ANTELOPES. 



301 



Habits. 



of hair on the knees, and small but distinct lateral hoofs. The horns of the bucks 

 rise close together, and are cylindrical, divergent, and spiral, with complete blunt 

 rings throughout their length. The number of turns in the spiral of the horns 

 varies from less than three to as many as five ; and there is great individual 

 variation in regard to the degree of divergence of the horns. The usual length of 

 horns varies from 16 to 20 inches in a straight line, and in Peninsular India the 

 length seldom exceeds 22 inches ; but in Raj pu tana and Harriana the horns are 

 longer, and have been known to attain a length of 28 f inches. Does and young 

 bucks are yellowish fawn-colour above and 

 on the outer sides of the limbs, and white on 

 the under-parts ; the two colours are sharply 

 defined, and just above the line of division 

 there is a distinct pale streak. Save for a 

 rufous patch on the nape of the neck, the old 

 bucks are blackish brown above, and also on 

 the sides of the neck and the whole of the 

 face, with the exception of a white ring round 

 each eye. In very old individuals the black- 

 ish brown becomes almost completely black. 

 Occasionally does are met with having small 

 recurved horns. 



The black-buck is an in- 

 habitant of open plains from the 

 foot of the Himalaya nearly to Cape Comorin, 

 and from the Punjab to Lower Assam ; and is 

 most abundant in the North- West Provinces, 

 Rajputana, and portions of the Deccan. It 

 frequents either grassy districts or cultivated 

 lands, and is generally found in herds, which 

 may comprise hundreds or even thousands of 

 individuals, but more usually number from 

 ten to thirty, or even fifty does, accompanied 

 by a single old buck. Mr. Blanford states 

 that frequently " two or three younger bucks, 

 coloured like the does, remain with the latter, 

 but these young males are sometimes driven away by older bucks, and form 

 separate herds. This antelope never enters forest nor high grass, and is but- 

 rarely seen amongst bushes. When not much pursued or fired at, it will often 

 allow men to come in the open within about one hundred and fifty yards, some- 

 times nearer." Carts and natives can approach still closer. The black-buck feeds 

 at all hours, although it generally rests during the middle of the day. In certain 

 districts, where there is no fresh water except in deep wells, it is certain that these 

 animals never drink ; but several observers have proved that in other places they, 

 at least occasionally, drink freely. Like the springbok, the black -buck frequently 

 leaps high in the air when running. The speed and endurance of these animals 

 are well known ; and it is but very seldom that they are pulled down on good 



SKULL OF BLACK-BUCK. 



