Genus II. CERVICAPRA.

(See page 93.)

Similar in essential characters toCobus, but size smaller, build lighter, tail more bushy, and a glandular spot, naked or short-haired, present on the side of the head beneath the ears. Skull light, with large anteorbital vacuities; no anteorbital fossÃ¦; premaxillÃ¦ not reaching the nasals. Horns of median length, evenly curved upwards and, in some species, forwards; not present in the females.

Distribution.Africa, south of the Sahara (not found in the forest-districts of Western Africa).

The species ofCervicapraare remarkably closely allied, and differ in fact by scarcely any striking characters but size. The strong curvature of the horns in some of the species would seem to be an important character, were it not that inC. bohorthere is much variation, even in specimens from the same locality. Darker markings on the face and crown seem also to be too variable to afford good distinctive features. We are therefore reduced to dividing the species mainly according to size, as follows:â€”

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLIII.Wolf del. J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The Reed Buck.CERVICAPRA ARUNDINUM.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLIII.

Wolf del. J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Reed Buck.

CERVICAPRA ARUNDINUM.

Published by R. H. Porter.

Ritbok,Allamand, in Buff. Suppl. vi. p. 187, pls. xxiii. & xxiv. (1782).Antilope arundinum,Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 141 (1785).Cervicapra arundinum,Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 340 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 93 (1892), (2) p. 134 (1896);Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 36, pl. vii. fig. 23 (1892);Lyd.Horns & Hoofs, p. 227 (1893);Lugard, E. Afr. i. p. 538 (1893) (in part.) (Nyasa);Sclater, P. Z. S. 1893, p. 278 (L. Mweru);Thos.P. Z. S. 1894, p. 146 (Nyasa);Rendall, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 358 (Transvaal);Matschie, Thierwelt Ost-Afr., SÃ¤ug. p. 127 (1895).Antilope eleotragus,Schreb.SÃ¤ug. pl. cclxvi. (1787);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 349 (1801);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 244 (1804);Thunb.MÃ©m. Ac. PÃ©tersb. iii. p. 314 (1811);Licht.Mag. nat. Fr. vi. p. 173 (1814);Afz.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. dâ€™H. N. (2) ii. p. 190 (1816);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1225 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 395 (1821);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 459 (1822);Burch.List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 6 (1825) (Rietfontein);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 237, v. p. 337 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 376 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 465 (1829);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Naturg. vii. p. 1364 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 621 (1839);Wagn.Schr. SÃ¤ug. Suppl. iv. p. 426 (1844), v. p. 431 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 410 (1845);Gieb.SÃ¤ug. p. 315 (1853â€“5).Cerophorus(Cervicapra)eleotragus,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.Redunca eleotragus,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 210 (1834);RÃ¼pp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38, Osteol. p. 51 (1842).Eleotragus eleotragus,Jent.Notes Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 172 (1887) (Mossamedes).Antilope cÃ¦rulescens,Link, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 99 (1795).Antilope oreotragus,Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. i. p. 80 (1799) (necSchreb.).Antilope arundinaceus,Bechst.op. cit. i. p. 81 (1799), ii. p. 644 (1800);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. p. 347 (1801);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 485.Cemas arundinacea,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 740 (1816).Eleotragus arundinaceus,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.List Ost. B. M. p. 57 (1847);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 12 (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 126;id.Ann. & Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 144 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M p. 91 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 138 (1862);Kirk, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 657 (Zambesia);Drumm.Large Game S. Afr. p. 397 (1875);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 18 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 88 (1873);Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 297 (1889);Bocage, J. Sci. Lisb. (2) v. p. 28 (1890) (Angola).Cervicapra arundinacea,Selous, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 758 (distribution);id.Hunterâ€™s Wanderings S. Afr. p. 216 (1881);Crawshay, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 653 (Nyasa);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 164 (1891);Lorenz, Ann. Mus. Wien, ix. Notizen, p. 61 (1894).Antilope cinerea,Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 643 (1800);Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815).Antilope isabellina,Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1226 (1818);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 460 (1822);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 240, v. p. 338 (1827);Licht.Darst. SÃ¤ug. pl. x. (â™‚) (1827);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 76 (1832);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. p. 411 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 15, pl. xv. (1848);Peters, SÃ¤ug. Mossamb. p. 189 (1852).Redunca isabellina,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 210 (1834).Redunca isabellina, varr.multiannulata,caffra, andalgoensis,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 169 (1869).Eleotragus isabellinus,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 165 (1843);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. P.-B. ix.) p. 159 (1892).Cervicapra isabellina,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handb. 1844, p. 194 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 146; Reprint, p. 70 (1848);Scl.List An. Zool. Soc. (8) p. 144 (1883).Eleotragus reduncus,Gray, List of Mamm. p. 165 (1843) (necPall.).Antilope oleotragus,Desmoul.Dict. Class. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 446 (1822);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842).

Ritbok,Allamand, in Buff. Suppl. vi. p. 187, pls. xxiii. & xxiv. (1782).

Antilope arundinum,Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 141 (1785).

Cervicapra arundinum,Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 340 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 93 (1892), (2) p. 134 (1896);Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 36, pl. vii. fig. 23 (1892);Lyd.Horns & Hoofs, p. 227 (1893);Lugard, E. Afr. i. p. 538 (1893) (in part.) (Nyasa);Sclater, P. Z. S. 1893, p. 278 (L. Mweru);Thos.P. Z. S. 1894, p. 146 (Nyasa);Rendall, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 358 (Transvaal);Matschie, Thierwelt Ost-Afr., SÃ¤ug. p. 127 (1895).

