46 



AND FOREST. 



other hand, keeps fat, and even in spring fat may be found 

 along the vertebra? and lower portion of the carcass an inch 

 thick. With the advent of the first mild weather, even be- 

 fore the snow has disappeared, they commence to shed their 

 rough coat, first from between the fore-legs, then the prom- 

 inent parts of the body, and later from the fore-limbs and 

 hump. This long hair or, as it is frequently called, wool 

 comes off in patches, trees and rocks being used to rub 



BUFFALO IN SPRING COAT. 



against ; the result is, that by March a more ragged, tatter- 

 ed, weather-beaten creature can scarcely be imagined. The 

 horns of both bull and cow are about the same length ; 

 those of the former are thick, blunt, and clumsy, those of 

 the latter sharp, slim, and trim-looking. Both sexes much 

 resemble each other ; at the same time the figure of the fe- 

 male is more delicately formed, and not within a couple of 

 hands as high at the shoulder, nor is she clothed with such a 

 quantity of the rough, coarse covering over the fore-quarters. 



