THE ARGALI. 99 



of the males are enormous, measuring over two feet ten 

 inches in length round the curve, and being very large at 

 the base. Their color is a rufous gray, except the rump, 

 belly, and the inside of the hind legs, all of which are a gray- 

 isli white. In winter they become lighter-colored. The hair 

 is coarse and slightly crimped. Underneath the hair is a soft 

 fur or wool. The Big-horn is, or becomes after contact with 

 hunters, an exceedingly shy, Avild animal. In the retired parts 

 of the mountains where they have never been hunted, they 

 are sometimes found quite tame and unsuspecting. They are 

 gregarious and live in small flocks among the peaks and most 

 inaccessible regions oj the mountains, never descending into 

 the plains. They subsist on mountain grass and herbage, and 

 inhabit the rocky recesses. The young rams and the females 

 herd together during the winter and spring, while the old rams 

 separate in flocks, except at the rutting season in December. 

 The rams fight fiercely with each other like common rams. 

 The ewes bring forth one or two young in June and July. 



The flesh of the Big-horn is excellent, superior to the best 

 venison or the finest mutton. They can only be hunted suc- 

 cessfully by the exercise of extreme caution and strategy in 

 approaching them ; and if only wounded by the first fire they 

 retire to their recesses among the rocks, and there die, inac- 

 cessible to the hunter. Dogs are worse than useless in hunt- 

 ing them. 



Another Moufflon is 



THE ARGALI. 



The Argali of Siberia and Central Asia greatly resembles 

 the American big-horn, and some naturalists have regarded 

 them as the same species. They are very large, being about 

 four feet high at the shoulders and proportionately large in 

 build. The horns of a full grown male are nearly four feet 

 in length, measured along the curve, and about nineteen 

 inches in circumference at the base. They rise from the fore- 

 head a short distance, then curve downward below the chin, 

 then recurve upward and terminate in a point. They are 

 mountain-loving animals and are found in the highlands and 