Antilope eleotragus,Schreb.SÃ¤ug. pl. cclxvi. (1787);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 349 (1801);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 244 (1804);Thunb.MÃ©m. Ac. PÃ©tersb. iii. p. 314 (1811);Licht.Mag. nat. Fr. vi. p. 173 (1814);Afz.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. dâ€™H. N. (2) ii. p. 190 (1816);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1225 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 395 (1821);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 459 (1822);Burch.List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 6 (1825) (Rietfontein);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 237, v. p. 337 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 376 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 465 (1829);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Naturg. vii. p. 1364 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 621 (1839);Wagn.Schr. SÃ¤ug. Suppl. iv. p. 426 (1844), v. p. 431 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 410 (1845);Gieb.SÃ¤ug. p. 315 (1853â€“5).

Cerophorus(Cervicapra)eleotragus,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.

Redunca eleotragus,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 210 (1834);RÃ¼pp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38, Osteol. p. 51 (1842).

Eleotragus eleotragus,Jent.Notes Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 172 (1887) (Mossamedes).

Antilope cÃ¦rulescens,Link, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 99 (1795).

Antilope oreotragus,Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. i. p. 80 (1799) (necSchreb.).

Antilope arundinaceus,Bechst.op. cit. i. p. 81 (1799), ii. p. 644 (1800);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. p. 347 (1801);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 485.

Cemas arundinacea,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 740 (1816).

Eleotragus arundinaceus,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.List Ost. B. M. p. 57 (1847);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 12 (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 126;id.Ann. & Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 144 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M p. 91 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 138 (1862);Kirk, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 657 (Zambesia);Drumm.Large Game S. Afr. p. 397 (1875);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 18 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 88 (1873);Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 297 (1889);Bocage, J. Sci. Lisb. (2) v. p. 28 (1890) (Angola).

Cervicapra arundinacea,Selous, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 758 (distribution);id.Hunterâ€™s Wanderings S. Afr. p. 216 (1881);Crawshay, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 653 (Nyasa);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 164 (1891);Lorenz, Ann. Mus. Wien, ix. Notizen, p. 61 (1894).

Antilope cinerea,Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 643 (1800);Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815).

Antilope isabellina,Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1226 (1818);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 460 (1822);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 240, v. p. 338 (1827);Licht.Darst. SÃ¤ug. pl. x. (â™‚) (1827);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 76 (1832);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. p. 411 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 15, pl. xv. (1848);Peters, SÃ¤ug. Mossamb. p. 189 (1852).

Redunca isabellina,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 210 (1834).

Redunca isabellina, varr.multiannulata,caffra, andalgoensis,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 169 (1869).

Eleotragus isabellinus,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 165 (1843);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. P.-B. ix.) p. 159 (1892).

Cervicapra isabellina,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handb. 1844, p. 194 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 146; Reprint, p. 70 (1848);Scl.List An. Zool. Soc. (8) p. 144 (1883).

Eleotragus reduncus,Gray, List of Mamm. p. 165 (1843) (necPall.).

Antilope oleotragus,Desmoul.Dict. Class. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 446 (1822);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842).

Vernacular Names:â€”Reedbuckof English andReitbokof Dutch Cape Colonists.Inhlangoof Kaffirs (Drummond);Cipohataof Bechuanas (Nicolls & Eglington);ImsigiorUmsagokaof Zulus;Ihlanguof Swazis (Rendall);Imzeegeeof Matabili;Ee-bee-paof Makalakas;Imvweeof Masubias;Umvweeof Makubas;Bembaof Masaras (Selous);Nsengoat Sena and Tette (Kirk); alsoPoyoat Tette (Peters). In Nyasaland,Mpoyoof Anyanja;Ndopiof Ajawa;Mzigiof Angoni;Swyeof Ahenga and Amyika;Isweraof Ankonde (Crawshay).Nuxein Angola (Bocage).

Size comparatively large; height at withers about 36 inches. General colour greyish fawn, very finely grizzled with brown. Head and neck clearer fawn. Face-markings generally absent, but a brown patch on the muzzle in some specimens, and on the crown between the ears in others; chin white. Backs of ears pale fawn, not black-tipped; a whitish patch at the base of the ears surrounding the auricular gland, which in young specimens is covered with short velvety-white hairs, and in old animals is entirely naked. Belly white. Fore legs generally black in front, from the knee downwards, fawn externally and white internally; hind legs also commonly marked with black on the lower part of the cannon-bone, otherwise fawn, but on both fore and hind limbs the dark markings are sometimes absent. Tail thick, bushy, reaching halfway to the hocks; fawn above and all round the base, white below and at the tip.

Horns evenly divergent, curved backwards and upwards; never strongly hooked at their tips. At their bases the growing pad, which in other species is absorbed at maturity, remains persistent throughout life as a soft rounded swelling. In length the horns of the adults attain from 14 to 16 inches.

Skull-measurements of an adult male:â€”basal length 10Â·3 inches, greatest breadth 4Â·7, muzzle to orbit 6Â·3.

Femalelike the male, but without horns.

Hab.South Africa, as far north as Angola on the west, and Mozambique on the east. (WhetherC. bohoris only a smaller northern form ofC. arundinumis as yet uncertain.)

The Reedbucks, although closely allied to the Waterbucks and hardly to be distinguished from them in osteological characters, as has been shown by Turner[11], are easily recognized externally by the forward turn of their horns and by the naked glandular spot which is always present to a greater or less extent on the sides of the head beneath the ears. Of the five species of Reedbuck which we treat of in the present work, three were known to the writers of the last century; but they have been much confused together, even by some of the more recent authorities, and it is a difficult task to unravel their complicated synonymy.

