THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 143 



But I learn that the skin and head hunters are fast 

 thinning them out. It is only possible now to find 

 stragglers, and these will soon be gone." 



" How is it that your sheep are so much darker 

 than mine?" asked the judge. 



" The colour is difficult of description, as it varies 

 so much in individual specimens. Some are very 

 light grayish-brown, or light rufous gray, while 

 others are very dark. All the intermediate shades 

 from light rufous ash to dark chestnut are to be seen 

 in one band. There is always a dingy white patch 

 on the rump, like that of the elk or antelope." 



" Well, there is one thing that I can't quite under- 

 stand, and that is why we don't see any ewes or 

 lambs," said the doctor. " Here we have been hunt- 

 ing for several days and have seen nothing but bands 

 of old rams. It looks as if all the females had left 

 the country or stayed in the thick woods. " 



" During the summer and autumn the rams range 

 together on certain mountains, while the ewes and 

 lambs are in separate bands on some other range, 

 where they stay until late in the fall. You will find 

 that there are plenty of ewes and lambs within fifteen 

 or twenty miles of these mountains. Not over half 

 of the ewes have lambs following them. I have tried 

 to find the reason for this, but have not been able to 

 satisfactorily account for it. Among the theories of 

 the old hunters the most tenable is that the lambs 

 fall victims to their natural enemies, such as eagles, 

 wolverines, and wolves." 



"Do the sheep remain constantly above timber- 

 line?" 



