110 
NEW-YORK FAUNA. 
sustain its foreign reputation, in consequence of a change in its food, treatment, or perhaps 
from a difference in climate ; but when mixed with our native stock, the half-bloods exhibit a 
decided improvement. 
(EXTRALIMITAL.) 
B. moschatus. (Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. Vol. 3, plate.) Horns contiguous, broad at the base, directed 
laterally and downwards against the cheeks, and ending in round, points directed upwards. Now 
arranged under Ovibos. Arctic Regions. 
(fossil.) 
B. bombifrons. (Phil. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 379. Harlan, p. 271. Cooper, Am. Month. Vol. 1, p. 172.) 
Summit of the head convex, arched; horns distant, rather flattened at base, projecting laterally and 
downwards. Kentucky. 
B. latifrons. (Harlan, p. 273. Godman, figure. Cooper, Am. Month, Vol. 1, p. 173.) Summit 
of the head broader than high; horns long, round, and directed laterally and upwards. Kentucky. 
B. yallasii. (De Kay, Ann. Lyc. Vol. 2, p. 280.) Summit of the head depressed; horns short, flat¬ 
tened and turned downwards. Kentucky , Missouri. 
Genus Bison, Smith. (Extirpated.) Forehead slightly arched, much broader than high; shoulders 
elevated; tail short; legs slender; hair soft and woolly; a beard. 
B americanus. (Godman, Vol. 3, figure.) Horns small, round, directed laterally and upwards. 
Chesnut brown or blackish. 
Obs. The Bison, or American Buffalo, has been long since extirpated from this State; and although 
it is not at present found east of the Mississippi, yet there is abundant testimony from various writers to 
show that this animal was formerly numerous along the Atlantic coast from New-York to Mexico. 
Warden asserts, that at no very distant period, it existed in Pennsylvania;* and as late as 1756, large 
herds were found in Kentucky. They are now only found on the plains of Missouri; and from the 
murderous warfare directed against them, the day is not far distant when the whole race will be extirpated. 
FAMILY V. CAPRI ILF. 
Horns persistent, (in many genera exclusively in the males,) on a bony nucleus nearly solid: 
The horns for the most part simple, often compressed more or less, angular, with elevated 
knobs or rings at the base. No canine teeth. 
Obs. This family contains, in the writings of the most recent systematists, between seventy 
and eighty species, arranged among twenty genera. It is composed of the old genera Ovis, 
Capra and Antilope, but comprises many new forms. We have but few representatives of 
* One of our most learned and acute philologists states, that about the years 1785 or 1790, the bison was not uncommon on the 
Monongahela, Pennsylvania, adjoining Mason-& Dixon’s line. He has evidently been misinformed, not only in the fact that the 
bison is merely a variety of the European ox, but also in the assertion that the product of the bison and domestic cow will again 
propagate. (Archceologia Americana, Vol. 2, p. 139.) 
