344 



BRANCH CHORDATA 



rnod, still the neck is not long enough to reach the ground, so that in 

 drinking or in reaching a tuft of grass the animal has to straddle out his legs 

 and lower his position (Fig. 279). The giraffe's eyes are large, dark, and 

 liquid, and its face has a gentle expression, but it is sometimes vicious and 

 fights by kicking either with fore or hind feet. It has chocolate-colored 

 spots separated by pale tawny markings or spaces, but these vary in both 

 pattern and shade, proving a source of protective resemblance in the lights 

 and shadows of the leafy trees, while the long neck may be mistaken for a 

 weather-beaten tree-trunk. The under parts, shins, and feet are whitish. 

 The long neck is useful in reaching the twigs of the trees upon which the 

 giraffe browses, and also in allowing a wide range of vision , that it may look 

 out for lions and leopards in which the long grass abounds. In locomotion 



Fig. 280. — Head of young prong-horn antelope. (After Hays.) 



the giraffe moves both the fore and hind limb of each side simultaneously, 

 giving it a. rocking motion. Giraffes are natives of Africa, there being a 

 northern and a southern form. 



The North American prong-horn (Aniiloca'pra aiucrica' no) (Fig. 280) 

 seems to occupy, like the giraffe, an intermediate stage between the deer 

 and the true antelope on account of the structure of its horns. The horns 

 are branched in the male, like those of the deer, though having but two or 

 three prongs. The horns of the female are not branched. These horns — 

 that is, the external portion, corresponding to the "velvet" of the deer, but 

 which is here a true horn — are shed annually. The prong-horn has no 

 "false hoofs." The male is "about .HS inch(<s high and of a varying yellowish 

 brown above, darker on the face, dull white on chin and cheeks, in two 



