288 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



The local forms of the bighorn may be arranged 

 as follows : ^ — 



Firstly, we have the aforesaid typical Ovis cana- 

 densis, or O. cervina, the bdier de montagne of 

 Cuvier, from the eastern slope of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, between the Missouri and Saskatchewan 

 Rivers, and thence to Dakota in one direction and 

 British Columbia in the other. The horns of the 

 rams are thick and massive, frequently broken at 

 the tips ; and the ears are of medium size and 

 pointed, generally measuring about df\ inches in 

 length. The general colour of the coarse and 

 rough coat varies considerably according to season 

 and to some extent individually, but, exclusive of 

 the rump-patch and muzzle, that of the upper-parts 

 and outer sides of the limbs may be described as 

 uniformly greyish brown ; the front surfaces of 

 the hind-legs being considerably darker — Vandyke 

 brown, and the chest and under-parts are likewise 

 darker. The large rump-patch is whitish or creamy 

 yellow. 



The Californian bighorn {O. c. californicd), de- 

 scribed by Douglas so long ago as 1829, and typically 

 from the neighbourhood of Mount Adams, Yakima 

 County, Washington, whence it formerly ranged 

 through the Cascade Mountains to Mount Shasta 



' See W. T. Hornaday, " Notes on the Mountain Sheep of North 

 America," Eep. New York Zool, Soc, 1901, pp. 77-122, and J. A. 

 Allen, " Historical and Nomenclatorial Notes on North American 

 Sheep," Bull. Amer, Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xxxi., pp. 1-29, 1912. 



