In 1847 Hodgson, the well-known naturalist of Nepal, in a paper published in the ‘Calcutta Journal of Natural History,’ went even further than Sir Walter Elliot and proposed to make five species of this Antelope. These species appear to have been founded upon individual variations only and have not met with acceptance in any quarter.

Referring to Mr. W. L. Sclater’s ‘Catalogue of the Specimens of Mammals in the Indian Museum, Calcutta’ (part ii., 1891), we find a good series of specimens of the Four-horned Antelope registered as being preserved in that Institution. But only one species is recognized from all parts of India, and the specimens are all entered under Tetraceros quadricornis.

In his excellent ‘Manual of the Mammals of British India’ Dr. W. T. Blanford describes the range of this Antelope as follows:—“The Four-horned Antelope is found all along the base of the Himalayas from the Punjab to Nepal. It also occurs in most parts of the Peninsula where the country is wooded and hilly, but not in dense jungle, but is not found in the Gangetic plain nor on the Malabar coast in the Madras Presidency. It is said by Mr. Murray to be met with in Sind. It is common in the wooded parts of Rajputana, throughout the Bombay Presidency, the Central Provinces, and the northern parts of Madras; it is less abundant to the eastward in Chhattisgarh, Chutia Nagpur, Bengal, and Orissa, and to the southward in Mysore, but it occurs in the latter State occasionally, and has been observed on the Nilgiri and Palni hills. It is unknown in Ceylon and east of the Bay of Bengal.”

The experienced sportsman Mr. J. D. Inverarity of Bombay writes of this species as follows:—“This is a forest-antelope, living entirely in the jungle. It is not gregarious, but is met with either alone or in pairs. The female brings forth one or two young, and occasionally the two old and two young ones may be seen together. Though not forming a special object of pursuit, a shot at the ‘Baikrie,’ as it is generally called on the Bombay side of India, is often got when out stalking other game. If you see one before it sees you it is fairly easy to stalk it; but it more often happens that they see you first, when they will not admit of approach. On three or four occasions they have stood stupidly looking at me as I walked in full view slowly towards them, and have allowed me to get within 20 yards before bolting. This only occurs when one does not want to shoot them. Forsyth says that the females are more numerous than the bucks, and bear the same proportion to each other as the does and bucks of the black buck. At one time I thought the same myself, but further experience has made me sure that this is not the fact, and that bucks are nearly, if not quite, as numerous as does. The female is hornless. The male has four horns; the posterior and larger pair in a good specimen will be four inches long or a little more. One-and-a-half inches is a good length for the anterior horns and is not often exceeded. In some heads the anterior horns are absent, though the bony knobs are covered with a callous black skin.”

The Four-horned Antelope is not unfrequently brought alive to Europe, but cannot be said to accommodate itself very readily to our northern climate. In 1868 a single specimen was received by the Zoological Society of London as a present from the Babu Rajendra Mullick, of Calcutta. In 1881 a pair of the typical form were acquired by purchase, and bred in the Regent’s Park in the following spring. A female calf was born on February 28th, 1882.

In 1875 three examples of the subspecies (or variety) without the anterior horns were obtained by purchase. Several examples of this same form have been received of late years, but have not thriven in the Society’s Gardens. At the present time there is only a single female left in the Collection.

Our figure of this Antelope (Plate XXIV.) was lithographed by Smit from a sketch of Mr. Wolf’s. It represents an adult male of the typical subspecies in two positions.

August, 1895.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Prepared (for the authors) by Mr. F. H. Waterhouse, Librarian to the Zoological Society of London.