MUSK OX. 



Ovibos tnoschatus. — Blainville. 



THE Musk Ox is confined to the barren grounds of America, 

 north of the sixty-fifth parallel of latitude. In spring it wan- 

 ders over the ice as far as Melville Bay, or even Smith's Sound, where 

 a number of its bones were found by Dr. Kane. In September 

 it withdraws more to the South, and spends the coldest months 

 on the verge of the forest region. It subsists chiefly on lichens and 

 mosses. It runs nimbly, and climbs hills and rocks with ease. 

 Its fossil remains, or those of a very similar species, have been 

 discovered in Siberia. At present it is exclusively confined to the 

 New World. In size it is about equal to a two year old cow, 

 weighing when fat from six to seven hundred pounds. The horns 

 are very broad at their origin, cover the whole crown of the head 

 and the brow, and touch each other for their whole breadth from 

 before backwards. For a short distance from the base they grow 

 directly outward, and then becoming rounded and tapering, curve 

 downward between the eyes and ears until they reach the angle of 

 the mouth, when they turn outward and upward to about the level 

 of the eye. The horn is dull white and rough on its basal half but 

 becomes smooth shining and black toward the point. The general 

 color of the hair is dark brown, but upon the neck and shoulders 

 it fades to a grizzled hue, while on the centre of the back is a patch 

 of soiled white. The muzzle, instead of being naked as in the 

 genus Bos, is covered with short white hair. The tail is but a few 

 inches in length and is completely concealed by the long shaggy 

 hair covering the hips. The legs are clothed with a coat of short 

 brownish white hair, and, owing to the great length of the coat on 

 the throat, chest, sides and belly, seem very short in proportion 

 to the size of the animal. There is an abundance of fine short ash- 

 colored wool beneath the hair covering the body. The female 



