THE WHITE-BEARDED GNU 
CONNOCHCETES TAURINUS ALBOJUBATUS 
/ LTHOUGH the white -bearded gnu differs but little in appear- 
ance from the brindled gnu or blue wildebeest, in its 
k habits it more nearly resembles the black wildebeest, 
\ as it is essentially an inhabitant of bare, open plains. 
It is a good deal lighter in colour than the common blue 
^-wildebeest, and the black vertical stripes, therefore, 
show more strikingly than in the latter species. The mane on the back of 
the neck is black, as is the hair of the tail; but the hair under the throat 
is white, and sometimes becomes very long and bushy. All the heads I 
have seen from the neighbourhood of the southern Gwas N’yiro River 
had far more bushy beards than those I saw on the Athi or Kapiti Plains, 
but this may have been due to the season of the year at which they were 
shot. There is another well-marked difference between the common 
blue wildebeest and the white -bearded gnu, and that is that in the latter 
the base of the horns is much thicker and heavier than in the former. 
In other respects, however, the two species are practically identical. On 
the Athi and Kapiti Plains the white -bearded gnus are excessively shy 
and wild, and they have every reason to be so, for they have been much 
worried by both good and bad shots armed with long-range rifles. 
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