THE ANTELOPE. 



By GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, Ph. D. 



THE prong-horn antelope is the fleetest of North American 

 mammals. Its every movement is full of a lightness and ease 

 which compel admiration, and even when at rest it is beauti- 

 fully and gracefully statuesque. It is a goodly sight to watch an old 

 buck as he stands outlined against the horizon on the top of some 

 high bluff. His legs are slim and delicate, while his round, short 

 body tells of strength and endurance. The proudly arched neck 

 supports a fine pointed head, and the smoothly curving black horns 

 stand out silhouette-like against the blue of the unclouded sky. 

 Nearer at hand are some tiny kids, not very far from their gravely 

 sedate mothers. They walk lightly about over the prairie and 

 daintily pluck the grass or sometimes run sportive races with each 

 other. Their little hoofs scarcely touch the ground, and when they 

 move hither and thither, they seem to float over the earth rather 

 than to tread upon it. They are the very embodiment of lightness 

 and grace, and are withal so playful and merry-hearted that it seems 

 like murder to take their lives. Yet they are quick to catch "the 

 alarm, and if the old buck on the hill above should sound his call of 

 warning, the little company would dart away with the speed of the 

 wind — soon to be far from the threatened danger. 



The prong-horn antelope occupies a unique position among the 

 horned ruminants. Belonging to that subdivision of the group 

 styled Cavicomia* it yet sheds its horns annually. As has been 



• For some remarks on this subdivision of the ruminants, see the chapter on The 

 North American Cervida in this volume. 



