Genus II.OUREBIA.

Size largest of the subfamily. Hoofs normal, triangular, pointed, the animal standing, as is usual, on the flattened lower side of the hoof, with the point directed forwards. Accessory hoofs present. A naked glandular patch below each ear, and tufts on the knees, present in all the species. Tail short, generally tufted with black.

Anteorbital fossæ of skull very large, their edges sharply ridged above and below. Anteorbital vacuities small. Nasal bones long.

Horns about three-quarters the length of the skull, slanting backwards, slightly or heavily ridged basally, smooth at the tip, but the different species vary considerably in the amount of ridging on the horns.

Distribution.Africa south of the Atlas.

The members of this genus are remarkably uniform in character, and there are scarcely any characters of importance to distinguish from each other species so widely distant geographically as the Oribis of the Gambia, Abyssinia, Zambesia, and the Cape.

The following are the groups into which they seem best to fall:—

Antilope ourebi,Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. iii. p. 268 (1783);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 320 (1801);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 89.Scopophorus ourebi,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 7 (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 118;id.Ann. Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 136 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 73 (1852);Gm.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 235 (1862);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 19 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 90 (1873).Calotragus oureby,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853).Antilope scoparia,Schreb.Säug. pl. cclxi. (animal) (1785);Afz.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 194 (1816);id.Mamm. ii. p. 464 (1822);Desmoul.Dict. Class, i. p. 446 (1822);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1244 (1824);Burch.List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 7 (1825);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 244, v. p. 339 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 379 (1827);Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. xiii. (♂ & ♀) (1828);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 469 (1829);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 78 (1832);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1362 (1838);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i. p. 262 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 429 (1844), v. p. 411 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 414 (1845);Gieb.Säug. p. 316 (1854).Antilope(Ourebia)scoparia,Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 623 (1839).Redunca scoparia,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 211 (1834).Oreotragus scoparius,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 164 (1843);id.List Ost. B. M. p. 146 (1847);Drumm.Large Game S. Afr. p. 426 (1875).Calotragus scoparius,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 192 (1846);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 144, Reprint, p. 68 (1848);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 260 (1880).Nanotragus scoparius,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 642;Selous, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 761;id.Hunt. Wand. S. Afr. p. 221 (1881);Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 301 (1889);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 339 (1891);Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 25, pl. v. fig. 15 (head) (1892);Ward, Horn Meas. p. 81 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 218 (1893).Scopophorus scoparius,Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 131 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit xi.) p. 160 (1892).Neotragus scoparius,Rendall, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 361.Antilope melanura,Bechst.Allgem. Uebers. vierf. Thiere, i. p. 73 (1799), ii. p. 642 (1800).Cemas melanura,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 743 (1816).Scopophorus ourebi grayi,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869).

Antilope ourebi,Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. iii. p. 268 (1783);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 320 (1801);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 89.

Scopophorus ourebi,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 7 (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 118;id.Ann. Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 136 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 73 (1852);Gm.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 235 (1862);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 19 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 90 (1873).

Calotragus oureby,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853).

Antilope scoparia,Schreb.Säug. pl. cclxi. (animal) (1785);Afz.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 194 (1816);id.Mamm. ii. p. 464 (1822);Desmoul.Dict. Class, i. p. 446 (1822);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1244 (1824);Burch.List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 7 (1825);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 244, v. p. 339 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 379 (1827);Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. xiii. (♂ & ♀) (1828);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 469 (1829);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 78 (1832);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1362 (1838);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i. p. 262 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 429 (1844), v. p. 411 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 414 (1845);Gieb.Säug. p. 316 (1854).

Antilope(Ourebia)scoparia,Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 623 (1839).

Redunca scoparia,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 211 (1834).

Oreotragus scoparius,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 164 (1843);id.List Ost. B. M. p. 146 (1847);Drumm.Large Game S. Afr. p. 426 (1875).

Calotragus scoparius,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 192 (1846);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 144, Reprint, p. 68 (1848);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 260 (1880).

Nanotragus scoparius,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 642;Selous, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 761;id.Hunt. Wand. S. Afr. p. 221 (1881);Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 301 (1889);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 339 (1891);Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 25, pl. v. fig. 15 (head) (1892);Ward, Horn Meas. p. 81 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 218 (1893).

