respects intermediate between the typical form of each. Dr. Radde, for
instance, remarks that he has seen very old horns referred to the present
species, which , curve almost in a single plane, with the pointsjjturned in
a half-crescent shape towards one another, and thus very like those of the
western species. These horns not improbably belong to the presumed
hybrid form referred to under the.; heading of the latter.
In common with the following, this species is, known locally as the
Fig. jj.5.__Head of male East Caucasian,Tur. (Rowland Ward, Records i f Big
tur, a name which may be well adopted in English. By sportsmen it is ;
frequently termed the Caucasian bharal, and its horns are certainly very like
those of the true bharal. But it i|;;very doubtful i f there i^ n y lp e c iah y
close relationship between the two an im a ls th e similarity In the form of
the horns being a character which might readily be acquired quite independently.
The bharal has nfibeard, and its coloration is totally different
from that of either of the Caucasian tur, which are remarkable among the
goats for the uniformly brown tint of their pelage.
The following horn- dimensions are recorded by Mr. Rowland
Ward :—
Length along
Front Curve.
Basal
Circumference.
Tip to Tip.
W i 12 2 • ; ?
34 i io| r3i
33t 12 I9Î
31 11 Is
29i- 12 20
11 i6 i
2f% i o f 18
I0i x9i
2° i " T -
wti'tn.- The Eastern Caucasus, from Daghestan to Kasbeg.
H aiitiié—Few EnglifB-lportsmen have followed this tur in its native
haunts,, and account»f its habits are therefore scanfciind imperfect. According
to Mrs G. Pbillipps-Wolley, who has given some brief notes on it in the
liudmint'M Library, this tur inhabits the higher mountain crags in situations
where eithdf; large springs of iron-impregnated water, or “ licks” of the
same occur. To such springs or licks tire tur, if possible, descend at least
Rnce B r in g the twenty-four hours, and it is then that R many of them fall
victims to the concealed watcher. At least during the summer months,
from the beginning of June till the end g f August, the tur during the daytime
keep to the bare crag? well above the snow-line, free from attack by
(•either man or insects, and in a situation where the sun||£rays do not strike
with the force they exert in the v a flip below. With the approach of night
the rattling of stones from the moraines of the glacier proclaims to the hunter
that the tur are descending to feed upon the patches of upland pasture ;
their presence in the gathering gloom being revealed by the shrill bleat
from whiph they gain their focal name§|f djikry™ According, however,
to native reports, it is only the younger rams and ewes, which associate in
large herds, that come down to the licks and pastures during the summer,
theilld rams keeping themselvesi;|part, and living entirely above the snowline
among almost inaccessible fastnesses. - It is there that the sportsman
must penetrate i f he desire to bag trophies worthy of,his reputation during