WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



The beautiful, white-maned, dark-colored bucks, and 

 the lighter brown, hornless females, are a surprisingly- 

 fine sight to look at. The attitude of a buck, in par- 

 ticular, when he scents or sees a pursuer, is proud and 

 imposing. The white transverse lines which mark the 

 animal's coat make it blend easily with its surroundings. 

 On the koodoo resting in the shade of trees or bushes, 

 these lines look like streaks of sunlight. The extraordi- 

 narily large ears of the lesser koodoo, which lives in the 

 dense, thorny bush, enable it to hear the slightest noise. 



Though the lesser koodoo is now restricted to certain 

 localities, it was formerly, no doubt, found in other 

 suitable places, such as the thorny thickets near the 

 eastern Ndjiri swamps, as the name "ngare-o'ssiram" 

 (ngare — water; o'ssiram — small koodoo) indicates. The 

 number of the lesser koodoos was unfortunately con- 

 siderably reduced by the murrain. 



The lesser koodoo is distinctly an animal of the plains, 

 and it prefers the stony and thorny parts of the steppe. 

 It forms, as a rule, only small herds. They have great 

 power of concealment and very acute senses of smell 

 and hearing. It is exceedingly difficult to stalk them. 

 They may allow a hunter to approach very closely, but 

 suddenly they dart from their hiding-place with won- 

 derfully high and long leaps, and disappear again from 

 sight. 



As the lesser koodoos are mostly found during the day 

 resting in the shade, and are abroad only in cloudy 



?8? 



