Game Animals of India, etc. 



the tail-tuft, and (in most cases at any rate) not 

 bordered with white. No shoulder-stripe, or dark 

 barrings on the limbs ; a dark ring immediately above 

 the hoofs. General colour of upper-parts in summer 

 coat varying from bright rufous chestnut (with a more 

 or less marked tinge of greyish fawn on the neck) to 

 reddish sandy ; muzzle, inside of ear, throat, under- 

 parts, inner side of legs, and a streak on the buttocks, 

 pure white or huffish white. In the long winter coat 

 the general colour apparently not distinctly grey, 

 although greyish in the typical form. Cry, a " shriek- 

 ing bray." 



The skull of the kiang differs markedly from that 

 of the onager, but from lack of specimens of that of the 

 chigetai, I am unable to give the cranial characters of 

 the species as a whole. 



The kiang is characterised by the great width of the 

 hoofs, more especially the front pair. In this respect 

 it approaches the horse, Equus cahallus (as it does in 

 its relatively small ears and its colour), and differs 

 widely from E. asinus. The ghor-khar and onagers, 

 on the other hand, have small and narrow hoofs, like 

 those of the last-named species. 



As regards colour, the kiang is by far the reddest of 

 all the Asiatic wild asses, and apparently becomes but 

 little greyer in winter. On the other hand, some of 

 the ghor-khar and onager group are quite grey in 

 winter. 



In addition to its small ears, broad hoofs, narrow 

 dorsal stripe, and general colour, the kiang appears to 

 be affiliated to the horse (inclusive of the wild horse 

 ot Mongolia, Equus cabailus ■przewalskii) by the nature 

 of its cry, which there is little doubt is to a great 

 extent intermediate between that of the horse and the 

 ass. It is true that there is a certain amount of 

 discrepancy between the accounts of the kiang' s cry 

 given by different observers. General Cunningham, 

 for instance, in his work on Ladak, calls it a neigh, 



44 



