182 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



to produce the impression, but as far as detailed observation 

 goes I have no evidence. With one exception— not present — it 

 is practically impossible to distinguish the Eeeves, and, with so 

 much motion and little light, I could never, for long, keep one 

 distinct from the other. When it was lighter, and then quite 

 light, I had no clear evidence of promiscuity, but the difficulty 

 above mentioned was hardly lessened. Say, however, that eight 

 Buffs have paired, then if two have four Beeves apiece — and this, 

 I believe, is a minimum — this only leaves one apiece for the 

 other six, if we take fourteen as the full number of the Beeves. 

 But then, again, there may be more Beeves, and all may not 

 have come in at the same time. Still, the general features of the 

 scene rather suggest promiscuity on the part of either sex — 

 though limited, as far as the Beeves are concerned, by a some- 

 what slender choice of Buffs — than polygamy. The Beeves 

 press up to this or that Buff in twos or threes, or little batches, 

 but the signs, on the part of each male, that these are his special 

 seraglio, are not so prominent as one might expect. Such a 

 sign would be his keeping, or attempting to keep, them together, 

 and resenting their straying away amongst other Buffs, but of 

 this I have seen absolutely nothing — the reverse, indeed, is 

 noticeably the case. Perhaps, therefore, I should rather have 

 said that the evidence is all against the theory that each selected 

 Buff has a harem, or, at least, that he cares about having one. 



(To be continued.) 



