EHINOCEEOTID^. 471 



bordered with whitish or white. Other alleged differences, such 

 as greater size in the Kianrf, and the presence of a cross shoulder- 

 stripe in the GJiorl-har, are not borne out by specimens I haA^e ex- 

 amined. I agree with Sykes, Blyth, Strachey, George, and Flower 

 in classing all these wild asses as one species. 



Habits. The Asiatic wild ass inhabits desert or semi-desert plains, 

 and is usually found in herds varying in number from 4 or 5 to 30 

 or 40 individuals ; occasionally much larger numbers collect ; Dr. 

 Aitchison, in North-western Afghanistan, saw a herd that he esti- 

 mated to contain 1000 animals. This was in April, and the large 

 herds are said to consist of mares and foals. 



The food consists of various grasses, green or dry, and of other 

 plants. The voice of this animal has been described as a shrieking 

 bray. Wild asses are renowned for speed, but in the Rann of 

 Cutch adults have been run down by men on horseback and 

 speared. I believe, however, the animals run down were mares in 

 foal. The young are captured by using relays of horsemen to hunt 

 them until tired out. 



In the country west of the Indus the mares are said to drop their 

 foals in June, July, or August. The period of gestation is probably 

 the same as in the horse and ass, about 11 months. 



Family RHINOCEROTID^. 

 Genus RHINOCEROS, Linn. (1766). 



In this family also all living species are by most naturalists re- 

 ferred to a single genus. There are three toes on each foot, each 

 toe terminating in a small hoof-like nail. The size is large, the 

 general form is heavy, and the legs are short and stout. The skin 

 in all living forms is thinly clad with hair or is naked, and in all 

 Indian species it is thick (so much so, that it was formerly sup- 

 posed to be bullet-proof) and thrown into deep folds in places. One 

 or two dermal horns are situated on the median line above the snout. 

 These horns grow throughout the animal's life, and if lost are repro- 

 duced. The head is large, the eyes small, and the ears moderate. 

 There are two inguinal mammae. 



The skull is elongate, with a high occipital crest. The nasal bones 

 are large and united, broad behind, and in contact or nearly in 

 contact with the large lachrymals ; they are arched in front and 

 project over a wide space that separates them from the premaxil- 

 laries. There are no postorbital processes, the orbits opening into 

 the temporal fossfe. Tympanies small, not forming bullae. 



Dentition : i. 1*^, c. *, pm. ^^^, m. ^Jy The incisors are some- 

 what variable : all are deciduous in African species ; in adults of the 

 Asiatic forms there are generally one pair, broad and blunt, in the 

 upper jaw, and Ofte or two pairs in the lower, the outer pointed 



