272 



Descriptive Zoology. 



tinel, commonly an old ram, posted on a high point of rock, 

 on the lookout for enemies. They seem to expect attack 

 from below, so the hunter tries to get above them. They 

 stay most of the time above timber line. 



Goats. The Rocky Mountain goat dwells in equally 

 inaccessible mountain tops. Its color is pure white, though 

 its coat is usually dingy from the habit of sunning itself in 

 a bed of dust. Its white coat seems odd for a wild animal. 

 But when one sees it in its home, up among snow banks 



FIG. 160. ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 



From photograph of specimen mounted by L. L. Dyche, in Camp Fires of a Naturalist. 

 By permission of D. Appleton & Co. 



and light-colored rocks, it seems well adapted to its sur- 

 roundings. It has small, smooth, black horns. Mountain 

 goats are rather stupid animals. The main difficulties 

 in hunting them are due to the steepness of ascent and 

 the rarefied condition of the air. 



The Buffalo. The American bison, usually called 

 " buffalo," is now nearly extinct. Buffaloes once roamed 



