540 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



bush country or the southern edge of the sand desert of 

 the Sahara in the White Nile region. 



The type of the Nile bush duiker was shot by Colonel 

 Roosevelt near Rhino Camp, Lado Enclave, during his 

 quest for the white rhinoceros in that district, and was 

 described in 191 2 by Heller. The earliest mention of 

 the occurrence of the bush duiker in the Nile Valley is 

 apparently Heuglin's reference, in 1869, in his account of 

 his explorations on the White Nile, to some skins offered 

 him by the natives at Meshra-er-Rek in the Bahr-el- 

 Ghazal district. Schweinfurth included it in his list of 

 Nile mammals published in 1873, and gives the native 

 names by which it is known in the districts through which 

 he travelled. 



The Nile bush duiker may be known by its small size 

 from any other race. Its distinctive color characters are 

 the more grayish tone of the dorsal parts, the absence or 

 faintness of the dark stripes on the legs below the knees, 

 and the lighter brownish-drab color of the dark bands above 

 the hoofs. Other characters are its short ears and the 

 small size of the skull, which is less than six inches in length. 



The dorsal body coloration is wood-brown vermiculated 

 with blackish and darkest on the median line. Basally the 

 hair is ecru-drab. The sides of the body are lighter, be- 

 coming pure fawn where they meet the white of the under- 

 parts. The neck shows very little black vermiculation, 

 being almost wholly cinnamon-brown, this color extending 

 onto the head, where it deepens to russet on the crown and 

 borders the black median stripe which extends from the rhi- 

 narium to the base of the horns. The cheeks and sides of 

 the face are lighter, being fawn color. The rump is more 

 grayish than the back, the drab-gray predominating. The 

 tail is marked by a heavy black dorsal stripe, the sides and 

 lower surfaces are white, and the tip is chiefly white. The 

 belly and the inside of the legs are white, and the hair at 

 the extreme base is drab. The chest is mixed white and 

 fawn with the drab of the basal part showing through. The 

 lower throat is fawn, like the sides. The chin, upper lips, 

 and throat are white. The tip of the chin is marked by 

 dark-brown spot on each side separated by the white of the 

 throat. The limbs are grayish-fawn, like the back, with a 



