216 UNGULATES. 
twenty, and are usually found feeding along the edges of glacier-meadows, or rest- 
ing among castle-like crags of the high summits ; and whether quietly feeding, or 
scaling the wild cliffs for pleasure, their noble forms, and the power and beauty of 
their movements, never fail to strike the beholder with lively admiration. Their 
resting-place seems to be chosen with reference to sunshine and a wide outlook, 
and most of all to safety from the attacks of wolves.” It is stated that flocks of 
these sheep have, on more than one occasion, been known to leap down a precipice 
of one hundred and fifty feet in height. 
This species was formerly found in large flocks, but is now rapidly diminishing 
in numbers; so that, according to Mr. Shields, where it was at one time found in 
bands of several hundred individuals it is now rarely that more than fifty are seen 
together. Sentinels are posted in prominent positions to give notice to the herd of 
the approach of danger; and the agility of these animals in making their way over 
glaciers and crags is said to be unsurpassed. In summer these sheep will occasion- 
ally ascend as high as twelve thousand feet; but in the spring they wander into 
the valleys in search of fresh pasture or salt lakes. The lambs, which are occa- 
sionally two at a birth, but usually one, are produced in May and the beginning of 
June, and when but a few days old will follow their mothers up apparently 
inaccessible cliffs. The flesh of this sheep is said to be equal in flavour to the best 
venison. The Indians hunt the bighorn by tying a pair of horns on their heads, 
when they are able to creep within range. 
Kamschatkan The Kamschatkan wild sheep, of which the head is represented 
Wild Sheep. in the accompanying woodcut and the skull in the figure on p. 214, 
is so very closely related to 
the northern variety of the 
American species, that it may 
be a question whether it is 
really anything more than a 
geographical race of the latter. 
Thus both have the compara- 
tively small skull, and rela- 
tively slender horns with 
entire and outwardly directed 
tips; while in both there is 
the same tuft between the 
small hairy ears. The ears 
of the Kamschatkan sheep 
are, however, rounded instead 
of blunt; and the white patch 
on the rump is smaller, and 
does not extend above the 
tail, while there is no trace 
of a dark stripe down the 
back. 
The Kamschatkan sheep is found in the Stanovoi Mountains to 
the north of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as in the peninsula of 
Mi Yj iy 
( 
i i 
WTC 
(( 


HEAD OF THE KAMSCHATKAN WILD SHEEP. 
(From Guillemard’s Cruise of the Marchesa.) 
Distribution. 
