686 
AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 
moonlight, and on very clear, moonless nights, we found that 
grayish, countershaded animals like domestic asses, and 
eland and oryx, were most difficult to see. Zebras were 
much more clearly visible; they seemed whitish; if close up 
their stripes could be made out. Mr. Selous has recorded 
an interesting observation to this effect: he found that even 
the Grevy zebra, which is less conspicuously colored than 
the common kind, showed up at night more plainly than 
eland, oryx, or koodoo, and that in the moonlight the 
stripes were very distinct, making the animal readily visible. 
On the Athi and Kapiti Plains ticks swarmed, and they 
clustered in masses around the eyes of the zebras and in the 
groin, and wherever there was bare skin. Yet, in spite of 
the abundance of these loathsome creatures, the zebras were 
fat and in high condition. Ticks were much less plentiful 
both in the Sotik and along the Northern Guaso Nyiro. 
Wherever they teemed, as they did on the Kapiti Plains, 
it was hard to understand how the game supported their 
presence. But the zebra and antelope were just as fat there 
as elsewhere. Evidently the ticks did not really trouble 
them, whereas the biting flies bothered them greatly. 
All animals which live in herds tend to develop a herd 
leader. This herd leader sometimes may, and sometimes 
may not, be the master male. Thus in a herd of wapiti, 
containing a heavy master bull, we have seen an old cow 
assume complete leadership, watching while the herd was 
at rest and leading the others whenever the herd was in 
motion. We also once saw a Tommy doe, which was asso¬ 
ciating with four Grant gazelles, take complete charge of 
the whole party, its big associates following it submissively 
wherever it led. It seemed as if in the zebra herds the 
