8o8 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



will apply to the O. nigrimontana 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 thenyan (female nyanmo) of the L,adakhis inhabits the 

 Tibetan plateau from Northern L,adakh to the districts northward of Sikhim, and 

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

 the Himalayas, and in summer does not descend below an elevation of fifteen thou- 

 sand 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 forests, and 

 their valleys wide and open. Here these sheep dwell throughout the year, rarely 

 traveling from one mountain to another; a single flock, when undisturbed, frequently 

 inhabiting one and the same mountain for many successive years. Up to the breed- 

 ing season the rams and ewes keep separate from one another, the former generally 

 going in parties of from three to five individuals, while the latter are found singly; 

 but shortly before that time the two sexes assemble together in flocks of from ten to 

 fifteen in number. They appear to be essentially diurnal in their habits, feeding in 

 the morning and evening on the mountain slopes and valleys, and retiring to rest 

 about midday. Both when feeding and sleeping, sentinels are placed to warn the 

 flock of danger. In summer the argalis feed on grass and various herbs, but in 

 winter they are compelled to subsist on moss, lichens, and dry grass. At such sea- 

 sons they resort to the more exposed portions of the mountains, as it is there only 

 that the wind has blown away the snow from the lichens and other herbage. Ac- 

 cording to Prejewalski, the pairing season of the argalis in Mongolia is in the month 

 of August; but Brehm was informed by the Kirghiz that in Southern Siberia it does 

 not take place till October. The younger ewes almost invariably give birth to only 

 a single lamb at a time, but the older ones frequently have two. 



As with the American wild sheep, it has been frequently asserted that the argali 

 when taking a long leap will break its fall by alighting on its horns. In both in- 

 stances this statement has however been contradicted by the most reliable authorities. 

 Prejewalski states he has seen these sheep leap down from a height of from eighteen 

 to thirty feet and alight on their feet without harm. 



The country inhabited by the Tibetan argali is of the most barren and desolate 

 nature, scorched in summer during the day by the untempered rays of the sun, and 

 swept during the night and throughout the winter by blasts of icy coldness. For 

 days the traveler may journey through these arid regions without seeing a trace of 

 a bush, although he may here and there come across some low bush jungle in the 

 more sheltered valleys. As a rule, the elevations are undulating and shelving, and 

 the valleys wide and open. In such exposed situations animals naturally become 

 extremely wary, but this wariness is carried to the highest degree in the rams of the 

 present species, which are considered by General Kinloch to be more difficult to 

 stalk than any other kind of Indian or Tibetan game. The females and young- 

 rams, on the other hand, are not difficult to approach, and in Ladakh may not un- 

 frequently be met with in considerable numbers. In spite, however, of their general 

 wariness, adult rams will occasionally approach within rifle shot; the present writer 



