321 



THE AMERICAN BISON. 



Of the American Bison (Bos-americanus), \A^. T. 

 Hornaday says: "The magnificent dark brown gauntlet 

 and beard, the shaggy hair upon the neck, hump and 

 shoulders, terminating in a thick mass of luxurient black 

 locks, to say nothing of the dense coat of fine fur on the 

 body and hind quarters, give to our species, not only an 

 apparent height equal to that of the Gaur, but a grandeur 

 and nobility of expression which are beyond all compari- 

 son among Ruminants." 



The possession of a larger and more luxuriant mass 

 of hair on the head and fore quarters, which in some cases 

 almost sweeps the ground, makes the American Bison ap- 

 pear of larger size than the European species, when, as 

 a matter of fact, although the body is on the whole more 

 massively built, it is lower, and has a smaller pelvis and 

 hind quarters. The American Bison is one of the larg- 

 est and the best known of all North American hoofed 

 mammals; and with tw^o exceptions, the Gaur and the 

 European Bison, it is the largest of all Bovenine animals. 

 The males, who have short, thick, curved horns, stand 

 from five feet to five feet eight inches at the shoulders, 

 though they are considerably lower at the hind quarters. 

 In fresh pelage the color of the long hair on the calves 

 is of a reddish hue ; but on the full grown animals it is 

 almost black, although on aged or worn skins it becomes 

 brown or grey. The twenty inch tail always has a six 

 inch wisp of long black hairs on the end. The head is 

 convex, the muzzle is shorter and broader, and the 

 skull is much wider than in domestic cattle. 



According to Mr. Hornday: "The range of the Amer- 

 ican Bison originally extended over one-third of North 

 America. Starting almost at tide water on the Atlantic 

 coast, it extended westward to a vast tract of dense forest, 

 across the Alleghany mountain system to the prairies along 

 the Mississippi, and southward to the delta of that great 

 system. Although the great plain country of the West was 

 the natural home of the species, where it flourished most 

 abundantly, it also wandered south across Texas to the 



