22! 



ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



erect at all times over the shoulders and the base of the 



neck. 



The bones of the musk-ox are massive. 

 The legs have no wool covering beneath the hair, and 

 are very large and not long, though not so short as 



they appear because of the hair 

 reaching nearly to the knees 

 and to the hocks. 



The hoofs are large, with 

 curved toes, and somewhat con- 

 caved beneath, like the caribou, 

 which enables them to climb 

 the rocky ridges with great fa- 

 cility and to scrape away the 

 snow in their search for lichen 

 and moss. For this purpose 

 they use also their horns, which 

 are admirably hooked for the 

 work. 



The growth of horns in both 



o 



bulls and cows is rather in- 

 teresting. They begin by a 

 straight shoot out from the 



side of the head, exactly like domestic cattle, and for the 

 first year it is impossible to tell the sex by their heads 

 alone. In the second year the bull horn is a little whiter 

 than the cow, and the latter begins to show a downward 

 bend. The cow's horns are about fully developed at the 

 third year, while the bull's are just beginning to spread at 

 the base. This enlargement at the base extends towards 

 .the centre of the forehead, meeting in the median line, 

 and showing between the horns a little of the short, 

 curly, grayish hair which sprinkles the entire forehead of 

 the two-year-old musk-ox, but is seen only at this crevice 



MUSK-OX HOOF FRONT VIEW 



