138 



RECREATION. 



He looked at the water; then cautiously 

 he let down one foot until it reached the 

 cool surface. Then with a squawk that 

 was like an Indian war whoop 'he jerked 

 it up. He repeated the performance with 

 the other foot. Then, with a final whoop, 

 he jumped into the water. His noise at- 

 tracted 3 or 4 other jays, and the basin 

 was soon a mass of fluttering blue feathers. 

 The robins by that time had got their 

 breath and held a council of war. They 

 came flying back; and the blue jays, whom 

 I had always thought the personification of 

 the pugilistic spirit, were put to flight. 

 Yet we are told that robins can not fight 

 for themselves. Evidently we should not 

 believe all we hear about birds; but we 

 should open our eyes and see. 



Anna M. Locke. 



DO DOES LEAD? 



I noticed an inquiry in Recreation as to 

 whether does or bucks lead. I can not an- 

 swer the question in regard to deer, as in 

 all cases where I have come on them, there 

 has been a general scramble to get out of 

 sight as soon as possible. 



In regard to elk and moose, however, I 

 am satisfied that cows lead. Two years 

 ago on Buffalo river, in Jackson Hole, I 

 saw a bunch of 7 or 8 elk, all cows but one. 

 When they saw me they ran down the 

 mountain, the cows together and the bull 

 25 or 50 yards behind. A few days after- 

 ward I saw a bunch of about 30 cows and 

 calves with one bull. The bull bugled, 

 and the cows and calves immediately ran. 

 The bull stood until the cows were out of 

 sight; then he followed them. I think he 

 wanted to draw me after him to give the 

 cows a chance to escape. 



Last year, while hunting on the North 

 fork of the Shoshone river, I saw a bunch 

 of 6 or 8 cows and one bull. The cows 

 ran down the side of the muntain with the 

 bull in the rear. 



I spent August and September of 1901 

 in the mountains along the Shoshone and 

 Yellowstone rivers, and saw 300 to 400 elk. 

 In some cases there were so many it was 

 impossible to tell which led, but in small 

 bunches cows always led. While fishing in 

 the head waters of the Yellowstone, 3 elk 

 crossed the stream within 50 yards of me, 

 a cow first, a calf next, and a bull last. 

 They did not see me until they had crossed 

 the river. A short time afterward I saw 2 

 elk apparently following a trail ; the cow 

 was 50 or 75 yards in advance of the 

 bull. Then I saw a bunch of 4 cows and 2 

 bulls ; they saw me at some distance. Al- 

 though uneasy, they did not appear much 

 frightened and trotted off", the cows first. 

 A few days later, while riding along the 

 Yellowstone, I came on a bull standing on 

 the shore. After standing a while he 

 plunged into the river and crossed. Look- 



ing across I saw 5 cows and calves that 

 had crossed before I came in sight. I 

 waited a few moments until they turned 

 and trotted off. When they had gone 50 

 or 100 feet, the bull followed. 



In regard to moose, I have noticed 2 or 

 3 times that where a bull and cow were 

 together, the cow invariably led. While 

 following the trail of moose or elk, I have 

 always found when the tracks were mixed 

 that the bull tracks were last. That could 

 easily be seen, as the bull stepped into the 

 tracks made by the others. Of course 

 there is a possibility that the bull may not 

 have been with the others at the time the 

 tracks were made ; however, I am satisfied 

 that with moose and elk the cows lead, and 

 it seems reasonable that this is also the 

 case with deer. 



C. H. Stonebridge, New York City. 



NEW AMERICAN MAMMALS. 



The past 2 years has brought to light 

 an astonishing array of new mammals of 

 large size inhabiting North America. The 

 following species are well defined, and con- 

 stitute important additions to our fauna : 



Kennedy's Mountain Goat — Oreamnns 

 kennedyi. Described in 1900 by D. G. El- 

 liot. Horns long, slender, spreading wide- 

 ly, and deeply ringed. Locality, Copper 

 River, Alaska. 



Mountain Caribou — Rangifer montanus. 

 Described in 1899 by Ernest Seton-Thomp- 

 son. Size, larger than other species, dark- 

 colored. Locality, Selkirk Mountains to 

 Cassiar Mountains, British Columbia. 



Alaskan Moose — Alces gigas. Described 

 in 1899 by G. S. Miller, Jr. Antlers of 

 enormous width. Locality, Kenai Penin- 

 sula, Alaska. 



Fannin's Mountain Sheep — Ovis fannini. 

 Described in 1901 by W. T. Hornaday. 

 Has white head, neck, abdomen and rump 

 patch, bluish-gray body and tail, and 

 brown stripe down front of each leg. Lo- 

 cality. Klondike River, and Lake La 

 Barge, Yukon Province, N. W. T. 



White-fronted Musk Ox — Obivus mos- 

 chatus wardi. Named in 1901 by R. Ly- 

 dekker, described by J. A. Allen. Has a 

 dirty white band across the top of the 

 head. Locality, East coast of Greenland. 



Mexican Mountain Sheep — Ovis niexica- 

 nus. Described in 1901 by C. Hart Mer- 

 riam. Large ears, large molars, full fore- 

 head, pale salmon-gray color. Locality, 

 Lake Santa Maria, Chihuahua, Northern 

 Mexico. 



Stone's Black-Faced Caribou — Rangifer 

 stonei. Described in 1901 by J. A. Allen. 

 Forehead black, cheeks dark brown, end of 

 nose grayish white, antlers heavy and with 

 many erect tines on the beam. Locality, 

 Kenai Peninsula. 



All of these species seem to be justified 



