NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 315 



that in the Alps about three-fifths of the Chamois are killed by 

 "driving," the rest by "stalking," and the two methods are 

 described at considerable length, and, we may add, with con- 

 siderable skill. We must confine attention, however, to what 

 Mr. Baillie Grohman has to to tell us of the natural history 

 of the animals of which he treats. 



As to the seasonal change of colour he writes : — 



" Betweeu the appearance of a Chamois in July (when the shooting 

 season opens) and that of the same animal in December (when it closes) 

 there is a vast difference. The grayish ochre-brown colour and the short 

 hairs of the summer coat have turned into an almost black shaggy garb 

 with hairs three times as long, that give the animal, particularly an old 

 buck, a very burly appearance. Along the backbone of the male the hairs 

 grow in winter to a great length, and except at the tip, where they turn a 

 yellowish white, they are of a glossy black, and stand upright, waving in 

 the wind. These long hairs, most carefully bunched together, form the 

 much-prized Gems-hart or ' chamois beard,' which ignorant tourists suppose 

 grows on the lower jaw of the male Chamois ! The longer the hairs and 

 the whiter the tips, the more valued is the bunch." 



It is not to be implied from this that the old male Chamois is 

 not bearded, but only that imitations are oftener seen than the 

 real article. 



" Though the oeard reaches its highest perfection only during or after 

 the rut, which commences about the middle of November, keepers and 

 beaters will pounce eagerly upon a buck killed in October, for even at that 

 time the beard, though short and not of the peculiar gloss acquired later 

 on, has pecuniary value." 



The Chamois is apparently not subject to much variation in 

 colour. In Styria and Salzburg individuals are to be met with 

 that even in summer are much darker than their fellows, and 

 have hardly any white about the head. These are called Coal- 

 chamois, and are much prized. In Tyrol, on the other hand, the 

 silver bucks are a freak of nature, delighting the heart of the 

 ardent sportsman. They never get such a dark winter coat as 

 the rest, and there is a peculiar silver shimmer about the hair. 

 Albino Chamois are even rarer. The author mentions but two 

 instances known to him of white Chamois being shot (p. 32). 

 For a second edition he may note that Von Tschudi, in his 

 important work on the Alps, describes an albino Chamois which 



