238 Sheep 



members of which were lying on the grass of an open valley, and on being 

 disturbed immediately took to the precipitous hills on each side. Although 

 it was late in summer, the herd consisted both of rams and ewes ; male 

 bharal at this season sometimes herding by themselves, but in other in- 

 stances remaining with the flock. Before taking to flight, some of the 

 adult rams turned round to look, as is so generally the custom with both 

 sheep and goats ; and the skulls of two are now in the British Museum. 

 The number of individuals in a flock usually varies from ten or less to about 

 fifty, although sometimes as many as a hundred may be seen together. In 

 much of the bharal-ground in Ladak there is no covert of any description, 

 but some ot the valleys are clothed along the bottom with thick E/ecig/i/zs 

 jungle, the resort ot numerous hares. The bharal, however, always avoid 

 covert of any description, keeping entirely to the open. The slaty-blue ot 

 their hair harmonises so exactly with the general tint of the slaty and 

 gneiss rocks so common in Ladak, that a flock of bharal lying down in a 

 grassy valley where masses of rock protrude through the turf are very 

 ditficult to distinguish ; and on the occasion referred to above, it is doubttul 

 if I should haye recognised the presence of the bharal in time to shoot had 

 it not been tor my Tatar guide. In Ladak, at least, these sheep do not 

 appear to have any particular feeding-times, but graze and repose alternately 

 during the day as the inclination takes them. In some districts on the 

 Upper Indus not only do the rams separate themselves from the rest ot the 

 flock, but actually betake themselves to dii^erent valleys during the summer. 

 Bharal and ibex have been seen on the same ground but not actually feeding 

 together, although bharal and tahr have been observed grazing in company 

 to the south of the Niti Pass. 



The pairing season and the length of the period of gestation do not 

 seem to have been accurately determined. Bharal thrive well in confine- 

 ment, and have bred freely in the London Zoological Gardens. They show 

 no tendency to cross with domesticated sheep. 



