66 ZEBRAS, QUAGGAS, AND ASSES 



size of the front pair, the tail-tuft is moderate, and there is no trace 

 of a forelock. The dark dorsal stripe is narrow, and in some cases 

 discontinuous, not reaching the tail-tuft, and without white borders. 

 Either a shoulder-stripe or dark barrings on the legs are present, but 

 there is no dark ring above the hoofs. There is a distinct white ring 

 round the eye, but no white on the buttocks or rump. The general 

 colour of the upper-parts at all seasons is pure or tawny grey-fawn ; 

 the muzzle, a ring round each eye, the under surface of the lower jaw, 

 the inside of the ear, the under-parts, and the inner surface and much 

 of the lower portion of the legs, being white. Apparently there is 

 no marked, if any, difference, either in colour or length, between the 

 summer and the winter coat. The cry is the well-known bray. 



Of the two races, the Nubian wild ass (Equus asinus africanus) 

 inhabits north-eastern Africa, that is to say, Sennar and Nubia, its 

 range formerly extending as far as the fifth cataract of the Nile, and 

 eastwards to the river Atbara and the Danakil district, but not 

 including Abyssinia. Year by year the range of this race appears to 

 become more restricted ; and unless protective measures be taken, 

 there is danger that it may be exterminated. The race is characterised 

 by its generally inferior size (ranging from about 3 feet 9^ inches to 

 3 feet i ITJ inches) as compared with the Somali ass, the generally 

 greyish-fawn colour, the continuous although narrow dorsal stripe, the 

 presence of a short shoulder-stripe, and of a dark patch on each side 

 of the front fetlocks, and the absence of distinct dark barrings on 

 the legs. 



A small breed of the Nubian wild ass inhabits the island of Socotra, 

 which appears to have been originally imported from the mainland. 

 These donkeys stand only about 3^ feet at the shoulder, and are 

 characterised by perfect similarity in colour and markings, the nose, 

 a wide ring round the eye, as well as the chest and belly, being white, 

 and the legs nearly so, thus contrasting strongly with the mouse- 

 coloured head and back. The black stripes on the shoulder and down 

 the middle of the back, and a few somewhat irregular dusky rings 

 round the legs are clearly defined. 



The second, or Somali, race (E. a. somaliensis) ranges from 

 Somaliland, through Danakil and Gallaland, to the Red Sea. It 

 is distinguished from the Nubian race by its superior size, the pale 

 and more greyish colour, the absence of a shoulder-stripe, the slightly 

 developed and discontinuous dorsal stripe, and the presence of a 

 number of distinct black bars on the legs, and of a brownish patch on 

 the front of each foot above the hoof. The head and ears are also 