Scopophorus scoparius,Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 131 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit xi.) p. 160 (1892).

Neotragus scoparius,Rendall, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 361.

Antilope melanura,Bechst.Allgem. Uebers. vierf. Thiere, i. p. 73 (1799), ii. p. 642 (1800).

Cemas melanura,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 743 (1816).

Scopophorus ourebi grayi,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869).

Vernacular Names:—Oribiof Dutch and English Cape Colonists;Iulaof Kaffirs (Drummond) and Zulus (Rendall).

Size comparatively large. General colour bright sandy rufous, of underside pure sharply-defined white. Chin white. Throat and outer side of limbs like back. Above the anterior corner of each eye a white stripe, ending over the middle of the eye. Crown with or without a brown patch or horseshoe-shaped mark, which is very variable in its development. Auricular gland small, indistinct, scarcely more than half an inch in diameter. Knees with well-marked tufts of longer hairs. Small but distinct false hoofs present both on fore and hind feet. Tail with its tuft about four or five inches in length, its basal third sandy rufous like the back, the remainder thickly tufted, black.

Skull with a long slender muzzle. Supraorbital vacuities present. Premaxillæ not reaching the nasals. Anteorbital fossæ very large and open, filling up all the space in front of the orbits, their edges sharply ridged above and below.

Horns about four inches in length, slender, evenly tapering, slanting back at an angle of about 45° to the general line of the skull; very slightly curved upwards and forwards; their rings close together, low, rounded, and indistinct, present on the basal halves of the horns only.

Dimensions:—♂. Height at withers 24 inches, hind foot 11, ear 3·7.

Skull: basal length 5·8, greatest breadth 2·9, muzzle to orbit 3·65.

Hab.S. Africa south of the Zambesi.

As in the case of the Klipspringer, this little Antelope first became known to naturalists in Europe through the Dutch settlers at the Cape. They called itOurebi, under which name it appears to have been first described and figured in Holland by Allamand in 1776. In 1783 Zimmermann based hisAntilope ourebiupon Allamand’s description, and two years later Schreber’s plate ofAntilope scopariawas copied from Allamand’s figure. As it is necessary to useOurebiaas the generic designation of this Antelope we propose to adopt “scoparia,” taken from the peculiar brushes (scopæ) that defend its knees, as its specific name.

Fig. 23.Ourebia scoparia, ♂.

Fig. 23.

Ourebia scoparia, ♂.

A better figure of this Antelope than that of Allamand was published by Lichtenstein about the year 1828 in the third part of his ‘Darstellung neuer oder wenig bekannter Säugethiere,’ a work which was devoted to the representation of new and little-known mammals of the Berlin Museum. Lichtenstein, who had himself travelled in South Africa, states that he had met with this species in Cafferland, and that it was known to the colonists as the “Bleekbok” or “Pale-buck,” from its light colour, and was much valued as a game animal.

In 1861, when Mr. E. L. Layard prepared his Catalogue of the specimens in the collection of the South African Museum at Capetown, the Oribi was already nearly exterminated in the colony. But it still existed, he tells us, near Alexandria and Bedford in Somerset, and in some of the eastern divisions where large grassy plains are found. An “intelligent Kaffir,” attached to the Museum, informed Mr. Layard that “the Oribi when slain by the natives belongs to the chief, who presents the fortunate hunter with a young cow in return. The skins of the Oribi are considered in the light of regal ermine and very highly valued.”

When, however, we come to the open plains of Natal and Zululand we are assured by Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, in the ‘Sportsman in South Africa,’ that the Oribi is even now very common. It also frequents the Transvaal in fair numbers, the Orange Free State, and parts of Matabeleland and Mashonaland. A few specimens are said to have been obtained in Bechuanaland, but it is unknown in the Kalahari Desert, and thence towards the west. The same observers tell us that “in speed the Oribi is very fast, and that it dodges from side to side when it runs in a peculiar manner with a series of leaps and rushes. It frequents the open flats, singly or in pairs, but keeps within reasonable distance of water.”

