102 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIEPFY. 
bluish-purple tone, which gradually disappears from the dry skin. Pale 
specimens are common in all localities. 
The female is of the same general color as the male, but the lamb 
in its first year is darker than the adult. 
Pelage-—Everywhere the hair of Ovis montana is coarse and harsh. That 
of the neck, shoulders, body, abdomen, and hind quarters is crimped 
throughout its length, brittle, and colored quite down to the roots. “On 
the head, ears, lower limbs, tail, inner flanks, and on the chest behind 
the forelegs, it is straight, stiff, and harsh. There is no fine, straight 
hair on the neck and abdomen, as on Ovis dalli and fannini. 
Measurements of hair of the specimen described. 
Inches, Cent. 
On back OF NECK Ai is waa ei ee See 3 7.7 
NMiddlevofsthessidel a. 0. Meike oes cee eerie 2 5.1 
On “front "of Meck z,..a8a..c-naeae ade 2 eo er 2 5.1 
On -ab@oments: foe oe eee se ci Po eee 2 5.1 
On tailhee bs, Caras eee etn ete crt enor I A 
Horns.—The horns of the male Big Horn are very massive, and thick in 
proportion to their length. As a rule they are not strongly annulated, 
and are rather smooth on their upper surface. They are well rounded 
on the superior edge, and there is no groove under either edge, as in 
Ovis dalli and other species. The ends of the horns are often stubbed, 
or “broomed,”’ by fighting, and occasionally the ends are squarely 
broken off, like the breaking of half-decayed wood. The horns are not 
so clear, or semi-transparent, as those of Ovis dalli, and sometimes they 
have a weathered appearance. Each year’s growth of the horn is dis- 
tinctly visible by the annual rings, until eight or nine years, when they 
disappear among the ordinary annulations. 
Horn measurements. 
Inches, Cent. 
Circumference at dbase... .-4). se eee eal 457 
Gircumference at middle... :422 eee -.- - iis) 33.5 
Greatest spread, .(at .rear)i-c epee. -: 19.75 50.2 
Distance between! points! 4.5 -cseeeeeee eee - 16.50 42 
Width of 1p). ac8% ..ses cate eee ce 2 ai! 
The largest horns of Ovis montana ever figured and recorded, 
up to this date, were taken in the Selkirk Mountains, B. C.* 
Their measurements were as follows: 
Inches. Cent. 
Circumference.of horn atjbaseseeereeres ss. 18.50 47.1 
Lengthi on outer curvel..-cee eer: 52.50 133.6 
The horns of the female Mountain Sheep are small and goat- 
like, extend upward and backward with a slight curve, and spread 
outward. For their small size they are strongly annulated, and 
rather flat. Neither as ornaments nor weapons are they fitted for 
so fine an animal as that which is called upon to bear them. 
* Recreation Magazine, New York, 1897, vii., p. If. 
