686 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



moonlight, and on very clear, moonless nights, we found that 

 grayish, countershaded animals like domestic asses, and 

 eland and oryx, were most difficult to see. Zebras were 

 much more clearly visible; they seemed whitish; if close up 

 their stripes could be made out. Mr. Selous has recorded 

 an interesting observation to this effect: he found that even 

 the Grevy zebra, which is less conspicuously colored than 

 the common kind, showed up at night more plainly than 

 eland, oryx, or koodoo, and that in the moonlight the 

 stripes were very distinct, making the animal readily visible. 



On the Athi and Kapiti Plains ticks swarmed, and they 

 clustered in masses around the eyes of the zebras and in the 

 groin, and wherever there was bare skin. Yet, in spite of 

 the abundance of these loathsome creatures, the zebras were 

 fat and in high condition. Ticks were much less plentiful 

 both in the Sotik and along the Northern Guaso Nyiro. 

 Wherever they teemed, as they did on the Kapiti Plains, 

 it was hard to understand how the game supported their 

 presence. But the zebra and antelope were just as fat there 

 as elsewhere. Evidently the ticks did not really trouble 

 them, whereas the biting flies bothered them greatly. 



All animals which live in herds tend to develop a herd 

 leader. This herd leader sometimes may, and sometimes 

 may not, be the master male. Thus in a herd of wapiti, 

 containing a heavy master bull, we have seen an old cow 

 assume complete leadership, watching while the herd was 

 at rest and leading the others whenever the herd was in 

 motion. We also once saw a Tommy doe, which was asso- 

 ciating with four Grant gazelles, take complete charge of 

 the whole party, its big associates following it submissively 

 wherever it led. It seemed as if in the zebra herds the 



