154 MAMMALIA ORDER VI.UNGULATA. 



the face. The mane on the neck is shorter and the tail longer and more 

 hairy than in the last genus. The general hue of the hair in the oryx is grey 

 or tawny, with black markings on the face and legs ; and, although somewhat 

 ungainly in build, they are all decidedly handsome animals, the typical 

 species standing about 4 ft. at the withers, and its horns often exceeding a 

 yard in length. Oryxes are inhabitants of open sandy plains, where they 

 associate in small herds. The third genus of the group is the addax (Addax 

 nasomaculatus) of the deserts of North Africa and Arabia, which differs from 

 the last by the horns being subspiral and lyrate, and also by the heavy mane 

 of long hair on the neck and throat, and the presence of a tuft of hair on the 

 throat, the general colour of the hair being whitish. 



The last, or Tragelaphine, section of the true antelopes comprises several 

 genera of large-sized forms, all of which, save one, are inhabitants of Africa 

 south of the Sahara. The horns, which are usually confined to the male sex, 

 are not ringed, but have a ridge at least on the basal portion of the front 

 surface, and are generally twisted in a spiral, with the front ridge curving 

 outwards from the base. The muzzle is naked, and there is a small gland 

 below each eye. The skull has a small unossified fissure, but no depression 

 below the eye, arid there is very generally a pair of pits on the forehead. 

 The upper molar teeth are broad, but may have either tall or short crowns. 

 A very characteristic, although by no means universal, feature of the group 

 is the marking of the body by vertical white stripes. In India the group 

 is represented solely by the well-known nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), 

 characterised by having the hind limbs much shorter than the front pair, 

 the short horns which are placed behind the eyes ridged and triangular at 

 the base, and nearly straight, the naked portion of the muzzle large, the 

 ears small, and the upper molars tall, with an additional column on their 

 inner sides ; the body being uniformly coloured. Nilgai, which may be 

 found either in jungle or open country, generally associate in small herds, 

 although the bulls are often found singly. In all the other members of the 

 group the fore and hind limbs are of approximately equal length ; the horns 

 are long, ridged throughout, and twisted into a spiral; while the naked 

 portion of the muzzle is of small extent, and the size of the ears large. The 

 molar teeth are short-crowned, and the body is generally striped. Perhaps the 

 handsomest of all are the two African species of kudu, constituting the genus 

 Strepsiceros, in which the horns of the males are situated behind the line of the 

 eyes, rising in the form of an open spiral, with their front ridge very strongly 

 marked, at an obtuse angle to the plane of the face. The neck is fringed with 

 a mane, the tail relatively short, the body marked with vertical white streaks 

 descending from a spinal stripe of the same colour, and the hoofs short. In the 

 skull there is a deep hollow, with pits, on the forehead, and a large unossified 

 space below each eye. Of the two species, the true kudu (S. kudu) ranges 

 from South Africa to Abyssinia, while the much smaller, lesser kudu (S. 

 imberbis) is confined to Somaliland and the Kilimanjaro district. Of the 

 former splendid animal, Mr. Bryddon, in the Asian newspaper of November, 

 1894, writes as follows : '* The kudu bull stands 5 ft. or a little more at the 

 withers. Its general colour varies from rufous grey to almost blue, and 

 especially in the older animals this bluish colouring will be found predominat- 

 ing. Along the spine runs a white streak, and from this thin white stripes 

 extend transversely across the body towards the belly. Just under the eye 

 on either side is a clear white band which meets on the front of the face ; 

 while upon the cheeks two or three circular white spots are to be found. The 



