1877.] The American Antelope. 601 
animals exhibit in a wild state, renders the question an interest- , 
ing one, whether the antelope might not be advantageously 
added to the list of domesticated animals. 
When quite young, or for a few weeks or so after birth, the 
“kids” 1 show a strange lack of fear, and, if approached gently 
while lying down, will allow themselves to be caught without 
resisting, and after a few plaintive bleats and a little caressing 
will often follow their captor, nor permit themselves to be eluded ! 
The young, which are dropped between the 15th or 16th of 
May and the first week in June, are almost invariably twins. 
For a short time previous to their birth, the doe, absenting her- 
self from her companions, seeks a somewhat secluded spot near 
the head of a ravine, where her kids remain for a few days, till 
they attain sufficient strength of limb to keep pace with the 
adults. The kids are very playful, and there are few more pleas- 
ing sights presented by mammals than the gambols of these beau- 
tiful little creatures as they leap about and push each other, occa- 
sionally making their sedate mother an unwilling party in their 
sports. The doe frequently leaves them to graze a mile or two 
distant, and the kids when tired of playing with each other will 
find imaginary playfellows in clumps of grass or tall weeds. The 
friend previously spoken of relates an incident that is worthy of 
reproduction here. One day, leaving two quite young calves in a 
secluded spot, and returning in an hour or two, he was amused 
upon nearing them to find a doe complacently looking on while 
her young kids, haying induced the calves to become their will- 
ing playmates, were gayly frolicking with their new acquaint- 
The young very soon attain their full stature, and by the fol- 
lowing December are scarcely distinguishable from the adult. It 
8 very rare that a non-pregnant female is shot in the spring, 
and there is but little doubt that the antelope breeds at the end 
of the first year. The period of gestation is apparently a little 
More than eight months. 
From early spring till September herds embracing more than 
a dozen individuals are seldom seen—the males usually keeping 
More or less isolated. They feed upon the uplands during the 
day, approaching the water-courses or standing pools only later 
ìn the afternoon. At night their favorite resorts are near the 
„eads of ravines or other secluded spots, and they frequently lie 
în the morning till the sun is some distance above the horizon. 
owe oas the terms, as applied by hunters and sportsmen, of *“ buck,” “ doe,” and 
4,” although evidently incongruous. 
