8 NATURAL HISTORY. 



on account of the rarefaction of the air in these regions that there is considerable difficulty in obtain- 

 ing specimens which have been wounded, because Horses at these heights are much distressed in their 

 breathing, whilst the Sheep are not so. Mr. N. A. Severtzoff, an eminent Russian naturalist, has 

 described three or four other species closely allied to Marco Polo's Sheep, which are smaller than 

 it, from Turkestan and the district east of it. In this Sheep, during the winter, the sides of the body 

 are of a light greyish-brown, changing to white below. There is a white mane all round the neck and 

 a white disc round the tail. A dark line runs the whole length of the middle of the back: In 

 summer the grev changes to dark brown. 



O / O 



The OORIAL and the SHAPOO are bearded Sheep, from Ladakh and the Suliman rane of the 



Punjab respectively, with large horns, which form not more than half a circle in the Shapoo and nearly 

 a complete one in the Oorial. The colour of the Oorial is a reddish-brown above, paler beneath, the 

 abdomen being white. A lengthy dark beard, reaching to the knees, fringes the whole length of the 

 neck from the chin to the chest. The points of the horns are directed inwards. It is found at 

 altitudes of 2,000 feet. The Shapoo is brownish-grey, white below, with a short brown beard. Its 

 horns turn outwards at the tips. It is never found at altitudes lower than 12,000 feet. 



The MOUFLOX at one time abounded in Spain, but is now restricted to the islands of Corsica and 

 Sardinia. The species is a small one, of a brownish-grey colour, with a dark streak along the middle 

 of the back, at the same time that there is a varying amount of white about the face and legs. The 

 horns, present in the males only, are proportionately not large, curve backwards anci then inwards at 

 the tips. The tail is very short, in which respect they differ strikingly from the domestic Sheep, to 

 which otherwise they are intimately related. The Mouflon frequents the summits of its native hills 