We will begin with the finest and largest species of this group, the well-known Reedbuck of the English colonists of the Cape, large specimens of which attain a height at the shoulders of thirty-six inches or more. Like the White-tailed Gnu, the Reedbuck was first described at Amsterdam by Allamand, whose account of it is quoted by Buffon in the sixth volume of his supplement to the â€˜Histoire Naturelle,â€™ published in 1782. Buffon gives rough uncoloured figures of both sexes of this animal, under the name of â€œLe Ritbok,â€ which he adopts from Allamand. Upon Buffonâ€™s â€œRitbokâ€ Boddaert, in his â€˜Elenchus Animaliumâ€™ three years later, established his â€œAntilope arundinumâ€ and thus furnished the first specific name of the present species. In 1787 Schreber issued a copy of Buffonâ€™s figure of the male â€œRitbokâ€ with the nameAntilope eleotragusupon itâ€”a term which has been frequently adopted by the older authors, but which, as will be seen, is clearly subsequent in date to that of Boddaert. Bechstein, Shaw, and other authors following them have usedarundinaceus, the adjectival form, as the specific term of the Reedbuck; but we see no reason for departing from Boddaertâ€™s term ofarundinum, which is perfectly good grammar.

In 1815 Afzelius, in the course of his learned commentary â€˜De Antilopis speciatim Guineensibus,â€™ published at Upsala, introduced further complications into the subject by dividing the Reedbuck into two species. One of these he called â€œAntilope cinereaâ€ based upon the â€œRitbokâ€ of Allamand; and the secondAntilope isabellina, founded upon a South-African specimen in Thunbergâ€™s collection. So far as we can make out, however, Afzelius shows no valid reason for distinguishing the latter species from the former, and we believe that both these names may be safely referred toCervicapra arundinum. It should be noted also that in his â€˜List of Mammals in the British Museum,â€™ published in 1843, Gray called the Reedbuck of the CapeEleotragus reduncus, whereas the specific termreduncusproperly appertains to the â€œNagorâ€â€”the West-African species, of which we shall treat further on. In his subsequent writings, Gray usually reverted to the more correct specific term â€œarundinaceusâ€ for the present species, but sometimes called it â€œisabellinus.â€

Harris, in his great work on the â€˜Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa,â€™ published in 1840, figures the â€œReitbok,â€ as he calls it, in his twenty-seventh portrait, along with the Wart-hog, and with an appropriate landscape of reeds and water. In those days the Reedbuck appears to havebeen common throughout the Colony, and is described by Harris as follows:â€”â€œThis species resides either in pairs or in very small families along the margins of springs and swampy ground abounding in flags and rushes, or among the sedges that choke the channel of desiccated torrents, which flow only during the winter season. Specimens occurred throughout our route, chiefly to the eastward of the Colony, and in the tropical streams â€˜â€™mongst reeds and willows that oâ€™erhang the floodâ€™; but owing to the shy and secluded habits of the animal, it was not often seen, nor is it in fact anywhere so common as on the western coast, where the attraction of waterâ€”a rare element in those barren regionsâ€”sometimes causes it to congregate in the open plain.â€

Twenty years later, in 1861, Mr. Layard states that the Reedbuck was hardly then to be met with within the Colony! It is, however, as we are informed by Mr. W. L. Sclater, still to be found even up to the present day, though rarely, on some places on the east coast (Bathurst and Komgha), and in considerable numbers in the adjoining countries. Writing in 1881, Mr. Selous tells us that a few were then still to be found in the Transvaal, and that in Matabeleland and Mashonaland, on both slopes of the watershed, it was very common along the banks of the rivers. On the Manica plateau north of the Zambesi, Mr. Selous found Reedbucks particularly abundant, and had seen as many as eight at one time feeding in close proximity one to another. He remarks, however, that they are animals that go in pairs, and in this particular differ altogether from the various Waterbucks, which consort together in herds of not more than one male to ten females.

Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, in their â€˜Sportsman in South Africa,â€™ the most recent authority on this subject, give us the following account of the present distribution of the Reedbuck and of its habits:â€”â€œIt is now extremely rare to meet with this species in the Transvaal, except along some of the rivers in the north-eastern districts, and in Bechuanaland it is virtually extinct, although five years ago it was fairly common in the reeds of the Molopo, close to the site of the present town of Mafeking. In portions of the British Protectorate bordering the Crocodile River, and along its north-western tributaries, the Reedbuck may still occasionally be met with, but nowhere there in plenty. In the low country on the east coast about the Pungwe and Sabi Rivers it is extremely numerous. On those rivers ofMashonaland and Matabeleland which are margined with reeds, and where it has not been driven out by the natives and the prospectors, it may be in places plentifully found. But along the Chobe, Mababe, Tamulakani, and Botletle Rivers (where the banks are not precipitous) it is still quite common. In the dry reed-patches bordering Lake Ngami, the Taouhe, and Okavango, as far up as Indalis, from which the water recedes during several months of the year, the Reedbuck is particularly numerous; so much so as to lead to the erroneous impression that this antelope is gregarious, so many often being observed together at one time. It is usual to find the rams and ewes consorting in pairs, accompanied by a couple of their immature progeny, usually frequenting dry patches of reeds; but when these become flooded they often resort to the bush in the immediate vicinity of water. Although always found in proximity to the latter element, the Reedbuck when pursued will never take refuge in it; but in endeavouring to escape will direct its course right away from the river-beds towards the shelter of the thick bush, and, where such is not at hand, even into the open country. When suddenly alarmed, the males sometimes give vent to a whistle resembling that of the Red RhÃ©bok (Cervicapra fulvorufula). This species is rather easily approached, and the gallop being slow and regular, it is perhaps the easiest of the South-African antelopes to shoot; but, at the same time, it must be remarked that this, like all the other water-resorting varieties, possesses an extraordinary amount of vitality. The flesh is scarcely palatable, but the liver is considered a tit-bit.â€

