234 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



"The Goat is marvellously sure-footed, and from the day of its 

 birth is practised in climbing over the rocks, but it must not be 

 imagined that it never falls from the insecure perches which it 

 frequents. Such falls are not uncommon, but seem rarely to result 

 in serious injury. Kids which have been captured when very 

 young, and kept in captivity, have been observed to play at rolling 

 down steep banks, repeating the tumble over and over again, as if 

 practising for the falls which they might be obliged to take later 

 in life." 



MARKHOR. The Markhor, of which a coloured representation is 

 given in Plate XV., as well as photographs of a fine male (Fig. 186) 

 and a female with her young one (Fig. 187), is a remarkable Goat, 

 the horns of the male being very powerful, long, twisted appendages, 

 and the hair on the chest and shoulders a sort of extension of the 

 beard is also a very striking feature which cannot fail to arrest 

 attention. 



Markhor, being literally translated, means Snake-Eater, and 

 this animal is also called the Spiral-Horned Goat. The horns vary 

 in both size and form, for whilst one variety has them twisted some- 

 what like a corkscrew, another kind possesses horns in which three 

 complete turns may be detected. At one time it was considered 

 that the animals having these two forms of horns were distinct 

 species, but Zoologists are now of opinion that they are merely 

 varieties. In any case, it is important to recognize that the horns 

 of the Markhor, which exhibit a corkscrew-like twist, are to be 

 reckoned as the most remarkable appendages possessed by any 

 species of living Goats. 



The male, which with his remarkable horns makes such a 

 striking figure that we have thought him worthy of inclusion 

 among the coloured plates, attains a height of about three and a 

 half feet at the withers, and the general form is enhanced in attraction 

 by reason of the black and grey beard. The extension of this on 

 to the crest and shoulders is confined to the male, the female (see 

 Fig. 187) only possessing the beard upon the chin. The Markhor 

 has a reddish-brown fur in Summer and grey in Winter; the 

 under-parts are paler, and there is a dark stripe on the bottom parts 

 of the front of the legs. Old males, it should be stated, turn whitish 

 during the Summer; the young ones are uniform greyish-brown, 

 with the exception of a black stripe down the back. 



This splendid Wild Goat is found, according to Mr. Finn, "in 



