NOTES ON SOMALILAND. 297 
The Dibatag is, I think, the only important Somali antelope which has. 
not been represented in this Journal, so a photograph of it accompanies 
these notes, 
As regards the size of its horns, 12 inches on the curve, without following: 
the crenulations, seems to be the outside measurement ; in fact, I have seen 
nothing longer than a pairof horns which I sent to the Society’s Museum 
some years back,and which,if I remember right, just taped that amount. 
The female carries no horns, 
The Baira.—Soon afier our expedition left the coast we were passing 
through that part of the Guban, or low country, where I had met with the 
Baira in 1895, and I made a point of spending a couple of days on the top of 
one of those inhospitable-looking tablelands, whereon it has elected to dwell, 
in the hope of extending my slight acquaintance with this puzzling little 
antelope. Iam glad to say I was not disappointed. 
The plateau selected was a large one, and game was. more plentiful than I 
expected ; in fact during the two days I spent there, I must have seen quite 
40 animals altogether, They were as wild as hawks, however, and I only 
succeeded in obtaining a single specimen, but chiefly owing to my bad shoot- 
ing, I was using a Mannlicher that I had only just received from England, 
and though I afterwards got to like it exceedingly, at this time I was quite 
at sea with it and could not hit a haystack; but my second introduction to 
the Baira, if not very successful from a marksman’s point of view, was other- 
wise most interesting, and I was able to learn a good deal of their habits 
They seemed to be always in families of 5, 6 or 7, and to graze, for choice, 
_out upon the rock-strewn surface of the tableland. When disturbed, they. 
invariably kept to the flat as long as possible, only taking to the steep side® 
when finally driven to it. On-such occasions, onee over the crest and out of 
sight of their pursuers, they would lie up in the most artful manner, unde1 
any rock or shrub that came in their way, and if no such haven was available’ 
they would stand or crouch perfectly motionless, in the open; even then it 
was almost impossible to detect them, so exactly does their eolouring match 
the general tint of their surroundings. One of them tried to pursue these 
tactics on the open plateau, in ful] view of me, I had been stalking a family 
of them which I had seen grazing out on the crest, but they had descried 
me almost as quickly, and at once galloped away towards the end of the 
plateau ; there, however, they apparently found the scarp too precipitous, 
for they pulled up stddenly and streamed away to my left, The crest at 
this point was very narrow, and I did a sprint at my best pace in the 
hope of cutting them off before they disappeared down the slope, but 
they all eluded me except one, which, evidently thinking it had not 
sufficient time to make the edge before me, stopped and crouched like 
a frightened hare behind a boulder, hoping, I suppose, to escape observa- 
tion. She proved to be a doe, and let me watch her for two or three 
