Thian Shan Ibex 167 



being fliwn-brown externally, and whitish inside. The older an ibex 

 becomes, the more inconspicuous do these darker and lighter areas tend to 

 become, the entire coat thus being more uniform in colour. Like other 

 goats, the length and thickness of the coat varies somewhat according to 

 the season of the year ; and at all seasons the hair on the back ot the neck 

 is longer than elsewhere, forming in the old bucks a short mane. 

 Yellowish or olive brown is the colour of the horns. 



A good mounted specimen ot this species is at present a desideratum in 

 the British Museum ; the largest mounted example in that collection being 

 faded and badly set up, while one recently acquired, although in good 

 condition and well mounted, is small and perhaps not pure bred. 



So far as can be gleaned irom the accounts of the older naturalists and 

 sportsmen, the habits of the Alpine ibex are essentially similar to those of 

 its Himalayan cousin, and indeed of goats generally. In Switzerland ibex 

 appear to have always kept above the forest level, grazing in summer on 

 the stretches of turf in the vicinity ot the snow-fields. 



THE THIAN SHAN IBEX 



{Capra sibirkd) 



Two races of the Asiatic ibex, namely the Thian Shan and the Irtish, 

 come within the purview of the present work. But since the Himalayan 

 race of the same species has been treated at considerable length in Great 

 and Small Game of Lnlia^ Bur/iia, and Tihi't, where the distinctive features of 

 the species are also recorded, a very brief notice will serve on the present 

 occasion. For the same reason it has not been considered necessary to 

 include a figure of the head ot this ibex in the plates illustrating the 

 present volume. 



