290 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly November 



may judge from the conformation of the hocks, from the 

 coarse legs, big joints, and large head of the yearlings, — 

 from their close resemblance to dwarf cart-horse foals, — 

 it may be assumed they are neither characterised by un- 

 usual agility nor fleetness. The Kiang hybrid, on the other 

 hand, looks as if built for speed, and almost from the 

 moment of its birth, it has by its energy and vivacity been 

 a source of considerable anxiety to its by no means placid 

 Exmoor dam. When four days old it walked over twenty 

 miles ; on the fifth day, instead of resting, it was unusually 

 active, as if anxious to make up for the forced idleness 

 of the previous evening. In the hybrid the joints are small, 

 and the legs are long and slender and covered with short 

 close-lying hair. In the wild horse the joints are large, and 

 the " bone " is round as in heavy horses. 



As to its colour, it may be especially mentioned that 

 the hybrid has more white around the eyes than the wild 

 horse, but it is of a darker tint along the back and sides 

 and over the hindquarters. Too much importance, how- 

 ever, should not be attached to differences in colour ; for 

 though the hybrid foals which have already been bred 

 closely agree in their coloration, subsequent foals may differ 

 considerably, and it is well known that young wild horses 

 from the western portions of the Great Altai Mountains 

 differ in tint from those found farther east. 



Of more importance than the coat-colour is the nature 

 of the hair. A Prjevalsky foal has a woolly coat not unlike 

 that of an Iceland foal. In the hybrid the hair is short 

 and fine, and only slightly wavy over the hind-quarters. It 

 thus differs but little from a thoroughbred or Arab foal. 



The mane and tail of the hybrid are exactly what one 

 would expect in a mule ; the dorsal band, 7 5 mm. wide 

 over the croup in the sire, has in the hybrid a nearly uni- 

 form width of 1 2 mm. from its origin at the withers until it 

 loses itself half-way down the tail. The tail, which differs 

 but little from that of a pony foal, is of a lighter brown 

 colour than the short upright mane, while the dorsal band 

 is of a reddish-brown hue. In the wild horse the dorsal 

 band is sometimes very narrow (under 5 mm.) and in- 

 distinct. In the Kiang sire there are pale but quite 



