328 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



Female ther are smaller than the males, have no mane, 

 insignificant horns, and vary a good deal in colour, some being 

 reddish-brown, others a yellowish-drab. They and the bucks 

 in their summer coats have a conspicuous mark on the back, 

 where the hair of what is the mane in the buck parts from the 

 hair on the back. This is particularly noticeable when looking 

 down on the beast from above. 



XL. NEILGHERRY IBEX {Hemitragus hylocritis) 



Native Names : ' Warra-adti,^ ' Warri-atu'' ; Tamil {Steyitdale) 

 ' Kdrd-ardoo ' ; Canarese {Sanderson) 



This wild goat is found in the Neilgherry range, and most 

 of the higher hills in the south of India. It is not found in 

 Mysore nor in Ceylon. 



The old buck is of a dark sepia colour, with a light, grizzled 

 saddle mark, lower parts paler brown, legs and face dark, and 

 a short stiff mane on the neck and withers ; the young bucks 

 and females being lighter in colour. The horns much resemble 

 those of the ther, Hemitragus jemlaicus^ except that they are 

 more ringed and sheeplike, and do not taper so rapidly. There 

 is much the same difference between them on a small scale as 

 between the horns of Capra sibirica and Capra cegagrus^ the 

 Neilgherry goat taking after the former and the ther the latter. 

 The two beasts are much about the same size, and have, taking 

 into consideration the different types of forest, much the same 

 habits. In Madras the Neilgherry ibex, being the sole repre- 

 sentative of the goat family, has an amount of importance 

 attached to his pursuit which his Himalayan cousin does not 

 enjoy, being crushed by the superior attractions of his mighty 

 relatives the ibex and markhor. They are to be sought for in 

 the same way, watching from above the grassy slopes among 

 the cliffs at an elevation of 5,000 or 6,000 ft., and require the 

 same careful stalking. 



