158 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[xo. 27. 



They were killed the latter part of May, 1S98, with the old coat about half shed. 

 The two coats thus represented being both white, shows that the species is 

 always white. 



As stated above, Mr. Stone first met with the species just north of the 

 Beaver River, and north of the Liard River below its confluence with the 

 Beaver. He adds : " This is their southernmost range, whence it extends north 

 almost to the Arctic coast. I made very careful inquiry of the Indians of the 

 Ettshotas, Takullas, and Spatotimas tribes, who hunt this region, and they 

 were unanimous in their declaration that the Black and White Sheep never 

 mingle together ; that the Black are never found north of the Beaver River, 

 and that the White Sheep are never found south of it. This information was 

 substantiated by the testimony of the Histolenas or Mountain Indians and 

 that of the Schotiuas of the Liard River." 



I subjoin the measurements of six additional adult specimens collected in 

 July and August, 1S9S. by Mr. Stone, but not yet forwarded. They were taken 

 in the Rocky Mountains, in latitude 65° 45', near where the Carcass [Carcajou?] 

 River leaves them." 



A. J. StoiT^ gives the range of this sj)ecies as follows : 



This beautiful inhabitant of Boreal America occupies two separate and 

 distinct ranges, namely (1) the Alaskan Mountains and the Keuai Peninsula; 

 and (2) the entire stretch of the Rocky Mountains north of latitude 60°, to near 

 the Arctic coast west of the Mackenzie, ranging thence west to the headwaters 

 of the Xoatak and Kowak rivers, that flow into Kotzebue Sound. 



He states that they are in most places mtich less common than 

 formerh^^ 



Oreamnos montaniis (Orel). Mountain Goat. 



Koss listed this species as having been taken near Fort Simpson.^ 

 Concerning the range of this animal in the Mackenzie Valley, Fannin 

 and Grinnell publish an extract from a letter from MacFarlane, in 

 which he says : 



While stationed at Forts Simpson, Norman, and Good Hope, on the ^Mackenzie, 

 I often partook of the flesh of this species, killed by Indians at a distance, amid 

 the Rocky Mountain spurs. The eastern limits are the mountains which extend 

 on the Liard, or Turnagain. the Peel, and the Mackenzie rivers. They are also 

 to be met with in the Rockies on the upper Peace River, but I have never heard 

 of any being found to the east of the Mackenzie, but they come close to the 

 latter river.'^ 



In a recent article MacFarlane states that this species ranges north 

 at least to the Arctic Circle : 



At Forts Norman and Good Hope the company frequently receives small 

 quantities of the dried meat of this animal from their Indian hunters on the 

 west side of the river and in the mountains.^ 



« Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XII, p. 3, 1899. 

 »Ibid., XIII, p. 43, 1900. 



c Nat. Hist. Rev., II (second ser.), p. 275, 1862. He had previously (Can. 

 Nat. and GeoL. VI, p. 442, 1861) recorded specimens from La Pierre House, but 

 this was probably an error. 



^ Forest and Stream, XXXIV, p. 64, Feb. 13, 1890. 

 ^Proc. r. S. Nat. Mus., XXVIII, p. 685, 1905. 



