HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 77 



THE COMMON GOAT. 



(Cap /-fire its, Linn. Le Bouc, La Chevre, Buff.) 



THIS lively, playful, and capricious creature oc- 

 cupies the next step in the great scale of Nature; 

 and though inferior to the Sheep in value, in 

 various instances bears a strong 1 affinity to that 

 useful animal. It is said that the Goat and the 

 vSheep will propagate together: the He-Goat copu- 

 lates with the Ewe, and the Ram with the She- 

 Goat; the offspring likewise is prolific. 



The Goat is much more hardy than the Sheep, 

 and is, in every respect, more fitted for a life of 

 liberty. It is not easily confined to a flock, but 

 chuses its own pasture, straying wherever its appe- 

 tite or inclination leads. It chiefly delights in wild 

 and mountainous regions, climbing the loftiest 

 rocks, and standing secure on the verge of inac- 

 cessible and dangerous precipices: although, as 



