2 4 o ANTELOPES 



is uniformly foxy red on the upper-parts, with a black patch on the 

 crown of the head, black tips to the ears, an indistinct brown dorsal 

 stripe, continued as a black stripe down the tail, a crescentic black 

 streak on the buttocks and thighs, and the aforesaid black tufts on the 

 hind-fetlocks. A patch round each eye, the lips, a narrow throat- 

 band, and the under-parts are white, as are the sides, tip, and under 

 surface of the tail. The shoulder-height of the bucks ranges from 

 about 34 to 38 inches, and the weight from about 130 to 160 Ib. 

 The record horn-length is 31^ inches. 



Typically a southern species, the pala ranges along the eastern side 

 of Africa as far north as the southern districts of Kordofan. 



The Nyasa pala, on account of its apparently smaller size, was 

 separated by Mr. O. Thomas on p. 553 of the Zoological Society's 

 Proceedings for 1892 as ^pyceros melampus jolmstoni, but the distinct- 

 ness does not seem to hold good. In 1894 Dr. von Lorenz (Ann. 

 Hofmuseuni Wien, vol. ix. p. 62) gave the name of JL. m. Jiolubi to 

 the pala of Zambesia ; while Dr. P. Matschie (Sitzungs-Berichte Ges. 

 Naturfor. Berlin, 1892) has distinguished the Uganda and Kilimanjaro 

 representative of the species as <&. m. suarce. At best, however, these 

 local forms differ but very slightly from the typical southern form. 



In this place it may be well to mention that the horns of young 

 palas, when only about a foot in length, have their tips inclined inwards, 

 and occasionally even crossing. This is due to the rotation of the 

 horny sheaths on the bony axis during growth. 



In many parts of its range the pala has been greatly reduced in 

 numbers, while in places it may even have been exterminated. A 

 few years ago, according to Mr. Vaughan Kirby; these antelopes were, 

 however, still common in parts of Portuguese East Africa, and along 

 the upper Zambesi and eastern Mashonaland, but throughout the 

 Mozambique province they appear to be unknown. 



" Impala," writes the same sportsman, " are strictly gregarious, 

 ranging in troops of from ten or twelve to larger ones whose numbers 

 could scarcely be computed. The number of females is greatly in 

 excess of that of the males. Large troops of the former, with perhaps 

 a few half-grown males, but not a single big ram, are frequently seen ; 

 and I have met with troops consisting of twenty or thirty males alone. 

 They are partial to open woodland and low, sandy bush-country, and are 

 seldom seen more than a couple of miles from water. In the eastern 

 Transvaal they are invariably found among ' impala-bush,' with which 

 immense areas of the ' low country ' are covered. They are grass- 

 feeders, but I have at times seen them eating the leaves of certain 



