lo Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia & America 



the skull are the larger size of the cheek-teeth and the greater depth and 

 narrowness of the lower jaw. Unless well-marked points of difference also 

 exist in the skin, these small details seem scarcely sufficient to justify the 

 separation of the bighorn of the district in question even as a race. 



THE CALIFORNIAN BIGHORN 



{Ovis canadensis nc/sonl) 



This rather small and pale-coloured desert race of the bighorn was de- 

 scribed in 1897 by Dr. C. H. Merriam as a distinct species. From the 

 typical Rocky Mountain race it is distinguished by its somewhat inferior 

 dimensions, paler colour, and smaller cheek-teeth ; the light rump-patch 

 being rather small, the tail relatively short and slender, and the general 

 colour of the back pale dingy brown. When compared with the dark 

 North- Western race, the paleness is, of course, still more marked, but the 

 general plan of coloration is stated to be closer to that form than it is to the 

 typical race. The horns, too, seem to approximate to those ot the latter, 

 and the under-parts of the body are, as in that form, darker than the back, 

 this being, ot course, exclusive of the white area, which is sharply defined. 

 This darkening of the under-parts is doubtless connected with rendering 

 the animal invisible in the desert. The object of the under-surface of the 

 body being white in so many animals is to counteract the eft^ect of the shade 

 thrown by the body itself, and thus to render the creature as invisible as 

 possible. But the strong light reflected by the sun from desert sands would 

 perhaps overdo the effect, which, if really the case, would account tor the 

 darkening ot the under-parts in the present race. 



The typical specimen of the Californian bighorn was collected in the 

 Grape Vine Mountains on the border between California and Nevada, a 

 little south of 37" N. latitude. It has been thought probable, however. 



