1909.] A LETTER FROM PROF. RIDGEWAY. 799 



probably the Lomboin Hills not far from Naivasha, which I 

 embodied in the Appendix to my ' Origin and Influence of the 

 Thorovighbred Horse,' p. 508. In his paper on this specimen 

 published later (P. Z. S. 1904, vol. ii. p. 181), Prof. Ewart states 

 in his footnote that " It probably inhabits part of the area 

 between the upper reaches of the Tana River and Lake Rudolf." 



As it was very important to obtain full information, and, if 

 possible, more specimens of this most interesting animal, I had 

 inquiries made in British East Africa with a view to obtaining, 

 if possible, a skin. My friend, Mr. C. W. Hobley, C.M.G., who 

 has helped me much in such matters, endeavoured to find out 

 the habitat of Ward's Zebra. He was told by Lord Delamei'e 

 that he had shot near Baringo the animal, the skin of which had 

 been named after Mr. Ward. 



Messrs. Ward & Co. have now written to inform me that 

 they most certainly did not acquire the skin from Lord Delamere, 

 but that " the type U. toardi was purchased in the flesh from 

 Barmim and Bailey's Menagerie." 



Prof. Ewart, in a letter dated 9 Kov. 1909, writes to me as 

 follows : — " About the provenance of ' Ward's Zebra ' I am still 

 ignorant. The zebra in question was, I believe, accidentally 

 strangled by Barnum and Bailey's people when they were, for 

 some purpose, putting on a halter. After correspondence with 

 the owners all that Mr. Ward could learn was that, as I originally 

 told you, the zebra was ' traded out of Somaliland.' " 



I am of course responsible for any mistake in the matter, 

 and, as I am anxious to have the error corrected as soon as 

 possible, I will be very grateful if you will read this note at 

 the next meeting of the Zoological Society and print it in the 



Proceedings. ^^ . , ' 



Yours sincerely, 

 Flendyshe, Fen Ditton, "^ 



Cambridge. WiLLIAM RiDGEWAT. 



13 Nov., 1909. 



PosTSCEiPT, IWi Feb., 1910.— My friend Mr. R. I. