The Lynx Killed Sheep. 
New York, March 20. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: My recent description of the method 
by which lynxes kill mountain sheep in Alaska 
was not given with enough detail. Allan Brooks, 
therefore, expresses some doubts as to the fatal 
cause. What I meant to emphasize was that 
the attack was directed exclusively on the eyes 
and other injuries resulting were only incidental. 
To an observer like myself, unfamiliar with 
all the details of anatomy, the serious character 
of the punishment and subsequent shock, and 
still more the quant'ity of blood lost, would in¬ 
dicate the cause was solely physical and re¬ 
sulted from the mutilation produced by the 
lynx. I inclose some notes on the subject, kindly 
prepared for me by Dr. C. Hart Merriam of 
the Biological Survey. The inclosed photograph, 
also given to me by Dr. Merriam, shows the 
injury to the skull. The lines drawn about the 
orbitals indicate the normal, and thus the 
amount of injury, to the bone at least, can be 
seen. C. Sheldon. 
NOTES ON INJURIES INFLICTED BY LYNXES ON TWO 
SKULLS OF MOUNTAIN SHEEP FROM THE MT. 
MCKINLEY REGION, ALASKA, OBTAINED BY 
CHARLES SHELDON DURING THE WIN¬ 
TER OF 1907-1908. 
Charles Sheldon has presented to the Bio¬ 
logical Survey the skulls of two rather young 
mountain sheep which were killed or fatally 
wounded by the Canada lynx. One of these 
skulls (No. 368) is a male from the head of 
Toklat River, Dec. 8, 1907; the other (No. 369) 
a female from the north base of Mt. McKinley, 
Jan. 2, 1908. 
In both cases the injuries to the skull center 
about the orbits, although they extend to ad¬ 
jacent structures, and even involve the lower 
jaw, the right side of which is broken in both. 
In the case of the female (No. 369) the right 
side of the cranium is unharmed. On the left 
side the lower and hinder parts of the orbit 
are badly injured, the lower part including the 
orbital and zygomatic parts of the cheek bone 
(jugal), the zygomatic process of the squamosal, 
and the posterior inflated part of the lachrymal 
forming the anterior part of the floor of the 
orbit, being completely torn away. Further¬ 
more, the more projecting part of the body of 
the squamosal and adjacent structures, compris¬ 
ing the ridge extending posteriorly from the 
root of the zygoma and including the external 
meatus, the outer side of the mastoid, the whole 
of the paroccipital process, and the posterior 
part of the tympanic bullae on that side, have 
been gnawed or torn off, exposing a ragged 
surface of cancellous structure. 
The right side of the under jaw is broken 
in two, the fracture extending from near the 
middle of the diastema obliquely downward and 
backward; the left side is perforated by four 
holes resembling shot holes (three on the outer 
side near the angle, the fourth on the inner side 
a couple of inches in front of the angle), and 
a narrow piece more than an inch in length in¬ 
cluding the curvature of the angle, has been 
completely torn off. The injury to this skull, 
therefore, involves parts of the frontal, lachry¬ 
mal, jugal, squamosal, mastoid, tympanic cap¬ 
sule, exoccipital and mandible. 
The skull of the young ram (No. 368) is 
very much more seriously injured than that of 
the female just described, both orbits having 
been gnawed nearly all the way round, and 
other injuries inflicted. The damage is much 
more extensive on the right side than on the 
left. On the left side the frontal rim of the 
orbit is deeply gnawed both above and behind 
the eye, exposing the deep-seated frontal sinuses. 
The postorbital process of the frontal and the 
orbital part of the jugal have been completely 
SKULL OF MOUNTAIN SHEEP KILLED BY CANADA 
LYNX. 
The lines indicate the normal outline. 
demolished; the upper surface of the zygo¬ 
matic process of the squamosal is seriously 
scarred, and tlie bony meatus is broken. 
The right side of the skull is so badly muti¬ 
lated as to show little semblance of its normal 
form. The orbit has been chewed off all the 
way round, completely removing the tubular pro¬ 
tuberance characteristic of this part of the skull 
in the sheep. Posteriorly the orbital part of 
the frontal has been gnawed off for more than 
an inch, leaving only a narrow piece at the base 
of the horn core and broadly exposing the large 
frontal sinuses. The whole of the floor of the 
orbit is gone. The injury inflicted involves not 
only the orbital parts of the lachrymal and jugal, 
but extends deeply into the side of the face, in¬ 
cluding the posterior part of the maxillary bone 
and exposing to view the posterior part of the 
nasal cavity. Nothing is left of the jugal ex¬ 
cept the anterior half of the upper part, and 
the structures torn away include not only the 
upper part of the outer side of the maxillary, 
but also the socket of the last molar and the 
tooth itself, which, owing to the immaturity 
of the animal, had not yet descended into the 
tooth row. The zygomatic process of the squa¬ 
mosal is deeply scarred posteriorly, and the tip 
of the paroccipital is broken off. 
The under jaw, as in the case of the female, 
was broken off on the right side, but the break 
occurred at a different point, extending com¬ 
pletely across the ramus behind the last molar. 
The swollen part of the ramus in front of the 
angle and under the roots of the molars was 
severely bitten, leaving three large compound 
holes in addition to a multitude of dents and 
scratches. The left mandible is only slightly 
injured, showing two small round holes close 
together on the inner side and one on the outer 
side on the swollen part just anterior to the 
angle and below the root of the last molar. 
The bones damaged in the young ram, there¬ 
fore, are: Frontal, lachrymal, jugal, maxillary, 
palatal, orbito-sphenoid, squamosal, exoccipital 
and mandible. 
■* The destruction of the eyes and the fatal 
character of the injuries to the throat and ad¬ 
jacent tissues may be inferred from the very 
serious nature of the injuries to the skulls. 
C. Hart Merriam. 
Allen’s Right Whale. 
No native .American mammal has held a 
more important place in commercial history 
than the right whale of the North Atlantic 
Ocean. For centuries its products of oil and 
whalebone were important to the comfort and. 
welfare of the civilized world, and in the search 
for them fortunes were made and lost. The 
chase of the whale furnished an unequalled 
training school for seamen, for its capture re¬ 
quired hardihood, skill and endurance. Above 
all was the .whale important in the early history 
of New England, where it was seen by the pil¬ 
grims at the time of their landing, began to be 
taken only a little later, and before the year 
1700 was systematically pursued all along the 
New England coast, on the south shore of 
Long Island, and on the Jersey coast. 
There is thus very much of interest in Dr. J. 
A. Allen’s paper on “The North Atlantic Right 
Whale and its Near Allies,” which is extracted 
from the Bulletin of the American Museum of 
Natural History. Dr. Allen has been studying 
the cetaceans for many years, and the present 
paper contains a wealth of interesting informa¬ 
tion. It is illustrated by six beautiful plates 
of the bones of the species. 
The paper is divided into five parts, of which 
the lay reader will find those devoted to the 
history of the species and to its relationships, 
and that dealing with its geographical distribu¬ 
tion—practically the North Atlantic Ocean— 
of very high interest. Commercially the right 
whale is now extinct, though from time to time a 
casual specimen is still taken off the Long Island 
ebast. Students of nature and of this coun¬ 
try’s history will do well to read what 'this 
eminent authority has said about the right 
whalp and its capture. 
