432 MAMMALIA OF INDIA. 
five to six inches long. Ears hoary brown externally, almost white 
internally. Pits in front of the eye distinct, of moderate size and depth, 
and the hair round them generally somewhat darker brown than the 
rest of sides of the head. ‘The nose is slightly arched and the muzzle 
sloping. The hair is strong, wiry, and very thickly set, and at the base 
intermixed with scanty, very fine fleece; the average length of the 
hairs on the back is 2 to 24 inches. The iris is brown. The horns are 
subtriangular, touching each other at the base, curving gradually with a 
long sweep backwards and outwards ; and, after completing a full circle, 
the compressed points again curve backwards and outwards; their 
surface is more or less closely transversely ridged. 
“The colour of full-grown females does not differ essentially from 
that of the males, except that the former have much less white on the 
middle of the upper neck. The snout is sometimes brown, sometimes 
almost entirely white, the dark eye-pits becoming then particularly 
conspicuous. ‘The dark ridge along the tail is also scarcely traceable. 
In size, both sexes of Ovzs Polit appear to be very nearly equal, but 
the head of the female is less massive, and the horns, as in allied 
species, are comparatively small: the length of horn of one of the 
largest females obtained is 14 inches along the periphery, the distance 
at the tips being 15 inches, and at the base a little more than one inch. 
The horns themselves are much compressed ; the upper anterior ridge 
is wanting on them; they curve gradually backwards and outwards 
towards the tip, though they do not nearly complete even a semicircle. 
In young males, the horns at first resemble in direction and slight 
curvature those of the female, but they are always thicker at the base 
and distinctly triangular. 
“The length of the biggest horn of male along the periphery of curve 
was 56 inches, and the greatest circumference of a horn of a male 
specimen at the base 183 inches. 
‘ Mr. Blyth, the original describer of Ovis Poli, from its horns, was 
justified in expecting, from their enormous size, a correspondingly 
large-bodied animal ; ‘but in reality such does not appear to exist. 
Although the distance between the tips of the horns seems to be 
generally about equal to the length of the body, and although the horns 
are very much larger, but not thicker or equally massive, with those of 
the Ovrs Ammon of the Himalayas, the body of the latter seems to be 
comparatively higher. Still it is possible that the Ovzs Polit of the 
Pamir may stand higher than the specimens described, which were 
obtained from the Tian Shan range. 
‘“‘ Large flocks of Ovis Polit were observed on the undulating high 
plateau to the south of the Chadow-Kul, where grass vegetation is 
abundant. At the time the officers of the Mission visited this ground, 
i.e. in the beginning of January, it was the rutting season. The 