As regards the exact range of the Oribi in Mashonaland, Mr. F. C. Selous, in his ‘Hunter’s Wanderings,’ gives us the following particulars:—“North of the Limpopo, this Antelope is only to be met with in the following districts, viz. in north-eastern Mashunaland from the river Umzweswe to beyond the river Hanyana, in the open valleys which occur between the forest belts near the watershed, but to the north of the Machabe hills; on the exposed open downs nearer the watershed, and lying between the Machabe hills and Intaba Insimbi, I never saw any. On a large flat about fifty miles to the south of the junction of the Umfule and Umniati rivers, I saw a good many Oribi in 1880. Except in this district of the Mashuna country, the only other place south of the Zambesi where this Antelope exists is in the valley of Gazuma, an open boggy flat of only a few hundred acres in extent, which is situated at about thirty miles to the south-west of the Victoria Falls. Then again a few are to be seen on the northern bank of the Chobe, on the open ground bordering the marsh, in the neighbourhood of Linyanti. One never sees more than two or three of these Antelopestogether. The horns of the male attain to a length of about 5 inches, and are ringed at the base.”

There is a mounted pair of this species in the gallery of the British Museum which formerly belonged to the old “South-African Museum” of Sir Andrew Smith, besides some skins and skulls from the Cape without exact particulars. There is also the skull of an adult male from the Umfili River, Mashonaland, obtained by Mr. F. C. Selous, in the same Collection.

We are not aware that the Oribi has been kept in captivity in the Cape Colony, or ever brought alive to Europe.

December, 1895.

Antilope hastata,Peters, Reise Mossamb., Säug. p. 188, pl. xl. (animal), pl. xli. fig. 2, pl. xlii. fig. 2 (skull) (1852) (Senna);Gieb.Säug. p. 317 (1854);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 411 (1855);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 46.Calotragus hastata,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853).Scopophorus hastatus,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869);Matschie, Thierw. Ost-Afr. Säugeth. p. 121 (1895).Nanotragus hastatus,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 642;Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 339 (1891);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 219 (1893).Nanotragus scoparius,Thos.P. Z. S. 1893, p. 504, 1894, p. 146 (Nyasa).Scopophorus montanus,Matschie, Thierw. Ost-Afr. Säugeth. p. 121.

Calotragus hastata,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853).

Scopophorus hastatus,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869);Matschie, Thierw. Ost-Afr. Säugeth. p. 121 (1895).

Nanotragus hastatus,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 642;Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 339 (1891);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 219 (1893).

Nanotragus scoparius,Thos.P. Z. S. 1893, p. 504, 1894, p. 146 (Nyasa).

Scopophorus montanus,Matschie, Thierw. Ost-Afr. Säugeth. p. 121.

Vernacular Name:—Dutsaat Senna (Peters).

Similar in all respects toO. scoparia, except that the auricular gland is considerably larger and more conspicuous, and the tail is slenderer, less tufted, and is more or less white along its edges below.

Skull and horns apparently quite as inO. scoparia.

Hab.Mozambique and Nyasaland.

When the late Dr. William Peters made his great expedition to the Portuguese colony of Mozambique from 1842 to 1848 the Zoology of the Eastern Coast of Africa was almost unknown to us. Many, therefore, were the discoveries made by that distinguished traveller and naturalist, and subsequently described in his ‘Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique.’ Amongst them, in the volume devoted to the Mammals of the Expedition, we find a figure and description of the present Antelope, which was met with by Peters on the bush-clad plains of Sena and Shupanga,situated about 17° S. lat., and from 30 to 60 miles from the coast. Peters allows that the present form comes very near the typicalO. scoparia, but considers that it differs in its longer ears, the smaller size of the naked spot beneath the ear, the white underside of the tail, and the less compressed form of the hoofs. Peters’s specimens are in the Berlin Museum.

