374 



M A M JI A L I A — S H E E P . 



ot a deer. Several naturalists of eminence have considered it as forming 

 but one species with the argali ; and Cuvier supposes that it may have 

 crossed Bhering's Straits on the ice. It resembles the argali indeed, per- 

 fectly in its manners, in the form of its body, and in the nature and color 

 of its hairy coat ; but it seems to be a larger animal, and to present a 

 constant difference in the form of curvature in its horns. 



THE ARGALI, OR WILD SHEEP.i 



( ^Z 



Bn^MhSSi^ 



Is an inhabitant of rocky and mountainous regions, and is principally found 

 in the Alpine parts of Asia. Dr Pallas observed this species existing 

 throughout the vast chain of mountains extending through the middle 

 of that continent to the Eastern Sea. 



These animals have large horns, arched semicircularly backward, and di- 

 vergent at their tips, wrinkled on their upper surface, and flattened beneath ; 

 on the neck are two pendant hairy dewlaps. This creature is about the 

 size of the fallow deer. It is of a gray ferruginous brown color above, and 

 whitish bensath. The face is also of a whitish hue ; and behind each of 

 the shoulders a dusky patch or spot is often discovered. In the European 

 variety, the legs are generally white. The head exhibits much resemblance 

 to the ram ; but the cars are considerably smaller in proportion to its size. 

 The body is large ; but the neck and legs are slender, and the latter are 

 very strong. The tail is very short, being seldom more that three inches 

 in length. The horns in the adult, or full grown animal, have much the 

 appearance of those of the common ram. This animal has hair instead 

 of wool, thus greatly differing from the general aspect of the sheep ; but the 

 face, in winter, and especially that part about the tip of the nose, becomes 

 whiter ; the back is of a more ferruginous cast: and the hair, which is close 



* Ocis ammon, Lin'. 



