THE HORSES— ZEBRA GROUP. 



419 



Characteris- The Quagga (Equus quagga') shows a 

 tics of the greater similitude to the Horse than 

 Quagga. to the Ass in its outward appear- 

 ance, though it is much inferior in beauty to the 

 Dauw. The body is of very pleasing outline, the 

 head is moderately large and graceful, the ears are 

 short, the legs strong. A short, erect mane adorns 

 the whole length of the neck; the tail is hairy from 

 the root and longer than that of the other varieties of 

 the Zebras, though considerably shorter than that of 

 the Horse. In respect to the rest of its hairy cover- 

 ing the Quagga resembles the latter — the hair is short 

 and lies close to the body. The ground-color is a 

 brown tint, dark on the head, lighter on the back, 

 the crupper and the flanks; the abdomen, the inner 

 face of the thighs, and the hair of the tail are pure 



The Dauw Nearest Rurc hell's Zebra, or the Dauw 



Kinsman of the (Equus burchellii), is undoubtedly the 



Horse. noblest member of the whole family, 



because it shows the greatest resemblance to the 



Horse in appearance, being scarcely smaller than the 



Quagga. The soft, sleek coat is of a sorrel color 



above, and white underneath. Fourteen small black 



stripes commence at the nostrils. Along the spine 



runs a black band edged with white; the neck is 



marked by ten broad, black and sometimes forked 



stripes; the legs are usually of a plain white color. 



Peculiarities The Zebra {Equus zebra) has much 



of the Ze- the same physical proportions as the 



ora - Dauw, but is striped all over the 



body, and thereby readily distinguished from that 



animal. Its conformation is approximate to that of 



THE ZEBRA. This species of the Horse family, once common in south Africa, is now found there in much decreased numbers. It is the 



most perfectly striped of all the family, not only being marked on the body but also on the legs, down to the hoofs. The group in the picture is 

 shown running, rolling and romping in true Horse fashion. (Equus zebra.) 



white. Grayish white stripes, dashed with a reddish 

 tint, run across the head, neck and shoulders; on fore- 

 head and temples they are longitudinal and lie close 

 together, and on the cheeks they run transversely and 

 at greater intervals. Between the eyes and the mouth 

 they form a triangle. The neck contains ten such 

 stripes which are continued in the mane also; the 

 shoulders have four and the body a few more, which 

 become shorter and paler as they approach nearer the 

 hind quarters. Along the entire spine, back to the tail, 

 runs a blackish-brown band, bordered along its edges 

 with reddish gray. The ears are covered with white 

 hairs on the inside, the outside being yellowish white 

 and marked with one dark brown band. The sexes 

 resemble each other very much, the female being 

 somewhat smaller and possessed of a shorter tail. 

 The adult male attains a length of eighty inches, 

 or one hundred and four inches including the tail; 

 the height at the withers is about fifty-two inches. 



the Ass rather than to the Horse, reminding one 

 most of the Dziggetai. The body, supported on 

 slender, well-shaped limbs, is stout and vigorous, 'the 

 neck is arched, the head short, the muzzle large and 

 somewhat obtuse, the tail of moderate length, for 

 the greater part overgrown with short hair but hav- 

 ing long hair only toward its lower extremity, thus 

 resembling an Ass' tail; the mane is thick, but very 

 short. Transverse stripes of a lustrous black or 

 reddish brown hue run on a white or light yellowish 

 ground, from the muzzle to the hoofs; only the pos- 

 terior part of the abdomen and the inner sides of 

 the upper parts of the legs are free from stripes. 

 The dark, brown-black, longitudinal stripe on the 

 back is also conspicuous. 



Range and Habits The real native country of the Ze- 



oftheZe- bras is southern and eastern Africa; 



bras. they are not found within the 



narrower equatorial regions of the western half of 



