any 

 other mammal. In summer the cows and young collect in herds of 

 from ten to upwards of a hundred in number. Bulls are generally 

 solitary or in small parties of 3 or 4, except in the rutting- 

 season, when each bull separates 4 or 5 cows from the main herd and 

 remains with them. They feed morning and evening, mainly on a 

 rough wiry grass that grows in the high Tibetan valleys, and usually 

 betake themselves to a steep barren hill-side, often at a great 

 elevation, to rest during the day. They require plenty of water, 

 and in winter eat snow. Their powers of sight and hearing 

 are far less acute than their sense of smell. They are timid 

 animals, but wounded yak sometimes charge, as do most bovines. 



Domesticated yaks are largely kept by Tibetans and by various 

 tribes inhabiting the higher Himalayas, for their milk, as beasts of 

 burthen, and for food. They are smaller than wild yaks and vary in 

 colour, many being white or piebald ; the white tails are the chowris 

 of India, used as fly-flaps. They rut in winter, and bear young 

 in autumn after a period of gestation of 10 lunar months according 

 to Hodgson. They breed freely with domestic cattle. 



342. Bos bubalns. The Buffalo. 



Bos bubalis, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 99 (1766) ; W. Sclater, Cat. p. 129. 

 Bos arnee, Kerr, An. King. p. 336 (1792) ; Gray, A. M. N. H. (2) 



xvi, p. 230 (1855) ; id. P. Z. S. 1855, p. 17, pi. xl. 

 Bos buffelus, Blumenbach, Handb. Naturgesch. p. 121 (1821) ; W. 



Blanf. J. A. S. B. xxxvi, pt. 2, p. 195. 

 Bubalus arna, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. x, pp. 469, 912 (1841), xvi, 



p. 709 ; Horsjield, Cat. p. 179. 



Bubalus buffelus, Kelaart, P>-od. p. 87 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 163. 

 Bubalus ami, Jerdon, Mam. p. 307 ; Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, 



p. 49. 



Arna <$ , Ami $ , H. ; commonly Arna bhainsa, Jangli bhains (bhains, 

 tame buffalo) ; Manq, Bhagalpur ; Mains, Bengali ; Bir Biar, Ho-Kol ; 

 Gera erumi, Gond ; Mi Harak, Cingalese ; Moh, Assamese ; Siloi, Kuki 

 Gubui, Rili, Ziz, Le, Naga ; Misip, Cachari; Iroi, Manipiui; Kyu-ui, 

 Burmese ; Pana, Karen : Karbo, Malay. 



2 L 



