THE HORNED ANIMALS— GOATS. 



451 



nation the hair forms a short beard, not over two 

 inches long and absent in the young males and all 

 females. The color of the beard slightly differs 

 with age and season. In summer a reddish gray tint 

 prevails, in winter it is yellowish gray or of a pale 

 tint. 

 Habits and Pecul- The Bouquetins form herds of vari- 



iarities of the ous sizes, the old males joining them 

 Steinboch. only during the breeding season, 

 however, and leading a solitary life during the re- 

 mainder of the year. The she Goats and kids al- 

 ways live in a lower belt of mountain region than do 

 the males, in whom the yearning for the highest 

 altitudes is so powerful 

 that only lack of food 

 and the severest cold can 

 compel them to descend. 

 According to Berthoud 

 von Berghem, whose ac- 

 counts are still accepted 

 as authentic, all males 

 that are over six years 

 old retire to the highest 

 spots in the mountain, 

 lead a more and more 

 solitary life and finally 

 become so insensible to 

 the severest cold that 

 they will sometimes stand 

 on the highest peaks with 

 their faces turned against 

 the storm, motionless as 

 statues, as a result of 

 which they not infre- 

 quently get the tips of 

 their ears frozen. Like 

 the Chamois, the Ibex 

 also grazes during the 

 night in the forests near- 

 est the line of vegetation, 

 in summer never descend- 

 ing lower than a quarter 

 of an hour's journey from 

 the perpetual snow limit. 

 At sunrise they begin to 

 climb upwards, grazing, 

 and finally settle down to 

 rest on the highest and 

 warmest places, facing 

 east and south; in the 

 afternoon they descend 

 again, grazing, to spend 

 the night in the forest, if 

 possible. 



No other Ruminant 

 seems to be so well fitted 

 to climb mountains as the 



wild Goats in general and the Ibex in particular. 

 All the movements of the latter are quick, vigorous 

 and yet easy. It runs with great speed, climbs with 

 admirable facility and exhibits a truly astonishing 

 security and speed in going along almost perpen- 

 dicular walls of rock where it alone can gain a foot- 

 hold. An uneven spot or indentation in the wall, 

 which a human eye barely sees when quite close to 

 it, affords it sufficient support; minute crevices and 

 small holes constitute for it the steps of a conven- 

 ient ladder. It plants its hoofs so firmly and se- 

 curely that it can keep its hold upon the smallest 

 spots of standing room. Schinz has observed and 

 interestingly recorded with what precision these ani- 



mals reach the spots at which they aim. A young 

 Bouquetin in Berne sprang voluntarily and without 

 having been pursued, alighting on the head of a tall 

 Man, and kept its place there with all four hoofs. 

 Another was seen to stand on all four feet on the 

 top of a pole, a third stood on the narrow upper 

 edge of a door and mounted a vertical wall without 

 any other support than that formed by the projec- 

 tions of the bricks, at such joints as had been de- 

 nuded by the falling off of mortar. Running along 

 this wall, it scaled it to the top with three bounds. 

 It took its stand opposite the goal it had selected 

 and measured the distance with its eye; then it trav- 



"■/?a,£-i 



PYRENEAN IBEX.- Closely allied in its nature to the Steinbock is the Pytenean Ibex, which is distin- 

 guished from its Alpine relative by a more graceful form and by differently shaped and twisted horns. It inhabits 

 the snowy heights of the Pyrenees, and is very difficult to hunt because at the slightest alarm it retreats to places 

 inaccessible to Man. (Capta fyrenaica.) 



ersed an equal horizontal space taking short steps, 

 repeatedly coming back to the starting point; it 

 swayed to and fro on its legs as though trying their 

 elasticity, then jumped and reached the top in three 

 bounds. They scarcely seem to touch the rocks or 

 walls in leaping, and their bodies bound upwards 

 like balls. The ease and security with which the 

 Ibex crosses the deepest and most dangerous cre- 

 vasses and abysses are also truly wonderful. 

 Sensory and Mental The vocal expression of the Ibex 

 Attributes of resembles the whistle of the 



Ibexes. Chamois, but is longer drawn-out. 



Among the perceptive senses that of sight ranks 

 first. The eye of an Ibex is much keener than that 



