BUSHBUCK 327 



inhabit mountainous districts, while those with collared necks frequent 

 lowlands. As regards T. kmitsoni and nieneliki this is known to be a 

 fact. T. decula dwells in the bushy valleys of central Abyssinia, while 

 T. bor lives among acacias farther north on the Bahr-Salam and the 

 upper Nile. Hence it seems probable that the races with well-haired 

 necks are instances of parallel development caused by similar natural 

 surroundings ; and they may thus have their nearest allies among 

 races with short-haired necks. I am, therefore, inclined to believe 

 that the races named knutsoni and bor, although well-haired on the 

 neck, belong to the scriptus series, and that in the same may be 

 included oniatus {phaleratus), and perhaps fasciatiis. All these are 

 provided with a comparatively well-developed pattern of vertical and 

 longitudinal stripes. The East African T. roualeyni and masaicus, 

 with only vertical stripes, are evidently related ; and T. sylvaticus may 

 be a further development of the same series. T. dania and decula, 

 with only longitudinal markings, may, on the other hand, form the 

 centre of a third group, of which the north-eastern races, with both 

 vertical and longitudinal stripes lacking, may be offshoots." 



Dr. Lonnberg goes on to observe that since white striping occurs 

 in eland, bongo, bushbucks, and kudu, it must almost certainly be 

 regarded as an ancient characteristic ; and he adopts the view, sug- 

 gested by myself, that it is connected with life in covert, where such 

 a type of colouring appears to be protective. If this be so, it is to be 

 expected that species or races inhabiting more open, and generally 

 drier, country will tend to lose their spots and stripes, as is the case 

 with the southern and eastern races of bushbucks, which are conse- 

 quently to be regarded as the most specialised representatives of the 

 whole group. It should be added that this is just the opposite of the 

 view taken by Darwin, who attributed the bright colouring of male 

 bushbucks to sexual selection on the part of the females, thus regarding 

 the brightly coloured and profusely marked races as the most special- 

 ised instead of the most primitive. The fact that the young of some 

 of the uniformly dark-coloured races are brighter and striped affords 

 conclusive evidence in favour of the former view. 



The following notes on the eastern Masai race {T. s. masaicus) 

 are condensed from an account furnished by Mr. F. J. Jackson : — 



" The bushbuck is widely distributed, and found throughout East 

 Africa where there is a sufficiency of forest and thick bush. On the 

 island of Manda and on the mainland near Lamu it is abundant ; and 

 there is also a fair number of them in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro in 

 the Taveita and Kahe forests, but it is perhaps nowhere found in such 



