3I2 UNGULATES. 



have no additional column on the inner side. All the horns of the male are short, 

 conical, and smooth : the front pair being often reduced to mere knobs, and not 



unfrequently absent. In height the male chousingha 

 stands 'lb\ inches at the withers, but an inch and a half 

 higher over the haunches. The fur is thin, harsh, and 

 short, and longer on the upper surface of the tail than 

 elsewhere. The general colour is dull pale brown, with a 

 more or less marked rufous tinge above, passing gradually 

 into white on the under-parts and inner sides and lower 

 portions of the limbs. There, is a dark streak down the 

 front of each leg, which is larger in the fore than in the 

 hind pair. The second pair of horns usually vary from 

 3£ to 4 inches in length, and do not appear to exceed 44 



inches. The front pair are generally not more than \h 



ANTELOPE. ^ 



SKULL OP FOCR-HORXED 



inches in length, but may reach 2| inches : they are fre- 

 quently absent in specimens from Madras. 



The chousingha is found along the foot of the Himalaya from the 

 Punjab to Nipal, and over the greater part of Peninsular India in 

 wooded and hilly country, although it avoids dense jungle. It is unknown in the 

 plain of the Ganges, on the .Malabar coast in Madras, and likewise in Ceylon. 



Mr. Blanford writes that the chousingha "differs from' all other 



Habits 



Indian antelopes in habits as much as in structure. It is not gregari- 

 ous, very rarely are more than two seen together; it haunts thin forest and bush, 

 and keeps chiefly to undulating or hilly ground. It drinks daily, and is never seen 

 far from water. It is a shy animal, and moves with a peculiar jerky action whether 

 walking or running The rutting season is in the rains, and the young, one or two 

 in uumber, are bora about January or February." General Kinloch writes that 

 these animals "conceal themselves in long grass or among low bushes, and some- 

 what resemble hares in their habits. They are seldom to be seen out feeding, but 

 usually jump up at the feet of the hunter and bound away at a great pace." Fossil 

 remains of the existing species have been discovered in a cave in Madras; and it is 

 believed that the genus is represented in the Pliocene deposits of the Siwalik Hills 

 at the foot of the Himalaya. 



Wildebeests. 



• Genus Connochcetes. 



The last group of the antelopes is represented by the wildebeests and their 

 allies the hartebeests and blessbok : and is mainly confined to Africa, .ill hough one 

 species of hartebeest ranges into Syria. All these antelopes are of large size, and 

 are characterised by the presence of horns in both sexes, as well as by the circum- 

 stance that the withers are more or less elevated above the level of the haunches. 

 The muzzle is naked; and there is a small gland below the eye, marked by a tuft 

 ol hairs. The tail is long ;m ,| n, ( . general colour mostly uniform. The horns are 

 more or less lyrate or recurved, and at their origin are placed more or less closely 

 together. Unlike those of other antelopes, the bony cores of the horns are honey- 



