426 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



circumstances. They suck until they are nine months old, or even older, 

 and Mr. McNaney once saw a lusty calf suck its mother ^in January) 

 on the Montana range several hours after she had been killed for her 

 skin. 



When a buffalo is wounded it leaves the herd immediately and goes 

 off as far from the line of pursuit as it can get, to escape the rabble of 

 hunters, who are sure to follow the main body. If any deep ravines are 

 at hand the wounded animal limps away to the bottom of the deepest 

 and most secluded one, and gradually works his way up to its very 

 head, where he finds himself in a perfect cul-de-sac, barely wide enough 

 to admit him. Here he is so completely hidden by the high walls and 

 numerous bends that his pursuer must needs come within a few feet of 

 his horns before his huge bulk is visible. I have more than once been 

 astonished at the real impregnability of the retreats selected by wounded 

 bison. In following up wounded bulls in ravine headings it always be- 

 came too dangerous to make the last stage of the pursuit on horseback, 

 for fear of being caught in a passage so narrow as to insure a fatal acci- 

 dent to man or horse in case of a sudden discovery of the quarry. I 

 have seen wounded bison shelter in situations where a single bull could 

 easily defend himself from a whole pack of wolves, being completely 

 walled in on both sides and the rear, and leaving his foes no point of 

 attack save his head and horns. 



Bison which were nursing serious wounds must often have gone many 

 days at a time without either food or water, and in this connection it 

 may be mentioned that the recuperative power of a bison is really won- 

 derful. Judging from the number of old leg wounds, fully healed, which 

 I have found in freshly killed bisons, one may be tempted to believe 

 that a bison never died of a broken leg. One large bull which I skele- 

 tonized had had his humerus shot squarely intwo, but it had united 

 again more firmly than ever. Another large bull had the head of his left 

 femur and the hip socket shattered completely to pieces by a big ball, 

 but he had entirely recovered from it, and was as lusty a runner as any 

 bull we chased. We found that while a broken leg was a misfortune to 

 a buffalo, it always took something more serious than that to stop him. 



. VI. The Food of the Bison. 



It is obviously impossible to enumerate all the grasses which served 

 the bison as food on his native heath without presenting a complete list 

 of all the plants of that order found in a given region ; but it is at least 

 desirable to know which of the grasses of the great pasture region were 

 his favorite and most common food. It was the nutritious character 

 and marvelous abuudance of his food supply which enabled the bison 

 to exist in such absolutely countless numbers as characterized his occu- 

 pancy of the great plains. The following list comprises the grasses 

 which were the bison's principal food, named in the order of their im- 

 portance : 



