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



THE MONGOLIAN GAZELLE 



[Gaze/ /a gutturosa) 



(Plate IL Fig. 10) 



Unlike the last species, the much larger Mongolian gazelle has been 

 known to science for considerably more than a century, the Russian 

 naturalist and explorer Pallas having described it as long ago as the year 

 1777, while it was familiar to some of his contemporaries at a still earlier 

 date. 



Agreeing with the goa and Przewalski's gazelle in the extreme short- 

 ness of the tail, the absence of gazelline tace-markings, ol tace-glands, and 

 of horns in the female, as well as in the pointed nasal bones oi the skull 

 and the white on the buttocks, the present species is distinguished by its 

 superior bodily size, the slight backward curvature ot the horns ot the 

 bucks, the much larger extent of the white area on the buttocks, and, 

 above all, by the fact that during the pairing-season the upper part of the 

 windpipe, or larynx, of the bucks becomes enormously inflated. In this 

 latter respect it agrees with the goitred gazelle, in which the swelling 

 appears to be notable at all times ot the year, although most conspicuous 

 at the season mentioned above. 



In height the Mongolian gazelle grows to at least 30 inches at the 

 shoulder, and may thus be compared in height to an average-sized sheep. 

 Indeed in China it is known as the yellow, or imperial, sheep. In form it 

 is stout and somewhat clumsy ; and during winter it is clothed in a long 

 and shaggy fleece, although its summer coat is much shorter. The ears are 

 short and pointed, with the outer surface very pale fawn, approaching white. 

 The general colour ot the back, nape of the neck, and a blaze on tlie tace is 

 pale tawn in the winter coat, as is the tail-tip ; but in the summer dress these 



