114 HABITS OF THE IBEX. 



"It is a pleasant sight to watch a herd of ibex when 

 undisturbed, the kids frisking here and there on pinnacles 

 or ledges of rocks and beetling cliffs where there seems 

 scarcely safe foothold for anything much larger than a grass- 

 hopper, the old mother looking calmly on. Then again, 

 see the caution observed in taking up their resting or 

 abiding places for the day, where they may be warmed 

 by the sun, listening to the roar of many waters, figuratively 

 we may say, chewing the cud of contentment and giving 

 themselves up to the full enjoyment of their nomadic life and 

 its romantic haunts. Usually before reposing, one of the 

 herd, generally an old doe, may be observed intently gazing 

 below, apparently scanning every spot in the range of her 

 vision, sometimes for half an hour or more, before she is 

 satisfied that ' all is well,' but strange to say seldom or never 

 looking up to the rocks above. Then being satisfied on the 

 one side, she follows the same process on the other, eventually 

 calmly lying down contented with the precautions she has 

 taken. Her post as sentinel is generally a prominent one on 

 the edge or corner of some ledge, well sheltered from the wind 

 and warmed by the sun, along which the herd dispose them- 

 selves as inclined, fully trusting in the watchful guardian 

 whose manoeuvres I have been describing ; should the 

 sentinel be joined by another, or her kid come and lie 

 down by her, they invariably place themselves back to 

 back, or in such a manner that they can keep a good look 

 out on either side. A solitary male goes through all this 

 by himself, and wonderfully careful he is, but when with 

 the herd he reposes in security, leaving it to the females to 

 take precautions for their mutual safety. 



" Although so wary in their habits, these animals are at 



