The Chinkara Gazelle 



well developed ; the general colour of the upper-parts 

 is light chestnut, becoming somewhat darker at the 

 junction with the white of the flanks and buttocks, 

 although not showing: either a distinct dark lateral band 

 or a pale band ; while the chin, chest, under-parts, and 

 a streak on the sides of the buttocks are white, the 

 white stopping short of the root of the tail. The tail 

 is dark brown or black ; but 

 the knee-tufts are somewhat 

 variable in colour, although 

 frequently dark brown. The 

 face has a whitish streak run- 

 ning down each side, externally 

 to which is a rufous stripe, 

 while the middle, from the 

 roots of the horns to the nostrils, 

 is dark rufous, sometimes with 

 a dusky patch above the nose. 



In Sind and the Indian desert 

 the chinkara assumes a paler 

 tone, as is commonly the case 

 with desert animals ; and if this 

 difference be considered worthy 

 of subspecific distinction, the 

 desert form should be known 

 as Gazella hennetti christyi. 



The range of the chinkara 

 extends from the plains and 

 low hills of North - Western and Central India 

 through Baluchistan to the eastern shore of the Persian 

 Gulf, The Baluchi and Persian form diifers, however, 

 in certain characters of the female, and is referred to a 

 distinct race. The Indian, or typical race (G. bennetti 

 typicd)^ unless the pale Sind variety be separated, is 

 found in suitable localities over a considerable area of 

 the peninsula, being met with all over the Punjab, 

 Sind, Rajputana, the North-West Provinces, and the 

 Bombay Presidency, with the exception of the Western 



203 



Fig. 31. — Head of the Chinkara, 

 from a specimen shot by Mr. 

 L. M. le Champion. 



