2l6 



UNGULATES. 



twenty, and are usually found feeding along the edges of glacier-meadows, or rest- 

 ing among castle-like crags of the high summits ; and whether quietly feeding, or 

 scaling the wild cliffs for pleasure, their noble forms, and the power and beauty of 

 their movements, never fail to strike the beholder with lively admiration. Their 

 resting-place seems to be chosen with reference to sunshine and a wide outlook, 

 and most of all to safety from the attacks of wolves." It is stated that flocks of 

 these sheep have, on more than one occasion, been known to leap down a precipice 

 of one hundred and fifty feet in height. 



This species was formerly found in large flocks, but is now rapidly diminishing 

 in numbers ; so that, according to Mr. Shields, where it was at one time found in 

 bands of several hundred individuals it is now rarely that more than fifty are seen 

 together. Sentinels are posted in prominent positions to give notice to the herd of 

 the approach of danger ; and the agility of these animals in making their way over 

 glaciers and crags is said to be unsurpassed. In summer these sheep will occasion- 

 ally ascend as high as twelve thousand feet ; but in the spring they wander into 

 the valleys in search of fresh pasture or salt lakes. The lambs, which are occa- 

 sionally two at a birth, but usually one, are produced in May and the beginning of 

 June, and when but a few days old will follow their mothers up apparently 

 inaccessible cliffs. The flesh of this sheep is said to be equal in flavour to the best 

 venison. The Indians hunt the bighorn by tying a pair of horns on their heads, 

 when they are able to creep within range. 

 Kamschatkan The Kamschatkan wild sheep, of which the head is represented 



Wild Sheep. [ n the accompanying woodcut and the skull in the figure on p. 214, 



is so very closely related to 

 the northern variety of the 

 American species, that it may 

 be a question whether it is 

 really anything more than a 

 geographical race of the latter. 

 Thus both have the compara- 

 tively small skull, and rela- 

 tively slender horns with 

 entire and outwardly directed 

 tips ; while in both there is 

 the same tuft between the 

 small hairy ears. The ears 

 of the Kamschatkan sheep 

 are, however, rounded instead 

 of blunt ; and the white patch 

 on the rump is smaller, and 

 does not extend above the 

 tail, while there is no trace 

 of a dark stripe down the 

 back. 

 The Kamschatkan sheep is found in the Stanovoi Mountains to 

 Distribution. ^ ^^ q£ the gea of Okhotsk, as well as in the peninsula of 



HEAD OF THE KAMSCHATKAN WILD SHEEP. 



(From Guillemard's Cruise of the Marchesa.) 



