244 Great and Small Game of Africa 



The Abyssinian Oribi (Oribia montand) 



Abyssinian Name, Miwaka 



I found this little animal rather abundant on the Shoa plateau, and very 

 common in the Galla plains between Shoa and Lake Guai. It is a very 

 small antelope, averaging about 18 or 20 lbs. in weight, and of a yellow 

 tint, turning to a light yellow or nearly to pure white on the under parts. 

 The head is very characteristic, with a dark spot of naked skin on the 

 cheeks under the ears, big eyes, very large glands under the eyes, and a 

 rather arched outline of nose. The horns are black, sharp, very hard, with 

 wrinkles at the base, and the upper part beautifully polished ; they are 

 straight, with a gentle curve inwards and forwards, especially in the middle. 

 The female is hornless. 



The chief food of this oribi is certainly dry grass and mimosa leaves, as 

 it is more frequently found upon grassy plains more or less dotted with 

 mimosa, and often upon plains where no trees at all, not even a bush, are to 

 be seen for miles round. On the Shoa plateau I frequently saw them on 

 the lower slopes of grassy hills, but never in really rocky or steep places. 

 Upon the Galla plain, at the foot of Mount Zokioila, on the southern 

 side, they were, in May 1897, exceedingly plentiful. The habitat of the 

 bohor antelope seems to be also the favourite ground of the Abyssinian 

 oribi, as although these antelopes do not appear to herd at all together, 

 both species are often seen near one another. In this district I saw 

 certainly over fifty a day, and had no trouble in picking up about a dozen 

 of these oribi in four days' shooting, although I was looking specially after 

 bohor. 



These little antelopes are, as a rule, to be seen in small herds of from 

 three to six ; only once did I see seven together ; nearly always they were 

 in twos or threes. At morning and evening they are to be seen grazing in 



