THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 89 



On account of its habits and its comparative lack of 

 leat value, there is Uttle fear that this animal, with the 



lequate protection that it now receives, will become very 

 greatly reduced in numbers, and probably it will continue 

 afford an inducement to the boldest of hunters, and a 

 )leasing feature of the higher altitudes of our magnificent 

 restern mountains. 



THE MUSK-OX 



The musk-ox {Ovibos moschatus) (Plate III) is, in many 

 aspects, one of the most interesting of the larger members 

 )f our wild life. It is also one of our native animals that is 

 fast disappearing, as will be shown, from causes which are 

 ivoidable; and it is in need of absolute protection. 



From a scientific standpoint it is of the greatest interest, 

 as it occupies a unique position in the animal world. While 

 it is not, strictly speaking, a link between the two families 

 of sheep, on the one hand, and cattle on the other — a rela- 

 tion indicated by its scientific name — it nevertheless com- 

 bines anatomical and other characters belonging to these 

 two large groups. In size it equals one of the small breeds 

 of Welsh or Scotch cattle, and in appearance it resembles 

 a small buffalo. This resemblance to the buffalo is not 

 only external, but, as J. A. Allen,* in his valuable mono- 

 graphic study of the musk-ox, has shown, the musk-ox has 

 many anatomical features which would indicate that its 

 nearest Uving relative is the American bison. In certain 

 other features, such as the linear horizontal pupil of the 

 eye, its short tail, and especially in its behaviour, it dis- 

 plays its affinities to the sheep. Allen also shows that the 

 musk-oxen which at the present titne inhabit northern Can- 



* "Ontogenetic and Other Variations in Musk-oxen, with a Systematic 

 Review of the Musk-ox Group, Recent and Extinct," by J. A. Allen. Mem- 

 oirs Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. S., vol. I, pt. 4, pp. 103-225, 45 figs., 8 pis., 

 1913. 



