363 



yelloAv. The females have a characteristic M-hite saddle 

 mark on the back. 



The Mouflon (Ovis-musimon) is probably the ancestor 

 of some of the long wool artificial breeds with short flat 

 tails and cresentic horns ; the origin of some of the tight 

 wool Tarieties like the Southdowns could possibly be 

 traced back to the fat tail, and it seems certain that the 

 broad tail sheep of Persia, the Arabis and Doozbais of 

 Bokhara, and the other producers of close spiral curled 

 lambs, like the Astrachan, Persian and Ukranier, are 

 strains of the now extinct Ovis-platyiira, the original 

 broad tail. 



The Mouflon is a species entirely confined to the Islands 

 of Corsica and Sardinia. It is of compact build and 

 stands about twenty-eight inches high. The general color 

 is a fox red shading to a light grey on the head; the 

 under part of the body, sides and tail, cheeks and parts 

 of the lower legs are white. Mouflons generally frequent 

 the highest peaks of the mountain ranges in their habitat, 

 where they can command a full view of the surrounding 

 country. In the pairing season, which occurs in December 

 and January, they divide into small parties consisting 

 of one ram and several ewes ; the lambs — either one or 

 two at a birth — are produced in May, and within a few 

 days after they are born are able to follow the ewes 

 everyw^here. The fact that the wild Mouflon occasionally 

 desert their own kin to live among tame sheep, and that 

 motherless domestic lambs have been known to seek com- 

 panionship among a flock of Mouflon, is the strongest 

 evidence that the wild sheep and domesticated breeds 

 are very closely related. 



The Asiatic wild sheep ( Ovis-vignei) known in Punjab 

 as the Uriel and in Ladok as the Sha, is distinguished 

 from the preceding species by its smaller size, more 

 diminutive horns, and the presence of a large ruff of long 

 hair on the throat, which is much less developed in the Sha 

 than in the Urial. The range of this species extends 

 from northern Tibet to Afghanistan and into eastern 

 Persia, and is generally at elevations of from twelve to 

 fourteen thousand feet. The Urial stands about two feet 

 eight inches at the shoulders, and the Sha sometimes 

 attains a height of three feet. 



