Fig. 65a.
Skull of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, ♀.
(From Swayne’s ‘Somaliland,’ p. 317.)
Mr. Pease, who has kindly supplied us with notes on this Gazelle as well as on the preceding species, writes that Pelzeln’s Gazelle is essentially the species of the maritime plain and could be seen within shot of the town of Bulhar when he was there in 1896, and within a mile or so of Berbera. “In life it appears of a light rich yellow-buff in colour, with the usual Gazelline marks rather faintly indicated. Its coat is short and fine, and its horns are straighter and longer than those of G. spekei. The horns of the female are weak and almost smooth, like those of Speke’s Gazelle.” “Within fifty miles of the sea-shore,” he continues, “this Gazelle is exceedingly numerous in suitable places. Half-a-dozen herds may be often seen at a time, but I have seldom observed more than twenty in a single band. In size G. pelzelni is larger than G. spekei, the average height being about 25 inches, while the weight of the carcase is usually a little over 40 lbs.”
Mr. D. G. Elliot, who made a successful expedition to Somaliland in 1896, for the purpose of obtaining specimens for the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, gives us the following account of his experiences with the present species:—
“This is the Gazelle of the lowlands and is not often seen much beyond Laferug on the road to Hargeisa, where the following species begins to make its appearance. It is the larger animal of the two, and they resemble each other very much in their habits.
“Pelzeln’s Gazelle frequents dry and stony places, covered with low bushes, and it is difficult to see where or how it can obtain sufficient nourishment from the barren, forbidding districts it inhabits. It goes in small troops of from two or three to nearly a dozen individuals. I think eleven was the greatest number I ever saw together at one time. As a rule, it is not a wild creature and readily permits an approach sufficiently near to ensure a fatal shot, but of course when much hunted becomes wary. The males were often seen by themselves, and then it was not difficult to stalk them. Their horns are almost straight and annulated nearly to the tips. The female also carries horns, much straighter and much more slender than those of the male. There is considerable variation in the coloring of individuals and I hardly know what causes it. The typical style has a broad conspicuous chestnut band running lengthwise along the body just above the white of the belly. But some individuals, evidently of equal age, killed practically at the same time and in the same condition of coat, were entirely without the distinguishing mark. It may be possibly an exhibition of individual variation, for these specimens were not confined to any especial locality. I do not think, however, it was in any way an indication of age, for fully adult animals were without the stripe, neither was this peculiarity confined to either sex.”
The British Museum contains a good male specimen of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, mounted from a skin obtained by Herr Menges near Berbera in Somaliland. Mr. Smit’s figures of this species (Plate LXII.), which represent the male in two positions, have been prepared from it. The Museum also contains two skins from the plains of Berbera, collected by Capt. Swayne and originally sent home to Sclater.
May, 1898.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXIII.