THE MONGOLIAN AND TIBETAN ARGALIS 



807 



brown above, but whitish beneath; and in the males there is, as a j^le, a large white 

 patch surrounding the tail and embracing a considerable portion of the rump, while 

 the throat, chest, and under parts, as well as the inner sides of the legs, are likewise 

 white. The crest of hair on the neck and a stripe down the outer sides of the legs 

 are dark, and there is also a dark mark above the tail. In very old rams the fur of 

 the back becomes grayish by the admixture of white hairs; and Mr. Blanford con- 

 siders it probable that in winter the whole color is paler than in summer. In the 

 ewes the long hair on the back and throat characteristic of the Tibetan argali is but 

 little developed, or absent; and the light patch on the rump is indistinct. The mas- 

 sive and closely-wrinkled horns of the rams are light brown in color, 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 slightly outward, 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 



FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS OF SKUI.lv AND HORNS OF" TIBETAN ARGAI.I. 



(P'rom Sir V. Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1875.) 



stands from three and one-half to four feet at the shoulder; but the weight does not 

 appear to have been ascertained. The horns of fine specimens generally measure 

 from thirty-six to forty inches along the curve, with a basal girth of sixteen or sev- 

 enteen inches; but these dimensions are sometimes exceeded. The horns of a speci- 

 men in the collection of Mr. Otho Shaw have a length of forty-seven and one-half 

 and a girth of seventeen inches; and in another pair the length has been stated to be 

 forty-eight inches, with a girth of twenty inches. Some degree of doubt attaches, 

 however, to an alleged length of fifty-three inches, and a girth of twenty-four or 

 twenty-five inches, which have been given as the dimensions of one example. In 

 ewes the horns are seldom more than eighteen inches, but it is stated that they may 

 occasionally reach twenty-four 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 by 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 Peking, described as O. 

 jubata, is probably not specifically distinct from this species; and the same remark 



Distribution 



