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Show 1890.] ANTELOPES OF NYASA-LAND. 659 young animals, as in the Koodoo and Bush-buck, the stripes, I take it, would be most conspicuous ; but this is merely a conjecture on my part, as I have never seen a very young specimen. In the horns, I have not been able to note any specific difference, though it is remarkable that in some districts they are wider or narrower apart as the case may be, as with other Antelopes. Elands as a rule go in large herds numbering 50 or more, but it is not unusual to meet solitary bulls, or even small troops of bulls, which latter are generally very fat. It is a remarkable fact that " Rhinoceros" birds almost always accompany Elands: I have not, however, once noticed them with other Antelopes, though natives tell m e they sometimes go with the Wart-Hog. Elands no doubt are naturally shy and timid, but these birds make them still more difficult to approach, since, on the slightest appearance of danger, they fly up from the backs of the animals and screech out a terrible tell-tale concert; they are, however, also useful in enabling one to find Elands, especially in wooded country. The favourite haunts of Elands seem to be undulating, well-timbered country, where the grass is not too long, and where there are intervening open plains ; as a rule, they visit the plains at night or in the early mornings to drink, and then wander back long distances into the forest, where they spend the hot hours of the day. I have often found Elands five or six miles from water, notably in the Nkanga and Fulirwa countries. Eland, I have noticed, consort freely with Zebras, taking the same paths and mixing with them when feeding; they also have a habit of rolling in the curious basin-shaped earth-holes which Zebras make and use for the same purpose ; this I especially remarked at Nkanga. 8. STREPSICEROS KUDU. The Koodoo, " N g o m a " of the Anyanja, "Ndandala" of the Ajawa, "Nganchla" of the Angoni, and " Chipurupuru" of the Ahenga and Anyika (Apoka), is tolerably well distributed throughout all Nyasa-land; I have myself, however, seen comparatively few- fewer indeed, than any other well-known species except the Sable Antelope, though this may be readily attributed to the excessive shyness and retiring habits of these animals, as well as to the rough out-of-the-way hilly country where they are generally found. In 1885 I repeatedly came across the Koodoo in the hills at the back of Amuwa, north-west of Cape Maclear; here I saw some really magnificent bulls with splendid heads, but could not take advantage of the chances they afforded me, as I was anxious not to disturb the Elephants in whose pursuit I was then engaged. In the same year in the neighbourhood of Mbapi, I noticed the skull and horns of a fine bull, presumably killed by Lions, and I subsequently obtained a remarkably fine pair of horns from a native of Mbapi, who had killed the bearer of them not far from the outskirts of the village. On the Cape Maclear promontory I know there are Koodoos, having constantly noticed their spoor on the path to and from Lesumbwi; but the animals themselves are incredibly shy there, |