THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 19 
have (on account of their horns) no longer any need of 
protection? On the other hand, is it due to the fact that the 
bucks keep more to the heart of the forest, and are more 
nocturnal than their partners ? 
Another phase of coloration for the development of 
which no satisfactory reason can be assigned is presented 
by the males of certain ruminants, such as the Indian 
blackbuck, the white-eared kob, and Mrs. Gray’s kob of 
the White Nile, and the banting, or wild ox, of Java. In 
all these four species (the first three of which are antelopes) 
the adult males exchange the foxy red coat of the younger 
members of their,own sex and of the females at all ages 
for a sable livery relieved by larger or smaller white 
areas. Clearly this coloration, in place of being protec- 
tive, renders the animals in which it occurs conspicuous. 
The only suggestion which seems at all reasonable is that 
it must either be a “warning colour” or one adapted to 
attract females towards the leader of the herd. If it come 
under the former category, it has apparently been developed 
in order to deter other animals from attacking the leaders 
of the herd, on account of their prowess in fight. That 
such an immunity would be an advantage to the individuals 
in question cannot be doubted; and possibly it receives 
support from the circumstance referred to in the next 
paragraph. 
Although both sexes of the banting carry horns, the 
females of the aforesaid three species of antelope are 
hornless. In certain species, such as the sable antelope 
of Africa and the gaur (the miscalled bison) of India, in 
which both sexes are horned, the adult females as well 
as the males have assumed a blackish coat; and, so far 
as it goes, this phase is in favour of the view that the 
acquisition of a sable livery by certain species is for the 
