176 THE OX FAMILY 



ers of game-preserves in the chapter on game clubs, 

 parks, and preserves, and in the Appendix at the end of 

 the volume. We proceed to a description of the bison 

 and a brief mention of the former limits of his distribu- 

 tion and then to the chase as it was when the writer 

 visited these animals on the great plains of the West. 



The buffalo is familiar to most readers who have 

 seen the animal in the zoological parks and menage- 

 ries. Although in size the bison is somewhat similar 

 to domestic cattle, it is quite different in shape and 

 in the color and character of its pelage. Strong and 

 heavy in front, it is much lighter behind. The hump 

 is high and noticeable. The head is large and appears 

 much larger than it is, being covered with thick, shaggy 

 hair, dark brown and sometimes almost black. Tiie 

 head is carried low, and the long beard and hair on the 

 neck and forelegs reaches sometimes to the ground. 

 The general color of the bison is yellowish or grayish 

 brown, some animals being much darker than others. 

 I have shot young bulls which were almost black, and 

 old ones which were a very light or faded brown. 

 The horns are thick, short, and curved. The tail is 

 from eighteen to twenty inches long, and is covered 

 with short hair like that of the hind parts, and at the 

 end there is a tuft of black hair about six inches long, 

 which serves as a brush to keep off the flies and other 

 insects.* When a great bull lowers his shaggy head, 

 elevates his tail, and glances savagely with his brill- 

 iant black eyes at his enemy, he is a most formidable 



* The buffaloes are fond of rolling on the ground and dusting themselves, 

 and great circular depressions, called " wallows," were made in many places 

 on the plains, and are to be seen to-day, overgrown with grass. 



