GO A OR TIBETAN GAZELLE 225 



GOA or TIBETAN GAZELLE (Gazella picticaudata). 



The true gazelles form a large group of delicately built antelopes. 

 They are of medium or rather small size, with the muzzle of ordinary 

 shape, the neck not unduly elongated, and no fold containing a crest of 

 long erectile hairs down the middle of the back. To suit the nature of 

 their haunts, their coloration is generally of a sandy hue, with the under- 

 parts white, and the face in most cases marked with parallel dark and 

 light longitudinal streaks ; dark bands being also frequently present on 

 the rump and on the flanks to separate the tawny of the back from the 

 white beneath. The knees are very generally furnished with brush-like 

 tufts of long, stiff hairs ; and the tail is either short or of medium length. 

 With the exception of four species, horns are present in both sexes ; 

 those of the males being stout, distinctly ridged, and generally of about 

 the same length as the head, although occasionally much longer. Ex- 

 cept at the tips, they curve backwards, so as to present an anteriorly 

 convex lower portion, above which they are generally more or less 

 curved forwards and upwards. Gazelles have a wider geographical dis- 

 tribution than any other genus of antelopes, and are, for the most part, 

 inhabitants of more or less desert regions, or their confines. 



The Tibetan goa belongs to a small and aberrant group of the 

 genus in which the tail is very short, the usual dark and light streaks 

 on the face are wanting, and the females are hornless. As a species, it 

 is distinguished by its comparatively small size, and the strongly 



