GAZELLES — PAL A — REEDBUCKS 91 



where it is locally known as the aoul. The black blaze clown the face, and the 

 inward bend of the tips of the heavily ringed horns sufficiently distinguish this 

 fine species. The third and last member of the giant group is the East African 

 Grant's gazelle (G. granti), which may be recognised by the great length of the 

 sublyrate horns of the bucks and the presence of a black nose-spot. Several local 

 races of this species are recognised, among them being Peters's gazelle (G. g.petersi) 

 of the Tana Valley. In common with those of gazelles generally, the females of 

 the three giant species carry small horns. 



Of the smaller species, one of the handsomest is the East African Thomson's 

 gazelle (G. thomsoni), recognisable by its long, straight horns and wide chocolate 

 flank-band; others are the red-fronted gazelle (G. rufifrons), ranging from Senegal 

 and Gambia to Kordofan and the White Nile, Pelzeln's gazelle (G. pelzehii) of 

 the lowlands of Somaliland, and G. spekei of the highlands of the same country. 

 The last-named species is specially characterised by the presence of an elevation of 

 loose, inflatable skin on the nose of the bucks. 



Very characteristic of the open plains of southern and eastern 

 Africa is the medium-sized foxy red antelope known as the pala or 

 impala {Mpyceros melampus), the range of which extends from Bechuanaland, the 

 Transvaal, and Zululand through Rhodesia, Nyasaland, and German and British 

 East Africa to the White Nile. Pala are never found far away from water, and 

 associate in large or small herds, generally on the banks of rivers ; these herds con- 

 sisting for the most part of females, although the young males occasionally form 

 small herds by themselves. When alarmed, paia whistle, but in the pairing-season 

 also utter a hoarse, guttural bark. Their leaping powers are . extraordinary ; one 

 having: been known to clear 70 feet in three bounds. The colour is bright 



O ft 



rufous fawn above and white below. The slender, lyrate horns, which curve 

 outwards, then inwards, and after this are directed straight upwards, are 

 ringed for about two-thirds their length, and measure about 2 feet in a straight 

 line. A black line on the rump, as well as the black patches on the hind-feet 

 from which it takes its name, and the absence of lateral hoofs, are character- 

 istic features of the pala. The Angola pala (AS. petersi), distinguished by a 

 blackish blaze on the face, replaces the typical species in Angola and German 

 South-west Africa. 



Another group of antelopes is typified by the reedbuck 

 (Cervicapra arwndinum), which ranges eastwards from Rhodesia 

 to Portuguese East Africa, and southwards through Rhodesia, the Transvaal, and 

 Natal to the south-east of Cape Colony. Like palas, reedbucks, of which there are 

 several kinds, are unknown out of Ethiopian Africa. The group is characterised by 

 the forwardly curving horns of the bucks, the moderately long, bushy tail, generally 

 rufous colour, and the presence of a bare patch of glandular skin behind each ear. 

 The typical reedbuck, which stands about 35 inches at the shoulder and has horns 

 of from 12 to 13 inches in average length, is pale foxy red in colour above and 

 whitish below. A pale grey herd inhabits the Lydenburg district of the 

 Transvaal. Reedbuck frequent grassy or reedy valleys, generally in pairs or 

 small parties. A much smaller species is the mountain-reedbuck, or rooi rhebok 

 (0. fulvorufula), of eastern Africa soutli of the Zambesi ; and a third is the boh or 



