ANTELOPES 143 



in spite of the unremitting efforts of natural enemies, 

 dogs, and men to exterminate it. The species, generally 

 distributed throughout South Africa, as far north as 

 Nyasaland, in all open and lightly forested country, is 

 occasionally found in fairly thick bush, but never in 

 broken and mountainous areas. It specially favours open 

 treeless flats, surrounded by or dotted with patches of 

 forest. In such places the little animals may be seen 

 slowly moving about at all times of the day, and, contrary 

 to the custom of most wild things, they appear to stroll 

 about feeding during all but the very hottest hours. 

 They lie down a great deal in the open, and the shelter of 

 a tuft of grass often serves as an adequate concealment. 

 Often they use old ant-bear and porcupine holes as 

 refuges during the heat of the day. They are solitary 

 little creatures, being generally found singly, less often in 

 pairs. Where undisturbed, they soon become extra- 

 ordinarily tame and unsuspicious, and allow approach to 

 within twenty or thirty yards ; while, should the way- 

 farer show. a disposition to pass on, they will not infre- 

 quently quietly resume their recumbent posture, only 

 their large nervous ears appearing above the sheltering 

 grass. Their food is grass, supplemented by young shoots, 

 and occasional roots and tubers. They are silent animals, 

 occasionally uttering a very slight snort as an alarm note ; 

 but they bleat piteously when seized by any carnivorous 

 enemy. In captivity they do not thrive nearly so well 

 as duikers, though they become equally tame and friendly. 



The steenbuck shows a high specialization in having no 

 false hoofs. 



SHARPE'S STEENBUCK. The most northerly home of 

 this species seems to be British Nyasaland, where it was 

 discovered and recorded by Sir Alfred Sharpe. Thence 

 it extends down through eastern Mashonaland to the 



