From all the large sheep described above, the bighorn, with its various
races, is easily distinguishable at a glance by its much smoother horns,
and by the more or less conspicuous caudal disk being divided by the
dark line running from the .brown o f the back to the tail ; the white
markings on the legs are also very characteristic. A closer examination
will reveal the minute and almost rudimentary condition of the glands below
the eyes and the depressions of the skull in which they are contained.
All the above features indicate an approximation from the argali type in
the direction of the bharal and the goat$Épj
Much still remains to be done in working out the various modifications
of the bighorn type, as the specimens in the British Museum are quite
insufficient to permit jp f this being accomplished at present. Although
there are several more or less distinct and definable forms of bighorn inhabiting
the North American continent, all these appear best regarded, quite
irrespective o f whether or no they intergrade, as geographical modifications
of a single well-marked specific type. Another bighorn k met
with in Kamschatka and other districts | | North-Eastern Asia, and
although this animal is markedly distinct from the typical bighorn of the
Rocky Mountains, yet the wild sheep from Alaska and other districts in
the north-west of the American continent show such a marked approximation
in the characters of their hornsfsas well as in certain other features,
to the Asiatic bighorn, that it seems preferable to include the latter
within the limits of the same species. It must, however, be understSd
that there is n|f|evidence of gradation between the Alaskan and Kams-
chatkan bighorns, and that the latter, as might have been expected, is
more distinct from all the American forms than these are from one another.
Additional information is urgently* required with regard to the white
bighorns, of which specimens have been received both from Alaska and
Kamschatka, as it is not yet determined whether the white coat is merely
a seasonal phase. Turning to nomenclatural considerations, the reasons
for retaining the name canadensis• instead' of ceruina have already been
stated. Reference must, however, be made to the case of the name
O. californiana which is: somewhat peculiar. By its founder Douglas it
was applied to the wild -sheep ranging from British Columbia to
California, but said to be most abundant in the latter area. The type
was, however, a skull and skin from British Columbia ; the skull being
now in the British Museum. The tail was described as being long.
Blvth’s description was merely an amplification of the original one, but
he gave the habitat as California. Manifestly, however, the typical
locality must be British Columbia ; and the name California would obviously
be inappropriate to a sheep coming from that region. Accordingly,
the name cannot be adopted for either of the races into which the species
has .been divided by later writers.
Distribution.—Typically from the western and north-western districts
of North America, but algo ranging into the ||untries bordering the
northern (part 'o f the Sea <i|J Okhotsk and parts of North Siberia. In
America the bighorn and its various races have a very extensive range.
They are found throughout the whole extent of the Rocky, Mountains,
both on their eastern and western slopes, and extend as far south as
Sonora, Northern Mexico, and the southern extremity of the Californian
peninsula, so that ran the Pacific coast they occur on all the lesser
mountain chains from British Columbia t:P California, Northwards they
extend throughout Alaska to the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic
Ocean. Their distribution in the Eastern Hemisphere is noticed later
on, but it may be mentioned that they probably occur on the Asiatic
coast of Bering Strait, so that the American and Asiatic forms are
separated by a comparatively small distance.
The habits o f bighorn may be more conveniently referred to under
the heading of the various races.