210 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
of the horns. The horns, which are 
black, spring in a high backward 
arch, but the creature has no beard. 
A buck stands sometimes as much as 
38 inches high at the shoulder. It 
has a long, rough coat, mainly dark 
stone colour in tint. 
Tahr live in the forest districts 
of the Middle Himalaya, where they 
are found on very high and difficult 
ground. General Donald Macintyre 
shot one standing on the brink of 
an almost sheer precipice. Down this 
it fell, and the distance in sheer 
depth was such that it was difficult 
i RL a al to see the body even with glasses. 
NUBIAN GOAT The tahr is fairly common all along 
These goats come from Nubia and Upper Egypt. They are generally hornless the higher Himalayan Range. Its 
and short-haired; the colour varies, being sometimes black, and sometimes tan and : : 
spotted, bones are believed to be a sovereign 
cure for rheumatism, and are exported 
to India for that object. A smaller kind is found in the mountains of Eastern Arabia, where 
very few, even sportsmen, have yet attempted to shoot them. 
THE NILGIRI TAHR, OR NILGIRI IBEX 
Though not an ibex, the sportsmen of India early gave this name to the tahr of the 
Nilgiri and Anamalai Hills. The Himalayan species is covered with long, shaggy hair; the 
South Indian has short, smooth brown hair. 
“The ibex,” says Hawkeye, the Indian sportsman, of this animal, “is massively formed, 
with short legs, remarkably strong fetlocks, and a heavy carcase, short and well ribbed up, 
combining strength and agility wonderful to behold. Its habits are gregarious, and the does 
are seldom met with separate from the flock or herd, though males often are. The latter 
assume, as they grow old, a distinctive appearance. The hair on the back becomes lighter, 
almost white in some cases, causing a kind of saddle to appear; and from that time they 
become known to the shikaries as the saddle-backs of the herd, an object of ambition to 
the eyes of the true sportsman. It is a pleasant sight to watch a herd of ibex feeding 
undisturbed, the kids frisking here and there on pinnacles or ledges of rock and beetling 
cliffs where there seems scarcely safe hold for anything much larger than a grasshopper, the 
old mother looking calmly on. Then again, see the caution observed in taking up their 
resting or abiding-places for the day, where they may be warmed by the sun, listening to 
the war of many waters, chewing the cud of contentment, and giving themselves up to the 
full enjoyment of their nomadic life and its romantic haunts. Usually, before reposing, one 
of their number, generally an old doe, may be observed gazing intently below, apparently 
scanning every spot in the range of her vision, sometimes for half an hour or more, 
before she is satisfied that all is well, but, strange to say, seldom or never looking up to 
the rocks above. Then, being satisfied on the one side, she follows the same process on the 
other, and eventually lies down calmly, contented with the precautions she has taken. 
Should the sentinel be joined by another, or her kid come and lie by her, they always lie 
back to back, in such a manner as to keep a good look-out to either side. A. solitary 
male goes through all this by himself, and wonderfully careful he is; but when with 
the herd he reposes in security, leaving it to the female to take precautions for their 
joint safety.” 
