Bighorn 207 



for retaining the name canadensis instead of cervina have already been 

 stated. Reference must, however, be made to the case of the name 

 0. californiana which is somewhat pecuHar. By its founder Douglas it 

 was applied to the wild sheep ranging from British Columbia to 

 California, but said to be most abundant in the latter area. The type 

 was, however, a skull and skin from British Columbia ; the skull being 

 now in the British Museum. The tail was described as being; long. 



o o 



Blyth's description was merely an amplification of the original one, but 

 he gave the habitat as California. Manifestly, however, the typical 

 locality must be British Columbia ; and the name California would obvi- 

 ously be inappropriate to a sheep coming from that region. Accordingly, 

 the name cannot be adopted for either of the races into which the species 

 has been divided by later writers. 



Distribution. — Typically from the western and north-western districts 

 of North America, but also ranging into the countries bordering the 

 northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and parts of North Siberia. In 

 America the bighorn and its various races have a very extensive range. 

 They are found throughout the whole extent of the Rocky Mountains, 

 both on their eastern and western slopes, and extend as far south as 

 Sonora, Northern Mexico, and the southern extremity of the Californian 

 peninsula, so that on the Pacific coast they occur on all the lesser 

 mountain chains from British Columbia to California. Northwards they 

 extend throughout Alaska to the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic 

 Ocean. Their distribution in the Eastern Hemisphere is noticed later 

 on, but it may be mentioned that they probably occur on the Asiatic 

 coast of Bering Strait, so that the American and Asiatic forms are 

 separated by a comparatively small distance. 



The habits ot bighorn may be more conveniently referred to under 

 the heading of the various races. 



