BLACKBUCK (so named from its blackish brown color; AS. burro, he-goat, hue, a male (leer, 01IG. bock, Ger. Bock, he-goat). The common antelope of India (.1ati/opc ccrrieapra), which ranges over the whole of the peninsula and As sam, wherever there arc open plains. A male blacklmek stands about :3:2 inches high at the shoulders, and will weigh, alive, about S5 pound A.
The horns usually rain from Ili to 20 inches in length, but may reach 28 inches. They arise clo:se together, and arc cylindrical] and ringed, with an elegant spiral twist of from three to four turns. The does are hornless, as a rule.
Dld males are among the handsomest of all antelopes, the contrast of the full blaekish-brown if the greater part of the head, and outer sides of the limbs with the white of the under parts and the ring around the eye being most striking. Young lucks, and the does of all ages, are rich yellowish-bro W 11 , rendering them less conspicuous to their enemies. These pretty little antelopes are always found either in open grain'', wild, grassy plains, or cultivated tracts, and go in herds, sometimes reaching hundreds, or even thousands, in number. Ordinarily, how
ever, bands containing only from ten to forty individuals are met with. led by one shining, blaek-coated old buck. See Plate of GAZELLES.
Sport.—They are a favorite object of sport, but in many parts of India are so protected by the prejudice of the natives as to suffer little from the gun. The literature of sport with the gun in India abounds in descriptions of black buck hunting. The usual method is by chasing them with greyhounds. Where the plains are very sandy, this coursing is usually successful, and it affords the sportsmen who follow the dogs on horseback the exhilaration of a fine burst of speed before seeing the prey pulled down; hut elsewhere, on open, hard deserts, or where plains of tough turf give the fleet little animals a good foothold and fair start, it is rare that the best of dogs can catch them. They are also chased with the cheeta and with falcons. The name is sometimes applied to the African sable antelope.