There is still much left to be ascertained about the range of the Reedbuck towards the north. On the west coast it certainly extends into Angola, where specimens have been recorded by Prof. Bocage, while Dr. Jentink includes it amongst the Mammals of Mossamedes, and registers examples in the Leyden Museum from Damaraland and Benguela. Far up the east coast it seems to be abundant in Nyasaland. Mr. Crawshay, in his â€œField-Notesâ€ on the Antelopes of this Protectorate (P. Z. S. 1890), considers it quite as widely distributed there as the Waterbuck, though in fewer numbers. He found it, perhaps, in greatest abundance on the vast swampy plains at the foot of the Wa-Kinga mountains, north-west of the lake. In their habits, he says, they are decidedly local, and day after day the same animals can be found in the same spot: they are specially partial to bare sandy patches and open plains, well away from cover:â€”â€œWhen alarmed they give vent to shrill screams,and bound off, kicking up their hind legs and tossing up their tails like rabbits. Their tails are thick and bushy, and, being white on the underside, present a striking appearance when their owners are making off.â€ Although they have a strong scent, Mr. Crawshay considers their flesh â€œbetter than that of any other antelope except that of the Impala and Eland.â€

Fig. 37.Horns ofCervicapra arundinumfrom Nyasaland (Major Trollope).

Fig. 37.

Horns ofCervicapra arundinumfrom Nyasaland (Major Trollope).

Amongst other huntersâ€™ trophies from Nyasaland which Major F. C. Trollope has kindly allowed us to examine is a fine pair of horns of this Antelope, of which we give a figure. They measure 17 inches from the base to the tip along the curve and the distance between the points is 19Â½ inches.

In German East Africa, Dr. Matschie records the Reedbuck as having been obtained by BÃ¶hm, and observed by Neumann in several localities, although the latter traveller did not bring home specimens. Dr. Matschie seems a little doubtful as to its exact identity with the Reedbuck of the Cape, and it is probably somewhere here thatC. bohorfrom the north inosculates withC. arundinum.

Reedbucks, even in the same district, appear to vary much in size, incolour, and in other external characters, and some authorities have attempted to divide them into several species. Sundevall, in his â€˜Expositio Pecorum,â€™ has described four varieties of the present animal, remarking that all the specimens he has examined varied a little amongst themselves. Besides the differences in the direction of the hairs on the head, to which he alludes, there is much variation in the amount and in the depth of the dark markings on the feet, which are quite black in some examples and brown in others. Our figure (Plate XLIII.), which has been put upon the stone by Mr. Smit from an original drawing by Wolf (kindly lent to us by Sir Douglas Brooke), shows this particular feature in its less decided form. It was probably taken from a mounted specimen in the British Museum, but we regret to say there is no absolute certainty upon this point.

Living specimens of the Reedbuck are occasionally brought to Europe, but are rarely seen in our menageries, and do not bear captivity easily. The Zoological Society of London received examples of this species in 1864, 1865, and 1879, but none of them lived long in the Gardens.

February, 1897.

Antilope redunca,RÃ¼pp.N. Wirb. Abyss, p. 20, pl. vii. fig. 1 (1835) (Woggers, Abyssinia) (necPall.).Eleotragus reduncus,Heugl.Ant. u. BÃ¼ff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2), p. 11 (1863);Sclat.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 101 (Usagara,Speke);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. P.-B. xi.) p. 150 (1892).Redunca bohor,RÃ¼pp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38, Osteol. p. 50 (1842); Fitz. SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 169 (1869).Antilope(Redunca)bohor,Wagn.Schr. SÃ¤ug. Suppl. iv. p. 425 (1844), v. p. 432 (1855).Cervicapra bohor,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 195 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 146; Reprint, p. 70 (1848);Scl.List An. Zool. Soc. (8) p. 144 (1883), (9) p. 153 (1896);GÃ¼nth.P. Z. S. 1890, p. 604;Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 340 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 93 (1892), (2) p. 136 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 229 (1893);Jackson, Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. pp. 285 & 297 (1894);Matschie, Thierw. Ost-Afr., SÃ¤ug. p. 128 (1895).Eleotragus bohor,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853).Eleotragus arundinaceus,Heugl.Ant. u. BÃ¼ff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. ii. p. 11 (1863) (Sobat);Pagenst.JB. Hamb. ii. p. 36 (1884) (Maurui, Masailand);True, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xv. p. 472 (1892) (Kilimanjaro).Antilope arundinacea,Schweinf.Herz von Afrika, ii. pp. 465 & 534 (1874).Cervicapra arundineum,Lugard, E. Afr. i. p. 538 (1893) (Ruwenzori).Kobus, sp. inc.,Scl.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (Uganda).Reedbuck,Hunter, in Willoughbyâ€™s E. Africa, p. 289 (1889).

Antilope redunca,RÃ¼pp.N. Wirb. Abyss, p. 20, pl. vii. fig. 1 (1835) (Woggers, Abyssinia) (necPall.).

Eleotragus reduncus,Heugl.Ant. u. BÃ¼ff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2), p. 11 (1863);Sclat.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 101 (Usagara,Speke);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. P.-B. xi.) p. 150 (1892).

Redunca bohor,RÃ¼pp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38, Osteol. p. 50 (1842); Fitz. SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 169 (1869).

Antilope(Redunca)bohor,Wagn.Schr. SÃ¤ug. Suppl. iv. p. 425 (1844), v. p. 432 (1855).

Cervicapra bohor,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 195 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 146; Reprint, p. 70 (1848);Scl.List An. Zool. Soc. (8) p. 144 (1883), (9) p. 153 (1896);GÃ¼nth.P. Z. S. 1890, p. 604;Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 340 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 93 (1892), (2) p. 136 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 229 (1893);Jackson, Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. pp. 285 & 297 (1894);Matschie, Thierw. Ost-Afr., SÃ¤ug. p. 128 (1895).

