WILD SHEEP OF ASIA AND AMERICA 259 



designation subsequently amended to O. orientalis 

 erskinei. In referring the Elburz sheep to O. 

 orientalis rather than to O. vignei, I was guided 

 by the backward sweep of the horns, the flatness 

 of their inner surfaces, the partial rounding off of the 

 front outer angle, and the relatively small develop- 

 ment and dark colour of the throat-ruff. The 

 colour of the coat, judging from the head, is much 

 less red than in the Cyprian and Armenian races, 

 and the bevelling of the front outer angles of the 

 horns much less marked than in the former. In 

 consequence of this the horns of the South Elburz 

 red sheep have a flatter front surface, more or less 

 distinctly defined from both lateral surfaces, instead 

 of merging into the outer one. 



Special interest attaches to this approximation to 

 the urial, as the habitat of the present race impinges 

 on that of the latter, which includes the northern 

 flank of the Elburz, and likewise the Kopet Dagh, 

 dividing Persia from Turkestan. A further approxi- 

 mation of the urial to the red sheep is exemplified 

 by the fact that the "perversion" in the direction 

 of the horns normally characteristic of the latter 

 occasionally makes its appearance in the former. 

 Whether another resemblance to the urial is pre- 

 sented by the disappearance of the dark flank-band 

 of the typical race, I am not aware. 



Another race of the red sheep, from the Ispahan 

 district of Persia, was described by Dr. Nasonov in 



