MAMMALIA 



347 



northwest Montana. It is scattered at long intervals through British 

 Columbia and Alaska, as far as the head of Cook's inlet. "^ 



The sheep (Ovis) are almost entirely palaearctic and nearctic, barely 

 getting into the oriental region. They, like the goats, are often limited to 

 islands and small stretches of country, owing in part to their mountain- 



Fig. 282.— The White Mountain .sheep of Alaska (Oi'is dalli). (Osgood, 

 Yearbook, 1907, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture.) 



loving habits (Fig. 282). There are six North American species. The 

 Rocky Mountain big-horn {Ovis monlana) ranges from the far north to New 

 Mexico. The mountain sheep is a fine, sturdy animal, bold, keen-eyed, 

 active, and strong. It fears no storm and defies all enemies, save man with 

 his gun and domestic sheep with their diseases. It deHghts in the highest 

 1 Hornaday. 



