34 



GREAT GAME ANIMALS. 



Case XII.] 



it also occurs in thin bush along the banks of rivers, as well as in 

 thorn- jungles on the plains. Kudu associate either in pairs, or in 

 small parties. Their speed is not great. When pursued, they always 

 make for hilly ground. The Lesser Kudu ($. imberbis, 1207) is 

 a much smaller species, distinguished by the absence of a fringe of 

 long hair on the throat, and also by the closer spiral formed by 

 the horns of the males (fig. 15). The range of the Greater Kudu 

 extends from South Africa to Somaliland,, where it is represented 

 by a local race, S. kudu chora. The Lesser Kudu is confined to 

 East and North-East Africa. The exhibited specimen of the 

 Greater Kudu was shot by Mr. F. C. Selous. 



Eland. Elands, the largest of Antelopes, are divided into 

 GenilS tw0 species — one (T. oryx, 1208) from South 

 Taurotragi!S. and South -East Africa, the other (T. derbianus, 

 [West 1209) from West and Central Africa. Nearly allied to the Kudus 

 Corridor. j n ^ e structure of their skulls and the form of their horns and 

 cheek-teeth, they are specially distinguished by the close spiral 

 formed by the horns, which are present in both sexes. In females 

 the horns are longer and more slender than in males. There are 

 three races of the Common Eland, in one of which the body is 

 uniformly coloured, while in a second, T. oryx living stonei, it is 

 marked by narrow vertical white lines. The third race, T. o. 

 pattersonianus (1210), of British East Africa, approximates so 

 much to the northern Elands as to suggest that all are really 

 one species. There are two races of T. derbianus ; the Giant 

 Eland, T. derbianus yigas, of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, being the 

 largest of all. T. derbianus is characterised by the dark brown 

 neck of the bulls and the white chevron on the forehead. The 

 exhibited specimens of Livingstone's Eland were shot by Mr. F. C. 

 Selous in Mashonaland. 



These animals go about in large herds, and are found alike in 

 desert and wooded districts, and on hills and plains. Although 

 where water is abundant they drink regularly, in parts of the 

 Kalahari Desert the only fluid they obtain is derived from water- 

 melons. They are generally accompanied by Rhinoceros-birds, 

 which give the alarm when danger is at hand. Elands are now 

 exterminated from the Cape, Natal, the Orange River Colony, 

 Griqualand West, and the Transvaal. 



