NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



from the coast of the Cape Province to the Zambesi ; 

 and north of our Zoological boundary to Nyasaland. 

 Its favourite haunts are the open plains and bush- 

 veld, but it is occasionally found in rather dense 

 bush-country, but never in rocky, mountainous 

 parts. Its favourite feeding grounds are the open 

 flats w^ith patches of bush dotted over or near it. 



The Steenbok is usually solitary except during the 

 mating season, when they are to be seen in pairs. 

 As a general rule they are about during the 

 morning and afternoon, retiring to some shady 

 spot to rest from about nine in the morning till 

 about three in the afternoon. Their food consists 

 of grass, supplemented by young shoots of bushes, 

 and roots and tubers which they scratch up out of 

 the ground with their hoofs. When alarmed this 

 little antelope darts off at a rapid pace, throwing up 

 its hindquarters at each stride in a springy, elegant 

 way. After galloping off for about a hundred yards 

 or so, it usually stops to look round, and thus falls 

 an easy victim to the sportsman's rifle. They often 

 endeavour to escape observation by lying close like 

 a hare, and stretching their necks out along the 

 ground with the ears well back. Lying thus, out 

 on the veld, covered only with short grass, they are 

 difficult to observe and are often passed unnoticed. 

 The moment they become aware their presence is 

 known, they are up and off in an instant. 



The Steenbok is regularly coursed with grey- 

 hounds or hunted with foxhounds, and having 



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