ON THE PRAIRIE 87 



or early in June. Like the antelope, the dam 

 soon leads her kids to join the herd, which 

 may range in size from a dozen to four or 

 five times as many individuals, generally ap- 

 proaching nearer the former number. The 

 ewes, lambs, and yearling or two-year-old 

 rams go together. The young but full- 

 grown rams keep in small parties of three 

 or four, while the old fellows, with mon- 

 strous heads, keep by themselves, except 

 when they join the ewes in the rutting sea- 

 son. At this time they wage savage war 

 with each other. The horns of the old rams 

 are always battered and scarred from these 

 butting contests which appearance, by the 

 way, has given rise to the ridiculous idea 

 that they were in the habit of jumping over 

 precipices and landing on their heads. 



Occasionally the big-horn come down into 

 the valleys or along the grassy slopes to feed, 

 but this is not often, and in such cases every 

 member of the band is always keeping the 

 sharpest look-out, and at the slightest alarm 

 they beat a retreat to their broken fast- 