Eleotragus bohor,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853).

Eleotragus arundinaceus,Heugl.Ant. u. BÃ¼ff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. ii. p. 11 (1863) (Sobat);Pagenst.JB. Hamb. ii. p. 36 (1884) (Maurui, Masailand);True, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xv. p. 472 (1892) (Kilimanjaro).

Antilope arundinacea,Schweinf.Herz von Afrika, ii. pp. 465 & 534 (1874).

Cervicapra arundineum,Lugard, E. Afr. i. p. 538 (1893) (Ruwenzori).

Kobus, sp. inc.,Scl.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (Uganda).

Reedbuck,Hunter, in Willoughbyâ€™s E. Africa, p. 289 (1889).

Vernacular Names:â€”Xondiehin Arabic;BehororBohorin Amharic (RÃ¼ppell & Heuglin);Oboorof the Madi (Baku, fideGÃ¼nther);KÃ¤oin Dinka;Pohrin Djur;Jaloin Bongo;Joroin Niam-Niam;Ngallahin Golo;Djiangin Ssebre (Schweinfurth);Njasain Uganda (Lugard);Porhiin Swahili (Hunter), alsoToiorTohi(Jackson).

Nearly similar toC. arundinum, but decidedly smaller, and with the horn more hooked at their tip. As the hooked tip, however, gradually wears off, and the horns grow up straight from their bases, even this difference tends to disappear in quite adult specimens. The horns attain a length of from 10 to 13 inches. The tail is rather shorter and less bushy than inC. arundinum, and the black markings of the limbs are less defined than in well-marked examples of that species. In the general colour there is also less difference between the head and the body than inC. arundinum, both being fawn-coloured.

Skull dimensions of an old male:â€”Basal length 9 inches, greatest breadth 4Â·3, muzzle to orbit 5Â·35.

Female.Like the male, but hornless.

Hab.Abyssinia and East Africa, southward to Kilimanjaro.

The great explorer of Abyssinia, RÃ¼ppell, was the first to obtain specimens of the Reedbuck in that country, although its existence there had, perhaps, been vaguely alluded to by Bruce in his â€˜Travels.â€™ RÃ¼ppell was at first inclined to refer the Abyssinian animal, which he met with in the plains of Woggara, toC. redunca, but at a later period, when he had had an opportunity of comparing its skull with that of the West-African species, came to the conclusion that it was distinct, and changed its specific name to â€œbohor.â€ â€œCervicapra bohorâ€ has therefore been generally adopted as the appellation of the East-African Reedbuck, although, as yet, we are far from being well acquainted with this animal and the points of its distinctions from its congeners.

Heuglin, in his memoir on the Antelopes of North-east Africa, enumerates this species still under the namereduncaof Pallas, but quotes the plate ofAntilope bohorin RÃ¼ppellâ€™s â€˜Atlas,â€™ and gives its native Amharic name as â€œBehor.â€ Heuglin met with it in small troops in the bushy plains and hills of the provinces of Woggara, Dembea, Begemeger, and Foggara in Abyssinia, at a height of from six to eight hundred feet above the sea-level. Heuglin was not certain as to having encountered this Antelope in the districts west of the Nile, but believed that a female specimen which he obtained in November 1853, in Southern Kordofan, must have belonged to it. According to Dr. GÃ¼nther (P. Z. S. 1890, p. 607), Sir Samuel Baker met with the Bohor among the Madi tribes on the White Nile between 4Â° and 2Â° 30Â´N. lat., and supplied him with a sketch of the skull which enabled him to identify the species.

We have as yet no records of any Reedbuck having been obtained in Somaliland, but when we go further south to British East Africa we have good evidence from several trustworthy observers of its existence in that country. It is a difficult question, however, and one which is by no means yet decided, whether the East-African Reedbuck is the same as the Abyssinian â€œBohor.â€

Dr. GÃ¼nther was the first to interest himself in this subject, and contributed a paper on it to the Zoological Societyâ€™s â€˜Proceedingsâ€™ in 1890. Taking the skull of an adult male Reedbuck, obtained by Mr. H. C. V. Hunter in British East Africa, he pointed out the differences between it and the South-African Reedbuck calledC. reduncaby Gray, which is in factC. fulvorufulaof the present work. By the kind permission of the Zoological Society of London we are enabled to reproduce the woodcuts of the portions of the skull of these two Antelopes upon which Dr. GÃ¼nther based his conclusions, and we add thereto Dr. GÃ¼ntherâ€™s descriptions of these differences.

â€œCervicapra fulvorufula[12](fig. 38, p. 168) is distinguished by its very large orbit; in a skull 230 millim. long the vertical dimension of the orbit is 45 millim.; the eyeball is supported below by a largely expanded concavity of the jugal bone, the lower edge of the orbit being particularly sharp and thin, merging into the suture between the jugal and lacrymal bones. The cheek part of the skull is flat, rather concave, so that the facial portion of the cranium between the orbit and the antorbital foramen appears rather compressed when viewed from above. The ascending ramus of the intermaxillary reaches to, or nearly to, the nasal bone. The horns are but slightly divergent and very little bent forwards.

â€œInCervicapra bohor(fig. 39, p. 169) the orbit is comparatively smaller; in a skull 245 millim. long the vertical diameter of the orbit is only 40 millim.; the jugal bone is much less expanded to form the bottom of the orbital cavity; the lower rim of the orbit has two edges, the lower of which does not merge into the jugo-lacrymal suture, but runs parallel to it at a distance of about 8 millim. The cheek part of the skull is swollen and convex, so that the facial portion of the cranium above the molar teeth cannot be termedcompressed. The ascending ramus of the intermaxillary is short, terminating at a considerable distance from the nasal bone.â€

Fig. 38.Skull ofCervicapra fulvorufula.â€”j, jugal;l, lacrymal.(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 604.)

