﻿ALLEN] 
  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIFUTION 
  AND 
  HABITS. 
  46 
  L 
  

  

  frons, 
  Leidj), 
  etc. 
  This 
  species, 
  like 
  its 
  contemporaries, 
  by 
  its 
  size 
  

   gave 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  even 
  climate 
  and 
  abundant 
  vegetation 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  

   just 
  following, 
  ond 
  probably 
  in 
  part 
  during 
  the 
  glacial 
  period. 
  

  

  " 
  2d. 
  The 
  disappearance 
  of 
  this 
  fauna, 
  followed 
  by 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  a 
  

   race 
  (mouud-buiiders) 
  that 
  retained 
  no 
  distinct 
  traditions, 
  and 
  have 
  left 
  

   no 
  art 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  pre- 
  

   ceding 
  time. 
  

  

  " 
  3d. 
  The 
  disappearance 
  of 
  this 
  race 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  

   Tennessee, 
  probably 
  leaving 
  representatives 
  in 
  the 
  Natchez 
  group 
  of 
  

   Indians, 
  followed 
  by 
  the 
  occupation 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  by 
  a 
  race 
  that 
  greatly 
  

   extended 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  treeless 
  plains 
  to 
  the 
  eastward, 
  and 
  so 
  per- 
  

   mitted 
  the 
  con)iug 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  bison 
  into 
  this 
  region. 
  

  

  "I 
  have 
  long 
  been 
  disposed 
  to 
  look 
  upon 
  the 
  succeeding 
  glacial 
  jieriods 
  

   as 
  the 
  most 
  eiiective 
  causes 
  of 
  the 
  changes 
  that 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  determination 
  

   of 
  new 
  specific 
  characters 
  among 
  animals, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  strongly 
  disposed 
  to 
  

   think 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  B. 
  americanus 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  descendant 
  of 
  the 
  B. 
  

   latifrons, 
  modified 
  by 
  existence 
  in 
  the 
  new 
  conditions 
  of 
  soil 
  and 
  climate 
  

   to 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  driven 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  changes 
  closing 
  the 
  last 
  ice 
  age. 
  

  

  "When 
  the 
  exploration 
  of 
  Big 
  Bone 
  Lick 
  is 
  completed, 
  it 
  will 
  doubt- 
  

   less 
  show 
  that 
  there 
  w^as 
  an 
  interval 
  of 
  some 
  thousands 
  of 
  years 
  between 
  

   those 
  two 
  species." 
  [End 
  of 
  App. 
  II 
  of 
  the 
  original. 
  — 
  Ed.] 
  

  

  GeofjrapMcal 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  Since 
  the 
  geographical 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  

   American 
  bison, 
  jjast 
  and 
  present, 
  is 
  treated 
  at 
  length 
  in 
  a 
  subsequent 
  

   chapter 
  devoted 
  especially 
  to 
  the 
  subject, 
  a 
  few 
  words 
  only 
  on 
  this 
  

   point 
  will 
  suffice 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  connection. 
  The 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  

   formerly 
  extended 
  from 
  Great 
  Slave 
  Lake 
  on 
  the 
  north, 
  in 
  latitude 
  

   about 
  62°, 
  to 
  the 
  northeastern 
  provinces 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  as 
  

   latitude 
  25°. 
  Its 
  range 
  in 
  British 
  North 
  Auierica 
  extended 
  from 
  the 
  

   Kocky 
  Mountains 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  to 
  the 
  wooded 
  highlands 
  about 
  six 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  Hudson's 
  Bay, 
  or 
  about 
  to 
  a 
  line 
  running 
  southeast- 
  

   ward 
  from 
  the 
  Great 
  Slave 
  Lake 
  to 
  the 
  Lake 
  of 
  the 
  Woods. 
  Its 
  range 
  

   in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  formerly 
  embraced 
  a 
  considerable 
  area 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  

   Eocky 
  Mountains, 
  its 
  recent 
  remains 
  having 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  Oregon 
  as 
  

   far 
  west 
  as 
  the 
  Blue 
  Mountains, 
  and 
  further 
  south 
  it 
  occu])ied 
  the 
  Great 
  

   Salt 
  Lake 
  Basin, 
  extending 
  westward 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  Mount- 
  

   ains, 
  while 
  less 
  than 
  fifty 
  years 
  since 
  it 
  existed 
  over 
  the 
  headwaters 
  of 
  

   the 
  Green 
  and 
  Grand 
  Rivers, 
  and 
  other 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Colorado. 
  East 
  

   of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountains 
  its 
  range 
  extended 
  southward 
  far 
  beyond 
  the 
  

   Eio 
  Grande, 
  and 
  eastward 
  throughout 
  the 
  region 
  drained 
  by 
  the 
  Ohio 
  

   Eiver 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries. 
  Its 
  northern 
  limit 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  was 
  

   the 
  Great 
  Lakes, 
  along 
  which 
  it 
  extended 
  eastward 
  to 
  near 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   end 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie. 
  It 
  appears 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  occurred 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Ten- 
  

   nessee 
  Eiver, 
  and 
  only 
  to 
  a 
  limited 
  extent 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Alleghauies, 
  

   chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  districts 
  of 
  North 
  and 
  South 
  Carolina. 
  

  

  Its 
  present 
  range 
  embraces 
  two 
  distinct 
  and 
  comparatively 
  small 
  areas. 
  

   The 
  southern 
  is 
  chiefly 
  limited 
  to 
  Western 
  Kansas, 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  

   Territory, 
  and 
  Northwestern 
  Texas, 
  — 
  in 
  all 
  together 
  embracing 
  a 
  region 
  

   about 
  equal 
  in 
  size 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  State 
  of 
  Kansas. 
  The 
  northern 
  dis- 
  

   trict 
  extends 
  from 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  principal 
  southern 
  tributaries 
  of 
  

   the 
  Yellowstone 
  northward 
  into 
  the 
  British 
  Possessions, 
  embracing 
  an 
  

   area 
  not 
  much 
  greater 
  than 
  the 
  present 
  Territory 
  of 
  Montana. 
  Over 
  

   these 
  regions, 
  however, 
  it 
  is 
  rapidily 
  disappearing, 
  and 
  at 
  its 
  present 
  

   rate 
  of 
  decrease 
  will 
  certainly 
  become 
  wholly 
  extinct 
  during 
  the 
  next 
  

   quarter 
  of 
  a 
  century. 
  

  

  Habits. 
  — 
  The 
  American 
  bison 
  is, 
  as 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  pre-eminently 
  a 
  

   gregarious 
  animal. 
  At 
  times 
  herds 
  have 
  been 
  met 
  with 
  of 
  immense 
  

  

  