WATERBUCKS AND REEDBUCKS 505 



while the calf is very young. We have sat within a few 

 yards of a cow and calf which were lying down, and 

 watched them for many minutes before they took alarm. 

 The food is usually grass, but sometimes the animals 

 browse. 



Waterbuck are not as formidable fighters as the roan, 

 sable, or oryx; but the old bulls — perhaps trained by their 

 desperate battles among themselves — must be approached 

 with some caution if at bay, for their horns are sharp, and 

 the strength of their heavy bodies is great. Doctor Rains- 

 ford was severely hurt by the sudden lunge and struggle 

 of a wounded waterbuck bull when he attempted to cut its 

 throat; and a white man with Major Bulpett was killed 

 under similar conditions. A badly wounded bull attempted 

 to charge Kermit and his gun-bearers. 



An adult male shot at Juja Farm measured in the flesh: 

 79 inches in length of head and body; tail, i8 inches; hind 

 foot, 21I/2 inches, and ear, g}i inches. Skull length, 15 

 inches. The horns of this specimen were 23 ^^ inches on the 

 front curve, while those of the longest are 25 inches. Ward's 

 record for East Africa is 29 inches. The horns of the typical 

 ellipsiprymnus of the Zambesi region are much longer, the 

 record being 36^ inches. This record is equal to that of 

 defassa, but curiously enough the geographical position of 

 greatest horn growth is reversed in the two species, the short- 

 est-horned defassa occurring in the south in close proximity 

 to the longest-horned eliipsiprymfius. The identification of 

 heads, however, is attended with much uncertainty unless 

 the body color or the exact locality are known, owing to 

 the close color and horn resemblance of the defassa and 

 ellipsiprymmis. 



