474 MaAmMALIA OF INDIA. 
Size.—Length, about 4 feet to root of tail; tail, 7 inches; height at 
shoulder, 32 inches. Horns, average length about 20 inches—fine ones 
22, unusual 24, very rare 26. Sir Barrow Ellis has or had a pair 263, 
with only three flexures; 28 has been recorded by “Triangle” in Zhe 
Asian, and 30 spoken of elsewhere, but I have as yet seen no proof 
of the latter. ‘The measurement should be taken straight from base to 
tip, and not following the curves of the spiral. I have shot some a 
little over 22, but never more. I believe, however, that the longest 
horns come from the North-west. 
This antelope is so well known that it is hardly necessary to dilate at 
length on it; every shikari in India has had his own experiences, but I 
will take from Sir Walter Elliot’s account and Dr. Jerdon’s some para- 
graphs concerning the habits of the animal which cannot be improved 
upon, and add a short extract from my own journals regarding its love 
of locality :— 
“ When a herd is met with and alarmed, the does bound away for a 
short distance, and then turn round to take a look; the buck follows 
more leisurely, and generally brings up the rear. Before they are much 
frightened they always bound or spring, and a large herd going off in 
this way is one of the finest sights imaginable. But when at speed the 
gallop is like that of any other animal. Some of the herds are so 
large that one buck has from fifty to sixty does, and the young bucks 
driven from these large flocks are found wandering in separate herds, 
sometimes containing as many as thirty individuals of different ages. 
“They show some ingenuity in avoiding danger. In pursuing a buck 
once into a field of ‘oor, I suddenly lost sight of him, and found, after 
a long search, that he had dropped down among the grain, and lay 
concealed with his head close to the ground. Coming on another 
occasion upon a buck and doe with a young fawn, the whole party took 
to flight, but the fawn being very young, the old ones endeavoured to 
make it lie down. Finding, however, that it persisted in running after 
them, the buck turned round and repeatedly knocked it over in a cotton 
field until it lay still, when they ran off, endeavouring to attract my 
attention. Young fawns are frequently found concealed and left quite 
by themselves.” —Z//o¢. 
Jerdon adds: ‘When a herd goes away on the approach of danger, 
if any of the does are lingering behind, the buck comes up and drives 
them off after the others, acting as whipper-in, and never allowing one 
to drop behind. Bucks may often be seen fighting, and are then so 
intently engaged, their heads often locked together by the horns, that 
they may be approached very close before the common danger causes 
them to separate. Bucks with broken horns are often met with, caused 
by fights ; and I have heard of bucks being sometimes caught in this 
way, some nooses being attached to the horns of a tame one. I have 
