378 Great and Small Game of Africa 



French gorge tie pigeon — with the under parts nearly white, while on the 

 Hanks is to be noticed the peculiar and well-marked dark line of the 

 gazelles. The effect of the general colouring is light, and in this respect 

 this antelope is not very unlike the Abyssinian oribi. Although the size 

 of the beira resembles both of the two above-mentioned species, no mis- 

 take can be made between them. The chief differences between the beira 

 and the klipspringer are : — General colour much lighter ; hair quite like 

 gazelle's hair, instead of the peculiarly brittle coat of the klipspringer ; ears 

 very broad and big ; feet like the feet of other hill antelopes ; tail very short ; 

 horns not so straight, and inclining more backwards. From the Abyssinian 

 oribi the chief points of difference are : — The colour and gazelle-like 

 marking on ribs and flanks ; the oribi has a very curved outline of nose, 

 the beira is rather turned up ; the ears are bigger in the beira, the horns 

 of the oribi slope backwards more than in the beira ; the feet of the oribi 

 are shaped like the feet of antelopes living in the plains, instead ot being 

 shaped rather like a chamois' feet ; while the beira lacks beneath the eyes 

 the extraordinarily large glands oi~ the oribi. The habits and habitat of 

 both animals are quite different. 



The beira is a hill buck, dwelling in the very hot and dried-up hills of 

 Somaliland. Its chief food is, I think, dwarf mimosa leaves and the short 

 and dry grass growing between the stones. I found these antelopes about 

 eighty miles inland, in the very steep and desert hills of French Somaliland^ 

 and only there. They were about 2500 or 3000 feet above the sea, and 

 appeared to enjoy big rocks and difficult places like chamois in the Alps. 

 They are good climbers, and I do not know of any other game more difficult 

 to locate ; their colour matches so exactly with the ground that, when 

 motionless, it is almost impossible to see them. I do not think they mind 

 at all the want of water, as they never go down to the plains ; in the 

 hills where I saw them there was absolutely no water, except for a very 

 little dew on the tops of the hills, when the wind blowing from the sea 



