THE WHITE-EARED COB 173 
fully equal—when they do not exceed them—in horn 
length and in all other indices of maturity. 1 
As regards their habits, white-eared cob normally 
frequent the open plains—always on firm dry ground—■ 
in bands of a dozen to a score or two, though one often 
sees far larger aggregations. I once counted over one 
hundred together, mostly does, with a single tiang as 
chaperon. They drink at, or a trifle before the dawn, 
and, at such spots as they favour, may always be found 
by the riverside at break of day. Thence, as light waxes, 
they graze away inland and, towards noon, reassemble 
for a siesta. The hot midday hours they spend resting— 
many lying down—either in the open or sheltering from 
the sun in the shade of trees, should such adjoin their 
pasturage. At such spots the cob may be found 
associating with tiang, but as a rule are not much given 
to herd with other species. When alarmed and running 
off, these antelopes bound in air, like impala or spring¬ 
buck—marvellous flying leaps. 
Towards sundown the “teel” may again be seen 
wending riverwards, often in very great aggregations 
of many herds mixed, strung out in straggling files for 
half a mile and more. Occasionally, two or more such 
columns may be in sight at once, converging on some 
favourite watering-place. When near the river, however, 
the various herds squander and loiter about, grazing 
so long as it is light enough to distinguish. I have 
never seen them come actually down to the water s edge 
in daylight, as waterbuck do. 
One morning late in February (1913) we noticed this 
curious phenomenon. A big grass fire was raging half a 
mile to the northward, filling the heavens with dense black 
1 At this point it is necessary to put in a word of caution against any 
judgment being based on mounted heads, whether in museums or private 
collections. It is well within my own knowledge that sportsmen—innocent 
of all intent to deceive, but over-anxious to possess handsome trophies— 
habitually order the darker head-skins to be mounted on the skulls of 
longer-horned (but tawny) examples. 
