OCR Text |
Show 596 ON THE WILD SHEEP OF CYPBUS. [Dec. 2. well defined, so that if cut across a triangular section would be shown in 0. ophion the fronto-orbital edge is so rounded off as to be almost obliterated, the rugosities of the horn are not so well marked, and the entire horn is slenderer than in 0. gmelini. The present specimen of Ovis ophion (Plate LVIII.) may be described as follows :- General colour rufous fawn above, white beneath, with an indistinct black line along the middle of the back for a short distance behind the withers, and a narrow blackish line along the sides, continued on the thighs, separating the red colour of the upper surface from the white of the belly; an indistinct saddle-patch on ribs formed by a few scattered white hairs. A broad black line down the centre of the breast, with a tendency to become a patch on the lower throat1. Front of fore legs above the knees blackish. Tail short, and black towards the tip. Dark patches inside the lower thighs just above the hocks. Ears small, and covered with very short grey hairs; inside white. Forehead, upper nose, and area in front of eyes dusky brown. Nose, chin, and throat white. Small suborbital pits. Height 26| inches; age 7 or 8 years. Horns 23 inches measured along fronto-nuchal edge. 1 In the specimen belonging to Lord Lilford the black hair on tbe lower throat is about two inches long. In this specimen it is no longer than tbe hair on the side of the neck. Tbe difference may be seasonal or a mark of age. |