UNGULATES. 



or white-tailed wildebeest (Connochcetes gnu), is strictly South African ; while the 

 blue, or brindled wildebeest (C. taurina), is not found to the south of the Orange 

 River, and on the east side of the continent extends in the Uganda district some 

 distance to the north of the Victoria Nyanza. The former species, which stands 

 about 4J feet at the shoulder, is distinguished by the long hair fringing the chest, 

 the long white tail, and the uniform coloration of the body. On the other hand, 

 the blue wildebeest has no long hair on the chest, the tail is black and shorter, the 

 sides of the withers are marked with dark transverse stripes, and the hair on the 

 face lies more smoothly. In the ordinary form of this species, the fringe of long 



THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 



hair on the throat is black ; but it is white in a variety from Uganda. The horns 

 of the males of this species have a spread of from 2 feet to 2 feet 2 inches ; and in 

 a specimen in which the spread was 2 feet If inches, the greatest length of each 

 horn along the hinder curve was 19 J inches, and the basal girth 13 J inches. Mr. 

 Selous states that the blue wildebeest is met with on the western borders of 

 Griqualand West and the eastern edge of the Kalahari Desert, and from Mashona- 

 land to Lake Ngami in suitable districts. Near Kilima-Njaro it is found in large 

 herds, as is likewise the case in some other districts. 



Wildebeest are found in open country, and never, according to 

 Livingstone, wander far away from the neighbourhood of water. 

 When quagga were abundant, both these animals were frequently found together ; 



Habits. 



