THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
forests, and hence are richly colored. The zebra antelope, 
in fact, is unique among ruminants in having “eight or 
Zebra nine black transverse bands crossing the back and 
Antelope. Joins, and gradually narrowing to a point on 
the flanks, the ground color being golden brown.” Lastly, 
there must be mentioned another singular form, the four- 
horned antelope or chousinga of India, of which the bucks 
usually have two pairs of horns. This curiosity is small, sand- 
colored, lurks in bushes and tall grass, and behaves more like 
a hare than an antelope. The books of sportsmen abound 
in stories of these pygmies among game, but it is distressing 
to read of shooting such charming little creatures. 
The last of the antelope section contains the hartbeests 
and gnus,—a class of large, powerful, African antelopes 
Hart- with somewhat cattlelike characteristics. The 
nBearE. hartbeests vary from three feet two inches to four 
feet in height at the fore shoulder, from which the back slopes 
decidedly toward the haunches; this, with their thin necks, 
long narrow heads, and queerly bent, spreading, and rugged 
horns, give them an ungraceful figure. The color is always 
some tint of red; and Willoughby, who found them in thou- 
sands in Somaliland, says it is highly protective, for he was 
often mistaken in thinking one lying on the ground to be only 
an ant-hill. Another observer, Mr. Gedge, noted the same 
thing in British East Africa about 1892. 
- “Coke’s hartbeest is usually seen in company with other game, and 
the sight of these vast mixed herds, which include zebras, and Grant’s and 
Thomson’s gazelles, is one not easily forgotten. Like all hartbeests, it 
is very wary and difficult to approach, its senses of sight and smell being 
extremely keen. During the time that the herd is grazing there are usually 
one or two sentinels posted on the nearest elevations to give warning of the 
approach of danger. The white-ant hills with which the entire country 
abounds are usually selected for this purpose, and are patronized to such 
an extent that I have seen as many as eight or ten occupying the summit of 
one of these hills, which looked as if it could support only a third of that 
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