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Entered according to Act of Congress, in August, 1S77, by the Orange Judd Company, at the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842, 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER, 1877. 
VOLUME XXXVI.—No. 9. 
NEW SERIES—No. 
THE WILD SHEEP OF THIBET. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
The head of the male sheep shown in the upper 
j part of the above engraving, will very forcibly re¬ 
call the head of onr American “Big-horn,” or 
Rocky Mountain Sheep. The species of sheep here 
illustrated, is a resident of Thibet, in Asia, and finds 
its home amid the precipices and peaks of the 
Himalaya Mountains. Its habits, in many re- 
. spects, are not unlike those of our American wild 
sheep, and it affords an interesting instance of the 
natural adaptation of animal life to its surround- 
; ings and necessities, which has, in these widely 
separated localities, helped to produce animals of 
such similar form and peculiarities. To those who 
are acquainted with the habits of our Rocky Moun¬ 
tain Sheep, the following description of its Asiatic 
congener will seem familiar. This species is found 
upon the great snowy range of the Himalayas, in 
which the Ganges River finds its source, at very 
great elevations, from the highest limits of vegeta¬ 
tion, down to the upper boundaries of the forests. 
It prefers the grassy slopes of these highest regions, 
and associates in flocks of four or five up to a hun¬ 
dred. It is a timid animal, ever on the watch, one 
of the flock keeping on the look-out for danger, 
and giving a shrill whistle of alarm on the appear¬ 
ance of an enemy. When upon rocky ground, it 
exhibits great agility in leaping from crag to crag 
of the wildest and seemingly most inaccessible 1 
precipices, and thus furnishes attractive sport to 
those hunters who delight in more than usually peril¬ 
ous adventure. In winter when snowed in beneath 
some sheltering cliff, it endures great privation, 
and when released from confinement, coming out 
wretchedly poor and emaciated, yet as agile as ever. 
The specimen shown in the foreground, is a female 
now living in the London Zoological Gardens, Re¬ 
gent’s Park, where it was received about a year ago. 
We are indebted to the “London Field” for the 
excellent and accurate original of our illustration. 
