considerably more than a complete circle ; usually both front angles much
rounded off. Hair on sides and under surface of the neck in males only
slightly elongated, and not forming a distinct ruff. Pelage in winter with
the hairs close and about an inch in length ; general colour of the upper-
parts uniformly light brown tinged with gray ; face, abdomen, a disk on
the buttocks, the inner side of the legs and their front surfaces below the
F ig. 33.—Skull and horns o f male Siberian Argali. From a specimen shot by
Mr. Littledale in the Altai.
ISftfy/ryPE
knees and hocks white ; anterior portion ot under surface of body darker
than the back ; no dark stripe on the nape of the heck and withersH In
summer the hair much shorter and less dense* and the whole colour much
lighter, all the upper-parts being uniformly speckled brown and white,
becoming lighter on the face, throat, chest, under-parts, andHimbs, the
caudal disk being only slightly lighter than the back.
The above description is taken from a mounted male specimen, with
the winter pelage, in the British Museum, purchased many years ago from
the late Dr. Brandt, and stated to come from Siberia ; and secondly, from a
male in the summer coat shot by Mr. St. George Littledale in the Semip-
alatinsk Altai, and presented by him to the Museum. It is this second
specimen that forms the subject 11 plate xiv. In addition to several skulls,
the Museum also possesses a mounted male head shot by Major C. S.
Cumberland' In the district east of Semipalatinsk (about lat. 50° N., long.
8 S E . ) , which has been described and figured by Mr. Blanford on page
787jg>f the Zoological' Sj®iety’|g; Proceedings for 1896. This specimen,
which is in summer pelage and fully adult, exhibits in great perfection
the slight angulation of the bases of the horns and the numerous wrinkles
with deep grooves between them so characteristic of the species and race.
An adulfiSull also - presented to the Museum by Major Cumberland, and
now mounted, on the wall .to the left of the large sheep-case, has the
front angles of the hornfjpharp, and it does not appear that this difference
can be accounted for by immaturity.
The dimensions of the four largest pair of horns obtaineijfby Major
Cumberland are as follows
Length along
Front Curve.
Basal
Circumference.
m ? f i§ p 'to Tip.
m i 8£ 33i
5 4 | H
19 B |
54a i9§ 33i
Imperfectly determined, but apparently in former times
extending from the Baikal Mountains in the S>uth of Eastern Siberia
through Northern Mongolia to the Semipalatinsk Altai. In the latter
locality it is still abundant, and inhabits an undulating plateau at an
elevation of from 6oo||| tOftTo,ooo feet above thefj sea-level ; but from the
greater part of Eastern Siberia it appears to have been exterminated and
driven south by the Cossacks!« In Northern Mongolia it still survives; and
to the eastward not improbably intergrades with the next race. In Siberia