224 DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKHOR. 



somewhat smaller, with horns shorter, straighter, and screw- 

 ing more sharply, like a twisted ribbon. Those found on the 

 hills north and east of the Peshawar valley appear to carry 

 horns of a size and twist something midway between the Pir 

 Punchal and the Dehrajat varieties, judging from the only 

 two specimens I saw from that locality. 



A full-grown buck of the Pir Punchal stands about 

 44 inches at the shoulder. Like most other wild animals, 

 the appearance of its coat varies with the seasons. During 

 the spring and early summer the colour of its shaggy body 

 and of its face is a dirty yellowish white. Towards winter 

 it becomes more of a brownish grey. The legs are brown. 

 From the throat and all down the chest flows a dark-brown 

 beard or mane, sometimes so long as almost to sweep the 

 ground, which, with its huge V-shaped spiral horns, gives 

 this animal a truly majestic appearance. The average length 

 of really good horns ought to be nearly, if not quite a yard, 

 measured without the twist, but they occasionally exceed 

 this considerably. The circumference at the base is some- 

 times almost a foot. The doe, which is called "bukree," 

 simply meaning she-goat, is not more than half the size of 

 the full-grown buck. She is of a uniform light-brownish 

 dun, and carries small spiral horns which seldom attain a 

 length of more than 15 inches. The young bucks, called 

 " rind," are not easily distinguished in a herd from the does, 

 with which they are generally found in company. The old 

 hoary bucks only are termed markhor, and like the ibex and 

 the tahr, they generally herd separately from the does during 

 summer. The females do not, I think, usually have more 

 than one kid, as I saw many of them with their young, but 

 never with twins. 



Markhor seem generally to prefer steep, stony landslips, 

 precipitous grassy slopes, and rocky acclivities clad more or 

 less with pine and birch, to the more open ground near the 

 upper snow-fields and glaciers ; consequently their pursuit is 



