KIANG AND ONAGER GROUP 185 



Baluchis, who relieve one another, and are thus 

 enabled to continue the pursuit till the victims are 

 completely exhausted, 



Ghor-khars are mostly found on the fringe of 

 desert plains, where they usually associate in small 

 troops, although in Afghanistan herds containing 

 sometimes a thousand head have been observed ; 

 such large herds being apparently composed of 

 mares and foals, the old stallions collecting in 

 smaller troops by themselves. In Baluchistan, as 

 probably also in Persia, the foals are born in June, 

 July, and August. On the plains the food of the 

 onager consists of desert grasses, which are often 

 in a parched and withered condition. In Baluchistan 

 ghor-khars migrate to the hills in early summer 

 when the plains are practically devoid of grass and 

 water. Unlike the kiang, they are exceedingly 

 shy and suspicious, and consequently difficult to 

 approach within rifle-range. 



In former days kulan and onagers appear to 

 have ranged much further westward than is the 

 case at the present day. It is stated, for instance, 

 by the Russian naturalist Rytschkov ^ that in the 

 eighteenth century kulan abounded on the eastern 

 side of the Volga, and from time to time troops 

 swam that river and made their appearance in the 

 Waldinsel Steppe. Then, again, in spite of the 

 difficulty of specifically distinguishing many of the 



^ See Nehring, Uber Tundren und Steppen, p. 187. 



