GRYSBOK 179 



mixture of white with the red hairs) ; this stippHng extending on to 

 the forehead and back of the neck, but absent from the cheeks, sides 

 of the neck, throat (which is rufous yellow), chest, and under-parts 

 generally, the latter being a paler rufous than the back. The ears, 

 which are large and pointed, are brownish grey externally, and the tail 

 is short. Bucks stand about 22 inches at the shoulder, and 23 at the 

 croup, but does are stated to be half an inch taller. Ordinary horns 

 average about 3 inches, but there is a record length of 4|- inches. 



The range of this species includes South Africa as far north as the 

 Zambesi and Mozambique. 



Mr. Vaughan Kirby writes that at the present day the grysbok 

 " abounds throughout the south-eastern districts of Cape Colony, 

 though rare in Zululand, Natal, and Matabililand. It is fairly numerous 

 in parts of Mashonaland, Gazaland, and the eastern Transvaal, par- 

 ticularly near Komati-Poort and along the Letaba river. I did not 

 meet with it in the Mozambique Province, but in Portuguese South - 

 East Africa it is comparatively common. It is found singly or in pairs, 

 usually in hilly districts, where it is partial to open hill-sides with a 

 sprinkling of thin bush and low scrub. It lies very closely in covert, 

 and, unlike its congener the steinbok, seldom stands after it has once 

 made off. Grysbok can exist for a long period without water, and I 

 have seen them in waterless localities. They are amongst the first to 

 retire to covert in the morning, and leave it late in the evening. 

 During the day they lie up in patches of bush, in gullies, or on sloping 

 hill-sides, and in the low country are partial to the rough scrub-covered 

 ground at the bases of low ' kopjes.' They are purely grass-feeders, 

 and their flesh is excellent for the table. The fawns, which are slightly 

 darker in colour than the adults, are usually born at the beginning of 

 the rains ; but in Cape Colony, where the seasons are very changeable, 

 they may be produced during any month in the year. The only cry 

 I have heard them utter is a loud bleat when seized by a dog. They 

 are by no means swift ; but, owing to the rough, bushy nature of the 

 country they inhabit, only a good dog will run them down. Grysbok 

 can either be shot during an early morning's stalk, when it is no hard 

 matter to get within easy range ; or they can be walked up — one or 

 more guns taking a line of country and getting their shots in as the 

 bucks jump up. When running straight away, their plump sterns offer 

 a fairly easy mark, as they run far more smoothly than either duiker 

 or steinbok." 



Professor Knotterus-Meyer {Aixhiv Naturgesc/nchte,vo\.\yiyim.'^t. i, 

 p. 99, 1908) has proposed to generically separate the present species. 



