1899.] ON THE SKIN OF AN ANTELOPE PBOM LAKE MWEEU. 981 



bases of the old ones, the thin sheaths attached to the bases of the 

 feathers being occupied by the points of the new feathers. 



All the feathers so raised had lost most of their original colour, 

 or lost it entirely, the yellow feathers of the neck having bleached 

 white, and the slate-blue feathers of the back and flippers being 

 dull brown or drab except at the extreme tips. 



The greater part of the old plumage is removed by the bird's 

 bill as soon as the new feathers upon which it is raised are 

 sufficiently developed to form a covei'ing, but many feathers upon 

 the back and flippers may be left for a longer period (fig. A) ; these 

 scattered feathers, adhering to the now nearly fully developed new- 

 plumage, produce the appearance of small crinkled leaves, which 

 puzzled me so much last year. 



The small body-feathers have a large downy aftershaft ; the 

 quill-feathers have a naked shaft as long as the plumed portion. 



The feathers of this bird are so unlike those of any other bird, 

 in the entire absence of a raised midrib as well as in their umbilical 

 portion, and the nature of the moult seems to open up such 

 interesting questions, that I have placed all the materials possible 

 in the hands of my friend Mr. W. P. Pycraft, who I hope will 

 shortly publish the result of investigations which he is about to 

 make upon these specimens. 



9. Description of the Skin of an apparently new Kob Antelope 

 from the Neighbourhood of Lake Mweru, with Note on 

 a Skull and Horns of an Antelope of the same Genus. 

 By R. Lydekker. 



[Eeceived November 20, 1899.] 

 (Plate LXXI.) 



1 am indebted to Mr. Rowland Ward, F.Z.S., for the oppor- 

 tunity of exhibiting to the Society this evening the skin of the 

 very handsome and apparently new species of Kob Antelope 

 forming the subject of the drawing (Plate LXXI.). The specimen, 

 which consists of a flat skin, wanting the head, feet, and the greater 

 portion of the tail, was obtained by Mr. P. Smitheman, P.Z.S., in 

 the neighbourhood of Lake Mweru, situated to the south-west of 

 the lower end of Lake Tanganyika. It ai-rived in England during 

 last summer, and there were hopes that the head would follow ; but 

 if the latter was ever despatched at all, it has evidently miscarried. 



The skin has the appearance of belonging to an adult animal, 

 and there is every probability that it pertained to a male. On the 

 under surface there are rudimentary mammae, which indicate that 

 the skin must be that either of a male or of a young female. If 

 it were that of a young female, it would indicate that the adult 

 animal was of very large size ; but I think it may be pretty 

 confidently assigned to an adult male. 



Prom the general characters of the pelage and its coloration, and 



