THE MOUFLON 



of air from two different situations combine, and they are then absolutely 

 unapproachable by the sportsman. In much of the ground they frequent, the 

 valleys are filled with a thick growth of ilex ; while they feed on the hills amid 

 abundant heather, which affords admirable covert for the approach of the stalker. 



In the pairing-season, which takes place during December and January, 

 the old rams, like the males of most ruminants, engage in fierce combats for the 

 possession of the females. The ewes give birth to their one or two lambs during 

 April and May ; and these, like the lambs of domesticated sheep, are able to run 

 with their mothers at a very early age. When the rams are in good condition, 

 mouflon-mutton, if hung long enough, is excellent for the table. 



In Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Persia the mouflon is replaced by the red sheep 

 (Ovis orient alis), a redder and, in the case of some races, larger species, often with 

 a fringe of blackish hair on the throat of the old males, and the horns in that 

 sex always curving backwards behind the neck. The race of this species inhabiting 

 the Troodos mountains of Cyprus is smaller than the rest. 



Farther east, namely, in the Kopet Dagh range dividing Persia from Turkestan, 

 the red sheep gives place to the well-known urial (O. vignei), in which there is a long 

 white throat-fringe to the old rams, whose horns curve forwards by the sides of the 

 face. This species ranges through Baluchistan and Afghanistan to the Salt Range 

 of the Punjab, and thence along the ranges flanking the Indus into Ladak and 

 Tibet. 



In the Altai and Tibet, together with other parts of central Asia, we reach 

 the country of the great argali sheep (O. amnion), with its numerous races ; while in 

 the Yana Valley of Siberia and in Kamchatka we first meet with the so-called 

 bighorns (O. canadensis), of which the typical race is North American. One peculiar 

 species {Ammotragus lervid) inhabits the north of Africa, but in the rest of that 

 continent, as also in peninsular India, the Malay countries, and South America, 

 wild sheep are unknown. 



6 7 



