228 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



pierce the skin, and give it a putrid smell. The females 

 have the hair softer, and are hornless ; and the males are 

 themselves subject to vary in this particular, some having 

 been found with three, and others, it is said, with only one 

 horn. 



The manners of the Saiga are sociable and migratory, 

 especially in the autumn, when they assemble sometimes to 

 the number of ten thousand in a herd and travel towards 

 more southerly deserts : in the spring they return in small 

 flocks or troops. They are unwilling to reside far from 

 water, are seldom seen single, and the herd, when in a state 

 of repose, always keeps a few stationed to look out ; even 

 when domesticated, this instinct remains. They see indif- 

 ferently during the day, are weak and resigned when beset, 

 and although their speed is exceedingly great, they are 

 soon exhausted, stopping to recover breath, and perish 

 with the slightest wound. It is reported that, like sheep, 

 they incline on one side in their course; they have a 

 bleating voice. Strabo had observed with truth that they 

 drink by the nostrils, but erred when he added that they 

 retain water in them. Towards the end of November the 

 males become pugnacious, as this is the commencement of 

 the rutting season. They then smell of musk, and the 

 most powerful buck drives the weaker from the herd, and 

 keeps the females to himself, with jealousy and even 

 with courage, to defend them against wolves or foxes. 

 Parturition takes place in May, it is usually confined to 

 one kid which at first is covered with a curling fleece-like 

 wool. The young males grow rapidly ; their horns appear 

 in the first month. 



They are gentle when domesticated, but for this purpose 

 they must be taken young. They will go fo the fields and 

 return without desiring to escape, know the voice of 

 their masters, and feel gratified with his caresses. In the 

 hay and provender they pick out the leafy plants and re- 



