302 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



years old, horns 25^ ins. by 14 ins. thick ; second eight years, 

 23 ins. by 12 ins. ; third eight years, 22 ins. by 10^ ins. Bad 

 shooting but good fun. 



Amongst other varieties of burrel are the Barbary burrel 

 (Ammotragus Tragelaphus), of which there is a skeleton in the 

 British Museum which stands 33^ ins. at the shoulder, and a 

 pair of horns measuring 26 ins. in length by 1 1 ins. in girth; also 

 the Caucasian burrel (Capra Pallasi\ of which there is a 

 specimen in the same museum, whose horns are 29 ins. long 

 by 12 ins. in girth ; but the animal looks more like a goat 

 than a sheep, having a rudimentary beard, and the horns are 

 more like those of Capra pyrenaica than Ovis Nahura. 



XXXIII. SHAPOO (Ovis Vignet) 



Native names : ' Shapoo ' the male, ' Sliamoo ' f he female ; 

 in Astor, ' Oorin ' 



Shapoo and oorin, though by some naturalists classed as 

 separate varieties, may practically be considered identical ; the 

 writer has hunted both, and is unable to distinguish any dif- 

 ference in appearance or habits. The annual winter migration 

 of oorin to the Boonji Plain is probably attributable to the 

 snowfall in Astor being heavier than that of Ladak. 



The only other difference (giving the result of individual 

 experience) is that oorin are not nearly so restless as shapoo, 

 being pretty regular in their feeding hours, and lying down 

 throughout the heat of the day. Shapoo, on the other hand, 

 are perpetually on the fidget. In colour they appear identical, 

 generally a pale reddish grey fading into white below. The 

 profuse black beard of the Ovis cycloceros is entirely absent, 

 the shapoo in his winter coat having only a short stubbly brown 

 beard, and in summer a dark line on the throat. The different 

 points of Ovis Vignei and Ovis Cycloceros are briefly as follows, 

 according to Mr. Sclater (' Pro. Zoo. Soc.' 1860) : 



