The Sheep and Goats 



233 



Ma pcniLtssioiL of 1'. Tho.na.'^, Sv/. 



FKMALE TOGGENBURCi. GOAT. 



These goats are niilk-goats 2^<^'-^' excellence ; they remain in \n-ofit for 

 iiiontlus in the yeai Eacli goat produces on an average from 110 tu 1 

 milk during the jear 



at least ten 

 :0 gallons of 



WILD GOATS. 

 The Tlik. 



In the Caucasus, both east and 

 west, in the Pyrenees, and on the 

 South Spanish sierras three fine wild 

 goats, with some features not unlike 

 the burhal sheep, are found. Thev 

 are called TuR by the Caucasian 

 mountaineers. The species found in 

 the East Caucasus differs from that 

 of the west of the range, and both 

 from that of Spain. The East 

 Caucasian Tur is a massive, heavy 

 animal, all brown in colour (except on 

 the fronts of the legs, which are 

 blackish), and with horns springing 

 from each side of the skull like Iialf- 

 circles. The males are 38 inches laigh 

 at the shoulder. The short beard and 

 tail are blackislr, and there is no white 

 on the coat. The West Caucasian 

 Tur is much lighter in colour than 

 that of the East Caucasus, and the 

 horns point backwards, more like those 

 of the ibex, though set on the skull 

 at a different angle. The Spanish 

 Tur has the belly and inner sides of 

 the legs white, and a blackish line 

 along the flank, dividing the white 

 from the brown ; also a blackish chest, 

 and some grey on the flank. 



In the Caucasus the tur are 

 found on the high crags above the 

 snow-line in summer, wlience they 

 descend at night to feed on patches 

 of upland grass ; but the main home 

 of the tur by day is above the snow- 

 line. The Simnish species modifies its 

 habits according to the ground on 

 which it lives. Mr. E. N. Buxton 

 found it in dense scrub, while on the 

 Andalusian sierras it frequents bare 

 peaks 10,000 feet high. In Sjjain 

 tur are sometimes seen in flocks of 

 from 100 to 150 each. 



The Persian Wild Goat. 

 The original of our domesticated 

 goat is thought by some to be the 



Pasang, or Persian Wild Goat. It is a fine animal, with large scimitar-shaped horns, curving 

 backwards, flattened laterally, and with knobs on the front edge at irregular intervals. It is 

 more slender in build than the tur, light brown in general colour, marked with a black line 



30 



ll0,lu/P. TIlUMll^. I 



STUD TOGGKNBURU- C40AT. 



Tliis hreed ovigintilly came fnjiu SwitzeiianJ, but is nnw wf]l 

 England. The animals are fine in bone, have a long, tliin neck, with t\v 

 "I'l'tndages. 



knnwn in 

 o tassel-like 



