ANTELOPES OF THE FIELDS.
These are again divided into three groups : 1. The True Antelopes, which have a light elegant body; slender limb.; small hoofs; a short or moderate tail, 'severed with elongated hairs at the base; lyrate or conical horns, placed over the eyebrows.
2. The Cerrine d sleiopes approaching the deer in character. They have rather a hoary large body; strong slender limbs; a long tail, cylindrical at the base, with the hair longer at the end, often forming a compressed ridge. The muffle is like that of the Corvine Ruminants.
3. The Goal-like Antelopes, which have a heavy body; strong legs; large hoofs and false hoofs; vary short tail, flat and hairy above; recurved conical hones.
1. True d niclopes.
Sa iga.
The borne are short, strong, Ivrate, annulated, and of a white colour; the nose is compressed, very high, rounded, the nostrils very close together; the erumen distinct; the fur soft ; the skull has the nose opening vary large, and extended back over the eyes.
1. taiga 7'arktrica (Antelope Colas, II. Smith), the Saiga and Colus, is the only species of True Antelope which inhabits any part of Europe. The size of the Saiga is about equal to that of the fallow deer, the length being four feet; but the form of the body more nearly resembles that of the sheep, being round and heavy, with a large bead and short slender limbs, and the whole proportions of the animal want the usual grace and elegance which commonly characterise the antelope tribes. The nose is large, ewollen, and cartilaginous, like that of the elk ; it is marked above by deep transverse furrows or wrinkles, and, from its great size and protnberancc, compels the animal to go backwards whilst feeding. The nostrils are large and open; the ears of a moderate size; the tail from three to four inches in length; and the lachrymal sinuses much smaller than in the Indian Antelope. The hair is uniformly long and flowing over the whole body, of a grayish yellow colour in summer, and grayish white in winter on the upper parts, and white beneath at all seasons; the knees are furnished with small brushes. The horns of the male are longer than the head, they are send-transparent and of a light yellow colour, which causes them to be much sought after by the Russians and Chinese for the purpose of making combs, lanterns, and other articles of domestic economy ; their form is intermediate between that of the spiral-horned and lyrated groups, being distinctly twisted upon their axis, though without exhibiting the complete spiral threads which characterise the horns of the Indian Antelope.
The Saiga is mentioned by Strabo (vii., 312. ed. Casaub.) under the name of co/us (scsfaes). The Polish name of the animal, &lal., appears to bear some resemblance to the name in Strabo. The Tartars call it ALL and the Turks Alim, which come so near to the Hebrew word Alio, translated 'wild goat' in our English version of the Scrip tures, that we cannot help suspecting that the sacred writers alluded to this animal. In autumn the Saigas unite into large flocks, com posed sometimes of many thousand ind ividuals, and migrate southward in search of a milder climate and more abundant pasturage ; they return northward in small families about the commencement or middle of spring, and generally keep about the vicinity of lakes and rivers, na they drink a great deal, and, as we are credibly assured, by sucking the water through their large open nostrils. This last fact is also stated by Strabo. They like to feed upon acrid, saline, and aromatic plants, and grow very fat during the summer season ; but their flesh acquires a disagreeable taste from the nature of their food, and insist be allowed to cool after cooking before it is fit to be eaten. The females are gravid about six months, from the end of November to the end of May; they drop their kids soon after they return north ward in the spring, and commonly produce one, rarely two, at a birth. They inhabit the open steppes and deserts from the Danube to the lrtish eastward, and as far north as 54° of N. latitude ; and are found in Poland, Moldavia, about the Caucasus, and the Caspian Sea, in Siberia, and in Northern Persia. Their eye-Bight is said to be defective from the reflection of the dry arid plains upon which they mostly reside ; and, though amazingly swift for a short distance, they are soon exhausted, and easily run down. They are hunted principally for the sake of their horns and skins, the latter of which, particularly those of the kids, are much valued for the manufacture of gloves. The hunters must always take care to approach them against the wind, as their sense of smell is remarkably acute. With all these precautions it is often impossible to get within shot of these animals, as, like many other gregarious species of antelope, they take care, whilst feeding or reposing, to place sentinels in different directions round their encampment to warn them of the approach of danger.