1905.] ON THE GREATER KUDU OF SOMALILAND. 139 



4. Oil the Greater Kudu o£ Somaliland. 

 By R. I. PococK, Superintendent of the Gardens. 



[Received Februaiy 7, 1905.] 



In 1891 * Major Inverarity, I.M.S., pointed out that the 

 Greater Kudus of Somaliland differ from the typical S. -African 

 form in the smaller number of white stripes upon the body and 

 hind-quarters ; and his reproduced photograph of a recently killed 

 bull shows only four stripes upon the right side of the body. 

 This information and the evidence supplied by the much-worn 

 skin of an Abyssinian specimen in the British Museum prompted 

 the remark on p. 176 of the last volume of the ' Book of Antelopes,' 

 " that the sides of the body and hind-quai-ters [in the Greater 

 Kudu] are marked with white stripes which vary in number from 

 about four in the northern forms to nine or ten in the southern." 

 Since these lines were written I have had an opiDortunity of seeing 

 three young male Somaliland examples, two of Avhich are still living 

 in the Zoological Gardens. The two larger were deposited by 

 Capt. Madden in July 1 904 ; the third and smallest was presented 

 to the Society by Major Irvine, I. M.S., in November of the same 

 year. 



The largest of the three stands at the present time 38| inches 

 at the withers. The horns are 5| inches long, show the anterior 

 ridge, an incipient twist, and have a basal circumference of 

 5 1 inches. The ears are 10 inches long and 4 inches wide, their 

 span from tip to tip, when standing at right angles to the head, 

 being 23 inches ; and the length of the face from between the 

 horns to the tip of the nose is 10 inches. On the right side seven 

 stripes are traceable, three close together upon the haunch and 

 four, of which the first thi-ee are widely separated from each other, 

 upon the body. On the left side also seven sti-ipes are traceable ; 

 of these, however, only five are complete, two on the haunches 

 and three on the body, the additional two being very short and 

 cut off from the dorsal middle line. 



The medium-sized specimen f has the horns about 1 inch 

 long. The ear measures 9 inches along the back, 8g on the inside 

 space, and 4 inches wide. The face, from between the horns to 

 the nose, 8g inches. On the right side there are five stripes, on 

 the left six (three on the haunches and three on the body). 



The third and smallest specimen stands about 37 inches at the 

 withers and the horns are mere bud-like excrescences. There 

 are five stripes (two on the haunches and three on the body) on 

 each side. 



Thus in these three specimens the stripes vary in number from 



* Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vi. p. 463. 



t This animal is now dead, and the measurements &c. are takeu from the newly 

 stripped ilat skin. 