Fig. 38.

Skull ofCervicapra fulvorufula.â€”j, jugal;l, lacrymal.

(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 604.)

Dr. GÃ¼nther adds that the horns ofC. bohorare much stronger and larger than inCervicapra fulvorufula; their basal portion is somewhat flattened from the front backwards, but similarly corrugated; they diverge very slightly and have their points strongly curved forwards. He also says that the skull of a female Antelope brought home by Capt. Speke and given to the Museum in 1863 evidently belongs toC. bohor[13]; it has the basal portion of the nasal bones raised into a slight convexity, whilst this part is flat in the male. A similar sexual difference exists in the skulls ofCervicapra arundinum.

Fig. 39.Skull ofCervicapra bohor.â€”jl, jugo-lacrymal suture;o, lower edge of infra-orbital rim.(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 605.)

Fig. 39.

Skull ofCervicapra bohor.â€”jl, jugo-lacrymal suture;o, lower edge of infra-orbital rim.

(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 605.)

Assuming Dr. GÃ¼ntherâ€™s view to be correct, and that the Reedbuck ofBritish East Africa is truly referable toCervicapra bohor, we will proceed to recount what has been said about it by the leading authorities on the antelopes of this country. Mr. Hunter, from whom, it will be recollected, Dr. GÃ¼nther obtained the specimen upon which he made his observations, tells us that the Reedbuck met with in the district of Kilimanjaro is usually found in the early morning and evening feeding near the edges of the reedy swamps, and when disturbed immediately runs into the rushes. Mr. Hunter and his companions found it very common in a large swamp near Mikundune, to the south-west of the mountain. Mr. Jackson, who calls the same antelope the â€œLesser Reedbuck,â€ and gives its Swahili name as â€œToiâ€ or â€œTohi,â€ tells us that this species is very local in British East Africa, and, as arule, frequents only the vicinity of rivers and swamps that are never dry. He found it on the shores of Lake Jipi, and on the river Ziwa, to the east of Kilimanjaro, and in a few other places. He also saw on the hills to the north-west of Machakoâ€™s several small herds of it, which had evidently been driven up there by the grass-fires in the plains. Mr. Jackson remarks that these Reedbucks give a shrill whistle when disturbed, and are very shy and difficult to stalk, but that in long grass they lie close and sometimes allow the sportsman to approach to within twenty or thirty yards of them.

In the large series of mammals obtained by Dr. Abbott in the district of Kilimanjaro, which has been described by Mr. True, there were two young male specimens of a Reedbuck which were referred by Mr. True toC. arundinum, but which belonged no doubt to the present species (if distinct).

This species is so likeC. arundinumin its general external characters that we have not thought it worth while to give a special figure of it. Besides the skull in the National Collection presented by Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, and used for description by Dr. GÃ¼nther, as mentioned above, and the female head from Uganda obtained by Speke, also already spoken of, there are in the British Museum two good specimens, adult and young, presented by Major Kenrick. The more adult of these, as Major Kenrick kindly informs us, was shot in July 1892, about six miles east of Kiumengelia, at the north-east corner of the Kilimanjaro range, and the younger one in August of the same year on the banks of the Pangani River, both these places being now within the limits of German East Africa.

Reedbucks, as we have already stated, do not, as a rule, do well in captivity. The Zoological Society of London have on two occasions (in 1877 and 1883) received female Reedbucks from East Africa which have been referred with some doubt to the present species. In neither instance, however, did they live long in the Societyâ€™s Gardens.

February, 1897.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLIV.Wolf del., J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The Nagor.CERVICAPRA REDUNCA.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLIV.

Wolf del., J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Nagor.

CERVICAPRA REDUNCA.

Published by R. H. Porter.

Le Nagor,Buff.Hist. Nat. xii. p. 326, pl. xlvi. (1764) (Goree Isl., Senegambia).Antilope reversa,Pall.Misc. Zool. p. 5 (1766) (necCapra reversa, L.).Antilope redunca,Pall.Spic. Zool. i. p. 8 (1767), xii. p. 13 (1777);MÃ¼ll.Natursyst. Suppl. p. 53 (1776);Erxl.Syst. R. A. p. 281 (1777);Zimm.Spec. Zool. Geog. p. 541 (1777);id.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 114 (1780); iii. expl. to chart, p. 9 (1783);Gatt.Brev. Zool. i. p. 81 (1780);Herm.Tab. Affin. Anim. p. 108 (1783);Schreb.SÃ¤ug. pl. cclxv. (1785);Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 141 (1785);Gmel.Linn. S. N. i. p. 184 (1788);Kerr, Linn. An. K. p. 308 (1792);Donnd.Zool. Beytr. i. p. 624 (1792);Link, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 98 (1795);Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 643 (1800);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 360 (1801);Turt.Linn. S. N. i. p. 112 (1802);Desm.N. Dict. dâ€™H. N. (1) xv. p. 330 (1803), xxiv. Tabl. p. 32 (1804);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 243 (1804);Tiedem.Zool. i. p. 409 (1808);Licht.Mag. nat. Fr. vi. p. 170 (1814);G. Fisch.Zoogn. iii. p. 410 (1814);Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. dâ€™H. N. (2) ii. p. 188 (1816);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1200 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 395 (1821);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 458 (1822);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 238, v. p. 338 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 375 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 464 (1829);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1385 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 621 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842);Wagn.Schr. SÃ¤ug. Suppl. iv. p. 426 (1844), v. p. 431 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 425 (1845);RÃ¼pp.Mus. Senckenb. iii. p. 182 (1845);Gieb.SÃ¤ug. p. 314 (1853â€“5);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 267.Cerophorus(Cervicapra)redunca,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.Eleotragus reduncus,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 13, pl. xiii. (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 127;id.Ann. & Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 145 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 94 (1852);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 18 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 88 (1873);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.), p. 130 (1887);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 84.Cervicapra redunca,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 195 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 146; Reprint, p. 70 (1848);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 340 (1891);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 228 (1893);Scl.P. Z. S. 1890, p. 698;id.List of An. Zool. Soc. (9) p. 153 (1896).Redunca redunca,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 169 (1869).Antilope rufa,Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815).Ourebi du SÃ©nÃ©gal[14],F. Cuv.Hist. Nat. (fol.) iii. livr. lx., imm. â™€ (1829), whenceAntilope fulva,Schinz, Mon. Antil. p. 17 (1848).Redunca nagor,RÃ¼pp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38, Ost. p. 51 (1842).

Le Nagor,Buff.Hist. Nat. xii. p. 326, pl. xlvi. (1764) (Goree Isl., Senegambia).

Antilope reversa,Pall.Misc. Zool. p. 5 (1766) (necCapra reversa, L.).

Antilope redunca,Pall.Spic. Zool. i. p. 8 (1767), xii. p. 13 (1777);MÃ¼ll.Natursyst. Suppl. p. 53 (1776);Erxl.Syst. R. A. p. 281 (1777);Zimm.Spec. Zool. Geog. p. 541 (1777);id.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 114 (1780); iii. expl. to chart, p. 9 (1783);Gatt.Brev. Zool. i. p. 81 (1780);Herm.Tab. Affin. Anim. p. 108 (1783);Schreb.SÃ¤ug. pl. cclxv. (1785);Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 141 (1785);Gmel.Linn. S. N. i. p. 184 (1788);Kerr, Linn. An. K. p. 308 (1792);Donnd.Zool. Beytr. i. p. 624 (1792);Link, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 98 (1795);Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 643 (1800);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 360 (1801);Turt.Linn. S. N. i. p. 112 (1802);Desm.N. Dict. dâ€™H. N. (1) xv. p. 330 (1803), xxiv. Tabl. p. 32 (1804);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 243 (1804);Tiedem.Zool. i. p. 409 (1808);Licht.Mag. nat. Fr. vi. p. 170 (1814);G. Fisch.Zoogn. iii. p. 410 (1814);Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. dâ€™H. N. (2) ii. p. 188 (1816);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1200 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 395 (1821);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 458 (1822);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 238, v. p. 338 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 375 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 464 (1829);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 290 (1836);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1385 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 621 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842);Wagn.Schr. SÃ¤ug. Suppl. iv. p. 426 (1844), v. p. 431 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 425 (1845);RÃ¼pp.Mus. Senckenb. iii. p. 182 (1845);Gieb.SÃ¤ug. p. 314 (1853â€“5);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 267.

Cerophorus(Cervicapra)redunca,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.

Eleotragus reduncus,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 13, pl. xiii. (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 127;id.Ann. & Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 145 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 94 (1852);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 18 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 88 (1873);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.), p. 130 (1887);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 84.

Cervicapra redunca,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 195 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 146; Reprint, p. 70 (1848);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 340 (1891);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 228 (1893);Scl.P. Z. S. 1890, p. 698;id.List of An. Zool. Soc. (9) p. 153 (1896).

Redunca redunca,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 169 (1869).

Antilope rufa,Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815).

Antilope fulva,Schinz, Mon. Antil. p. 17 (1848).

Redunca nagor,RÃ¼pp.Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38, Ost. p. 51 (1842).

Vernacular Name:â€”Wontoof natives on the Gambia (Gray, fideWhitfield).

Size decidedly smaller than in the previous species, the height at the withers only about 27 or 28 inches. Colour uniform bright fawn generally, without darker markings on the limbs; head and body quite alike. Tail comparatively short and little bushy, fawn above, white below.

Horns very thick in proportion to the size of the animal, 5 inches in circumference at the base but only about 8 to 10 inches long. Their terminal portion is strongly turned forwards, a character most marked in rather young specimens before the long straight basal part has grown.

Dimensions of a male skull:â€”Basal length 8Â·1 inches, greatest breadth 3Â·8, muzzle to orbit 5.

Femalesimilar, but hornless.

Hab.West Africa north of the forest region (Senegal and Gambia).

The Reedbuck of West Africa was somewhat vaguely described by Buffon, in his â€˜Histoire Naturelle,â€™ from a stuffed specimen in the cabinet of Adanson, which had been obtained from the island of Goree on the coast of Senegal. Fortunately Buffon added a tolerably recognizable figure of the â€œNagor,â€ as he proposed to call it (from its fancied resemblance to the â€œNanguer,â€ i. e.Gazella dama!), and taking this figure into consideration along with the locality, we can have little doubt as to its identity. In the first essay on the Antelopes, published in his â€˜Miscellanea Zoologica,â€™ in 1766, Pallas suggested the name â€œAntilope reversaâ€ for Buffonâ€™s â€œNagorâ€; but in his second essay on the same subject, issued in the â€˜Spicilegia Zoologicaâ€™ in 1767, Pallas changed this name, which had been already used by LinnÃ¦us for another animal, toAntilope redunca. There can be no doubt, therefore, thatreduncais the proper specific name of the presentspecies ofCervicapra, although this term has been applied by various authors, as will be seen by reference to our lists of synonyms, to three other species of the genus.

