196 UNGULATES. 



rifles ; and the price of robes having risen greatly in 1881, a rush from all sides 

 was made on the devoted herd, and in the hunting-season, commencing in October 

 1882 and terminating in the following February, the annihilation of the great 

 northern herd was practically completed ; only some straggling bands, numbering 

 a few thousands, surviving. This event appears to have come like a thunder-clap 

 on the hunters, who actually fitted out expeditions in the autumn of 1884, only to 

 find that their quarry had disappeared for ever. Mr. Hornaday states that to the 

 south of the Northern Pacific Railway, a band of about three hundred settled 

 permanently in and around the Yellowstone National Park, but in a very short 

 time every animal outside of the protected limits of the park was killed; and 

 whenever any of the park buffaloes strayed beyond the boundary, they too were 

 promptly killed for their heads and hides. Those remaining in the Yellowstone 

 are now protected by Government, and there are a few scattered bands still linger- 

 ing in the more remote and inaccessible portions of the country, but otherwise the 

 American bison has ceased to exist as a wild animal. 



Turning to the development and habits of the species, it appears 

 that the breeding-season is from the beginning of July to the end of 

 September, and that the calves are generally born from April to June, although 

 occasionally as late as August. The cow does not breed till three years old, and 

 sometimes produces two calves at a birth. For the first two months of its existence 

 the calf has the pelage of a brownish yellow colour ; and even at that period has 

 indications of the long hair covering the fore-quarters of the adult. Young calves 

 can be tamed with facility. In yearling bison the horns are in the form of a 

 straight conical spike, of from 4 to 6 inches in length ; and these spike-like horns, 

 with a curve at the base in older individuals, continue till the end of the fourth 

 year, during which period the young males are termed " spike-bulls." In these 

 young bulls the horns are jet-black; but from scaling of the exterior, and the 

 accumulation of dirt, they tend to grey in the adult. With advancing age the 

 outer layers of the horn begin to break off near the summit, until the whole horn 

 becomes short, thick, and blunted, " with only the tip of what was once a neat and 

 shapely horn showing at the end. The bull is then known as a ' stub-horn/ and 

 his horns increase in roughness and unsightliness as he grows older." 



Towards the end of winter the coat of the bison assumes a faded and bleached 

 appearance from the effects of the wear and tear of the elements ; and towards the 

 end of February, or somewhat later, the coat begins to change, but the whole 

 process occupies more than half the year. The shedding is accomplished both by 

 the new hair growing into and forcing off the old, and also by the latter falling off 

 and leaving the skin bare in great patches, as shown in our coloured illustration of 

 the European species. During the shedding process the animal presents an un- 

 sightly appearance, but by the end of June the whole of the old hair has fallen off 

 and the body is bare, although the new dark hair is well grown on the head. 

 During the summer the naked skin is scorched by the sun and bitten by flies, and 

 the animal consequently protects itself by wallowing, and thus coating itself with 

 a plaster of dried mud. By the beginning of October the new coat of hair has, 

 however, attained a considerable length, and between the 20th of November and 

 the 20th of December the bison is in the full glory of his apparel ; and the contrast 



