CHARACTERISTICS OF TAKIN 73 



of the hindquarters, and comparative concealment 

 of the short, broad tail, is absurdly like that of a 

 Teddy bear. Much larger in size, they reminded 

 me very strongly of the Rocky Mountain goat 

 (Oreamnus montanus), both in their heavy build 

 and apparently clumsy, lumbering gait. On 

 occasions they can cover the rough ground on 

 which they dwell with the agility of a rhinoceros. 

 The head, normally, is carried low, the point of the 

 muzzle being -considerably below the line of the 

 vertebrae. The eyesockets are prominent, close 

 up to the horn, the curve of the nose decidedly 

 Semitic, and the nostrils large and well formed. 

 The colour of the young is yellowish grey, shading 

 to a darker tone, mingled with brown on the flanks. 

 The belly is brown, the hair soft and fluffy ; the 

 hind legs dark grey, a lighter brown on the inside 

 of the thigh. The upper part of the foreleg is 

 dark grey ; the lower part of the leg brownish 

 yellow. ' 



According to the natives, those found to the 

 south of Tai-pei-shan are much darker in colour 

 and not so yellow, but there seems no reason why 

 this should be so. They also say that the calves 

 in their second year are black and white and 

 gradually turn yellow. No doubt the latter part 

 of the statement is correct. The rut takes place 

 towards the latter end of July and the beginning 

 of August. The calves, usually one at a birth, are 

 dropped towards the end of March or early in 

 April. The summer excreta resemble those of 

 domestic cattle ; the winter, ovoid, are like a 

 deer's. They feed in the winter on bamboos and 

 willows ; in the summer on birch shoots, a kind of 



