10 ARKIV FÖR ZOOLOGI. BAND 2. X:0 15. 



laphus scriptus was regarded by Darwin to be a result of 

 sexual selection. Låter investigations ha ve proved that it is 

 an ancestral characteristic which has pro tec tive value. This 

 lätt er may be quite true when the animal lies or stånds 

 still among bushes or other vegetation, but the degree of 

 protection offered by this mode of colouring must not be 

 overrated. When a Tragelaphus of the scriptus-type moves 

 in the open glades of the forest, the stripes do not seem to 

 be of much use. and are very little or not at all conspicuous 

 at some distance, as Mr. W.axdau has told me. 



In the early morning and in the evening towards sunset 

 or even låter, when it is moonlight, the Cameroon Bushbucks 

 come out from their cover to feed on open grassy places'. 

 But often they are seen in full and broad daylight-, especially 

 jn the afternoon, seeking their food in suitable localities. 

 Such was, for instance, the case with the adult buck of T. s. 

 Icnutsoni described above. It had been seen very often in 

 the open during daytime, and was finally shot. when it kept 

 up these diurnal habits, the 17th Aug. 1884 at Mann"s Spring 

 on the Cameroon Mountain. They are very fond of new and 

 tender grass. When the old grass and other vegetation has 

 been removed in the farms, and two or three weeks låter 

 new grass has grown up, the Bushbucks of the lowland put 

 in appearance and can be shot, sometimes quite easily. Mr. 

 Waldau had. for instance, the opportunity to shoot a fine 

 buck from his veranda. The negro liunters know the habits 

 of the antelopes and lay in wait for them. To attract them 

 and facilitate the hunt, the negroes burn of the old grass on 

 the open plains on the mountain. But they also hunt them 

 out of their coverts with the aid of dögs or trail them alone. 

 The different development of the hair on the neck in 

 different races of Bushbucks has been interpreted above as 

 due to different biological conditions caused by the natural 

 surroundings. It remains then to find out whether this theory 

 can be corroborated by any other facts than the one that, 



^ This and other Communications about the habits of the Cameroon 

 Buslibucks havo been given to me by Mr. Waldau. 



- It onght to be compared with this W. L. Sclater*s statement in 

 >The Favma of South Africa» (p. 234) that Tragelaphus sylvaticus •>is per- 

 haps the most noctarnal of all South African bucks» and he adds that it 

 seldom wanders »far fro)n one paiticular tract of bush, in which it maj'- 

 nearlv alwa vs be found». 



