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In 1839 Sir Walter Elliot included the Nilgai in his catalogue of the 
Mammals of the Southern Mahratta country, where he states ‘it is found in 
the thick low jungles.” Jerdon, in his volume on the Mammals of India, 
tells us that the Nilgai “frequents thin forests and low jungles, but is also 
often found in tolerably open plains with only a few scattered bushes. It 
associates in small herds, varying from 7 or 8 to 2() and upwards.” 
Mr. Robert A. Sterndale, whose popular manual on the Mammals of India 
and Ceylon was published in 1884, does not speak favourably of his experience 
of the flesh of the Nilgai as an article of diet :—‘‘'The Nilgao,” he says, 
“feeds on Beyr (Zizyphus jujuba) and other trees, and at times devours 
such quantities of the intensely acrid berries of the Aoula (Phyllanthus 
emblica) that its flesh becomes saturated with the bitter elements of the 
fruit. This is most noticeable in soup, less so in a steak, which is at 
times not bad. The tongue and marrow-bones, however, are generally as 
much as the sportsman claims, and in the Central Provinces at least the 
natives are grateful for all the rest.” 
Col. Kinloch, who writes of the Nilgai mainly from a sporting point of 
view, gives us the following account of this animal :— 
“The Nilgai does not hold a very high place among the Game-animals of India, and 
is seldom shot by any but young sportsmen, unless meat is required for camp-followers. 
It is, however, one of the largest and most conspicuous of the ruminants to be found in 
the plains, and no records of Indian sport would be complete without some notice of it. 
“The bull is a large and powerful beast, attaining a height of at least 14 hands at 
the withers, which are high and narrow like those of a horse. The neck is long and 
compressed, and the head slender and deer-like, the eyes being remarkably full and 
lustrous. The hind-quarters fall away considerably, giving the animal rather an awkward 
appearance. The legs are slender and wiry, and the hoofs rather upright. The tail is 
tufted, something like that of the domestic cow, but it is not so long in proportion, 
reaching only to the hocks. The color is a dark bluish grey, deepening to nearly black 
in very old individuals, while the legs are jet-black, curiously marked with white patches 
about the fetlocks. The throat is white, and from the lower part of it depends a long 
tuft of blackish hair, while the hair on the withers is developed into a thin upright 
mane. 
“The cow is of a light brown colour, and is destitute of horns. The young males are 
like the females, but become gradually darker with age. 
“ Nilgai inhabit extensive grass- and tree-jungles, but appear to prefer those that are 
not very thick, and interspersed with occasional bare open spaces. Their favorite cover 
seems to be that composed of the ‘ dhdk’ or ‘palds’ tree (Butea frondosa). They are 
also fond of resorting to the sugar-cane fields, and they frequently commit considerable 
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