THE MARKHOR 25 



and secluded in its habits, remaining concealed in the 

 densest thickets during the daytime, and only coming out 

 to feed in the mornings and evenings; . . . early in 

 the season the males and females may be found together in 

 the open grassy patches and clear slopes among the forest, 

 but during the summer the females generally betake them- 

 selves to the highest rocky ridge above the forests, while 

 the males conceal themselves still more constantly in the 

 jungles, and very rarely showing themselves." 



My experience is that the markhor is not a cold or snow- 

 loving animal like the ibex, though nature has been gener- 

 ous in supplying him with winter clothing. He passes his 

 life at a much lower level, at all seasons of the year, than 

 the other animal, and the heat of the early summer months 

 seems to cause him no inconvenience, though he still wears 

 his winter suit. As summer advances, he is driven higher 

 by the village flocks that graze gradually up as the snow- 

 line retreats ; and also by the swarms of flies, gnats, midges 

 and what not, that make life a burden both to man and 

 beast at a lower level. The fresh and tender grass, too, 

 can be found only near the snow-line, and these influences 

 combine to keep him constantly moving upwards, till he 

 reaches the open slopes near the top of the range, where he 

 may then be seen in close proximity to the ibex. The 

 rutting season overtakes him here by the end of September 

 or beoinnins of October; and he has his short season of 

 madness at this high elevation, where cover is scarce and 

 precipices infrequent. Native shikaris have informed me 

 that the rutting season is the time for markhor shooting, 

 and they themselves hunt him most frequently at this 

 particular period. His shy and retiring habit, I am inclined 

 to think, is due in some measure to those ever-present pests, 

 the flies. The cool shades of the forest and thicket preserve 

 him from their attacks during the heat of the day when 



