224 The Mountain Sheep 



are lighter, more divergent, and sharper pointed, 

 while the ears tend to become shorter, blunter, 

 and more hairy. Height at shoulder about 3 feet 

 2 inches ; weight about 350 pounds. 



The horns of the ewes are very small in com- 

 parison to those of the rams, seldom measuring 

 more than 15 inches on the curve from base to 

 tip. Large male horns are now difficult to obtain, 

 and of late years it is seldom that those of fresh- 

 killed specimens are seen exceeding 38 inches on 

 the curve from tip to tip. American sportsmen 

 are keen to obtain horns of large basal girth ; but 

 these, as will be seen from the following table, 

 rarely exceed 16 inches. The Machine of Loch- 

 buie possesses a specimen whose girth, according 

 to his own measurement, is 19 inches. 



Distribution. North America, from the Rocky 

 Mountains southward to Sonora, northern Mex- 

 ico, and California, and northward to Alaska and 

 the shores of Bering Sea. The Alaskan race, 

 for at least some portion of the year, is snow- 

 white. 



