ANTELOPES. 



297 



genus to which it belongs. In many respects the chiru is allied to the saiga, 



mentioned next, but the nose is less convex, and the nostrils open anteriorly instead 



of downwards. The horns (which, as in 



all the following members of this group 



are present only in the bucks) are black, 



long, erect, laterally compressed, and sub- 



lyrate, with rings in front for the lower 



two-thirds of their length. There is no 



gland below the eye ; and the skull lacks 



the pits between the eyes found in the 



other members of the group. In height 



the male chiru stands 32 inches at the 



shoulder; and it is covered with very 



thick, close fur, becoming woolly near the 



skin. The colour is pale fawn above and 



white below ; the whole face and a stripe 



down the front of each leg being black 



or dark brown in the bucks. The horns 



frequently reach 24 and 26 inches in 



length, and one pair has been recorded of 



27J inches. The chiru probably inhabits 



the whole of the Tibetan plateau, at the 



same elevations as the Tibetan gazelle. 



In summer the sexes 

 Habits. 



live apart; and these ante- 

 lopes are often found in parties of from 

 three to four individuals, but sometimes 

 in large herds. They frequent the open 

 rolling plains, or broad river- valleys, and 

 generally feed at morning and evening. 

 Although usually difficult to approach, a 

 solitary buck will sometimes start up 

 from a ravine close to the traveller's feet, 



as once happened to the present writer. General Kinloch states that the chiru is in 

 the habit of excavating hollows in the sand, in which it will lie concealed during 

 the day. The young are born in summer ; one only being produced at a birth. 



HEAD OF CHIRU. 



THE SAIGA. 

 Genus Saiga. 



From the peculiarly bloated appearance of the nose of the male, the saiga 

 (Saiga tartaricd) of the steppes of Eastern Europe and Western Asia is one of the 

 most ungainly of the antelopes, and thereby presents a marked contrast to the 

 gazelles. In size this animal may be compared to a sheep, and its whole build is 

 clumsy. The nose is very large, convex, and inflated, with the nostrils opening 



