THE MOUNTAIN GOAT. 635 



The sub-family Bl'DORCiN,*: comprises one genus of two species, which 

 are found in Nepaul and Eastern Thibet. The sub-family Nemorhe- 

 DIN/E embraces two genera of goat-like antelopes. 



GENUS NEMORHEDUS. 



The nine species of this genus range from the Eastern Himalayas to 

 Northern China and Japan, and southward to Formosa and Sumatra. 

 We mention only one species. 



The Goral, Nemorlicdas goral, is the size of a goat ; its horns are two 

 feet long, thin and round, and placed close together ; its ears are long 

 and narrow ; its coat is short, thick, of a gray or reddish-brown color, 

 and is sprinkled on the sides with black or red. A white streak runs 

 under the throat, and a ridge of hair on the spine is black. Both sexes 

 have horns. It is as agile as the chamois, and possesses the same quick 

 senses to descry danger. It seldom seeks the shades of the forest, but 

 loves the rocks and rocky precipices. 



GENUS APLOCERUS. 



The solitary species of Aplocerus lives in the Rocky Mountains and 

 the Northern part of California. It is regarded by Brehm and other 

 naturalists as a goat, rather than an antelope. 



The Mountain Goat, Aplocerus Americanus, is often confounded with 

 the " Mountain Sheep." It stands two feet and a quarter high at the 

 shoulder, and is about four feet in length. The horns are about eight 

 inches in length ; round at the root, and rising in a gentle curve upward, 

 backward, and outward. The coat covering the whole body is of a 

 uniform white color, and consists of long stiff hairs, with a fine, close 

 under-wool. This thick coat makes the animal look much larger and 

 more powerful than it really is. The hair forms a thick bush on the 

 back of the head, and a mane on the neck, while the chin supports a long, 

 abundant beard divided into regular locks ; a collar of long hair goes 

 round the neck, and extends itself over the shoulders and fore-arms. 



According to Professor Baird, the Mountain Goat is most abundant 

 in the mountains of Washington Territory. It lives in very high dis- 

 tricts, and feeds on x\lpine plants, the boughs of pinus contorta, and the 



