26o 



The Living Animals of the World 



distiicts of British East Africa. It frctjuents thick scrubby jungle, and is said to be exceedingly 

 watchful and wary. It lives either in pairs or in small fauiilies, but never congregates in large 

 herds. Like all the tragelaphine antelopes, this species is a leaf-eater, and feeds principally 

 during tlie niglit, lying up in tliick liusli during the heat of tlie day. 



There remains to he mentioned but one other grouj) of antelopes, tlie Elands, large. 

 hea\ily luult animals, which belong to the present group, liut (Hfl'er from all species of kudu, 

 sitatunga, and buslibuck, inasmuch as both sexes are horned. There are two forms of the 

 Co.MMON Elanti — namely, the grey variety of South-western Africa, and the strijied animal, which 

 is found in the countries farther nortli and east. Tlie two forms grade one into the other, 

 and are absolutely identical in their hal)its and mode of life, the differences between them 

 lieing merely superticial. To the soutli of the twentv-third jiarallel of south latitude all elands 

 are of a unif )rm fawn colour, except the old animals, which look dark grey, from the fact that 



the scantiness of their coats allows the 

 dark colour of the skin to show through 

 the hair. (_)ld males, when standing in 

 the shade of a tree, ajipear to be of a 

 deep blue-grey in col(3iir, and are kn(jwn 

 to the col<mists of Soutli Africa as "blue 

 Ijulls.'' In Rhodesia, South-east Africa, 

 and tlie countries to the north of the 

 Zambesi, all the elands are bright 

 chestnut-red when young, with a black 

 line down the centre of the back from 

 the withers to the tail, broad black 

 patclies on the backs of the fore legs above 

 the knees, and eight or nine wiiite stripes 

 "U each side. When they grow old, the 

 laddiness of the ground-colour gradually 

 fades, the black markings on the fore legs 

 die oirt, and the white stripes become 

 indistinguishable at a sliort distance, the 

 old bulls looking deep blue-grev in 

 general colour. E\'ery intermediate stage 

 of colouring between the unstriped aad 

 the highly coloured forms of eland is to 

 be found in the district lying between 

 the central portions of the Kalahari 

 Desert and the Zambesi Ei\er. Old male 

 elands south of the Zambesi develop a 

 growth of long, bristly lilack hair on the 

 forehead, which often hangs over their eyes and extends half-way down their noses. North of 

 the Zambesi this growth of liair is not nearly so luxm-iant. 



I have carefully UKMsured the stamling heiglit at the withers of many old male elands in 

 the interior of South Atrica, and found that it \aried from 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. 

 The horns of liulls in their prime measure from 26 inches to 33 inches in length, but old 

 bulls wear their horns down veiy much. The cows carrv longer, though thinner horns than 

 the Ijulls. 



'I he range of the eland once extended from Cape Agullias to the White Nile, but it has 

 l)ecome extinct, in many districts of Southern Airica,. and m almost every other portion of its 

 range has, like all other tragelaphine antelopes, suffered so cruelly ii'om" the recent visitation 

 ■of rinderjiest that it has now become a scarce animal all over Africa. 



During the rainy season elands are usually met with in small herds of from four or five 



Pl..,l._, b„ J . ]\ . 31,:L^Liu,t] 



KLAXl). 

 A fe.itnic of tho eliiml is tl]0 large " aeivlap; 

 liorncd. 



Unlike tho kiiiln, lioth soxe; 



