174 ANTELOPES 



the .303 rifle they afforded capital sport. The oribi is a small mark, 

 and when jumping in high grass quite difficult enough to give very 

 good practice. Taken all round, this is an excellent little game- 

 animal, and to it I owe many a pleasant day and many a good dish 

 at dinner, when resting myself and caravan at Adis Ababa." 



THE KENIA ORIBI 



(Oribia kenya) 

 Taya, SWAHILI 



The oribi of the Mount Kenia district of British East Africa was 

 described under the above name by Captain R. Meinertzhagen in the 

 Zoological Society's Proceedings for 1905 (vol. i. p. 169). In the 

 original description this species, which stands from 23 to 25 inches at 

 the shoulder, is stated to come nearest to Haggard's oribi, but to differ 

 in the following points : 



The horns are not so thick and less roughly and irregularly ridged, 

 while they have a more forward inclination, and are more divergent. 

 The general colour is bright fulvous, or ochery tawny, with the chin 

 and throat white, a white streak above the front part of each eye, 

 continuing for about an inch in the direction of the muzzle. The ears 

 are fringed above with dark brown ; and the tail, which is about four 

 inches long, has the terminal three-quarters thickly tufted and black, 

 and the basal fourth edged with white below. 



The following account, by Mr. F. J. Jackson, of the oribi inhabit- 

 ing the Kavirondo district, east of the Victoria Nyanza, probably refers 

 mainly, if not exclusively, to this species : 



" This oribi has so far not been found east of the Mau escarpment. 

 It is abundant on the rolling grassy downs from an altitude of 7500 

 feet right away on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza in Kavirondo, 

 and is found on the banks of both the Sir and Nzoia rivers. In 

 Kitosh and Tarkarel it is also abundant, but is certainly more common 

 in Nandi than elsewhere. 



" This little antelope is found singly or in small lots of two or 

 three together, male, female, and young. Occasionally five or six may 

 be seen together. They are essentially denizens of the open, and at 

 all times avoid bush and other thick covert. During the heat of the 

 day, and when the grass is long and withered, they are rarely seen 



