Pyrenean Tur 257 



10,000 feet. Possibly the apparent discrepancy is due to the different 

 seasons at which the observations were made. According to the generally 

 received account the old rams keep apart from the ewes and younger rams 

 throughout the year, except during the pairing season, which takes place in 

 the month of November. The flocks may be very large, comprising often 

 from 100 to 150 head each. During the spring and summer months, 

 when the old rams are said to be on the highest peaks, the younger 

 members of the same sex and the ewes frequent the warm southern slopes 

 of the mountains. And in winter, under the pressure of cold and hunger, 

 these latter will descend at times even to the near neio-hbourhood of the 



D 



higher villages. The kids are born in the latter half of April or the early 

 part of May, after a gestation of about twenty weeks, or perhaps rather more. 

 Very soon after birth they are able to trot after the ewes, which at this 

 season resort to the southern slopes to avoid the cold winds prevailing 

 in other situations. 



When among bush-covered country, Mr. Buxton states that it is im- 

 possible to bag adult males ot this tur without resorting to driving, the 

 hollows in the rocks, and the abundant vegetation by which they are 

 covered, rendering it almost impossible to detect the game with a glass. 



a. Pyrenean Race — Capra pyrenaica typica 



Characters. — Generally those given above, the horns ot old males being 

 large and massive, with the ridges tending to disappear. Mr. Busk 

 gives the following description : — "The horns are thick, rounded in front 

 and on the outer side, internally flattened, and behind compressed into an 

 acute angle, whence the transverse section is pyriform. They diverge at 

 first abruptly, and afterwards are twisted spirally inwards and downwards ; 

 so that eventually the inner surface comes to look outwards, and the anterior 



2 L 



