THE OUREBI. 637 



ami whit.- on tli.- aMoincn. th.- lips, breast, and a rirrle round the eyea. The outer side* of 

 id.- limli-. together witli tli.- fi-init of the feet and the end ( the tail, are nearly black 

 of tli.- olde-t and mo-t ]Miwi'iTul iiiali-s an- sodeep|\ colon-d that th.-ir coate aiv tinted with the 

 two contrasting IIM-- <>f l'l:i'-U and white, tin- fawn tint l*-ing altogether wanting. The height 

 of tlii- animal in uUmt two feet six inches at the shoulder. 



Tin <;i:y--noK i- a native of Southern Africa, and La about the same siae as the pre 

 reding animal, it-* height at tin- shoulder being between ninet*en and tw.-nty itches. 



It i- not v.-i\ uft.'ii found <>n tli.- plain-, but prefers to inhabit the wooded |M,rti.-n- of the 

 iiioiiiitaiiioM- district-, and is an i-sji--ially wary and vigilant creature, and endowed with great 

 powers of .-|>eed. 



The color of t! l>ok is rudily chestnut, largely intermixed with white huins which 



give it a -tippl'M ap|>earance, and have caused the Dutch Boere to term it tin- (irys-bok, or 

 <ir.iv I'li.-k. Tlu* under portions of the body are not white, ait is so often the case among tin* 

 Antelopes, but are of a reddish-fawn. The ears are more than four inches in li-mrth. and from 



theii ,-,,n-|.i.- i-ly I. lack tips have eurneil for the Grys-bok the scientific title of Melanot 



black-eared. The hoofs are peculiarly small, sharp, und black, and the tail ia so short that it 

 barely protrudes beyond tin- hair of the hinder quarters. 



TIIK Oi 1:1 in i- another of tin- many Antelopes which inhabit Southern Africa. 



\Vhi!-t many animals of the Antelope kind fly from the presence of man, and do not 

 approach within a distance of many hundred mil.-s of his residence, there are some few which 

 do not appear to have this great dread of him, but which adhere to particular localities as long 

 a- th.'ir jxwition i- t.-nalil.-. or until they fall victims to their temerity. It also appears as if 

 -4im>- -pots wen BO inviting, that immediately they become vacant by the death of one occu- 

 pant, another individual of the same species will come from some unknown locality, and 

 re-occupy the ground. Thus it is with the Ourebi, which will stop in the immediate vicinity 

 of \ illaire-. :md on hill- and in valleys, where it is daily making hair-breadth escapes from it.s 

 persevering enemy, man. 



When day after day a sportsman has scoured the country, and apparently slain ev.-iv 

 Omvbi within a nidius of ten miles, he has but to wait for a few days, and IIJKHI agiiin taking 

 the tield he will find fresh specimens of this graceful little Antelope bounding o\.-r th.- hills 

 around him. 



It i- generally found in pairs, inhabiting the plains, and when piirsueil, trn-t- to its 

 SJN^I. -.-.-kim: no shelter either in the bush or the forest. It general habitation i- among 

 the long grass which remains after a plain has been burned, or on the sheltered side of a hill, 

 among rocks and stones. 



Its mode of progression, when alarmed or disturbed, is very beautiful. It gallops away 

 with great rapidity for a few yards, and then INHIH.I- -.-\.-i-al feet in the air, gallops on. and 

 N.unds again. Th.--.- leap- an- made for the purpose of examining the surrounding country, 

 which it is .-naMi-d to do from its elevated position in the air. Sometimes, and e-j^cially 

 wh.-n :m\ -u-piciou-ol,j,-ct is only indi-tinctly ol -n-d in the lir-t lound, the Ourel.i will 

 make several >ui-eeHsive leaps, and 'it then looks almost like a creature possesw-l of wing.*, and 

 having the power of sustaining itself in the air. If. for in-tance. a dog pur-u.-- ..n- of lh.--<- 

 Antelopes, and follows it through long grass, the Oun-bi will make n-iited leaps, and by 

 observing the dii^-tion in which its j.ursuer is ad\an-in-. will suddenly change its own course, 

 and thus e-ra|- from view. In descending from these leaps the Onrebi comes to the ground 

 on its hind f.-et. In his description of this animal, Captain Drayson gives the following 

 account of some of its habits : 



When first start.il. the Ourebi pursues over the ground a course som.-w hat -imilarto 

 that which a snijje follows in the air. It dodges from -id.- t.. side, leaps and ru-I.e- through 

 the irni.-s or ov.-i the plain with a lightning-lik sj^l. and almost N-fon th. ~; <->,,.,>, . ..i, 

 get his gun ready, the Ourebi is scuddim: away at a di-tan. of a hundn-d yanls or so. Some 

 spnrtsni.-n "hoot thi- animal with Luck-hot, and by walking through the long grass, and 



