874 A Monograph of the species of Wild Sheep. [No. 1 19. 



The general colour of this animal, to judge from an elaborately 

 finished painting, taken from a living individual in its native country by 

 Mr. Vigne, to whom we are indebted for all we know concerning the 

 species, is a rufous brown, apparently not so deep as in the Moufflon ; 

 the face livid, or devoid of the rufous tinge of the body, and not termi- 

 nated by a white muzzle, as in the Moufflon Sheep : the belly is white, 

 separated by a black lateral band ; and the limbs are brown, not mottled, 

 as in the Moufflon, but with a whitish ring immmediately above each 

 hoof, then a dark ring, and above this a little white posteriorly, as in 

 the Neelgai. The fringe in front of the neck is doubtless peculiar to 

 the male, and the hairs of it would appear to be 4 or 5 inches long, 

 and hang loosely. Tail about 6 inches long, and slender, apparent- 

 ly resembling that of the Armenian species rather than the Mouf- 

 flon's.* 



* This species has been described as the "Wild Sheep of the Paropamisan range," 

 by Captain Hay, (in the ' Journal,' for 1840, p. 440,) and I have no doubt of the cor- 

 rectness of this identification, though certain discrepancies are deserving of being 

 noticed. Capt. Hay states the muzzle to be white (as in the Corsican Moufflon) ; 

 the legs, too, to be " covered vi^ith white, smooth, short hair ; belly white ; tail small, 

 short, and together with the buttocks white. The general colour" he says, " is pale rufous 

 inclining to grey, and fading off to white beneath. A large beard from the cheeks and 

 under-jaw, divided into two lobes, which are white, and connected to a streak of long 

 black flowing hair reaching to the chest. The adult male stands 3 feet 4 inches at 

 shoulder : from nose to tail 5 feet 4 inches ; head 1 foot ; neck ponderous, 14 inches long, 

 and 24 in circumference ; girth of body, behind shoulders, 4 feet. The female is 

 inferior in size, and not so much of a rufous colour ; having small horns about 

 6 inches in length, which incline backwards and outwards. Those of the male are 2^ 

 feet in length, and 12 inches round at base," &c. "The lambs are the colour of the 

 female, have a dark stripe down the back, and in front of the fore-legs. They are pro- 

 duced in May and June." 



Drawings of both sexes of this same species, transmitted by the late unfortunate Sir 

 Alexander Burnes, are also before me, and present a somewhat different coloration from 

 either of the above. The male is stated to have measured " 4j feet [5| feet ?] in extreme 

 length, from nose to tail-tip, and 3feet 5inches high, from the sole of the foot to the shoul- 

 ders ; female 3 feet 10 inches long, and 2 feet high." Both are evidently represented in 

 summer dress, of an uniform light bay colour (including the limbs and tail), rather more 

 vivid in the male, and merely fainter on the under-parts ; there is no trace of lateral 

 band ; the face of the male only is coloured more livid, and with no white muzzle 

 in either sex ; nor is there any mottling near the hoofs (as in Mr. Vigne's drawing), 

 but a slightly dark shade in front of the limbs of the male only, which, it may be, is 

 intended merely for shadow. The lobes of hair pendent from the sides of the lower 

 jaw are whitish, and the fringe down the front of the neck is coloured dusky- black, 

 being not very long, and projecting so as to form an obtuse point or angle opposite the 

 lower part of the neck, exactly as in the Moufflon of Corsica. The female has not 



