MAMMALS 



101 



the horn. But I cannot agree with Mr. Lydekker (Royal 

 Natural History) that the horn of the prong-buck is in reality 

 nothing more than a mass of agglomerated hairs. This seems 

 to me quite a mistaken view. 1 



Fig. 10. Head of A ntilocapra showing the horn-sheaths in process of regeneration. 

 From Proc. Zool. Soc. 1880. 



The shedding of the horn -sheath follows the rutting 

 season, and Caton quotes from Audubon and Bachman an 

 account of the ferocity of the adult males at this season : 

 " The rutting season of this species commences in September; 



1 That the view I have adopted above is correct is proved by the careful 

 and detailed investigation of Nitsche (Studien iiber Hirschc, Leipzig, 1898, 

 pp. 72-78) : "The horn-sheath of Antilocapra consists of hairs, and horn- 

 substance which subsequently encloses the earlier formed hairs." 



