288 ANTELOPES 



" The young ones are dropped between January and March, and 

 are curious ungainly little creatures until about a year to eighteen 

 months old. The long tufted ears, which are the most marked 

 distinguishing features of this oryx, are carried at a much lower angle 

 than in the true beisa, and closely resemble on a small scale those 

 of the roan antelope." 



THE WHITE ORYX 



( Oryx leucoryx) 

 Abu-harb, SUDANI 



The white, or scimitar-horned, oryx (possibly the animal to which 

 the name oryx properly belongs) is a pale-coloured species, with 

 gracefully curved horns sweeping backwards in scimitar-fashion. In 

 height this oryx stands about the same as the beisa. The general 

 colour is whitish, but patches of chestnut occur on the face, neck, 

 shoulders, flanks, and the upper part of the hind-limbs. To a con- 

 siderable extent (although not on the neck) these chestnut areas 

 correspond in the main with the dark markings of the gemsbuck and 

 beisa. The face -markings are, indeed, identical with those of the 

 latter, the stripe in the middle line being, when fully developed, almost 

 divided into two on the line of the eyes as in those species, although 

 the eye-stripe differs in that its upper portion does not always reach 

 the eye. A tinge on the hind-quarters seems to represent the dark 

 rump-patch of the gemsbuck. 



The pale colouring of this oryx (which, as mentioned above, 

 corresponds very closely with that of the addra or Sudan race of the 

 dama gazelle) is evidently an adaptation to a purely desert existence ; 

 this species inhabiting much more truly desert countries than either the 

 beisa or the gemsbuck. Chestnut, or tan, it should be mentioned in 

 this connection, is the first stage in the degradation of black towards 

 albinism ; and, with the exception of the neck, it is mainly the blackish- 

 brown markings of the beisa which have become chestnut in the present 

 species, while the fawn areas of the former have become white. 



The record horn-length is 44^ inches. 



The range of the white oryx includes the desert-tracts of North 

 Central Africa from Nigeria and the hinterland of the Gold Coast to 

 Sennar, Kordofan, Nubia, and the Sudan generally. 



In most, if not all, modern works on big game and natural history 