More recently the British Museum has acquired several skins of an Antelope, which should be the same, to judge from its locality, as Peters’sO. hastata, among the splendid collections amassed by Sir H. H. Johnston in Nyasaland with the aid of his naturalist Mr. Alexander Whyte, F.Z.S. These were obtained on the grassy plains between Zomba, where Mr. Whyte is resident, and Lake Shirwa. These materials, however, are not yet sufficient to enable us to pronounce a decided opinion as to whether this Oribi should be really treated of as a species distinct from its brother of the Cape Colony. The two forms certainly come very near one another, and we are rather doubtful whether they can be properly distinguished.

December, 1895.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES. PL. XXVI.Wolf del. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The Gambian OribiOUREBIA NIGRICAUDATAPublished by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES. PL. XXVI.

Wolf del. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Gambian Oribi

OUREBIA NIGRICAUDATA

Published by R. H. Porter.

Ourebi du Sénégal,F. Cuv.H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iii. livr. lx. (♀) (1829).Scopophorus montanus,Gray, Knowsl. Men. p. 7, pl. v. (animal) (1850) (Gambia) (nec Cretzschm.).Nanotragus nigricaudatus,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 874, pl. lxxv. (animal) (Gambia);Ward, Horn Meas. p. 81 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 219 (1893).Oreotragus scoparius,Scl.P. Z. S. 1867, p. 1039.Neotragus nigricaudatus,Scl.List An. Z. S. (8) p. 145 (1883).

Ourebi du Sénégal,F. Cuv.H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iii. livr. lx. (♀) (1829).

Scopophorus montanus,Gray, Knowsl. Men. p. 7, pl. v. (animal) (1850) (Gambia) (nec Cretzschm.).

Nanotragus nigricaudatus,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 874, pl. lxxv. (animal) (Gambia);Ward, Horn Meas. p. 81 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 219 (1893).

Oreotragus scoparius,Scl.P. Z. S. 1867, p. 1039.

Neotragus nigricaudatus,Scl.List An. Z. S. (8) p. 145 (1883).

Vernacular Name:—GebariorMahomet’s Antelopeon the Gambia (WhitfieldfideGray).

Closely allied toO. montana, but still smaller, and the general colour greyer; the auricular gland as large as inO. hastata, and the tail with a blackish tuft, as inO. scoparia. Top of muzzle brown.

Dimensions of the typical specimen, ♂:—Height at withers 21 inches; length of hind foot 10, of ear 3·4.

Hab.Open districts of the Gambia and Senegal.

It was not to be expected that any representative of the Oribi would be found in Congoland or within the great forest-clad region of Western Africa. But when we come to the more open country of Senegal and the Gambia, an allied and nearly similar species appears upon the scene. The first evidence of its existence was given by F. Cuvier in 1829 by the publication of a figure and description of a female specimen under the name of the “Ourebi du Sénégal,” which was brought home alive by M. Perrotet, but died shortly after its arrival at Paris.

Again, some years later, Whitfield, one of the collectors employed by Lord Derby, brought home from the Gambia a living example of an Antelope, which was subsequently figured in 1845 for the ‘Knowsley Menagerie’ by Waterhouse Hawkins. This figure was referred by Gray, who drew up the letterpress of that splendid work, to the Abyssinian Oribi next described, but there can be little doubt that it really belonged to the Gambian form. Whitfield gave the native name of this Antelope on the Gambia as “Gebari.”

In May 1867 the Zoological Society received as a present from Mr. Charles B. Mosse a fine young male of this Oribi, which was eventually the means of making the species better known. It was at first referred by Sclater to the Cape Oribi, but afterwards considered to be more probably attributable to the AbyssinianO. montana. In 1872, however, when the animal was still living and quite adult, Sir Victor Brooke, at Sclater’s invitation, took up the question, and in a paper read before the Zoological Society, and subsequently published in their ‘Proceedings’ for that year, showed that neither of these determinations was correct, and that the Gambian animal belonged, in his opinion, to an unnamed species, which he proposed to callNanotragus nigricaudatus. Although, like the two preceding species, the Gambian Oribi has a black tail, its smaller size seems to be sufficient to distinguish it from its congeners. Sir Victor had a water-colour drawing made of this animal by Wolf, from which both the figure published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ and the Plate now given (Plate XXVI.) have been prepared. This typical specimen is now in the British Museum, which has likewise two other young specimens from West Africa, without further details.

