LICHTENSTEIN'S HARTEBEEST ii3 



" These hartebeests are usually met with in small herds of from 

 five or six to a dozen individuals, and I doubt if I have ever seen more 

 than twenty together. They are never found amongst hills, nor have 

 I come across them in thick scrubby bush. 



" Like other hartebeests with which I am acquainted, this species 

 seems to prefer open to forest country ; it is partial, for instance, to 

 the wide open downs to the north of the Zambesi, and when in country 

 where patches of thin forest alternate with broad open glades, will 

 nearly always be met with in the latter kind of ground. These harte- 

 beests are wary and keen-sighted, and when suspicious of danger will 

 often climb to the top of one of the ant-hills so common in south-east 

 Africa, and survey the surrounding country from this point of vantage. 

 When thus standing on the look-out, they hold their tails slightly 

 raised, and if anything excites their suspicions they will watch it 

 without making any movement for a long time, but gallop off directly 

 the suspected object attempts to approach. When pursued on horse- 

 back, they go off at a light springy canter, and if not pressed will soon 

 stop, when, turning broadside-on, they stand gazing intently at the 

 approaching horseman. After a shot or two has been fired, they will, 

 however, probably commence to gallop in real earnest, when they will 

 be found to be fleet and enduring, like the Cape hartebeest and the 

 tsessebe. In the districts where I have met with Lichtenstein's harte- 

 beest to the south of the Zambesi, tsessebe are also found, and I have 

 seen a single tsessebe feeding with a small herd of the hartebeests, and, 

 on another occasion, an individual of the latter species accompanying 

 a herd of the former. Like other South African antelopes, Lichten- 

 stein's hartebeest calves during the months immediately preceding the 

 commencement of the rainy season, usually in October and November. 

 The flesh is good, but ought to be fried or roasted with bacon or the 

 soft lard of the elephant or hippopotamus, as its own fat is hard, and, 

 as soon as it begins to cool, clogs on the teeth and mouth." 



The following are the dimensions, in inches, of a bull and cow shot 

 by Mr. Percy Kendall : — 



The last-named sportsman states that new-born calves are dun- 

 brown in colour with a black dorsal stripe, but no trace of the light 



I 



