108 



OKDERS OP MAMMALS— HOOFED ANIMALS 



known respectively as the argali, and Marco 

 Polo's sheep. The horns of the argali are the 

 greatest" in size and weight, and those of Marco 

 Polo's sheep have the widest spread. 

 Six species of mountain sheep are found in 



has been known for exactly a century, and it is 

 the spe^iies which is most widely known in Ameri- 

 ca. Once quite abundant throughout the Rocky 

 Mountains from Mexico to Latitude 60° in north- 

 ern British Cojumbia, it has been so persistently 



105 



KNOWN DISTRIBUTION OF MOUNTAIN SHEEP 

 IN NORTH AMERICA IN 1903. 



The black dots represent actual observations. 



1. Big-Horn Sheep, (Ovis canadensis). 



2. Mexican Sheep, (0. mexicanus). 



3. Nelson's Sheep, (0. nelsoni). 



4. White Sheep, (0. dalli). 



5. Black Sheep, (0. stonei). 

 . 6. Fannin's Sheep, (0. fannini). 



North America, of which five have been 

 described since 18(S3. They are scat- 

 tered from the northern states of Mexico 

 through the Rocky Mountains almost 

 to the shore of the Arctic Ocean, and 

 throughout one-half of Alaska, a range 

 fully 3,600 miles long. The accompanying I^Ji 

 map shows actual occurrences of the va- 

 rious species during the past twelve years. hunted and slain that now it exists only in small 



Of our six species, four are so interesting they bands, in widely-separated localities. In most 

 deserve separate notice. of our western states and territories, the kiUing 



The Big-Horn, or Rocky Mountain Sheep,' of Mountain Sheep is now prohibited for a term 

 ' O'vis can-a-den'sis. of years, and it is hoped that these laws will be 



105 



