254 



The Living Animals of the World 



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Photo by S:G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild. 



WHITE ORYX. 

 Found in Northern Africa from Dongola to Senegal. 



a length of about 28 inches in 

 a straight line, and about 36 

 inches following the spiral. In 

 the female they are thinner and 

 less spirally curved. The addax 

 is confined to the desert regions 

 of Northern Africa from Dongola 

 to Senegal, and the broad, rounded 

 hoofs, so unlike those of any 

 other antelope, would seem to 

 show that it inhabits countries 

 where the soil is deep, soft 

 sand. 



Very little is known of the 

 life history or habits of this 

 antelope. It is said to associate 

 in pairs or small herds, and to 

 be entirely independent of water, 

 though it travels great distances 

 over the desert in the track of 

 thunder-storms for the sake of 

 the young herbage which grows 

 so quickly wherever rain falls in 



those thirsty regions. It is killed in considerable numbers by the Arabs for the sake 



of its flesh and hide, and is either stalked or hunted on horseback, with the help of 



greyhounds, by Europeans. 



The last of the sub-families into which modern 



naturalists have divided the antelopes of the 



world comprises some of the handsomest species 



of the whole group, and includes the largest of 



all antelopes, the Eland, as well as such small 



and beautifully marked creatures as the Harnessed 



Bushbucks. 



With one exception the Nilgai all the 



members of this sub-family are denizens of the 



great African Continent. 



The NILGAI, or BLUE BULL, is an inhabitant 



of India, and is found throughout the greater portion 



of the peninsula, from the base of the Himalaya 



to the south of Mysore. It is an animal of large 



size, standing about 4 feet 6 inches at the shoulder. 



In general colour the male is of a dark iron-grey, 



the female tawny fawn. White spots on the cheeks 



and just above the hoofs on the fore and hind feet 



are the outward signs of its affinity to the African 



harnessed antelopes. The male alone carries horns, 



which are nearly straight and very small for the 



size of the animal, rarely exceeding 9 inches in 



length. 



Passing now to the Harnessed Antelopes of 



Africa, our attention is first claimed by the BUSH- 

 BUCKS. Excluding the Inyala and the Broad- 



Photo by W. P. Dando] 



BEISA OKYX. 



[Regents Park. 



The beisa is found in North-east Africa ; by some it is believed 

 to have suggested the original idea of the unicorn. 



