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



the withers instead of below the eyes ; the spiral usually forming only 

 about two-thirds of a circle. 



The Armenian race of the species is a considerably larger animal 

 than the European muflon, standing as much as 33 inches at the withers. 

 The females appear to be always hornless, as indeed is the case with the 

 Cyprian and probably also with the Urmian race. In the rams the 

 wrinkles on the front and lateral surfaces of the horns are well developed 

 and for the most part widely separated, although in old individuals they 

 become more approximated near the bases of the horns, and when an 

 unusually great age is attained these closely approximated wrinkles occupy 

 the greater part of the horns owing to the wearing ot their tips and the 

 continual growth of the base. As a rule, the outer front angle of the 

 horns is well developed, so that the front and outer surfaces are perfectly 

 distinct from each other. The largest pair of horns on record measures 

 40^ inches along the outer curve, with a basal girth of 10^ inches, and a 

 tip-to-tip interval of 5^. In the next best pair the same three dimensions 

 respectively measure 2^\i i°s' ^'""^ Si inches. 



The general colour ot the coat in the adult rams is russet yellow or 

 foxy red on the back, head, flanks, and upper portion of the limbs, but in 

 older individuals it becomes more reddish, with a faint greyish white 

 saddle-mark on each side of the back. The under surface ot the body, as 

 well as the lower portions of the limbs, are white ; and an area below the 

 eyes, as well as the nose, the chin, and the interior ot the ears, are whitish. 

 On the other hand, the chest is marked with a dark brown patch, and 

 there is a purplish brown mark on the front of the fore-legs above the 

 knees, while the ridge of the neck and middle line of the back are some- 

 what darker than the rest of the upper-parts. The rams have a distinct 

 throat-ruff. 



This race of the Asiatic muflon is found in the mountains ot Elburz in 

 Northern Persia, as well as in those of Armenia and the Taurus range of 



