NATUKALIST IN INDIA. 139 



several specimens I have examined from the Salt Eange and 

 Ladakh, as well ias in size of the animal. For example, the 

 rams' horns of the Ladakh sheep were larger, and had the 

 upper surface rounded, with the tops turned more inward; 

 whilst the houriar had the upper surface of the horn flat : that 

 of the female seemed in no way different from the shapoo, and 

 the skins of both houriar and shapoo were similarly coloured. 

 The above peculiarity is certainly striking, but too much 

 value must not be placed on the horn as a means of distinc- 

 tion. Every one at all conversant with the wild goats 

 and sheep of the Himalayas, knows that these organs are 

 subject to considerable variety in individuals of the same 

 species. The upper parts of the houriar of the Salt Moun- 

 tains are fawn-colour, the belly and inner side of the thighs 

 pure white. The male has long black hair extending down 

 the dewlap. The horn resembles certain varieties of the 

 domestic animal, but perhaps rises higher and curves more 

 backward ; it often measures from 25 to 30 inches over 

 the curvature, and from 8 to 12 inches around the base ; 

 that of the female is small, and seldom exceeds 6 inches 

 in length. 



On the 25th of March we ascended the side of a steep 

 ravine covered with brushwood, and gained a broad and partly- 

 cultivated plateau, where our beaters flushed several coveys of 

 the red-legged or chukore partridge, and a smaller species called 

 by the natives " sisi." The former is by no means common on 

 the range, or indeed in any part of the Punjaub, although a 

 few are met with on the plains along the skirts of the Hima- 

 layas ; its favourite haunts are on those mountains where it 

 extends northward to the Altai ranges. The average weight 

 of an adult male is about one and a half pounds. It is found 

 likewise in Persia and Afghanistan. Mr. Vigne mentions 



