260 



UNGULATES. 



covered with hair, except a small spot at the extremity ; and the profile of the face 

 is convex. The horns are black and thick in both sexes ; in the males they rise 



(as in our figure) close together, 

 and at first curve outwards, 

 after which they make a sharp 

 turn and are directed straight 

 backwards. According to Mr. 

 A. O. Hume, the horns of the 

 female are placed further apart 

 at the base, and curve outwards 

 and then backwards without 

 any marked angulation ; but 

 other writers state that they are 

 similar in shape to those of the 

 males, but smaller and thinner. 

 Male horns vary in length from 

 20 to 24 inches, with a basal 

 girth of 9 or 10 inches. The 

 head of the takin is black, but 

 the colour of the coarse hair 

 of the body varies from yellowish to reddish brown mingled with black. Very 

 little is known of the habits of this Tibetan ruminant, but it appears to be found 

 either singly or in herds. 



UPPER PART OF SKULL AND HORNS OF MALE TAKIN. 



(From Hume, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1887.) 



The Rocky Mountain Goat. 



Genus Haploceros. 



The so-called goat of the Eocky Mountains (Haploceros montanus), which is 

 the third and last representative of the Bovidcu inhabiting America, is another 

 animal nearly allied to the serow. This creature is about the size of a large sheep, 

 and averages 100 lbs. in weight. It has very short and stout legs, terminating in 

 broad and blunted hoofs, pointed ears, and jet black horns, curving backwards, and 

 ringed for about half their length, but smooth above this. The body is covered 

 with a long coat of white hair, which is nearly straight, and falls on the sides of 

 the body and limbs, but is erect along the middle of the back, and as it becomes 

 longer over the withers and haunches the animal looks as though it had two humps. 

 Beneath the hair there is a thick coat of wool. There are no glands below the 

 eyes. In length the horns vary from 6 to 10i inches ; and the skeleton is remark- 

 able for the extreme shortness of the cannon-bones. 



„. r „_ , The range of this animal extends through the Rocky Mountains 



Distribution. » , , ... 



from about lat. 36° in California at least as far north as lat. 62°, 



but Mr. J. Fannin believes that it will be found as far north as the mountains 



reach. The same writer observes that it " is extremely abundant in British 



Columbia, ranging from its southern boundary to the watershed of the Arctic 



Ocean, and from the coast-line to the Rockies. Here, amid nature's wildest scenes, 



