354 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



whole concealingly colored. The topi is one of the most 

 conspicuously colored of all the antelopes, being inversely 

 countershaded. Only the wildebeest and the old bulls of 

 the sable, Nile lechwi, and white-eared kob have a coloration 

 more clearly advertising. Yet the difference in coloration 

 is evidently of not the slightest consequence as regards any 

 effect on the respective life histories of the two animals; 

 wherever found at all, the highly conspicuous topi — which 

 is advertisingly colored under practically all conditions — is 

 much more plentiful than the roan, whose coloration really 

 does have a certain concealing value under certain circum- 

 stances. But neither trusts to concealment at all when on 

 the plains, and while the roan in certain places in the woods 

 may make use of cover to conceal itself the topi never does 

 at all. The topi is almost as conspicuous as a wildebeest; in 

 its haunts only a wildebeest would be observed farther off, 

 and it never seeks to escape observation, trusting purely 

 to its vigilance and its sense for safety. 



In its habits, as in its outward appearance, the topi is 

 a somewhat less violently accentuated hartebeest — just as 

 in the wildebeest the characteristic habits and aspect of 

 this group of antelopes reach their most extreme and eccen- 

 tric expression. The topi frequents precisely the same type 

 of country as the hartebeest, when the two are found in 

 the same locality, and it grazes, it rests, and goes to water — 

 in places at stated times, in others at irregular intervals — 

 just like its congener. Often I found herds of the two species 

 intermixed, and often other game, such as wildebeest, zebra, 

 and gazelle, were with them. Often herds would be found 

 exclusively of one species. We have seen a couple of hun- 

 dred topi in a herd; and small parties and single bulls are 



