Notes and 
organs from cold when the creature is 
reposing on snow or ice, a similar feature 
being noticeable in the case of the Yak 
of Tibet. Unhke many Arctic animals,” 
concludes Mr. Liydekker, “the musk-ox is 
dark-coloured; the explanation of this may 
be that the creatures, when lying down, 
assimilate in appearance to the boulders 
and bosses of dark-coloured rocks protruding 
here and there through the ice or snow 
or perched on its surface.” In addition to 
the photograph of the Woburn specimen, 
we are able to give one of a herd of musk- 
oxen taken by a Danish naturalist in 
Greenland. 
ia 
APROPOS of 
this we 
An 
Announce= 
ment 
may men- 
tion that in 
the next 
issue of 
ANIMAL 
Lire there 
will be pub- 
lished a 
fully-illus- 
trated ar- 
ticle on 
NPC pal © 
Animals,” 
by Captain 
Frederick 
G. Jackson, who commanded the Harms- 
worth-Jackson Polar Expedition. This, the 
December issue, will be a Double Christmas 
Number, and besides several special articles 
appropriate to the season, and the usual 
features, it will also contain two coloured 
plates, and a résumé by Mr. Lydekker of 
the year’s progress in Zoological Science. 
we 
ON page 148, among the aerial land birds 
with long wings and small 
feet should be mserted:—‘ The 
Guacharo, or Oil-Bird (Steat- 
ornis caripensis), which represents a family 
ae : wb 5 
Photograph by Johannes Madsen. 
Addendum. 
Comments 139 
by itself. It has a strong, toothed, hawk- 
like bill and three toes in front not joined 
at the base, with a smaller hind-toe; the 
shanks are very short indeed, and haye no 
scaly covering.” 
Wa 
THE coloured plate this month is taken from 
The Sir Harry Johnston’s volume 
Coloration on British Mammals in “The 
Ocal Sea Voburn Library,’ and the 
following note is likewise extracted from that 
book :—“ The coloration varies very much 
in individuals and according to age. The 
young at birth is covered with a coat of 
thick, soft fur, lemon-white im tint. 
In the 
A HERD OF MUSK-OXEN AT HOME. 
species under review this woolly coat is shed 
by the infant seal a few hours after its birth. 
In some cases this woolly covering when shed 
seems to form a kind of mat for the young 
seal to lie on. When the white fur has been 
discarded, the bright little creature (and 
young seals are beautiful with their large 
liquid eyes) is seen to be smoothly clad with 
the shiny silky haw characteristic of the 
adult; but it is generally much more vividly 
spotted and streaked with dark on light. 
The ground colour of the hair of the common 
seal may be described as a lemon-yellow 
inclining to a sickly white or an amber tint. 
