278 UNGULATES. 



stripes are nearly obsolete ; but there is one distinct longitudinal band, sometimes 



broken into spots, and the haunches are spotted, while the back has a dark line. 



In the typical variety, from West, Central, and South-Central Africa (which is the 



one represented in the illustration on p. 277), the colour is bright rufous, brilliantly 



marked all over the body with white spots and longitudinal and vertical stripes. 



In the males the line down the middle of the back is white ; and the chest has a 



fringe of blackish hair. In East Africa we come across a third variety in which 



the general colour of the bucks is dark brown, with two or three obscure vertical 



stripes on the hind-quarters, and even these occasionally absent. The spots are 



variable, although less numerous than in the preceding variety. Lastly, we hav 



the true bush-buck of the Cape, in which the coloration is of a uniform dark brown 



at all ages, with no trace of stripes, and the spots reduced to a few indistinct ones 



on the haunches. 



Guib, or bush-buck, are very common in most parts of Africa. Writing of this 



species, Mr. Selous says that it is "never met with except in places where dense 



bush comes right down to the water's edge; and on the Chobi, where I have Bee 



most of these antelopes, I have never found one at a distance of more than a 



hundred yards from the river." 



Remains of antelopes more or less nearlv allied to Traqelaphi- 

 Extinct Species. . „ . 



are common in the Tertiaries of Europe, as far down as the Middle 



Miocene, so that the group is evidently a very old one. 



The Nilgai. 



Genus Boselaphus. 



The nilgai {Boselaphus tragocamelus), which is the largest of the Indiai 

 antelopes, appears to be the oriental representative of the group of African species 

 described above, although it differs from them in several important structura 

 features. The males only are horned, and the horns themselves are short, smooth, 

 nearly straight, and directed upwards and backwards, with a triangular section at 

 the base, but becoming cylindrical at the tip. In front the horns have a distinct 

 ridge, comparable to that found in those of the eland, and in very old individual 

 this ridge extends forwards and inwards, till the horns almost touch at their bases 

 The nilgai is peculiar in having the fore-limbs longer than the hinder, and the 

 withers very high, in consequence of which its whole appearance is somewhat 

 ungainly. The tail is tufted, and reaches the hocks ; and in both sexes the neck is 

 maned, while the throat of the male has a small tuft of hair. The gland below the 

 eye is very small and the muzzle naked. The upper molar teeth (one of which is 

 figured on p. 155) differ from those of the foregoing species by their tall crowns, 

 with a large additional column on the inner side. In general colour the adult bull 

 nilgai is dark grey, with either a brownish or bluish tinge. The long hairs on the 

 neck, throat, and tail, and some portions of the ear, are however black; and thefli 

 are white markings on the face, ears, and throat, while the under surface of the 

 tail, the under-parts of the body, and a ring above and below each fetlock are 

 likewise white. In young males and females the colour is brown. A bull nilgai 



