190 



UNGULATES. 



time of Julius Caesar, and as late as the ninth and tenth centuries were sufficiently 

 numerous in parts of Switzerland and Germany to be used as food. In a recent 

 summary of the history of the species, Mr. F. A. Lucas states that " up to 1500 the 

 European bison seems to have been common in Poland, where it was looked upon 

 as royal game, and hunted in right l-oyal manner by the king and nobility, as many 

 as two thousand or three thousand beaters being employed to drive the game. In 

 1534 the animal was still so numerous in the vicinity of Girgau, Transylvania, 

 that peasants passing through the woods were occasionally trampled to death by 

 startled bison, and hunts were undertaken by the nobles in order to reduce the 

 number of the animals. In spite of this local abundance, it is probable that about 

 this time the bison was in a great measure restricted to Lithuania ; and although 

 so late as 1555 one was killed in Prussia, it is almost cei'tain that this was merely 

 a straggler from the main herd. In 1752 a grand hunt was organised by the 

 Polish king, Augustus III., and in one day 60 bison were killed. . . . For some 

 time after the above event little seems to have been recorded concerning the zubr, 

 so that Desmarest, writing in 1822, says that if any remain in Lithuania they must 

 be very few in number. There were, however, over 500 bison in Lithuania at 

 that time, for in 1820 there were that number, this being a considerable increase 

 since 1815, when there were estimated to be only 300. About this time active 

 measures must have been taken for the protection of the Lithuanian herd, for in 

 1830 it comprised over 700 individuals. In 1831 a local revolt occurred, the 

 game laws were set at naught, and the number of bison reduced to 637. Order 

 having been restored, the bison began to recuperate, and according to the official 

 enumeration at the end of each decade, there were in 1840, 780; in 1850, 1390; 

 and in 1860, 1700. Political troubles were, however, the bane of the bison, and 

 just as the prosperity of the Lithuanian herd seemed assured, the Polish uprising 

 of 1863 took place. Many bands of insurgents sought refuge in the forests ; the 

 bison were left to take care of themselves, and were so rapidly killed oft' that the 

 next official count showed only 847. For a short time after peace was restored the 

 herd increased to a slight extent, but later on it began to decrease, the enumeration 

 of 1880 showing but 600, a number that has since been lessened, the herd being 

 still on the wane." The herd is divided into about a dozen distinct bands, 

 inhabiting different regions of the forest. In the Caucasus the bison is protected 

 by the rugged nature of the country, as well as by special laws. Recently an 

 English sportsman — Mr. Littledale — has been bison - shooting in the Caucasus, 

 and a male and female which fell to his rifle are now exhibited in the British 

 Museum. 



The European bison, so far as can now be ascertained, appears to have always 

 associated in small bands. In Lithuania these bands comprise from fifteen to 

 twenty individuals during the summer, but in winter two or more of them 

 unite to form a herd of from thirty to forty head. The very old bulls are solitary. 

 In spring and summer the bison seek the thickest and deepest portions of the 

 forest, but during winter frequent drier and more elevated cover. Whereas the 

 nutriment of the American species consists wholly of grass, the European bison 

 feeds largely upon the leaves, twigs, and bark of trees. Although active during 

 both day and night, bison feed chiefly during the morning and evening. Large 



