Saiea 



189 



chiru, and, as in the two latter and a few of the former, the females are 

 hornless. The horns ot the bucks, which are of a bright amber-colour, 

 are sub-lyrate in form, with the tips only very slightly turned inwards, and 

 are ringed all round tor the greater part of their length ; the usual number 

 of rings in good specimens being about twelve or thirteen. The record 

 pair of horns (Fig. 43), which came from Siberia, are in the Museum of 

 Mr. Walter Rothschild at Tring Park, and measure 14! inches in length, 

 with a basal girth of 5:^ inches, and an interval of 22 inches between the 

 tips. In the next best specimen the length is 13! and the circumference 

 5 inches. Three other examples exceeding 13 inches in length are 

 entered in Mr. Rowland Ward's Records of Big Game. 



It is difficult to attain accurate information as to 

 the maximum dimensions attained by the saiga, as it 

 is an animal very rarely shot by British sportsmen. 

 The male from Woburn Abbey now exhibited in the 

 British Museum is, as previously mentioned, of rather 

 small stature. A larger and somewhat faded male 

 formerly exhibited in the same collection, but removed 

 from the public gallery on account of the inaccurate 

 modelling ot the muzzle, measures 30 inches at the 

 shoulder. A skeleton in the same collection measures 31I inches at the 

 shoulder, as mounted, but little or no importance can be attached to 

 measurements of skeletons, and it is mentioned here merely on account of 

 the fact that its dimensions are quoted in the " Badminton Library." 

 Speaking generally, the animal may be compared in size to a rather small 

 sheep. 



In their summer dress the saigas at Woburn Abbey were pale sandy 

 fawn on the upper-parts, with the face, the lower surface of the body, and 

 the under side of the tail white. Pale fawn is likewise the predominant 

 colour of the specimen exhibited in the British Museum, which appears 



Fig. 43. — The Record 

 Pair of Saiga Horns. 



