THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 19 



have (on account of their horns) no longer any need of 

 protection ? On the other hand, is it due to the fact that the 

 bucks keep more to the heart of the forest, and are more 

 nocturnal than their partners ? 



Another phase of coloration for the development of 

 which no satisfactory reason can be assigned is presented 

 by the males of certain ruminants, such as the Indian 

 blackbuck, the white-eared kob, and Mrs. Gray's kob of 

 the White Nile, and the banting, or wild ox, of Java. In 

 all these four species (the first three of which are antelopes) 

 the adult males exchange the foxy red coat of the younger 

 members of their own sex and of the females at all ages 

 for a sable livery relieved by larger or smaller white 

 areas. Clearly this coloration, in place of being protec- 

 tive, renders the animals in which it occurs conspicuous. 

 The only suggestion which seems at all reasonable is that 

 it must either be a " warning colour " or one adapted to 

 attract females towards the leader of the herd. If it come 

 under the former category, it has apparently been developed 

 in order to deter other animals from attacking the leaders 

 of the herd, on account of their prowess in fight. That 

 such an immunity would be an advantage to the individuals 

 in question cannot be doubted ; and possibly it receives 

 support from the circumstance referred to in the next 

 paragraph. 



Although both sexes of the banting carry horns, the 

 females of the aforesaid three species of antelope are 

 hornless. In certain species, such as the sable antelope 

 of Africa and the gaur (the miscalled bison) of India, in 

 which both sexes are horned, the adult females as well 

 as the males have assumed a blackish coat ; and, so far 

 as it goes, this phase is in favour of the view that the 

 acquisition of a sable livery by certain species is for the 



