93 2 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 12, 1908. 
The Athibaska-Mackenzie Region. - 
Concluded from page 892. 
One of the most important animals met with 
L the varying hare, which is generally distribute^ 
through the Athabaska-Mackenzie region as far 
north as the limit of trees. They vary greatly 
in abundance from year to year, and in their 
greatest number they destroy immense amounts 
of vegetation. Mr. Preble says: “While de¬ 
scending the Athabaska and Slave River we 
saw large numbers. In many places along the 
banks dense thickets of willows and other shrubs 
had been eaten almost down to the ground. On 
the Smith Portage road their ravages were spec¬ 
ially noticeable, the young Banksian pines being 
here the principal food. The many evidences 
of winter snaring and the thousands of white 
snare set for rabbit ( Lepus americanus). 
rabbit skins which littered the neighborhood of 
an occasional deserted Indian camp showed that 
this locality had been a favorite resort for both 
rabbits and Indians during the preceding winter. 
The region about the Lower Slave also abounded 
with rabbits. While paddling a distance of three 
or four miles along the narrow channel in the 
Slave River Delta on June 19 we saw nearly 
forty on the bank and shot several with a pistol.” 
In the North rabbits form the winter food 
of most of the carnivores and of many of the 
people. This is chiefly the Hudson’s Bay vary¬ 
ing hare, or white rabbit, which is snared and 
killed in all directions. The Dogrib Indians en¬ 
tice rabbits within shot by making a rasping 
squeak through the nearly closed lips. The 
rabbit comes to the call very hurriedly and is 
shot. Sometimes the approaching rabbit makes 
a grunting sound. Useful as is the flesh of the 
rabbit to the Indians, its fur is hardly less im¬ 
portant, for it is from this fur that they make 
robes to protect themselves in winter. The skins 
are cut into strips which are twisted and woven 
into a robe on a frame. The mesh is coarse, and 
the fingers may be thrust through the finished 
robe at any point; nevertheless the robes are 
exceedingly warm and by some are preferred 
to those made of caribou skin. Capotes, shirts 
and mittens used to be made in the same way 
and are still used by some tribes. Rabbits are 
subject to epidemics of disease and when these 
occur thousands of them die, and those who 
subsist on them suffer because of the scarcity. 
Sometimes, as in 1906, the disease practically 
exterminates the animals, and it takes a year 
or two for them to increase so as to be notice¬ 
able. The Arctic hare, a very much larger 
animal, sometimes weighing up to eleven pounds, 
is of course found much further to the North. 
The cougar was reported to Mr. Preble to 
be found in the neighborhood of Fort Nelson, 
and some of the Indians who visit Fort Liard 
seemed to know it well. The Canada lynx, 
found far to the North, is likely to vary in 
abundance with the abundance of the hares on 
which they chiefly feed. 
Wolves, foxes and bears are told of very in¬ 
terestingly, and among them the famous barren 
ground bear, about which so many questions 
have been asked and so little definite observation 
can be had. 
Much is told us about the birds which breed 
in this vast region which is the summer home 
of many of the wildfowl which we know only 
in fall and winter. The notes on the birds are 
extremely full. It is interesting enough to read 
of the breeding of far Northern birds like the 
goldeneye, the old squaw and the wavies. 
The work is illustrated by twenty-five maps 
and plates, the maps showing the region, the 
distribution of life zones, and in some cases the 
distribution of various mammals, while the en¬ 
gravings from photographs represent scenes in 
the North and sometimes mammals or nests and 
eggs. Besides these plates there are sixteen 
figures in the text, all of them illuminating. 
It is difficult to speak of this great work by 
Mr. Preble in moderate terms. It is a most in¬ 
teresting and useful report and brings together 
many facts concerning boreal America not pre¬ 
viously known, while the story is told in a clear 
vivid yet scientifically exact manner which is 
valuable and most interesting. Mr. Preble is 
to be congratulated on his excellent work, while 
the Biological Survey may pride itself on having 
brought out a volume of so great importance 
and of so much popular interest. 
The M esopotamian Lion. 
An interesting and suggestive paper by Pro¬ 
fessor T. Noack, on the lion of Mesopotamia 
appears in the September number of the 
Zoologischer Anzeiger, says a writer in the 
Field. In the museum of antiquities at Berlin 
is preserved an ancient mosaic from Marefoschi, 
representing a combat between centaurs and 
lions. Behind one of the centaurs is depicted 
a dying lion with a profuse mane, while in the 
background is a second lion crouching near a 
rock. A third lion is lying on a fallen centaur. 
This last animal has the general build of an 
ordinary lion, although very strongly made in 
front, but falling away on the hindquarters, 
where it shows distinct striping. Moreover, 
narrow bands are also shown on the flanks, the 
fore and hind legs, the neck and the loins. The 
tail, which, like those of the other lions in the 
group, has a thickened tip, is also transversely 
barred in its basal half. The characteristic 
dorsal crest of the tiger is lacking. In the lion 
standing in the background distinct spots are 
shown on the body. Professor Noack states 
that he has studied this mosaic with a view of 
ascertaining what animal is meant to be de¬ 
picted. The stripes are too sparse and narrow 
for a tiger, while the general form of the ani¬ 
mals is essentially lion-like. That the ancient 
artists were true to nature is demonstrated by 
a mosaic from Hdrian’s villa at Tivoli in the 
Berlin Museum, which represents the chita or 
hunting leopard with its characteristic solid 
spots correctly delineated. That the Marefoschi 
mosaic does not represent a lion-tiger hybrid 
may be regarded as practically certain. 
Thus matters remained till the Sultan Abdul 
rabbit captured in snare. 
Hamid presented to the Berlin Zoological 
Gardens a Mesopotamian lion, which seems to 
indicate that this race normally shows tiger¬ 
like markings. This lion is full-grown, and has 
unusually large ears with a large black spot on 
the outer surface. The general color is brown¬ 
ish tawny, due to the presence of brown tips to 
the hairs. There is a distinct dark dorsal stripe; 
in front of the eyes are the normal light spots, 
but there are also two white spots on the fore¬ 
head. A pair of small dark stripes are conspicu¬ 
ous on the forehead in front of the ears, an¬ 
other pair of narrow dark streaks occur on the 
shoulders, while there are eight more on the 
hinder part of the back. The forelegs are 
marked with brownish-red spots, as are like¬ 
wise the light-colored under parts. In addition, 
a narrow dark bar is developed on the inner 
side of the thighs, which are likewise barred on 
the outer surface. Unfortunately, the Meso¬ 
potamian lion is now verging on extinction, but 
the evidence of the Berlin specimen, taken in 
conjunction with the Marefoschi mosaic, sug¬ 
gests that for the last 2,500 years it has been a 
striped race. 
