374 GIRAFFE GROUP 



within shot. Even then many disappointments result, for the animals 

 are probably moving about, so that one may suddenly come into full 

 view of the stalker just as he is executing an arduous crawl ; and even 

 though he instantly become rigid and lie motionless, patiently baking on 

 the hot ground, its large, keen eye may have detected a movement and 

 the alarm be given. If once you get within moderate distance of your 

 game, it often becomes easier to approach still nearer ; for it may then 

 be possible to get their heads behind bushes over which they previously 

 looked. Arrived within convenient shot, do not edge round to come 

 into full view ; rather sit and wait till the giraffe comes out from behind 

 the screen, when, if you remain immovable, you will not be noticed. 



" I have never heard giraffe make any sound, nor have I heard or 

 read anywhere that their cry, if they have one, has ever been noticed." 



THE SOMALI GIRAFFE 



{Giraffa reticulata) 

 (Plate xiv, fig. i) 



The so-called "netted" giraffe, which was first named by Mr. 

 VV. E. de Winton in the Zoological Society's Proceedings for 1 897, p. 277, 

 may be provisionally regarded as a distinct species, although its colour- 

 pattern is merely an extreme development of that of the Nubian race 

 of the ordinary species. Its range extends from Somaliland through 

 the Lake Rudolf district to the northern part of British East Africa. 



The body and neck of the Somali giraffe (figs. "jG and yy) are 

 coloured of a deep liver-red, marked with a coarse network of narrow 

 white lines, the meshes of which gradually decrease in size towards the 

 head, although they are everywhere large. On the head itself the 

 markings change to rounded chestnut spots on a fawn-coloured ground ; 

 the back of the ears being pure white, as are the legs below the knees 

 and hocks. The liver-coloured areas on the body and the lower half 

 of the neck are for the most part quadrangular, and show no tendency 

 to become rounded. The essential feature of the colouring is the 

 superposition of a white network on a liver -red ground, so that this 

 species cannot properly be described as a spotted animal. The un- 

 paired horn on the forehead is moderately developed. 



The type of coloration distinctive of the Somali giraffe seems to be 

 a special adaptation to render the animals as invisible as possible when 

 in the scrub-jungle to which they habitually resort (fig. 75). 



