Dorcas Gazelle 



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these gazelles are peculiar to North Africa. Gazella dorcas is more 

 commonly met with in the less inhabited and cultivated parts of Algeria, 

 Tunis, and Tripoli. Its range also extends eastward to Egypt, Syria, 

 Palestine, and parts of Asia Minor. It is one of the smallest of the 

 gazelles, standing barely 24 inches at the shoulder ; but it is also one 

 of the most beautiful of these lovely antelopes. Its coloration (strongly 

 marked in the adult male) is a red-fawn colour on the upper and outer 

 parts of the body, with a white belly, white inside the hocks, white 

 rump, white chest, and a white or cream-coloured streak round the eyes 

 and parallel with the nose, extending to the upper lip. Along the sides of 

 the barrel, where the fawn-colour meets the white, there is a deep brown 

 streak. Two dark brown stripes also run parallel with the nose, one over 

 the eye, and one between the eye and the upper lip. The tail is black. 

 All these four species of gazelle are horned in both sexes, the horns of the 

 male being much more robust and generally more lyrate than those ot the 

 female, which in most cases are very nearly straight prongs. The horns of 

 the male dorcas gazelle are sometimes as much as 12 or 14 inches 

 in length, somewhat lyrate in shape, and with the tips slightly recurved. 

 They are strongly annulated. The dorcas gazelle does not care for the 

 absolute sandy desert, but prefers the open plains, steppes, and foothills, 

 which are covered with scrubby vegetation. Even at the present day in 

 the south of Tunis these little animals can frequently be shot from horse- 

 back, as their curiosity or inquisitiveness leads to their being taken un- 

 awares. Usually, however, they are run down by swift greyhounds. 



H. H. Johnston. 



