46 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
such that any animal can be seen at all, a zebra will catch 
the eye much more quickly than a Grant’s gazelle, for in¬ 
stance. These gazelles, by the way, although much less 
conspicuously colored than the zebra, bear when young, 
and the females even when adult, the dark side stripe 
which characterizes all sexes and ages of the smaller gazelle, 
the ‘Tommy”; it is a very conspicuous marking, quite 
inexplicable on any theory of protective coloration. The 
truth is that no game of the plains is helped in any way by 
its coloration in evading its foes and none seeks to escape 
the vision of its foes. The larger game animals of the 
plains are always walking and standing in conspicuous 
places, and never seek to hide or take advantage of cover; 
while, on the contrary, the little grass and bush antelopes, 
like the duiker and steinbuck, trust very much to their 
power of hiding, and endeavor to escape the sight of their 
foes by lying absolutely still, in the hope of not being made 
out against their background. On the plains one sees the 
wildebeest farthest off and with most ease; the zebra and 
hartebeest next; the gazelles last. 
The wildebeest are very wary. While the hunter is 
still a long way off the animal will stop grazing and stand 
with head raised, the heavy shoulders and short neck mak¬ 
ing it unmistakable. Then, when it makes up its mind to 
allow no closer approach, it brandishes its long tail, springs 
and plunges, runs once or twice in semicircles, and is off, 
the head held much lower than the shoulders, the tail still 
lashing; and now and then a bull may toss up the dust 
with its horns. The herds of cows and calves usually con¬ 
tain one or two or more bulls; and in addition, dotted here 
and there over the plain, are single bulls or small parties of 
