220 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
though I have seen as many as eight, belonging probably to three or four families, feeding in 
close proximity to one another on young green grass. 
Another member of the reedbuck group is the Root RHEBUCK of South Africa. This 
latter species, though a much smaller animal, is very similar to the common reedbuck in 
colour, shape, and general appearance; it is quite distinct in its habits and mode of life, as it 
lives in small herds of from four or five to fifteen head, amongst rugged stony hills, often far 
from water. 
THE BLACKBUCK OF INDIA 
This handsome species is found throughout India wherever there are open cultivated 
plains. The male stands about 32 inches at the shoulder, and when full grown is of a 
glossy black colour, with the exception of a chestnut-coloured patch at the back of the neck, 
and some markings of the same colour about the face. The belly and insides of the limbs 
are pure white, the line between the black and white being very clearly defined. The whole 
body and frame are very compact, strong, and beautifully proportioned, and the head is carried 
high. The males alone carry horns, which are spiral 
in shape, annulated almost to the tips, and vary in length 
from 18 to 28 inches. Young bucks and does are fawn- 
coloured instead of black. These antelopes are ‘usually 
met with in considerable herds on open plains in which 
cultivated tracts alternate with waste land, and they often do 
much damage to the natives’ crops. When alarmed, they 
first execute a series of pro- digious bounds into the air 
before finally settling down to a steady run. They are sur- 
prisingly fleet, and can seldom be overtaken by the fastest 
greyhounds, although they . can be caught and pulled 
down without difficulty by trained cheetas, or, as they 
are often called, hunting- leopards. 
The PALLA, which is found in Southern and 
Eastern Africa from Bechuana- land to Kordofan, is one of 
the most graceful of animals. It is a forest-loving species, 
and is never found far from water. Both sexes are of a 
general bright reddish brown, with white bellies. The males 
alone carry horns, which are very graceful in shape, and 
vary from 14 to upwards of 20 inches in length. The 
finest specimens of the palla are met with in the extreme 
southerly and most northerly Photo by Miss E. F. Beck _ portions of its range, the 
animals inhabiting the inter- ARABIAN GAZELLE mediate districts being smaller 
and carrying shorter horns. Gaia mmcd Deer ledeh Pallas are gregarious, living 
in herds of from twenty to built of ail antelopes over one hundred. When 
alarmed, they bound over bushes or any other obstacles 
with the utmost ease and grace, and appear to’get over the ground at a high rate of speed. 
They are, however, very commonly run down and torn to pieces by wild dogs, which hunt in 
packs, and are very destructive to African game. 
Of far less graceful appearance than the two preceding species is the SaiGA, which, 
though structurally closely allied to the gazelles, has been placed by naturalists in a genus 
by itself. 
This curious-looking animal, which is chiefly remarkable for its large swollen-looking nose 
and light-coloured horns, is an inhabitant of the steppes of the South-eastern Europe and 
Western Asia. In height it stands about 30 inches at the withers, and is of a dull yellowish 
colour in summer, turning to nearly white in winter. The males alone carry horns, which are 
sometimes 13 or 14 inches long, and of a peculiar colour which has been likened to pale amber, 
