60 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X 



rounded hills of the Pamirs. I never saw one in a really bad place. 

 They are not very wary, but often difficult to stalk on account of the 

 ground. A close shot is a rare occurrence, and 200, 250, or 300 yards 

 is the usual common range. 



They are commonly found at a height from 18,000 up to the 

 snow, the little patches of grass along the snow lines over broad 

 stony nullahs being their favourite resorts. They feed in the early 

 morning and keep moving about until 10 or 1 1 in the day ; then they 

 lie down, sometimes on the same spot, or oftener they go up some 

 bare hill where they scratch the ground and make a sort of big form. 

 I did not notice that they are at all fond of lying on the snow. 

 I nearly always found them in very dry places or on the stony slopes. 

 It is not easy to see them when they are not moving about, and when 

 staudino- they look very light coloured except on the back. 



"When lying down arkars nearly always keep the head erect as if on 

 the look-out, and when sleeping they lie with the neck outstretched. 

 I saw bio- males with heavy horns resting their horns on the ground. 

 In this case the under parts of the neck and jaw do not touch the earth 

 by some inches. The animal cannot touch the ground except with its 

 mouth on account of the shape of the horns. 



They seem to be affected by height. I more than once saw Ovis 

 when going at full speed up-hill, open their mouths as if in want of 

 breath. When going up-hill they never go very fast and stop from 

 time to time. When going leisurely they do not mind heights over 

 17,000 feet. I saw some coming down for food on the sky line at 

 certainly more than 18,000 feet. When disturbed they go up 

 slowly but steadily to great elevations. As a rule, they dislike snow 

 and are very cautious when in deep new snow. I once saw four Ovis 

 repeatedly try a glacier covered with new snow, not more than 400 

 yards from me. It was wonderful the way they avoided the bad 

 places. The one in front went very slowly trying the ground, and 

 every now and then went shoulder deep into the snow. He then 

 drew back and tried other places without success and then saw me. 

 I was going up hoping to cut off their line of retreat, seeing which 

 they appeared to be puzzled for several minutes, and finally, instead 

 of crossing the plain, came straight towards me at full gallop and 

 passed eighty yards off. I got one and the others disappeared. 