Mr. Mosse, who brought the type specimen home himself, supplied Sir Victor with the information that he had procured it in March 1867, when it was only two or three months old, and that it had been caught on the banks of the Gambia about 70 or 80 miles from Bathurst, midway between that town and Macarthey’s Island. Mr. Mosse had never met with a second individual.

In 1873 and 1876 the Zoological Society received female specimens of what were believed to be the same Antelope, but they did not live long in the Gardens.

December, 1895.

Antilope brevicaudata,Rüpp.MS. (N. Wirb. p. 25, 1835).Antilope montana,Cretzschm.Atl. Rüpp. Reise, Säug. p. 11, pl. iii. (Fazogloa Mts., Blue Nile) (1826);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 469 (1829);Rüpp.N. Wirb. Abyss., Mamm. p. 25 (1835);id.P. Z. S. 1836, p. 3 (occurrence of canines);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1362 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 623 (1839);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug., Suppl. iv. p. 431 (1844), v. p. 412 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 421 (1845);Gieb.Säug. p. 316 (1854);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 34.Redunca montana,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 211 (1834).Tragelaphus montanus,Rüpp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 37 (1842).Calotragus montanus,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 193 (1846);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 144; Reprint, p. 68 (1848);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853);Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 8 (1863);id.Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 104 (1877).Scopophorus montanus,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.op. cit. (2) viii. p. 137 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 74 (1852);Scl.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 101 (Karagweh);Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869);Blanf.Zool. Abyss. p. 266 (1870) (Dolo, Abyssinia);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 19 (1872);Gigl.Ann. Mus. Genov. (2) vi. p. 18 (1888) (Shoa);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 160 (1892).Nanotragus montanus,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, pp. 642 & 875;W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 166 (1891);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 339 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. p. 82 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 218 (1893);Jackson, Badm. Big Game Shooting, pp. 285 & 299 (1894).Antilope madoqua,Schweinfurth, Herz. von Afrika, i. p. 266, fig. head, ii. p. 535 (1874) (necH. Sm.,necRüpp.).

Antilope brevicaudata,Rüpp.MS. (N. Wirb. p. 25, 1835).

Antilope montana,Cretzschm.Atl. Rüpp. Reise, Säug. p. 11, pl. iii. (Fazogloa Mts., Blue Nile) (1826);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 469 (1829);Rüpp.N. Wirb. Abyss., Mamm. p. 25 (1835);id.P. Z. S. 1836, p. 3 (occurrence of canines);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1362 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 623 (1839);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug., Suppl. iv. p. 431 (1844), v. p. 412 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 421 (1845);Gieb.Säug. p. 316 (1854);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 34.

Redunca montana,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 211 (1834).

Tragelaphus montanus,Rüpp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 37 (1842).

Calotragus montanus,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 193 (1846);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 144; Reprint, p. 68 (1848);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853);Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 8 (1863);id.Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 104 (1877).

Scopophorus montanus,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.op. cit. (2) viii. p. 137 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 74 (1852);Scl.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 101 (Karagweh);Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 165 (1869);Blanf.Zool. Abyss. p. 266 (1870) (Dolo, Abyssinia);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 19 (1872);Gigl.Ann. Mus. Genov. (2) vi. p. 18 (1888) (Shoa);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 160 (1892).

Nanotragus montanus,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1872, pp. 642 & 875;W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 166 (1891);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 339 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. p. 82 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 218 (1893);Jackson, Badm. Big Game Shooting, pp. 285 & 299 (1894).

Antilope madoqua,Schweinfurth, Herz. von Afrika, i. p. 266, fig. head, ii. p. 535 (1874) (necH. Sm.,necRüpp.).

Vernacular Names:—H’Amra,Atrob, orOdrobin Arabic;Fiegoin Amharic;Waitalin Geez (Heuglin);Lohdjin Dinka;Nettjädein Djur;Heggolehin Bongo;Kullahin Mittu;Bongbaljahin Niam-niam;Laffain Golo;Kehdoin Kredj;Ngogohin Ssehre;Akonjin Shilluk (Schweinfurth).

