GREKK TOKTOISE. 



CHAPTER X 

 Southern Europe 



Spanish rbex. 



Southern - Europe in its animal life is so closely connected with the Mediterranean 

 countries of Asia and Africa that our remarks will be confined to species entirely 

 or chiefly limited to this area or more fully observed there than elsewhere. 



Perhaps the most noticeable is the Spanish ibex (Capra pyren- 

 aica), which presents a greater resemblance to the tur or wild 

 goats of the Caucasus than to the Alpine ibex. The horns of this handsome goat, 

 which curve upwards and outwards with a slight twist towards the tip, are 

 flattened in front and keeled behind, showing a pear-shaped section. When seen 

 from the front, they are somewhat in the shape of a lyre, and on the outer side 

 are more or less distinctly knotted. The male has a shoulder-height of from 

 about 27 to 32 inches, the horns attain a length of from 24 to 31 inches, and the 

 chin bears a thick, and at some seasons long, black beai'd. The general colour is 

 light brown, but much darker around the nose, the forehead, and the back of the 

 head, while a triangular patch on the back, a stripe on the flanks, and the front 

 of the legs are black : the upper lip, cheeks, the sides of the throat, and the back of 

 the legs being grey, and the rest of the under-parts white. The colour varies, 

 however, with the season, and to a certain degree also with locality ; the hair, 

 which is mixed with a thick under-fur, being much longer in winter than in 

 summer. The species, of which two local races have been described, inhabits the 

 Pyrenees, some of the mountains of central Spain, and the highest ranges of 

 Andalucia and Portugal. The largest form is found in the Pyrenees, where the 

 horns of old bucks often become comparatively smooth and nearly devoid of knots, 

 thus approaching those of one of the Caucasian tur. On the other hand, the horns 

 of the considerably smaller Andalucian race, although often as long as those from 

 the Pyrenees, are generally flatter, while those from the central Spanish Cordillera, 



