1U1 



THE CHAMOIS. 



Kupicapra vuipans. 

 PLATE III. 



Capra rupicapra, Linn Chamois, Buffon^fyc.Fred. 



Cuv. Hist. Nat. des Mammiftres. 



T\IE general form of the Chamois is that of a 

 slender formed goat, with less shaggy hair, and 

 marked by the peculiarly turned horns. It inhabits 

 the alpine districts of Europe and Asia, holding an 

 intermediate station between the elevated glaciers 

 and the wild but more covered country somewhat 

 below them, making excursions into both, and ex- 

 hibiting amazing agility amidst the precipices of 

 those fearful regions. Two varieties are mentioned, 

 the Pyrenean, and those inhabiting the Persian Alps, 

 the latter smaller, and of a paler colour, with the 

 horns bending from the base. The general height 

 of the European animal is two feet three or four 

 inches, the horns black, round, and hooked backwards 

 at the tips. The colour of the hair a yellowish or 

 greyish-brown, with a black streak extending through 

 the eyes. The Chamois is gregarious, living in 

 herds of fifteen or twenty ; they rut in October or No- 



