BUSHBUCK, any of several African ante lopes, frequenting thickets and bushy regions. The name applies especially to the diminutive antelopes of the genus Cephalolophus, which the Dutch of South Africa called Muykers° (q.v.). These include the smallest members of their race, some of them standing only 13 inches high at the shoulders. They haunt the rocky hill sides, leaping with extraordinary agility from stone to stone and diving into the thickets at the first alarm. They feed upon berries, leaves, buds and similar food, rather than upon grass, and their flesh has a delicate flavor. The name "bushbucle is also given, especially in South Africa, to the larger antelopes of the genus Tragelaphus, more distinctively known as "har nessed' antelopes, because their hides, often richly colored, are conspicuously marked with whitish stripes, suggesting a harness thrown over the back. The largest of these handsome antelopes is the West African bongo (T. eury reros), of the forests of the Gaboon region, which stands nearly four feet high and has horns 30 inches long. On the opposite side of the continent the nyala (T. angasi) frequents the fever-stricken swamps of the East African coast. Another well-known species of the
swamps of southern and eastern Africa is Speke s antelope (T. spekei), native names for which are and gsititunga.n It differs from its fellows in having a uniform grayish brown silky coat, without any 'harness," but the young are faintly striped and spotted. This species is one of the best known of African an telopes wherever rivers or swamps occur, and still survives in considerable numbers. That species most often called Thushbuckp is the guib (T. scriptus), still to be found in the jungles along the African rivers from Abys sinia to the Cape. It is remarkable for its in ferior size, which is about that of a goat, and for the variability of its markings, which has led to much confusion in describing it. The variety most common in Cape Colony is uni formly dark brown, with no stripes whatever, and only a few spots on the haunches. This genus of antelopes is closely allied to that of the koodoos (q.v.), and resembles them in that the females are hornless and usually differ in color •from the males. Consult Lyddeker, 'Game Animals of Africa' (London 1908).