which at the pairing season split up into small parties consisting o f one old
ram and several ewes. Mr. Buxton speaks of never having seen more than
a dozen in company ; and also states that the old rams were sometimes
solitary, but more often in small companies by themselves, while the
young rams generally went about with the, ewes. During December
and January the old rams are much given to fighting among themselves,.
In April or May the ewes give birth to their young, of which there maybe
either one or two at a time ; and these are able to run with their
mothers within a few days of their appearance in the world. I f sufficiently
hung, the flesh o f the rams is excellent for the table when the
animals are in good condition ; but in the latter part of the winter they
become excessively lean, and the quality of the meat is then inferior. As
is the case with the bharal, the meat is probably in its best condition about
September. Muflon will breed with domesticated sheep.
Mr. Buxton’s account in Short Stalks o f the muflon in its native haunts
is so excellent that it maybe quoted in^exlenso.i— “ Though he lives on
ground more or lessjsteep, it is easy, and he has no occasion for any
remarkable feats o f agility. On the other hand, his best safeguard liesfin
the dense macquia which covers the hills. At this elevation it is .exclusively
composed of the tall ‘ bruyere ’ heather, from which the so-called ‘ briar-
root pipes are made. This grows from two to six feet high. I f this
covert were continuous, it would of course be impossible to see an animal
which stands little over two feet, but much of it has been burnt, and there
are natural openings beside. It is in these openings that he must be
sought when feeding. As all wild sheep are constitutionally restless; and
never remain long in one place, it will be understood how difficult it is,
even when they have been spied, to hold them with the glass. They are
constantly disappearing in the macquia, and have to be refound again and
again before a stalk can be successfully effected. When they are alarmed
or ‘ at gaze,’ they have a habit, or,at least the rams have, of placing themselves
in the middle of a bush of macquia, or in the shadow which it casts.
The ewes, who are naturally less conspicuous, do this in a less degree.
The muflon are also assisted by the wonderful alertness of their eyes.
I do not think that they see at a great distance, but they detect an
exceedingly .slight sign at a moderate range. . . . When startled they
whistle as a chamois, and as a Highland sheep occasionally does.”
2. T he A s ia t ic M uflon—Ovis o r ien ta l is
Ovis musimon orientalis, Brandt and Ratzeburg, Med. Zool. vol. i. p. 54
^i8z'9H Ovis gmelini, Blyth, Prop$0pol. Soc. 1840, p. 6 9 ; Brooke, ibid. 1875,
p. 526 j Blanford, Pastern Persia, vial- ii. p. 88 (1876) ; Danford and Alston,
ProqfZool. Spc. 1877, p. «<76, 1880, p. 5 5 ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind.
Mus.. pt. ii. p. 139 (1891) ; Ward, Records o f Big Game, p. 258 (1896) ;
Satunin, Zool. Jah rb . Syst. vol. ix. p. 3 12 fi8o6lBjli
Ovis orientalis, Keyserling and Blasius, Wirbelthiere Europ. p. 29 (1840);
Wagner, Schreber’s Sdugethiere, vol. iv. p. 507 (1844); Nehring, Zool. Garten,
v ® xxyiii. p. 378 (1887).
Ovis (Musimon) orientalisf-Gray, Knowsley Menagerie, p. 36 (1850).
CaproVti, (Musimon) orientalis, Gray, Cat. TJngulata Brit. Mus. p. 172
(1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 56 (1*872!«. -
Ovis anatolica, Valenciennes, CR. Ac. Paris, vol. xliii. p. 65 (1850).
Caprovis orientalis, Gray, Hand-list Ruminants Brit. Mus. p ;' 13 1 (1873).
Characters.—Typically of larger size than the European muflon, the
height at the shoulder reaching to about 2 feet 9 inches. Females hornless.
Horns of males rather large, curving at first outwards, upwards,
and slightly backwards, and then backwards, downwards, and inwards, so
that their tips are situated over the withers, instead of curving forwards
below the eyes ; the spiral usually ,forming only about one half o f a circle ;