58 THE EXISTING EQUIDAE [CH. 



known ^ to modern Europe by a living specimen sent to M. Grevy, 

 then President of the French Republic, in 1882 by King Menelik 

 of Abyssinia. It was first shot in Somaliland by Capt. Swayne 

 and Col. A. Paget in 1898-. Swayne saw about 200 in all : 

 they were in small droves of about half-a-dozen on low plateau 

 covered with thorn bush and glades of ' durr ' grass. There 

 were none in the open grass plains of Haud ; Durhi (about 

 300 miles from Berberah) being their northern limit. 



This splendid animal (Fig. 28^) stands about 15 hands high. 

 The comparison of skins obtained later by Mr Tegetmeier 

 (through Mr Carl Hagenbeck) and others, and various living 

 specimens since brought to Europe (including three in the 

 Regent's Park), shows that there is a considerable variation in 

 the marking of this species. Thus in the specimen from Shoa 

 sent by King Menelik there is a broad white space between the 

 dorsal band and the narrow^ transverse stripes at each side of 

 the croup, while in the specimen from Somaliland these narrow 

 stripes almost reach the dorsal baud, as in the ' gridiron ' mark- 

 ing, characteristic (vide infra, p. 62) of the Mountain Zebra 

 {Equus zebra) of South Africa. The ground colour is white or 

 brown, very finely decorated all over with numerous delicate 

 and intensely black or brown stripes, forming a pattern quite 

 different from those of other known species^ The stripes on 

 the forehead fall into a number of round arches, a feature 

 which helps to distinguish this species from the Burchell groups 

 The muzzle sometimes is ' mealy ' coloured, while the nostril 

 patches are of a bright tan colour; the ears are long, but in being 

 very wide they differ from the ears of both asses and horses. 



^ But Job Ludolphus, Historia Aethiopica, 1681, summarized what had been 

 written by the Jesuits concerning the Abyssinian zebra, and in his Commentariiis 

 (1691) he added more. Hamilton Smith (p. 321) knew Ludolphus' statement, 

 cited by Mr E. Bidwell (Field, 1899), whilst the extracts are given at length by 

 Mr H. Scherren {Field, 4 March, 1905). 



•■^ Proc. Zool. Sue. 1894, p. 320 (Swayne); ibid. 1893, p. 473 (Paget). 



3 Fig. 28 is from a photograph kindly given me by Mr Carl Hagenbeck. 



^ Flower and Lydekker, op. cit., p. 387; Tegetmeier, op. cit., pp. 43-5; 

 E. I. Pocock, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Vol. xx. (1897), pp. 48 sqq. The Somali race 

 {berberensis, Pocock) of E. grevyi has ground colour pale brown or ochre with 

 chocolate stripes. Both races were known to Ludolphus {op. cit.), and a speci- 

 men with brown stripes had reached Constantinople. 



^ Ewart, Penycuik E.rperiments, p. 76. 



