HUNTING-LEOPARD 447 



he has never seen African hunting-leopards with a streak running from 

 the upper angle of the eye to the base of the ear, as in some Indian 

 examples. 



As Dr. Sclater's name laniiis is ante-dated by guttatus^ the African 

 race of the species should be known as Cyncelurus jubatus guttatus. 



The following notes on the hunting-leopard in South Africa are 

 abbreviated, with some slight modifications, from an account written 

 by Mr. Vaughan Kirby in 1899: — 



" Chitas are by no means so rare in South Africa as many writers 

 would have us believe, and I have encountered many at different times. 

 They are numerous in the Transvaal, amongst the foot-hills of the 

 Drakensberg, and in the low country, particularly between the 

 Oliphants and Letaba rivers. They are not strictly nocturnal, for 

 I have seen them hunting at all hours of the day ; and on one 

 occasion, when I had off-saddled in the low-country at mid-day, a 

 pair tried to stalk my own horse and that of my after-rider, but we 

 awoke in time to prevent them executing their plan. If they have 

 killed, they will readily feast during the day. Their lairs are made 

 amongst rocks or grass -jungle ; and they usually hunt in couples, 

 although I have seen parties of four, five, and six. They prey on 

 antelopes, and, when near native villages, on calves, sheep, and goats ; 

 but I have never known them eat carrion. The largest antelope I 

 have seen killed is a kudu : they fairly stalk their game, up-wind, 

 coming in with a grand rush at the last, if the animal bolts. They 

 invariably kill by strangulation, and though I have examined many 

 such victims, I have never seen a double set of fang-wounds, showing 

 that they seldom relax the first grip of the throat till the animal is 

 dead. They disembowel their prey in a clumsy style, quite unlike 

 that of lions and leopards ; usually eating some of the meaty portions 

 of the entrails, but never burying them. The heart and lungs are 

 first eaten, and then the nose, tongue, and ears, the whole head being, 

 in fact, more or less lacerated and eaten. For a limited distance, at 

 any rate, the chita is, in my opinion, about the swiftest animal in the 

 world ; and many times, even when well mounted and over good 

 ground, I have failed even to force them into their best pace. Once, 

 as I was stalking sable antelope near the Oliphants river, ' boys ' 

 directed my attention to a kudu feeding on the far side of a creek, 

 about 200 yards distant, when it suddenly started, glanced behind, and 

 then, laying its horns back, dashed through the creek towards us, with 

 two creatures, which I took to be wild dogs, in pursuit. These ran 

 but slowly at first, though the kudu, knowing its danger, was flying 



