40 THE ANTELOPE OF AMERICA. 



The prevailing color of the body is a dull rufous yellow. This 

 covers the neck, except the mane and the lower portion of it. 

 It covers the back and sides half way down, the shoulders and 

 hips, except the white patch on the rump. This conspicuous 

 white mark commences at the anterior end of the sacrum and 

 widens to the extent of eight or ten inches, passes down around 

 the tail, and unites with the white below, between the legs. In 

 many specimens, this white patch is divided by a slight line of 

 yellowish hair extending down the back and along the upper 

 side of the tail. Frequently on the male the color over the spine 

 is appreciably deeper than on either side. The tail, the lower 

 part of the sides, the belly, the inguinal region, the legs, and the 

 under side of the neck are white, except that the white under the 

 neck is broken by three bands of the yellowish color above, which 

 are broader at their base on either side of the neck, and become 

 quite narrow, and are sometimes broken by the white under the 

 neck. This appearance of the different colors on the neck shows 

 the white in pointed sections on the lower sides of it, the points 

 projecting into the colored portions above. The white on the 

 front of the legs is not as clear as on other parts, and is tinged 

 with a russet or brown shade. 



On many specimens a shaded line may be observed from a 

 point between the fore legs, extending back to the umbilicus. 



The portions covered by the different colors, or the dividing 

 lines between the colors, are somewhat variant on different indi- 

 viduals ; but the}'- always preserve their distinct characteristics. 

 The white is perhaps most immaculate on the rump, but is very 

 pure everywhere, except about the head and on the legs, where 

 it is a little more dingy. 



The hairs from the colored portion of the animal, when exam- 

 ined singly, are at their lower extremities white, turning to a 

 dull bluish shade higher up; then they become yellowish-tawny, 

 and at the tips black. The ends of the white hairs frequently 

 become soiled, so that their purity is obscured, but the soiling 

 rarely penetrates to a great depth, and by opening them their 

 beauty is manifest. 



As stated, all the cuticle not covered with hair — about the 

 anus, the eyes, and the mouth, — as well as mucous membrane, is 

 very black, while the healthy skin under the hair is of a salmon 

 color. These colors remain after the death of the animal, al- 

 though, if a patch of hair be removed from the living animal, the 

 epidermis thus exposed very soon becomes black. 



