WATERBUCKS AND REEDBUCKS 
505 
while the calf is very young. We have sat within a few 
yards of a cow and calf which were lying down, and 
watched them for many minutes before they took alarm. 
The food is usually grass, but sometimes the animals 
browse. 
Waterbuck are not as formidable fighters as the roan, 
sable, or oryx; but the old bulls—perhaps trained by their 
desperate battles among themselves—must be approached 
with some caution if at bay, for their horns are sharp, and 
the strength of their heavy bodies is great. Doctor Rains- 
ford was severely hurt by the sudden lunge and struggle 
of a wounded waterbuck bull when he attempted to cut its 
throat; and a white man with Major Bulpett was killed 
under similar conditions. A badly wounded bull attempted 
to charge Kermit and his gun-bearers. 
An adult male shot at Juja Farm measured in the flesh: 
79 inches in length of head and body; tail, 18 inches; hind 
foot, 2i}4 inches, and ear, inches. Skull length, 15 
inches. The horns of this specimen were 23^ inches on the 
front curve, while those of the longest are 25 inches. Ward’s 
record for East Africa is 29 inches. The horns of the typical 
ellipsiprymnus of the Zambesi region are much longer, the 
record being 36^ inches. This record is equal to that of 
defassa, but curiously enough the geographical position of 
greatest horn growth is reversed in the two species, the short¬ 
est-horned defassa occurring in the south in close proximity 
to the longest-horned ellipsiprymnus. The identification of 
heads, however, is attended with much uncertainty unless 
the body color or the exact locality are known, owing to 
the close color and horn resemblance of the defassa and 
ellipsiprymnus. 
