510 BOYID.S:. 



and breast so long in old males as to form a shaggy mane reaching 

 to below the knees. Tail short, depressed, nude below ; knees and 

 breast callous. Four mammse. 



Head long, face narrow and straight ; nasals narrow. Horns 

 almost touching or touching at the base, slightly wrinkled trans- 

 versely, greatly compressed, flattened on each side, more rounded 

 but still slightly flattened towards the base behind, strongly com- 

 pressed and furnished with a distinct nodose keel in front, diverg- 

 ing from the base, curved sharply backwards, converging again a 

 little at the tips. 



Colour rich dark brown or reddish brown, old males much darker ; 

 the fur pale at the base, dark brown towards the ends. There is 

 considerable variation in colour, some individuals of both sexes 

 being very pale. The face and the front of all the limbs very dark, 

 almost black in some ; a dark band, indistinct in old males, down 

 the back. The backs of the limbs pale or rusty red in males. 

 Young animals are greyish brown ; kids are said to be very pale. 



Dimensions. Height of a male at shoulder 36 to 40 inches, nose to 

 root of tail 4 ft. 8 in., tail without hair 3-25, with hair 7. Extreme 

 length of skull 10-75, orbital breadth 5-4. Horns 12 to 15 inches long 

 outside the curve ; extreme measurement recorded 16-5, with a basal 

 girth of 11*5. Females are much smaller, and the horns seldom 

 exceed 10 inches in length. 



Distribution. Throughout the Himalayas from the Pir Panjal 

 to Sikhim (I have skins from the latter, obtained by Mr. Mandelli), 

 in the higher forests. 



Habits. Col. Kinloch's account is excellent. He says : " The 

 tahr is, like the markhor, a forest-loving animal, and although it 

 sometimes resorts to the rocky summits of the hills, it generally 

 prefers the steep slopes which are more or less clothed with trees. 

 Female tahr may be frequently found on open ground ; but old 

 males hide a great deal in the thickest jungle. Nearly perpendicular 

 hills with dangerous precipices, where the forest consists of oak 

 and ringal cane, are the favourite haunts of the old tahr, who climb 

 with ease over ground where one would hardly imagine that any 

 animal would find a footing." He adds that tahr and markhor 

 are found together on the Pir Panjal. 



Like the true goats, tahr associate in herds, the males and 

 females at times keeping apart. They rut in winter, and the 

 females produce one kid as a rule in June or July, the period of 

 gestation, according to Hodgson, being six months. But it is 

 necessary to point out that Hodgson's information about this 

 animal's habits was chiefly derived from his collectors and was 

 not always correct. He, however, kept some individuals tame 

 with a flock of tame goats, but, although they bad free intercourse, 

 no offspring was produced. He also states that in Nepal a hybrid 

 was born between a male tahr and a female spotted deer, but the 

 story must, I think, be erroneous. 



The flesh of the female tahr is excellent, but that of old males 

 is too rank for European tastes, though much relished by particular 

 classes of natives. 



