524> Wild Goat of Afghanistan. 



to the nostril ; the throat and chest are less dark, and the 

 collar round the shoulders often wanting. In immature 

 specimens, the colours are much the same as those of the 

 summer dress of mature individuals, but the dark lines are 

 always less intense and often indeed are nearly obliter- 

 ated. 



The adult female has the colours of the upper parts grey, 

 with a shade of pale brown over all ; the face possesses a 

 broad dark brown stripe down the centre, with another 

 from the inner canthus of the eye to the nostril ; some pos- 

 sess others want, the dark dorsal stripe ; and she has no 

 beard whatever. 



In very young specimens, or those that come under the 

 denomination of kids, the colour is uniformly of a fawn or 

 pale brown, without a trace of the dark points ; and the 

 beard in males does not appear until about a year old ; the 

 horns pierce through at about the third month. 



The attitude when on the alert, and springing fearlessly 

 from crag to crag in the rocky fastnesses, where it delights to 

 roam, is bold and haughty, giving an idea of great muscular 

 strength and agility, which indeed the animal possesses in 

 no ordinary degree, but its speed is not sufficient when it 

 descends to the plains to preserve it from the greyhound. 

 It is, however, only when driven from his haunts by the 

 intensity of the winter, that he condescends to visit the 

 lowlands, and that but rarely happens. 



The shoulder has every appearance of great muscular 

 power, and is, what in a horse would bet ermed " heavy." 

 The neck also is massive, doubtless for the purpose of 

 enabling it to support the enormous horns which grace 

 its head. The hind legs are generally kept somewhat in a 

 crouching attitude, as if ready for a sudden spring in case 

 of alarm ; this attitude imparts a wildness to the general 

 character of the animal, and at the same time gives it the ap- 

 pearance of being much higher at the withers than at the 



