SHORT-TAILED EUROPEAN BREEDS 75 



elevated sandy tract in Schleswig-Holstein. Accord- 

 ing to the writer last quoted, it is a cross-breed 

 between the Danish and the German heath-breeds. 

 Both in size and appearance it is intermediate be- 

 tween the two. With the exception of the head, belly, 

 legs, and abbreviated tail, which are short-haired, 

 these sheep are clothed with long, coarse, and shaggy 

 woolly hair, underlain by finer wool. As a rule, the 

 head and legs are black, and the remainder of the 

 animal grey or reddish brown, but individuals may 

 be wholly reddish brown, black, or even white. Fifty 

 years ago the purity of the breed had been greatly 

 interfered with by crossing, and at the present day 

 it has most likely been altogether obliterated. 



France was at one time the haunt of a short- 

 tailed breed which appears to have connected in 

 some degree the German with the dun-faced Spanish 

 sheep, to be next mentioned. The colour is, or 

 was, variable, but as a rule the head and legs are 

 yellowish brown, blackish brown, or black, and the 

 body reddish or greyish brown ; but the whole 

 animal may be reddish, greyish, or blackish brown, 

 or even black. In Normandy, the Auvergne, and 

 Provence these small, dark sheep were formerly 

 kept in immense flocks, and were out at all seasons 

 and in all weathers. In Normandy they are known 

 as bisquains, in the Auvergne as canini, and in 

 Provence as bocagers. The weight of the fleece is 

 only from one to two pounds. 



