110 
ORDERS OF MAMMALS — HOOFED ANIMALS 
enforced and respected. Wherever they are ig- 
nored, the wild sheep are doomed to extinction. 
The general color of the Big-Horn is gray 
brown, with a large white or cream-yellow patch 
on the hind quarters, completely surrounding 
the tail. A large ram killed by the author in the 
Shoshone Mountains, Wyoming, on November 
16, 1 889, stood 40 inches high at the shoulders, 
was 58 inches in length from end of nose to root 
of tail; its tail was 3 inches long, and its weight 
was about 300 pounds. Although the snow on 
its wild pasture was knee deep, and the sheep 
were pawing through it to reach the tallest blades 
of dry grass, they were as well fed and fat as if 
they had been feeding at a manger. 
The largest horns of this species ever taken are 
male specimen from Lower California, fifteen 
months old, which in 1902 was exhibited in the 
New York Zoological Park was as follows: 
Height, 29 inches. 
Length, head and body, 394 inches. 
Tail, 3 inches. 
Length of horn, 10 inches. 
Spread at tips, 131 inches. 
Weight of animal, 65 pounds. 
Cause of death, pneumonia. 
In the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, is found 
the Mexican Mountain Sheep,- in color much 
like the Californian species, but larger, and with 
large ears. The horns of a fine old ram, killed 
by Mr. Charles Sheldon, measured 16J inches in 
basal circumference. 
Copyright, 1902, by Harry Pidgeon. 
HEAD OF WHITE MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 
Shot and photographed on the Ivenai Peninsula, Alaska, by Harry Pidgeon. 
said to measure 1S4 inches in circumference, and 
52 4 inches in length on the curve ; but any horns 
which are 14 inches in basal circumference may 
be considered large. All female wild sheep 
have horns, but they are small, short, erect and 
much flattened. They vary in length from 5 to 
8 inches: 
Southward of the range of the Big-Horn are 
found two new species which appear to be off- 
shoots of it. In southern California and the 
peninsula of Lower California is found the 
California, or Nelson’s Mountain Sheep , 1 a 
smaller animal than the big horn, short haired, 
and of a pale salmon-gray color. The size of the 
1 O'vis nel'son-i. 
The White Mountain Sheep, or Dali’s 
Sheep , 3 of Alaska, discovered and described 
by E. W. Nelson in 1S84, is an animal of very 
striking appearance. When its hair has not 
been stained by mud or dirt, it is everywhere 
pure white, and its horns have a yellowish, am- 
ber-like appearance. From May to September, 
during the shedding period, the hair is so short 
and so often stained by reddish earth, that the 
skin is almost worthless as a trophy. From Oc- 
tober to February, however, the pelage is very 
long and thick, and snow white. This species 
is noticeably smaller than the Big-Horn, and 
the horns are smaller and more slender in pro- 
2 O'vis mex-i-can'us. 3 O'vis daLl'i. 
