THE MUSK-OX 



105 



facing their enemies until killed. This habit, so 

 fatal in the presence of man, is all that saves the 

 herds from being exterminated by the hordes of 

 big white wolves which infest the Barren Grounds. 



General A. W. Greely states that the aver- 

 age weight of ten Musk-Oxen, dressed, was 360 

 pounds, while the heaviest weighed 432 pounds. 

 This would indicate an average live weight of 

 404 pounds, and a maximum live weight of 

 604 pounds. 



The accompanying map shows the range of 



Natural History Museum of Stockholm, made 

 important and valuable contributions to the life 

 history of Ovibos wardi. On the barren, rocky 

 hillsides and level upland pastures surrounding 

 Scoresby Sound and Liverpool Bay, from lati- 

 tude 70° to about latitude 74°, the expedition 

 found Musk-Oxen in herds of from three to 

 sixty-seven individuals, until the total number 

 observed amounted to between two hundred and 

 thirty and two hundred and forty. For the first 

 time, this remarkable species was photographed 



RANGE OF THE MUSK-OX. 



Heavy black spots signify actual occurrences. The dotted area indicates the probable range of the genus. 

 The species north of Great Slave Lake is Ovibos moschatus, and that of Greenland and Grant Land is the 

 "White-Fronted Musk-Ox, Ovibos wardi. 



the Musk-Ox, the southern limit of which is 64°. 

 During the last fifteen years whole herds have 

 been killed in the Barren Grounds north of Great 

 Slave and Great Bear Lakes, at Lady Franklin 

 Bay, and on the eastern and northeastern coasts 

 of Greenland. 



During the year 1899, a Swedish scientific ex- 

 pedition to the east coast of Greenland, under 

 the leadership of Prof. A. G. Nathorst, of the 



in its wild haunts, by Prof. Nathorst, Mr. Johan- 

 nes Madsen and Mr. E. Nilson, and with very 

 gratifying success. Of these pictures the most 

 perfect is that which shows the leader of the ex- 

 pedition closely approaching a herd. 



Prof. Nathorst states that to the leeward of a 

 herd, the odor of the animals was noticeable at 

 a distance of 100 metres, but that when a freshly- 

 slain animal is promptly and properly eviscerated, 



