THE AFRICAN RHINOCEROS 



feet to five feet six inches in height, while one of the larg- 

 est horns on record measured only forty-two inches in 

 length. This species is prehensile-lipped and almost black 

 in color, except that, from wallowing in different colored 

 mud and clay, the animals appear sometimes red, some- 

 times dark gray. 



The African rhino feeds exclusively from twigs and 

 leaves of trees and bushes. He is not as fond of swamps as 

 his Asiatic cousin, and is often found even in practically 

 waterless country, where he goes considerable distances 

 from the nearest stream or water hole. As a rule, he will 

 return to drink at night, and sometimes he also drinks in 

 the early morning. It has been said that the black rhino 

 does not like cool weather, and that he seldom goes higher 

 than 5,000 feet on plateaus and mountain ranges. This, 

 however, is a mistake, for he is very abundant on the 

 Laikipia Plateau, lying at an altitude of over 6,000 feet, 

 and in 1906 I shot a charging female rhino, accompanied 

 by a half-grown calf, which I met on one of the foothills 

 of Kenia, at fully 8,000 feet altitude. It was evident from 

 the many rhino paths on this side of the mountain that 

 it was a favorite feeding place for the big pachyderms. 



I have noticed that there are two somewhat different 

 species even of the black rhinoceros, for I have always 

 found certain differences between those living on the 

 plains and the rhinos inhabiting bush and forest country. 

 The rhino of the plains has, as a rule, a much thicker and 

 shorter fore horn than the bush rhino, whose horn is more 

 curved backward, much more slender, and very sharply 

 pointed. I have also noticed that the feet of the rhino in- 

 habiting the plains are, in comparison, larger than those 



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