1 6 Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia & America 



size of the horns and ears. The hair is white tliroughout at all times ot the 

 year, as has been already stated by Dr. Allen ' ; and on the head, neck, and 

 limbs it is absolutely pure white in the British Museum examples. A close 

 examination of the hair of the back reveals, however, a hint whitey-brown 

 tinge on the tips t)f the hair, giving just the same appearance as would be 

 produced by slightly " singing " the hair of a pure white animal. The 

 occurrence of a somewhat similar, but perhaps more pronounced, whitey- 

 brown stain on the fur of the back is mentioned in the original descrip- 

 tion of the type specimens, which were believed to be in the summer dress. 



It appears, however, that this dark tinge is due to staining, and that 

 generally, if not always, the true colour ot the hair of this handsome 

 sheep is reallv pure white. 



In this connection may be appropriately quoted the following extract 

 from Mr. Hornaday's article on the American bighorns published in the 

 Report of the New York Zoological Society^ 1901. The author there writes in 

 these words : — 



" Through a strange combination of circumstances, the type specimens 

 collected in the Tanana Hills, far in the interior of Alaska, were of such 

 a peculiar appearance that Mr. Nelson could not possibly do otherwise than 

 describe them as being nearly unitorm dirty-white. The dinginess ot the 

 white over the entire body and limbs appears to be almost entirely due to 

 the ends ot the hair being commonly tipped with a dull rusty speck. On 

 close examination this tipping of the hair makes the fur look as though it 

 had been slightly singed. 



" In his report on his Natural History Collections in Alaska^ p. 284, Mr. 

 Nelson makes the following record : 'All ot the skins ot this animal seen 

 by me among the Eskimo, from the Kuskoquim River to the Arctic coast, 

 were of the uniform dingy-whitish colour characteristic of the race.' 



" Unfortunately, the coat of Dall's sheep is sometimes intiuenced by 



1 Bulletin of the America?! Museum, vol. xii. p. 3 (1899). 



