454 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



and rounded or arched on the outer side. In me- 

 dium sized animals they often measure upward of 

 sixteen inches and more than double this size in old 

 individuals. Beginning from the base they sweep 

 backward in a bold, direct curve, and in old males 

 describe almost a semicircle. They are set close 

 together at their bases, gradually diverge for more 

 than half their length, and for the remainder of their 

 length to their extremities curve boldly forward and 

 inward. The knots or transverse rings on the horns, 

 between which are numerous smaller ridges, number 



denned black-brown stripe runs along the course of 

 the backbone to the black tail. 



Range and The /Egagrus is a native of an exten- 

 Habits of the sive portion of western and central 



Egagrus. Asia. It is found on the southern 

 slope of the Caucasus, and in the Taurus and other 

 mountains of Asia Minor and Persia, and from thence 

 far south through Afghanistan and Beluchistan. It 

 is also found on the islands of the Mediteranean, es- 

 pecially among those of the Grecian Archipelago, 

 and perhaps even on the higher parts of the Greek 



THE MARKHOOR. TIil lofty mountains which enclose the famous valley of Cashmere in Asia form the favorite home of the Mark- 



hoor, or Markhor, popularly, but erroneously, called the Serpent-eater. It is rather larger than the Ibex, is of a slaty gray color with a long beard 

 of darker hue, and has strange, triangular, spiral horns which are sometimes as much as five feet long in the large males. Markhoors have 

 bred several times in the gardens of the Zoological Society, London. {Cafira falconeri.) 



from ten to twelve in old individuals. /Egragus 

 Goats of both sexes have coarse beards; the remain- 

 der of the hairy covering consists of a rather long, 

 smooth, wiry outer fur, and a short, woolly inner 

 coat of a medium degree of softness. The coloring 

 is a bright reddish-gray, or a rusty hue of brownish- 

 yellow, assuming a lighter tint upon the sides of 

 the neck and the flanks. The breast and throat 

 are blackish-brown, the abdomen and the inner and 

 rear surfaces of the thighs are white. A sharply 



peninsula. Investigation has demonstrated, almost 

 to a certainty, that the ^Egagrus is the same animal 

 mentioned by Homer in his description of the Cy- 

 clopean Island: 



"A wooded isle, wherein do roam wild Goats unnumbered; 

 For path of Man, or presence there, affrights them not." 



The actions and habits of the /Egagrus strikingly 

 resemble those of the Ibex. With heedless fleetness 

 it runs along the most perilous paths or stands for 

 hours, entirely free from vertigo, looking down into 



