101 
THE CHA5IOIS. 
Rupicapra vulgaris. 
PLATE III. 
Capra rupicapra, Linn Chamois, Buffon, ^o. — Fred. 
Cuv. Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes. 
The general form of the Chamois is that of a 
slender formed goat, with less shaggy hair, and 
marked by the peculiarly turned horns. It inhabits 
'•he alpine districts of Europe and Asia, holding an 
intermediate station between the elevated glaciers 
nnd the wild but more covered country somewhat 
below them, making excursions into both, and , ex- 
hibiting amazing agility amidst the precipices of 
*hose fearful regions. Two varieties are mentioned, 
the Pyrenean, and those inhabiting the Persian Alps, 
the latter smaller, and of a paler colour, with the 
hoiTis bending from the base. The general height 
nf the European animal is two feet three or four 
inches, the horns black, round, and hooked backwards 
nt the tips. The colour of the hair a yellowish or 
Sieyish-brown, with a black streak extending through 
the eyes. The Chamois is gregarious, living in 
'eids of fifteen or twenty ; they rut in October or No- 