Beyond quoting Buffonâ€™s account of the â€œNagorâ€ and references to the authors who had adopted his description, little, if anything more, appears to have been added by subsequent writers to our knowledge ofCervicapra reduncauntil 1850, when the â€˜Gleaningsâ€™ from the Knowsley Menagerie were published. In the letterpress to this work Gray appears to have confounded the present animal withC. bohor, and perhaps withC. fulvorufula, but the plate ofEleotragus reduncus(tab. xiii.) seems to represent a male and young one of the present species. In the letterpress we are told that a â€œyoung maleâ€ was then living at Knowsley, and, so far as we can understand the remarks, had been obtained from the Gambia, where Whitfield had given its native name as â€œWonto.â€ Again, from 1850 to the present period there has been an almost complete blank in the history of the West-African Reedbuck. No examples of it appear to have been received either by the British Museum or at Leyden, and the species seems to have remained (even up to the present time) unrepresented in most of the great National Collections, except in Paris, where there are two mounted males from Senegal, besides other specimens formerly living in the Menagerie, and in the Senckenbergian Museum at Frankfort-on-the-Main, where, according to RÃ¼ppellâ€™s list (Mus. Senck. iii. p. 182), there is also a specimen of it, which enabled him to realize the differences between this species andC. bohor.

It was not until 1890 that the Zoological Society of London received their first living specimen of this scarce Antelope. This was a young male brought home from the Gambia and presented to the Society, along with a young male Harnessed Antelope, by Dr. Percy Rendall, F.Z.S., on the 23rd of June of that year. A photograph presented by Dr. Rendall to Sclater, which was taken at Bathurst in August 1889, represents the Harnessed Antelope, at that time one year old, and the little Nagor, then only four months old, being fed together by Dr. Rendall himself. The Nagor, we need hardly say, has long ago attained its full stature, and at the time we write (January 1897) is, we are glad to say, still living and thriving in the Zoological Societyâ€™s Antelope-House.

It stands about 28 inches high at the shoulders, and is above of a nearly uniform reddish brown in colour, rather darker on the central line; the insides of the ears and the ocular region are white, the face being rather more rufous. The belly and inner sides of the limbs are whitish. The largenaked space beneath the ear is white and very noticeable. The tail is short, broad, and bushy, like the back above, and white beneath. The horns are black; the distance from their base to their tips is about 5Â½ inches in a straight line; the muzzle is moist, naked, and black; and the hoofs are black.

Fig. 40.Head ofCervicapra redunca. (In viv. Soc. Zool. Lond.)

Fig. 40.

Head ofCervicapra redunca. (In viv. Soc. Zool. Lond.)

So far as we know this is the only example of the Nagor that has reached Europe alive, except the specimens formerly in the Knowsley Menagerie and in the Jardin des Plantes of which we have already spoken.

Our figure of the present species has been put on the stone by Smit from a coloured sketch prepared for the late Sir Victor Brooke by Wolf. Through the kindness of Sir Douglas Brooke we have been able to examine the original drawing, which is marked on the back â€œC. reduncaâ€ in Sir Victor Brookeâ€™s handwriting, but we have no clue as to the original specimen from which it was taken.

February, 1897.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLV.J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The Roi Rhebok.CERVICAPRA FULVORUFULA.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLV.

J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Roi Rhebok.

CERVICAPRA FULVORUFULA.

Published by R. H. Porter.

Antilope fulvorufula,Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815) (exAllamand, in Buff. Suppl. vi. p. 188 (1782);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1226 (1818);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 239 (1827).Antilope lalandia,Desmoul.Dict. Class. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 445 (1822);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 378 (1827).Antilope landiana,Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 462 (1822).Antilope lalandii,J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 467 (1829);Laurill.Dict. Univ. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 621 (1839);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 415 (1845).Redunca lalandii,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 210 (1834).Cervicapra lalandii,Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 34, pl. i. fig. 4 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 228 (1893);Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 132 (1896);Rendall, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 359 (Transvaal).Antilope eleotragus,Licht.Darst. SÃ¤ug. pl. ix. (â™‚ â™€) (1827) (necSchreb.);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 75 (1832);Schinz, Mon. Antil. p. 15, pl. xiv. (1848).Cervicapra eleotragus,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 194 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 145; Reprint, p. 69 (1848).Redunca eleotragus,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 169 (1869);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 222 (1880).Eleotragus eleotragus,Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas. ix.) p. 130 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 159 (1892).Eleotragus reduncus,Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 298 (1889).Cervicapra redunca,GÃ¼nth.P. Z. S. 1890, p. 604.Eleotragus arundinaceus,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853) (necBechst.).

Antilope fulvorufula,Afzel.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 250 (1815) (exAllamand, in Buff. Suppl. vi. p. 188 (1782);Goldf.Schr. SÃ¤ug. v. p. 1226 (1818);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 239 (1827).

Antilope lalandia,Desmoul.Dict. Class. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 445 (1822);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 378 (1827).

Antilope landiana,Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 462 (1822).

Antilope lalandii,J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 467 (1829);Laurill.Dict. Univ. dâ€™H. N. i. p. 621 (1839);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 415 (1845).

Redunca lalandii,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 210 (1834).

Cervicapra lalandii,Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 34, pl. i. fig. 4 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 228 (1893);Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 132 (1896);Rendall, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 359 (Transvaal).

Antilope eleotragus,Licht.Darst. SÃ¤ug. pl. ix. (â™‚ â™€) (1827) (necSchreb.);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 75 (1832);Schinz, Mon. Antil. p. 15, pl. xiv. (1848).

Cervicapra eleotragus,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 194 (1846);id.Hornschuchâ€™s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 145; Reprint, p. 69 (1848).

Redunca eleotragus,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 169 (1869);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 222 (1880).

Eleotragus eleotragus,Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas. ix.) p. 130 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 159 (1892).

Eleotragus reduncus,Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 298 (1889).

Cervicapra redunca,GÃ¼nth.P. Z. S. 1890, p. 604.

Eleotragus arundinaceus,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 191 (1853) (necBechst.).

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