Similar toO. scopariain most respects, but the tail shorter, less bushy, and almost wholly of the colour of the back, the terminal black tuft being reduced to a few darker hairs at the extreme tip; there are also a considerable number of white hairs along each side of it below. Auricular gland large, quite naked.

Skull dimensions (♂):—Basal length 5·65 inches, greatest breadth 2·95, muzzle to orbit 3·44.

Hab. Abyssinia and Bongoland.

As already pointed out, the Abyssinian representative of this group differs slightly in structure from the forms of the Oribi of which we have previously spoken. Its specific name would also indicate that it is an inhabitant of a higher district, although Rüppell tells us that when he sent the original specimen from Senaar in 1823 he had given it in his Manuscript “a far more appropriate” one. Be that as it may, Cretzschmar, who undertook the description of the vertebrates transmitted by Rüppell to the Museum Senckenbergianum before the return home of the latter, chose to call it “montana” and this term cannot now, of course, be altered.

The original specimen ofOurebia montanawas obtained by Rüppell’s collector Hey (after whom Hey’s Partridge,Ammoperdix heyi, was subsequently named by Temminck) on the hills of Fazogloa on the Blue Nile in 1823. Rüppell afterwards found many individuals of it on the high plains of Woggera in the neighbourhood of Gondar and in the valleys of the Kulla, where they resort to the grassy ravines and thorny jungles. He remarks that only the male carries horns, but that both sexes have a pair of inguinal glands, the openings of which are concealed by long tufts of white hair. The female has four teats. He also remarks that (as he communicated to the Zoological Society of London, of which Rüppell was a Foreign Member, in 1836) the young males of this Antelope occasionally possess the germs of a pair of canine teeth, which are lost in the adult stage. This anomaly, however, has also been noticed in other Ruminants.

Theodor von Heuglin met with this Antelope in several districts of Central and West Abyssinia at elevations of from 6000 to 8000 feet above the sea-level. He remarks that it prefers the rocky and bushy parts of the steppes, and often cries out like a Roebuck when struck by a shot. Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., found this Antelope rare in the country traversed by theAbyssinian Expedition of 1867–68. He saw it only two or three times, near Dolo and Harkhallet, north of Antalo, at an elevation of about 7000 feet above the sea-level, where it inhabits bushy ground or high grass. A buck shot by Mr. Blanford was 22½ inches high at the shoulder, the mammæ were four in number, and the suborbital and inguinal glands were well developed. We learn from Mr. W. L. Sclater’s ‘Catalogue,’ that one of Mr. Blanford’s skins is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Finally Dr. Giglioli includes the Abyssinian Oribi amongst the mammals of which specimens have been transmitted to Italy from Shoa by the Italian naturalists Boutourline and Traversi. Dr. Giglioli observes that the sexes were alike in colour in these specimens, but that the male was rather larger in size than the hornless female.

The head of the “Madoqua” figured by Schweinfurth in ’Im Herzen von Afrika’ (vol. i. p. 266) was probably taken from an example of this Antelope. It was met with along with a species of Duiker in Bongo on the upper waters of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and observed in pairs among the bushes. Its native name there is “Heggolah.”

In the British Museum there are the skull of an adult male of this species and three skins of females from Dembelas, Abyssinia.

December, 1895.

Nanotragus hastatus,Jackson, Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. p. 285 (1894) (Tana R. & Lamu) (nec Peters).Neotragus haggardi,Thos.Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xv. p. 187 (1895) (Lamu).

Nanotragus hastatus,Jackson, Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. p. 285 (1894) (Tana R. & Lamu) (nec Peters).

Neotragus haggardi,Thos.Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xv. p. 187 (1895) (Lamu).

Vernacular Name:—Tayaof Swahilis (Haggard and Jackson).

Size as inO. scopariaandO. hastata. Auricular gland well developed.

Other external characters not yet positively known.

Skull with a rather shorter muzzle than in the common species. Horns very much thicker and heavier than in any of the previous species; the ridges strongly developed and sharply angular. Owing partly to the development of the ridges the front edge of their lower half is convex forwards, while the upper half is as usual concave forwards; viewed from the side the horns therefore appear to have a slight tendency towards the serpentine double curvature characteristic of the Gazelles, although far less developed.

