9 8 



THE MAMMALS OF ETHIOPIAN AFRICA 



of the withers as compared with the haunches, the upright mane, and the white 

 horse-like tail. The horns, which are present in both sexes, are devoid of rings, 

 and have broad, thick bases, whence they curve downwards and forwards and then 

 upwards, the tips rarely rising to the level of the top of the head in the adult. 

 The Hottentot name gnu is derived from its call, which is a sort of snort sounding 

 like " gnu." These animals are denizens of open plains near water, and have a 

 characteristic habit of kneeling as they feed. When excited, they prance and leap 

 in an extraordinary manner, chasing one another round and round, and indulging 



- >'-' / 



EAST AFRICAN BRINDLED GNU. 



in other strange caperings which have been described by many travellers. The 

 tail, with its long plume, measures about 35 inches ; the head and body are over 

 6 feet in length, and the shoulder-height is about 42 inches in the bulls and about 

 6 inches less in the cows. The horns, which somewhat recall at their bases those 

 of a buffalo, may reach as much as 30 inches along the curve. 



The second representative of the genus is the brindled gnu, or blue wildebeest 

 (C taurinus), a larger animal, now scarce in the southern part of its range, which 

 extends from the Orange River Colony into German South-east Africa, Portuguese 

 East Africa, and through Rhodesia, where in some districts it is still comparatively 



