THE HORNED ANIMALS-DOMESTIC OXEN. 



481 



The Park Ox, or The Park Ox (Bos scotiats) is of mid- 

 Wild Ox of die stature, and of strong but not 

 Britain. clumsy structure. The hair is short 



and lies close to the body; on the neck and top of 

 the head it is longer and curly; it is uniformly of 

 a milk white hue, except on the muzzle, the ears, 

 horns and hoofs. The ears are reddish-brown on 

 their inner surface, the fore part of the muzzle is 

 brown, the eyes are bordered with black, the hoofs 

 black and the horns are grayish white with black 

 tips. The latter are moderately long, rather thin, 

 slender and sharply pointed, and curve from their 

 bases outward and upward, while the tips turn very 

 slightly inward again. 



The aristocratic owners of the parks still existing 

 in Scotland take a certain pride in extending their 

 especial protection to these animals, the relics of 



The Freiburg or 

 Swiss Ox De- 

 scribed. 



peculiarities with the exception of the white color, 

 being generally a plain black, brown, red or yel- 

 lowish brown — a black ring encircling the eyes and 

 mouth. 



In describing a few breeds of the 

 humpless domestic Ox, I will briefly 

 mention three specially prominent 

 breeds. The Ox of Freiburg or Swiss Ox (Bos 

 tdurus friburgensis) may be taken as a type of the 

 Alpine Cattle, which are bred in a great many 

 strains, showing a marked variety among them- 

 selves. It is a well-shaped animal with a moder- 

 ately large head, a broad forehead, a short thick 

 neck, a prominent dewlap, a long, broad-backed 

 body, sturdy limbs and a long tail terminating in a 

 large tuft. It has relatively short, rather weak, but 

 very pointed horns, which curve outward and upward, 



J 4 



THE PARK OX. The wild Cuttle of Britain are still preserved in several British parks, and are believed by some authorities to approach nearest 



to the ancient Urus, or Aurochs, which are by many supposed to have been progenitors of the humpless breeds of domestic Cattle. The Park Ox is of stout 

 form and is of white color except the tips of the horns, the ears and the muzzle. {Bos scoticus.) 



olden times, and they are preserved at a considerable 

 expense. Special guards watch over them, try to 

 ward off all danger from them and finally segregate 

 the Bulls which have become vicious on account of 

 their old age, or otherwise useless. These Cattle 

 have all the characteristic attributes of the wild ani- 

 mals' of the present. They hide their young, graze 

 during the night, sleep and bask in the sun by day. 

 They are fierce only when driven to bay; on all 

 other occasions they are very shy and flee before the 

 most insignificant of humanity, even when but re- 

 motely menaced. 



Descendants of the Among the distinctively Scotch 

 Park Ox Frequent breeds of Cattle there are occa- 

 m Scotland. sionally to be found single individ- 

 uals or entire breeds, which seem to have descended 

 directly from the Park Ox. They display all its 



in the shape of a crescent, the tips turning outward 

 and either forward or backward. The hairy coat is 

 sleek and shows black or brownish red spots on a 

 white ground. This Ox is bred especially in Frei- 

 burg and the adjacent cantons of Switzerland; it 

 yields both excellent beef and extremely rich milk. 

 Peculiarities and The most widely distributed breed 

 Merits of the of marsh Cattle is probably the 

 Dutch Ox. Dutch Ox (Bos taunts iwlLmdiais) 

 which, in Fitzinger's opinion, is a direct descendant 

 of the Aurochs. Stately proportions marked by a 

 graceful uniformity in the development of all parts 

 of the body, and very uniform coloring and mark- 

 ings, comprise its most prominent features. The 

 head is long, tapering towards the muzzle; the neck 

 long and thin the abdomen barrel-shaped; that is, 

 long and pendent; the withers are narrow, the croup 