Skull dimensions (♂):—Basal length 5·6 inches, greatest breadth 2·97, orbit to muzzle 3·4.

Hab.Coasts of British East Africa, near Lamu.

A fifth species of Oribi, with which as yet we are only imperfectly acquainted, seems to be found in British East Africa and the adjoining districts of Southern Somaliland. Its size is that of the Cape and Zambesian species, and its auricular gland is well developed. But it is readily distinguishable from all the other members of the group by its thick and strongly ridged horns, which contrast markedly with the slender and comparatively smooth horns of all the preceding species.

Thomas was originally inclined to refer the three skulls of this Oribi which were received in 1887 from Mr. J. G. Haggard, then H.B.M. Vice-Consul at Lamu, to Peters’sOurebia hastata. When, however, he had afterwards obtained specimens of the Oribi of Nyasaland, which were doubtless to be referred to the form described by Peters, he perceived his error, and proceeded to base a new species upon the specimens in question, assigning to it the name of their collector and donor, according to whom this Antelope is known to the Swahilis at Lamu as “Taya.”

Fig. 24.Skull ofOurebia haggardi, ♂.

Fig. 24.

Skull ofOurebia haggardi, ♂.

Mr. F. J. Jackson, in his ‘Big Game Shooting,’ gives us the following account of the “Taya”:—

“The East-African Oribi (also known to the Swahilis as ‘Taya’) I have found more plentiful on the mainland near Lamu than anywhere else. Sir Robert Harvey and Mr. Hunter, in October and November 1888, also foundit in fair numbers up the Tana river. I have never seen it myself south of the Sabaki, though doubtless it is to be met with there also in suitable places. At Merereni, where the country seems admirably suited to its habits, although I was shooting there for some time in 1885 and 1886, I never saw one, though fifteen miles further south, near Mambrui, I observed its spoor. This confirmed me in my theory that the Oribi is very partial to the vicinity of cultivated tracts, and I do not remember having seen one in an uninhabited district. At Taka, a small village on the mainland opposite Patta Island, I saw great numbers in 1885.

“In the vicinity of this village there was a great deal of land which at one time had been under cultivation, but was then lying fallow and covered with coarse dry grass, about two feet high. This afforded excellent covert, and, as the colour of these little Antelopes closely resembles that of dry grass, it was very difficult to see them. Except in one way, stalking them was quite hopeless. I found that the only plan to get them was to walk them up with one or two beaters on each side of me, and shoot them with a gun loaded with S. S. G. shot. They lie so close that they will let the sportsman get within ten or fifteen yards of them before they will move, but they rarely give him a chance of a shot under from forty to fifty yards. When they first get up it is only possible to follow their movements by the waving of the grass. It is necessary, however, always to be prepared for a snap-shot, as after going some twenty to thirty yards they will bound up into the air, offering a capital chance, which may be the only one, as they will be out of range before they again appear in like manner. This bounding into the air is, I believe, to enable them to see where they are going to, and it is a curious fact that when they alight they invariably do so on their hind legs, not unlike a Kangaroo.

“An Oribi, even when only slightly wounded, will, as a rule, go a very short distance before lying down, and the sportsman should, therefore, be careful to follow up all those that he thinks he may have touched.”

Besides Mr. Haggard’s skulls from Lamu, on which Thomas founded this species, and a head from the same place in Mr. Jackson’s private collection, there is in the National Museum the perfect skin and skull of a fine Oribi recently obtained in East Africa and presented by Mr. A. H. Neumann. No information as to its exact locality has as yet reached us, and as its skull differs somewhat from that of the LamuO. haggardi, we are at presentunable to form a definite opinion as to its specific identity. If, as seems probable, this interesting specimen is really referable to the present form, we may say thatO. haggardiis in general colour rather greyer than the other species, and that its tail has a decided black tuft at the end, the proximal part of this organ being white-edged below. To identify this specimen with the present species, however, will involve the recognition of a considerable degree of variation in the skull and horns, and without further material we are unable to do so definitely.

December, 1895.

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