484 
AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 
The pretty reedbuck, which is about the size of a white- 
tail deer, was plentiful in the Uasin Gishu and in Uganda. 
It was strictly a beast of cover, and unlike all the water- 
buck and their allies it was not gregarious, being found 
singly or in couples—usually a doe and her fawn, more 
rarely a buck and a doe. Like the oribi and klipspringer it 
utters a shrill whistle of alarm or curiosity, totally distinct 
from the whistle of either of the others. In Uganda the 
reedbuck were not wary, and in certain places were so plen¬ 
tiful that on a given flat of tall grass we might find a score 
or two in fairly close proximity, so that they looked almost 
like a herd, scattered out to feed; but when alarmed each 
went its own way without regard to the others. They were 
grass feeders, and their flesh was excellent. They were 
never found far from water; in no case that we happened 
to come across were they more than three ot four miles 
from a stream or pond. They lived in grass, and in patches 
of bush or reeds. In the daytime we usually came on them 
lying up in the reed beds or in hollows among the tall grass, 
so that they offered rather hard running shots or very long 
standing shots. Favorite resting-places in the Loita Plains 
district, were the deserted grass-grown Masai kraals from 
which they were on several occasions routed. When dis¬ 
turbed they usually bounded gracefully over the walls of 
the kraal and sought cover in the nearest reed bed. Often, 
however, we saw them feeding in the morning or afternoon, 
and then they were not very difficult to approach. When 
hiding they would often let us get to within a few feet of 
them before making a headlong rush through the reeds or 
grass. When put up by a line of beaters they would either 
run while the beaters were still a long way off, or else wait 
