NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 235 
HEAD OF THE GOAT SHOWN ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE. 
striking character is its almost pure white coat. This coloring 
is in perfect harmony with an environment of snow fields, but in 
some parts of its range it renders the animal unnecessarily con- 
spicuous. Until white men appeared on the scene, it made very 
little difference to the goat whether his enemies could see him or 
not, as his home was beyond the reach of pumas, wolves, and for 
the most part of bears and until other game became scarce, the 
Indians did not hunt this inaccessible peak-dweller too closely. 
All the types of Oreamnos are characterized by this white coat 
and the only exception is the well authenticated occurrence of 
goat in the Selkirks of southern British Columbia, with a clearly- 
defined dark brown line extending along the center of the back 
and terminating in an almost black tail. This color variation 
