18 



GREAT GAME ANIMALS. 



[Pavilion 

 at end of 

 Lower 

 Mammal 

 Gallery. 

 Case 44.] 



[Large 



Case (44) 



inPavilion 



at end of 



Lower 



Mammal 



Gallery.] 



The Yak. This species (1033) is confined to the high- 

 BOS [Poephagus] lands of Tibet and adjacent regions, where 

 yi unmens. ^ occurs w iJd an d m a m0 re or less 



domesticated condition ; tame Yak being largely employed 

 as beasts of burden in that region. The wild race is always 

 uniformly dark-coloured, but many of the domesticated animals 

 show a considerable amount of white. The Yak appears to form 

 a connecting link between the more typical Oxen and the Bisons ; 

 its skull showing many points of resemblance to the latter. Its 

 large and wide-spreading horns are nearly cylindrical. The 

 most distinctive feature of the species is the mass of long hair 

 covering the flanks, limbs, and tail. The voice of the domesticated 

 breed is a grunt. Yak are extremely impatient of heat, and in 

 summer are found at elevations of from 14,000 to 20,000 feet. 

 They feed on coarse wiry grass, and even when domesticated will 

 not eat corn. Whereas the cows and young go about in large 

 parties, the old bulls are solitary. The latter are very wary, and in 

 the daytime generally rest on some exposed hill-side, where they 

 rely chiefly on their keen sense of smell for protection. The tails 

 of domesticated Yaks are used in India as fly-whisks, and are 

 termed chowris. A fine series of skulls and horns, mainly 

 presented by Mr. A. O. Hume, as well as a mounted head 

 presented by Capt. H. Cock, and an entire skin, are exhibited. 

 The entire skin is, however, that of a rather small animal. 



The European Bison. In the S eneral form of their horns and the 



structure of the skull, as well as in the 



Bos [Bison] bonasus. possesslon 0 f 14 or 15 pa i rs 0 f r i DS , the two 



species of Bison resemble the Yak rather than the typical Oxen ; 

 although their skulls are shorter and more convex than those of 

 the former. They are remarkable for the great height of the fore- 

 quarters, which form a kind of hump at the withers ; and also for 

 the mass of crisp dark brown hair covering the top of the head, 

 neck and shoulders, and extending some way down the fore-limbs, 

 and also along the back to the tail, which is thickly tufted at the 

 tip. The European Bison, Bos [Bison] bonasus (1034), is a forest- 

 dwelling species, now fast verging on extinction. It is stillfound in a 

 wild state in the Caucasus, and in the forest of Bielowieza, Lithuania 

 Government of Grodno), a herd has long been protected by the 



