120 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



Open country not far from the neighbourhood of water is the 

 typical haunt of these Wildebeests; they are fast runners and 

 endowed with remarkable powers of endurance. Their habits are 

 distinctly entertaining, for we are told that they whisk their tails in 

 a very eccentric way, utter loud snorts and short, sharp cries, 

 spring into the air, prance and caper and chase one another in 

 circles at an amazing pace. Gordon Gumming in describing these 

 manoeuvres, says that they suddenly "all pull up together to over- 

 haul the intruder" (the hunter), "when the bulls will commence 

 fighting in the most violent manner, dropping on their heels at 

 every shock ; then, quickly wheeling about, they kick up their heels, 

 whirl their tails with a fantastic flourish, and scour across the plain 

 enveloped in a cloud of dust." 



FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPE. Also known as the Chousingha, the 

 Four-Horned Antelope (Fig. 93) is an Indian animal, and the male 

 is distinguished from all other ruminants by possessing as a rule 

 two pairs of horns. There are a pair of small ones just above the 

 eyes (and these may be discerned in Fig. 93), whilst the second 

 and larger pair are situated farther back on the head. These horns 

 are short and smooth, and the front pair may either be very 

 rudimentary or entirely absent. 



The male of this Antelope stands a little over two feet high at 

 the withers and has a thin, short and harsh fur. It is dull pale- 

 brown in colour, tinged with rufous on the upper parts with white 

 below. On each leg there is a dark streak, but this is more notice- 

 able on the hind-limbs. 



It inhabits wooded and hilly country, but does not dwell in 

 thick cover, thin forest and bush on hilly ground being its favourite 

 retreat. It is a solitary and shy Antelope ; is mostly found not far 

 from water, and has a jerky action when moving. Among long 

 grass or dwarf bushes the Chousingha conceals itself, only rousing 

 when it is closely approached and then running away at breakneck 

 speed. The one or two young ones are born in the first or second 

 month of the year. 



INDIAN ANTELOPE. Another Indian animal is presented in the 

 Black Buck or Indian Antelope (Fig. 94), a well-groomed and hand- 

 somely coloured species which is placed in a genus entirely its 

 own. The buck is blackish-brown above with a rufous patch on 

 the nape of the neck and a white ring around each eye. The under 

 parts, as in the doe, are white. The last-named, however, as also 



