CAPRA. 441 
goats and the antelope goats. Of the former there is a sub-genus— 
HHemitragus—which have no feet-pits, but have a muffle and occasionally 
four mamme, which form a connecting link with the Cervide. In all 
other respects Hemitragus is distinctly caprine. 
No. 446. CAPRA MEGACEROS. 
The Markhor ( Jerdon’s No. 234). 
NativE Names.—AJ@ar-khor (i.e. snake-eater), in Afghanistan, Kash- 
mir, &c. ; Rd-che, or Ra-pho-che, Ladakhi. 
Hapitat.—The mountain districts of Afghanistan, and the highest 
parts of the Thibetan Himalayas. On the Pir Panjal, in Kashmir, the 
Hazarah hills, the hills north of the Jhelum, the Wurdwan hills west of 
the Beas river, on the Suleiman range, and in Ladakh. 
DeEscrRIPTION.—General colour a dirty light-blue gray, with a darker 
beard ; in summer with a reddish tinge ; the neck and breast clad with 
long dark hair, reaching to the knees; hair long and shaggy ; fore-legs 
brown. ‘The females are redder, with shorter hair, short black beard, 
but no mane, and with small horns slightly twisted. 
The horns of an old male are a magnificent trophy. Kinloch 
records having seen a pair, of which the unbroken horn measured sixty- 
three inches, and its fellow, which had got damaged, had fifty-seven 
inches left. Forty to fifty inches is, however, a fair average. Accord- 
ing to Kinloch the very long horns are not so thick and massive as 
those of average length. Jerdon says the longest horns have three 
complete spiral twists. 
The horns of certain varieties differ so much that I may say species 
have been settled with less to.go upon. Kinloch notes four varieties. 
I have hitherto reckoned only two, but he gives— 
No. 1.—Pir Panjal markhor; heavy, flat horns, twisted like a cork- 
screw. 
No. 2.—Trans-Indus markhor ; perfectly straight horns, with a spiral 
flange or ridge running up them. 
No. 3.—Hazarah markhor ; a slight corkscrew, as well as a twist. 
No. 4.—Astor and Baltistan markhor; large, flat horns, branching 
out very widely, and then going up nearly straight with only a half 
turn. 
Of the two kinds I have seen, the one has the broad flat horn twisted 
like a corkscrew ; the other a perfectly straight core, with the worm of 
a screw turned roundit. Nothing could be more dissimilar than these 
horns, yet, in other respects the animal being the same, it has not been 
considered necessary to separate the two as distinct species. * 
* Colonel Kinloch writes on my remarks as above, and gives the following 
interesting information: ‘‘I cannot consider the spiral-horned and the straight- 
