DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 131 



coloured members of the group ; and lions are likewise 

 to a great extent inhabitants of deserts — as, indeed, is 

 true of tawny and pale-coloured animals in general. 



All the animals above mentioned belong, however, to 

 widely spread groups, which are common to the desert 

 tracts of both Africa and Asia, and they do not, therefore, 

 serve to prove the antiquity of any particular desert, as 

 they or their ancestors might have (and probably did) 

 migrate from one desert to another. Birds of such groups 

 are, of course, even more untrustworthy than mammals, 

 owing to their power of flight. And among those referred 

 to, some, such as the sand-grouse, can scarcely claim to 

 be regarded as exclusively desert birds, since they are 

 partial to any open sandy plains, like those of the Punjab, 

 or even Norfolk. 



The case is, however, very different with certain of the 

 larger mammals, a notable instance being afforded by the 

 antelopes allied to the South African gemsbok (Oryx). 

 All the members of this group are inhabitants of more or 

 less sandy open districts, and never range eastwards of 

 Arabia, or possibly Bushire. The gemsbok itself, together 

 with the beisa of Eastern and North-eastern Africa, are 

 inhabitants of districts which do not, for the most part, 

 come under the designation of typical deserts. And we 

 accordingly find that both are by no means very pale- 

 coloured animals, while both are remarkable for the bold 

 bands of sable ornamenting their face and limbs. On the 

 borders of the Sahara there occurs, however, a very 

 different member of the group — the sabre-horned oryx 

 (O. leucoryx) — differing from the others by its curving horns, 

 and likewise by the extreme pallor of its coloration, which 

 is mostly dirty white, with pale chestnut on the neck and 

 under-parts. Obviously this species has been specially 



