[27] The English language provides no word specially to designate a male goat. We have, therefore, fallen back on the word ram, which, though not strictly accurate, is the nearest available term.
[28] Horns from Nevada are thinner, more compressed laterally, and the ridges show the spiral curves less distinctly. It is, after all, the old question of what constitutes a species.
[29] The horns of the Spanish ibex rather resemble those of the burrell, or wild sheep of the Caucasus, &c., than typical ibex-horns.
[30] "In the Pyrenees," Sir Victor Brooke writes us, "they are rare, and live in the worst precipices I ever saw an animal in. They go into far worse ground than chamois, and are very nocturnal—never seen except in the dusk and early dawn, unless disturbed."
[31] The ibex of Asia Minor—a quite distinct species, Capra ægragus—appears, according to Mr. E. N. Buxton (Nineteenth Century, February, 1891, p. 261, et seq.), to have somewhat similar habits, frequenting the pine forests and lower wooded slopes of the hills, by preference to the treeless summits. But the Turkish mountaineer is a very different man to his Spanish representative, and appears utterly careless of the charms of the chase, seldom molesting the wild goats, whereas in Spain they are rarely left in peace while there is a chance of killing them.
[32] A previous expedition in Gredos had proved entirely blank, not an ibex being secured in a fortnight's shooting.
[33] The ibex are very fond of this shrub, which in summer has a red bloom; and the zone of the piornales is the lowest to which they descend, even in winter.
[34] It is worth mentioning, as showing the importance of the wind and the precarious nature of this pursuit, that on the former occasion a sudden change in the wind had destroyed all chance for the day, and rendered useless many hours' hard work and carefully-planned operations. Even a "flaw" in its direction is often fatal to success, so keen of scent is the cabra montés.
[35] From big game to butterflies is a far cry; yet, on the chance of having some entomological readers, we may mention the following Rhodopalocera observed in these Central Spanish sierras: On the wooded slopes and among the scrub, the speckled wood (Ægeria) and a large wall (? sp.) were common; so also was a small species of azure blue. A single orange-tip (Cardamines) was observed, and several of the handsome Melanargia sillius. A very small copper was perhaps Polyommatus virgaureæ, var. Miegii, Vogel, and of the clouded yellows, Colias phicomone, E., higher, and C. edusa and hyale, lower, were also observed. On the heights was a small orange-, or chestnut-coloured insect, very active, and quite unknown to us. A hairstreak (? Theckla roboris) and L. sinapis occurred in the lower woods, where the brilliant Gonopterix Cleopatra was also seen, as well as one or two examples of a large and very handsome insect, apparently of the Limenitis group—chequered black-and-white, probably L. Camilla, F. One should, however, be a specialist to identify these exotic species.
[36] Such place-names as Mom-Beltran de Lys, the Torre de la Triste Condesa, and others, seem to suggest tales of historic lore and legend, probably long since forgotten.