484 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



The pretty reedbuck, which is about the size of a white- 

 tail deer, was plentiful in the Uasin Gishu and in Uganda. 

 It was strictly a beast of cover, and unlike all the water- 

 buck and their allies it was not gregarious, being found 

 singly or in couples — usually a doe and her fawn, more 

 rarely a buck and a doe. Like the oribi and klipspringer it 

 utters a shrill whistle of alarm or curiosity, totally distinct 

 from the whistle of either of the others. In Uganda the 

 reedbuck were not wary, and in certain places were so plen- 

 tiful that on a given flat of tall grass we might find a score 

 or two in fairly close proximity, so that they looked almost 

 like a herd, scattered out to feed; but when alarmed each 

 went its own way without regard to the others. They were 

 grass feeders, and their flesh was excellent. They were 

 never found far from water; in no case that we happened 

 to come across were they more than three or four miles 

 from a stream or pond. They lived in grass, and in patches 

 of bush or reeds. In the daytime we usually came on them 

 lying up in the reed beds or in hollows among the tall grass, 

 so that they offered rather hard running shots or very long 

 standing shots. Favorite resting-places in the Loita Plains 

 district, were the deserted grass-grown Masai kraals from 

 which they were on several occasions routed. When dis- 

 turbed they usually bounded gracefully over the walls of 

 the kraal and sought cover in the nearest reed bed. Often, 

 however, we saw them feeding in the morning or afternoon, 

 and then they were not very difficult to approach. When 

 hiding they would often let us get to within a few feet of 

 them before making a headlong rush through the reeds or 

 grass. When put up by a line of beaters they would either 

 run while the beaters were still a long way off, or else wait 



