ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



951 



THE MOUNTAINEERS: ON WILCOX PASS. ALBERTA 



Painted by Carl Rungius for Emerson McMillin, and by him presented to the New York Zoological Society. This is the artist': 

 choice of a representative period for this species. (September). Copyright, 1912, by C. Rungius. 



Whenever the artist intends to standardize a 

 certain species, he must choose for the land- 

 scape that season of the year which will bring 

 out the characteristic points of his subject. The 

 pelage must be neither too long nor too short; 

 and the animal must be in good condition. In 

 every respect the finished work must represent 

 a typical animal, well fitted to represent its 

 species. 



With some of our big game species the growtli 

 of the winter hair produces changes so great 

 that their external form seems to change com- 

 pletely, and go out of drawing. In choosing a 

 model and a season, these changes in form must 

 be carefully considered. Having recently been 

 enabled to study to good advantage the sea- 

 sonal changes in the form of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Sheep, or Big-Horn, I have been asked to 

 make this record of my observations. 



For three seasons now, I have had the good 



fortune to study the mountain sheep in the 

 Canadian National Park in Banff, Alberta. 

 These sheep, two splendid rams, were caught 

 when respectively four and five years old, dur- 

 ing the winter, in the mountains near Banff, and 

 were placed in an enclosure taking in a part 

 of Cascade Mountain. There, under almost nat- 

 ural conditions, they have retained the form and 

 "springiness" of wild game, and nearly its shy- 

 ness, also. 



Making studies or taking photographs of 

 these animals could be accomplished only with 

 the help of skilled hunters, to drive the rams 

 slowly toward my place of concealment. At- 

 tempts to get results single-handed resulted 

 only in occasional distant glimpses. 



The first chance I had to see the rams was 

 early in August. The period of shedding was 

 past, and they wore a short, glossy coat, which 

 brought out every muscle. Except for the mas- 



