3 i 4 HOOFED ANIMALS 



various streaks upon the body, and the under parts white. 

 The horns vary from twenty to thirty inches in length. In 

 summer the hair is close, like that of the deer; in winter 

 it is rough and wavy, concealing at its roots a fine, white, 

 woolly down. The young, when first born, are covered 

 with a soft, grey fleece, which changes into hair as the 

 animal grows older. 



In the warmer parts of the year the Mouflon keeps to 

 the higher elevations, living chiefly on the young shoots of 

 Alpine plants; but with the approach of the cold season 

 the animal descends to the lower slopes and feeds mainly 

 on grass. It was formerly very abundant, and at one time 

 as many as four or five hundred animals were killed in a 

 single drive. Nowadays the herds are only parties number- 

 ing about half a dozen, consisting of a ram and several 

 ewes; and a well-organised hunt would not witness the 

 capture of more than fifty animals. 



ARGALI (Ovis ammon). 

 Coloured Plate XX. Fig. 3. 



The Argali, the largest of the wild Sheep, is a handsome 

 animal found in Mongolia, Eastern Siberia, Tibet, and 

 Central Asia generally. Any differences in the animals of 

 these regions are mainly concerned with their size and a 

 varying twist in their horns. Early naturalists regarded the 

 Argali and the mouflon as the same species, but comparison 

 of the two animals figured on the plate appears almost 

 sufficient in itself to negative the idea. 



In summer the animal's smooth coat is a dark greyish- 

 brown above and whitish below; in winter it assumes a 

 reddish tinge and the hair is harsher. But the most promi- 

 nent feature is the great horns, massive and roughly ringed, 

 curving downwards and then upwards. In the finer speci- 

 mens the horns attain a length of forty-eight inches, with a 

 girth of twenty at the base. Even an animal of only average 

 size carries a weight upon its head of quite forty pounds. 



The Argali is less of a wanderer than many other species 

 of wild Sheep, frequenting the same particular mountain 



