THE IBEX. 



217 



of diet. Its gait is rather clumsy, but very rapid, and generally 

 consists of a peculiar long swinging canter, which is not easily over- 

 taken. 



GOATS AND SHEEP. 



Closely allied to each other, the Goats and Sheep can easily be sep- 

 arated by a short examination. In the Goats, which will first come un- 

 der consideration, the horns are erect, decidedly compressed, curved 

 backward and outward, and are supplied with a ridge or heel of horny 

 substance in front. The males generally possess a thickly-bearded chin, 

 and are all notable for a powerful and very rank odor which is not pres- 

 ent in the male sheep. 



Of the genus Capra, which includes several species, the Ibex, or 

 Steinbock, is a familiar and excellent example. 



This animal, an inhabitant of the Alps, is remarkable for the ex- 

 ceeding development of the horns, which are sometimes more than 

 three feet in length, and of such 

 extraordinary dimensions that 

 they appear to a casual observer 

 to be peculiarly unsuitable for an 

 animal that traverses the craggy 

 regions of Alpine precipices. 



To hunt the Ibex successfully 

 is as hard a matter as hunting 

 the chamois, for the Ibex is to the 

 full as wary and active an animal, 

 and is sometimes apt to turn the 

 tables on its pursuer, and assume 

 an offensive deportment. Should 

 the hunter approach too near the 

 Ibex, the animal will, as if sud- 

 denly urged by the reckless cour- 

 age of despair, dash boldly for- 

 ward at its foe, and strike him 



The Ibex {Capra Ibex). 



from the precipitous rock over which he is forced to pass. The diffi- 

 culty of the chase is further increased by the fact that the Ibex is a 

 remarkably endurant animal, and is capable of abstaining from food 

 or water for a considerable time. 



It lives in little bands of five or ten in number, each troop being un- 

 der the command of an old male, and preserving admirable order 

 among themselves. Their sentinel is ever on the watch, and at the 

 slightest suspicious sound, scent, or object, the warning whistle is 

 blown, and the whole troop make instantly for the highest attainable 

 point. Their instinct always leads them upward, an inborn " exeel- 



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