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Show 1890.] ANTELOPES OF NYASA-LAND. 657 ^ It appears to m e that the Bush-buck is monogamous; at least, I i-ave never come across more than a pair together, male and female, unless there happens to be a fawn ; but in places they are so numerous, and the families so closely located to one another, that it is not possible to say positively whether such is the case. Each family, at any rate, is strictly local, as may be ascertained by cautiously reconnoitring the domain of each for two or three days consecutively, when the same animals will almost certainly be seen or heard in the usual place. An extra big buck, conspicuous for his long horns or dark coat, will now and then serve to identify any particular family. Quicker of hearing than perhaps any other Antelope, at any rate those of the plains, it is almost impossible to approach Bush-bucks in thick covert in the mornings and evenings when they are on the move-the crackling of a dry leaf, the snapping of a twig, or the catching of a thorn or branch in one's person or clothing being quite sufficient to attract their attention. But if the wind is fair, it is not difficult to obtain a shot by posting one's self and lying in ambush before they start feeding or go to drink. In the heat of the day, when asleep in the shade of thick bush, they will occasionally lie close and allow a hasty shot, after being roused, before turning and bounding off; but it is a hasty shot, and one that can seldom be taken advantage of, especially in thick covert. When alarmed and looking at an object of suspicion, Bush-bucks as a rule stand broadside on, instead of facing round as do almost all their kind ; and as often as not they contrive to have their bodies shielded by a bush or tree-trunk. For this reason they are difficult to see, and perhaps the first warning one has of the presence of these animals is a loud, hoarse, startling bark " Baugh !" often repeated in quick succession, as a dark red form dashes away from within, maybe, as little as 20 or 30 paces of you. In so small an animal as the Bush-buck this loud, far-sounding bark is very remarkable, and I have wondered for what special object nature can have intended it. Often, when passing near thick bush at sunset or a little later, I have noticed Bush-bucks barking in quick succession, but knowing I was not myself the cause of it, and that no other human beings were in the neighbourhood, I have only been able to attribute it to the presence of their natural enemies, Lions or Leopards. At Nkanga, in the belt of bush already mentioned, I especially noticed this barking, and there Leopards are unusually plentiful, since in the space of a few months, in broad daylight, I came across three, at different times, and was fortunate enough to kill one. Leopards, I take it, are the natural enemies of the Bush-buck, and one has only to watch these Antelopes in their native haunts to see that they are ever on their guard against some such stealthy foe, for their every movement suggests instinctive fear of surprise. Take the Bush-buck as he moves through thick bush: picking his steps gingerly among dead leaves or over fallen timber, and creeping when need be under overhanging branches, he steals through tbe thickest covert almost as noiselessly as a cat. Nor will he trust his hearing altogether when on the move, for every now and |