160 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



The alarm signal and general call of the animal is a 

 shrill and distinctive whistle. When camping near their 

 haunts this note will be heard all through the hours of 

 darkness, and is one of the most typical of African night 

 sounds. When not used to being disturbed the reedbuck 

 become extraordinarily confiding ; often I have passed 

 ewes lying down at close quarters, which did not even take 

 the trouble to get up, and others of both sexes, suddenly 

 startled from sleep, will stand staring in astonishment, the 

 idea of danger apparently not occurring to them. Their 

 food consists entirely of grass, so far as I have noticed. 



Undoubtedly, the shooting season in the Transvaal, 

 when prolonged into August, interferes greatly with the 

 breeding of reedbuck, and causes many young lambs, 

 through the death of their mothers, to perish of starvation, 

 or fall victims to the smaller carnivora. The rams fight 

 fiercely at times, and a good many of the combats have 

 fatal results. 



Reedbuck show a remarkable partiality for the neigh- 

 bourhood of human habitations, and at night are sad 

 depredators of growing crops and garden produce, unless 

 efficient means are taken to keep them out a precaution 

 not popular with the natives of Africa. Several albino, 

 that is pure white reedbucks, have been seen at various 

 times in the Sabi Game Reserve. When captured full- 

 grown, reedbuck are difficult to tame, being quite unlike 

 impala in this respect. 



I have 'always considered the meat excellent, though 

 some epicures appear to take exception to it. 



THE MOUNTAIN REEDBUCK. This species is generally 

 referred to in South Africa by its Dutch name of rooi 

 rhebok. It is spread through the eastern part of Cape 

 Colony, Natal, Zululand, Swaziland, Orange Free State, 

 the Transvaal, and Bechuanaland, and appears in East 



