864 A Monograph of the species of Wild Sheep. [No. J 19. 



5. O. Californianay Douglas. — The Jesuit Missionary, Venegos, 

 observed in California *' a kind of wild Sheep, the size of a calf 

 of one or two years old, with extraordinarily thick horns, resem- 

 bling those of a common Ram, and tail shorter than that of a Stag," 



those of the female, (as plainly appears from Pallas's figure of this sex,) though 

 proportionately diminutive, become somewhat bulky towards the base in full grown 

 specimens, assuming thus a corresponding character to those of the male. 



The coat of the (American) Argali, observes Dr. Richardson, "like that of the 

 Rein Deer, is, on its first growth in the autumn, short, fine, and flexible," i. e. 

 when the future tips of the hairs are alone put forth ; *' but, as the winter advances, 

 it becomes coarser, dry, and brittle, though at the same time it feels soft to the touch. 

 At the latter season the hair is so close at its roots that it is necessarily erect. 

 Its colour is pale umbre or wood-brown, except on the buttocks and posterior 

 part of the belly, which are whitish ; a deeper and more shining brown prevails 

 on the anterior aspect of the legs," the chest, fore-neck, and face; "the short 

 tail is dark brown, and a narrow brown line, extending from its base, runs up 

 through the white disk to unite with the colour of the back. As the ends of 

 the hairs (in which the colour resides) are gradually rubbed oiBf during the progress 

 of the winter, the tints become paler, and the old rams are thus almost white 

 in the spring." At this latter season, analogy indicates that the Argali again 

 changes its coat, to assume a distinct summer garb, which (if I remember rightly) 

 is described by Professor Pallas. According to this naturalist, an Asiatic lamb, o^ 

 about three months old, and weighing 84 medical pounds, measured 3 feet from 

 nose to tail, and 2^ feet high : it much resembled a young kid, except in shew- 

 ing a large flat protuberance at the place of each horn, and was covered with 

 frizzled woolly hair of a dark grey colour, and which, on some parts, was 4 or 5 

 inches long. 



Like all the domestic breeds of Sheep, when left at liberty to follow their 

 own inclinations, it has been observed that the Asiatic Argali purges itself in 

 the spring with Ranunculacece and other acrid plants, until vegetation of a milder 

 kind begins to spring up, and shrubs to sprout, which, with alpine plants, con- 

 stitute its ordinary food. It frequents the salt-marshes which abound in Siberia, 

 and licks up the salt efflorescence diffused over the ground ; and the American 

 animal is described by Dr. Richardson to pay daily visits to certain caves in the 

 mountains, situate in slaty rocks, that are encrusted with a saline efflorescence of 

 which they are fond. 



Upon the Rocky Mountains of North America, the Argali, according to Dr. 

 Richardson, " frequents elevated and craggy ridges, and collects in flocks con- 

 sisting of from three to thirty, the young rams and the females herding toge- 

 ther during the winter and spring, while the old rams form separate flocks, ex- 

 cept during the month of September, which is their rutting season. The ewes 

 bring forth in June or July, and then retire to the most inaccessible heights. 

 Their favorite feeding-places are grassy knolls, skirted by craggy rocks, to which they 

 can retreat when pursued by Dogs or Wolves. Mr. Drummond informed me, that in 

 the retired parts of the mountains, where the hunters had seldom penetrated, he found no 

 difficulty in approaching the flocks of this species, which there exhibited that simplicity 

 of character so remarkable in the domestic breeds ; but where they had been fired at, 

 they were exceedingly wild, alarmed their companions at the approach of danger by a 

 hissing noise, and scaled the rocks with a speed and agility that baffled pursuit." 



