4 
THE ZOO IN A FROST 
dition to excite the cupidity of an Indian brave. The 
bull bison, which in summer has a strangely ragged 
and “ moth-eaten ” appearance, with big patches of 
bare skin showing on its flanks, is now covered with a 
“ buffalo-robe ” of magnificent proportions and the 
richest colour and texture. From shoulders to tail, 
the body is wrapped in a mass of brown felted fur. 
The mane hangs down below the knees, and a shock 
of black and silky hair covers the head and face, 
almost concealing the horns and the sullen, bloodshot 
eye. This bull is said to be the largest of its race in 
this country, and is probably as fine a specimen of 
the male bison as ever led its band across the frozen 
plains of the North-West. It was brought to England 
by Lord Lome after the completion of his stay in 
Canada as Viceroy of the Dominion, and spent its 
earlier days at the Home Park at Windsor, whence it 
was transferred on exchange to the Zoo. 
The golden and sea-eagles never present so fine an 
appearance as in these bright winter days. Those 
who see them with their wings and tails ragged and 
broken in the summer and early autumn, would 
hardly recognize them in their compact and close-set 
winter plumage, as they scream aloud in the frosty 
air, and fly to and fro in their large aviary on pinions 
undisfigured by a single broken feather. The Gayal, 
an immense bison from the jungles of Assam, with a 
coat as smooth and sleek as the bison’s is shaggy and 
unkempt, drinks the iced water in its pen, and stamps 
the frozen ground — while the steam rises from its 
