ANTELOPES 



307 



fairly easy to stalk. When alarmed they have a curious habit 

 of bounding up into the air, and present an amusing sight when 

 many of them are jumping about at the same time. In common 

 with many other bush-loving antelopes, they often have diffi- 

 culty in making out the direction whence a shot comes, 

 and if the sportsman takes care to keep out of sight he may 

 get several shots before they finally make off. The impala is a 

 grass feeder. 



LITHOCRANIUS WALLERI 



The Walleri is plentiful on the banks of the Tana river, 

 and there are a fair number at Merereni. It is also found 

 in the Kilimanjaro district. The 

 East African walleri is very much 

 smaller than the one found in the 

 Somali country. There is no mis- 

 taking this antelope for any other, 

 on account of its extraordinarily long 

 and thin neck, which in a fully adult 

 buck, killed by myself at Merereni, 

 was only 10 ins. in circumference ; 

 two females measured 7 ins. each 

 round the neck. When walking and 

 seen at a distance they look not un- 

 like pigmy giraffes, as they carry their 

 long necks stretched out at an angle. 

 They frequent the open bush fringing 



the outskirts of dense thickets, into which they at once retreat 

 on being disturbed. Their note of alarm is a low short 'buzz !' 

 The Walleri is essentially a bush feeder. At Merereni I once 

 watched a doe feeding on a small-leaved bush, not unlike 

 the privet in appearance, and several times saw her rear up on 

 her hind-legs, bend down a branch with her forelegs, and 

 feed on the leaves in this upright position like a goat. This 

 quaint-looking little antelope, like the bush-buck, will haunt 

 one particular spot, and may be seen in or quite near to 



x 2 



The Walleri 



