150 GAME. 



of the buffalo bull, but invariably dies, being unable to 

 bring forth the calf. 



It is somewhat singular that two animals, sufficiently 

 similar to cross in breed, should be so entirely dissimilar 

 in all traits of character. The buffalo bull, as we have 

 seen, is gregarious, inoffensive, seldom or never fighting, 

 and truly fatherly in his care for his progeny. The wild 

 bull, on the contrary, is sullen, morose, solitary, pugna- 

 cious, and, except on occasions, associates with neither 

 wife nor offspring. 



The buffalo cow has little or no natural instinct, runs 

 away from her calf on any fright, and leaves its protec- 

 tion to the bulls. 



The wild cow takes the most anxious care of her calf, 

 and is transformed by maternal affection from one of the 

 most timid of animals to a most daring and desperate 

 combatant, attacking the cougar, leopard, or even her 

 own lord and master, should they come too near its hiding 

 place. 



The buffalo loves to roam at large over the treeless 

 plains, taking long journeys every year and having no 

 fixed abiding place. 



The wild cattle bury themselves in the closest recesses 

 of the most dense chapparal, and rarely stray even in a 

 lifetime beyond a few miles from their chosen haunts. 



Wild cattle hunting is a sport either too exciting or 

 not sufficiently so. There is no mean. The Mexicans 

 ordinarily kill them by lying in wait, hidden in the thick 

 branches of a tree at a water hole to which they resort. 

 This is a slow, unsatisfactory, and cowardly way of taking 

 game, but it is the only method by which these animals 

 can be successfully and safely got at. 



As I have said, the whereabouts of a bull can be 

 readily discovered by his bellowing. 



This would seem to give the hunter an easy suc- 

 cess. Not always so, however. He is probably at that 

 moment ensconced in the darkest recesses of a dense 



