540 MAJOR J. STEVENSON-HAMILTON ON 



There seems to be a gap of 4° of latitude in which no small 

 grizzled antelopes are found between the most southerly habitat 

 of Sharpe's Steenbuck and the most northerly of the Grysbuck 

 (32° south). 



Description. — The animal found in the North-eastern Trans- 

 vaal has been described from specimens obtained by Mr. Grant 

 (collector for Mr. Rudd). Females and immature males are, 

 generall}' speaking, of a brighter red colour than old males. 

 The distribution and profuseness of the white in the coats tends 

 to vary in different specimens, and some show more than others. 

 Individuals display small patches of white hairs here and there 

 on back or sides. 



In a half-grown female the dark horseshoe mark on the crown 

 was found to continue backwards in the form of a narrowing dark 

 brown line as far as the centre of the back, where it suddenly 

 broadened and then disappeared. In the same animal the face- 

 markings were much more highly contrasted than in older 

 specimens. 



There are four mammte present in the females. 



I fancied that I detected a very slight thickening of the tissues 

 at the points where the lateral hoofs are found in other species. 



The horns of the males are very short and rather conical in 

 shape. They seldom exceed an inch and a half in length, and 

 I should imagine two inches to be about the maximum length. 



Mr. Selous has recorded shooting certain small grizzled animals 

 in the Mashonaland Hills which possessed horns over three inches 

 long, and this seems to point, perhaps, to an interesting variation 

 of the type in that countr}^ 



Habits, etc. — Sharpe's Steenbuck is found either in patches of 

 thick bush, which may be at a considerable distance from any 

 hilly country, or among the stones and boulders of the lesser 

 ridges of the Lebombo Hills and the thick covert sometimes 

 growing at their bases (North-eastern Transvaal). In no case has 

 it been noticed at any very great distance from water. In the hill- 

 country it especially favours the rough boulders interspersed with 

 rank grass and bushes, crowning the crests of long stony ridges 

 which gradually merge into grassy slopes on either side. Its 

 colour almost exactly matches the red tint of the Lebombo rocks, 

 and consequently, when it chooses to lie close, it is a most difficult 

 creature to see. One or more individuals have a custom of 

 returning to the same spot to deposit their droppings, but the 

 habit is not a constant one. It feeds at night or in the very late 

 evenings and early mornings, and, except on dull days, always 

 lies up for the daylight hours among boulders or long grass. 

 In cloudy weather, especially in spring, when the grass is young 

 and fresh, it may be observed quite late in the day feeding close 

 to one of its refuges, moving slowly about, and lying down at 

 frequent intervals. In the stomachs examined, I have found 

 about half the contents to consist of young grass and the rest of 

 the small leaves of ground-shrubs. 



