3 o 4 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY 



capra americana, common on the Western plains, also sheds its 

 horns, which, however, are not solid and do not break off at the 

 base as in the deer, but are composed of an inner bony core 

 and an outer horny sheath, the outer sheath only being shed. 

 The family Bovidce includes the once-abundant buffalo, or bison, 

 Bison bison, the big-horn, or Rocky Mountain sheep, Oms 

 canadensis, and the strange pure white Rocky Mountain goat, 

 Oreamnos montanus. The buffalo was once abundant on the 



FIG. 132. Buffalo, Bison bison, in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Cal. 



Western plains, travelling in enormous herds. But so relent- 

 lessly has this fine animal been hunted for its skin and flesh that 

 it is now practically exterminated. A small herd is still to be 

 found in Yellowstone Park, another in Canada, and other pro- 

 tected groups live in parks and zoological gardens. On Jan. i, 

 1913, a total of 3,453 bison were alive in North America. In 

 all of the Bovidce the horns are simple, hollow, and permanent, 

 each enclosing a bony core. 



Many of these native, wild hoofed animals have been impor- 



