82 THE MAMMALS OF ETHIOPIAN AFRICA 



being apparently almost invisible among tlie vertical lines of light and shade in a 

 tropical forest. It is further noteworthy that among tropical animals, where the 

 surrounding conditions are similar throughout the year, such a type of colouring 

 is retained permanently. On the other hand, in animals of the temperate zone, 

 like the fallow deer, in which the colouring is intended to harmonise with the 

 checkered shade cast by deciduous trees on the ground beneath their branches, 

 the white-spotted summer livery is exchanged in winter for a uniformly russet 

 or olive coat. In the general character of its horns and colouring the bongo 

 approximates to the under-mentioned bushbucks, in which, however, the females 

 are frequently much more brilliantly coloured than their partners, but it differs in 

 the presence of horns in both sexes, as well by the distinct tuft at the tip of the tail. 

 Bongos, which live at a considerable elevation in the mountain forests of both 

 West and East Africa, appear to be almost exclusively nocturnal animals, and very 

 difficult to approach, even when in repose during daylight, on account of their 

 keenness of scent. They feed mainly on leaves and bark, and will, it is affirmed, 

 rear themselves on their hind-legs against the stems of trees in order to obtain 

 these at a far greater height than would be otherwise possible. Small trees are 

 also uprooted with the aid of the horns, and the roots eaten. The red, salt- 

 impregnated earth so common in many parts of Africa is also a favourite food of 

 the bono-o, as are likewise the charred ashes of the burnt trunks of forest trees. 

 Bongos usually associate in small family parties, which perambulate the forests 

 with their horns well bent back so as to protect their bodies as much as possible 

 from injury, the whole body thus assuming somewhat of a boat-shape, with the 

 muzzle as prow. Obstacles are pushed aside by sheer bodily weight, while heavy 

 boughs projecting across the path and too stout to be thrust away in this manner 

 are crept under ; the smallness of the apertures through which a bongo manages 

 to creep being almost beyond belief. 



With the kudu {Strepsiceros capensis), which ranges from Cape 

 Colony through Bechuanaland into Angola, and also through the 

 Transvaal, Rhodesia, Nyasaland, and East Africa into Somaliland and Abyssinia, 

 we come to one of the handsomest of all the larger antelopes of South and East 

 Africa, where it was formerly met with in considerable numbers. Kudu are 

 characterised by the length and open spiral of their horns, which are normally 

 borne only by the males, and are twisted in cork-screw fashion, with a strong keel 

 in front; the two horns forming a sharp angle with one another, and inclining 

 more or less outwards. Kudu-horns may measure 5 feet 3 inches along the curve, 

 the animal itself standing as much as 4 feet 10 inches or more at the shoulder, 

 and measuring about 8 feet to the tail, which adds another 20 inches to the length. 

 In colour the females and young males are reddish or greyish brown, marked with 

 eight or nine white stripes, but old males are bluish grey, in consequence of the 

 sparse covering of hair which permits the colour of the skin to show through. 

 Kudu frequent thickly-wooded hilly country, and are also found in the thickets on 

 the banks of rivers, as well as in the thorn-jungle of the lower Molapo at the edge 

 of the Kalahari Desert. During the dry season of the year they eat, in addition to 

 grass, the young shoots of trees and shrubs ; and are generally found grazing in 

 pairs or small companies. These antelopes are not very swift, and even when 



