318 UNGULATA. 



shorter hair, more tubular eyes, and longer and straighter 

 horns. It is a forest dwelling animal, feeding largely on 

 leaves, twigs and the bark of trees. The calves of this 

 species are born in May or the early part of June, and 

 apparently the cows do not produce more frequently than 

 once in three years. 



The European Bison formerly ranged in considerable 

 numbers over a large part of the continent of Europe and 

 England ; but in 1892 the herds had decreased to less than 

 five hundred individuals. Since that time, owing to gov- 

 ernment protection, there has been an increase ; and in 

 1906, it was estimated that, in addition to the small cap- 

 tive herds belonging to the Czar of Russia and the Prince 

 of Pless, there were about seven hundred wild Bison on 

 the northern slope of the Caucasus, and an equal number 

 protected by the game wardens of the Czar in the forests 

 of Bielowitza, and Swisslotsch. The wild European 

 Bison live in small scattered bands, sometimes at an ele- 

 vation of eight thousand feet, where they are exposed to 

 extreme cold ; but they are much less thickly haired than 

 those found in the forests of Lithuania. 



THE GAUR. 



The Gaur (Bos gaurus), the Wild Ox of India, whose 

 range extends into Burma and the Malay Peninsula, is 

 the handsomest and tallest ox in the world, the cows 

 standing five feet and the males sometimes reaching six. 

 feet, at the shoulder. It is characterized by its short tail, 

 white legs, narrow pointed hoofs, large ears, the forward 

 curve and great elevation of the ridge between the com- 

 pressed, short, conical horns that are very thick at the 

 base, and the distinct ridge running from the shoulders 

 to the middle of the back, where it ends in an abrupt drop 

 of about five inches. 



The top of the head is ashy white, but the color of 

 -the rest of the body is a dark brown or black in the older 

 males, and a paler reddish brown in the cows and young 

 bulls. The hair is short, fine and glossy. 



The Gaur prefers the hilly districts to the plains, and 

 in India is generally found at an elevation of from two to 

 five thousand feet. It is not known to exist in a domes- 



