314 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



Gazella soemmerringi (Cretzschmar). 



Ariel or Sommerring's Gazelle. 



Antilope soemmerringii Cretzschmar, RuppeU's Atlas reise nordlichen Afrika. 

 Saugeth., 1826, p. 49, pi. 19. 



Of this species, Cotton (1912, p. 57) writes: "On the Atbara . . . . 

 it was a rare animal ; but throughout the Setit it was very abundant, 

 and on the Rahad, from a march or two above Hawata to the Abys- 

 sinian border, the ariel were to be numbered only by thousands, and 

 their presence obviously accounted for the number of lions. There 

 were large herds on the Galegu and Binder, but not many of them, and 

 on the Blue Nile I did not see a single specimen." It is the only 

 species of gazelle that we found in all the country traversed. Cotton 

 did not learn of its presence on the Blue Nile, but we saw a few back 

 from the river near Bados, which appears to be the last remaining 

 stretch of good game country on the north side of the river. This is 

 no doubt because there is an area of marsh along the river which allows 

 the animals to come to water without passing too close to villages. 

 They must drink very early in the morning, for they are well back in 

 the thorn scrub by daylight. On the south bank of the Blue Nile 

 there are good numbers still, as we were informed by some officers 

 of the Scots Guards, who obtained several heads there during our 

 stay in the country. That side of the river is much less populated 

 and is a reserve for use of officials only. In crossing from the Blue 

 Nile to the Binder, from Abu Tiga, we saw a single bunch of three 

 Ariel, but they are clearly very scarce in the region. 



It was not until we had proceeded some distance up the Binder 

 that the Ariel began to appear. Near Ereif el Bik, a camp site by the 

 bank, we saw a few coming from the water in early forenoon, and 

 from this point on to Um Orug they were common, far outnumbering 

 all the other antelopes. At times they were in sight nearly all day 

 in smaller or larger bands ; f reqViently we started them in the forenoon 

 at eight or nine o'clock coming from the water, and I have seen them 

 come to drink as late as 12.30 P. M., for here they seemed to have 

 been undisturbed for some while, and had lost much of their wariness 

 of human kind. They are a most social species and gather into bands 

 that number often fifty, seventy-five or a hundred approximately, 

 of both sexes, and in early February the females were often accom- 

 panied by young fawns. It was common to find single animals as 



