2l8 



UNGULATES. 



istic of the Tibetan argali is but little developed, or absent ; and the light patch on 

 the rump is indistinct. The massive and closely-wrinkled horns of the rams are 

 light brown in colour, with their edges much rounded, and their lateral surfaces 

 considerably deeper than the one in front ; they form a spiral curve, with the tips 

 diverging but slightly outwards, and the whole twist falling somewhat short of a 

 complete circle. As in the American wild sheep, the horns of the ewes are small, 

 thin, widely separated, and nearly erect, with a slight outward and backward 

 curvature. The adult ram of the Tibetan argali stands from 3h to 4 feet at the 

 shoulder ; but the weight does not appear to have been ascertained. The horns of 

 fine specimens generally measure from 36 to 40 inches along the curve, with a basal 

 girth of 16 or 17 inches ; but these dimensions are sometimes exceeded. The horns 

 of a specimen in the collection of Mr. Otho Shaw have a length of 47 h and a girth 

 of 17 inches; and in another pair the length has been stated to be 48 inches, with 

 a girth of 20 inches. Some degree of doubt attaches, however, to an alleged length 

 of 53 inches, and a girth of 24 or 25 inches, which have been given as the dimensions 



FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS OF SKULL AND HORNS OF TIBETAN ARGALI. (From Sir V. Brooke, 



Proc. Zool. Soc, 1875.) 



Distribution. 



of one example. In ewes the horns are seldom more than 18 inches, but it is stated 

 that they may occasionally reach 24 inches. 



The range of the true argali appears to have been much restricted 



at the present day, owing to the animal having been driven from 

 many parts of Northern Siberia hj the Cossack hunters. Formerly occurring in 

 the Altai, it is now found over Northern Mongolia, and, according to Brehm, some 

 portions of Southern Siberia. The sheep from Mongolia to the north of Pekin, 

 described as 0. jubata, is probably not specifically distinct from this species; and 

 the same remark will apply to the 0. nigrimonta na of Turkestan. The term argali 

 is the Mongolian name of this sheep, but it is known to the Kirghiz as the arkal. 



The Tibetan argali — the nyan (female nyanmo) of the Ladakis — inhabits the 

 Tibetan plateau from Northern Ladak to the districts northwards of Sikhim, and 

 probably still farther to the east. It is unknown to the southward of the main 

 axis of the Himalaya, and in summer does not descend below an elevation of fifteen 

 thousand feet, but in winter may occasionally come as low as twelve thousand feet. 

 The true argali is stated to inhabit mountains at an elevation of 



from three thousand to four thousand feet above the sea, which have an 

 abundance of naked rocks, but have their slopes thinly covered with forest, and 



Habits. 



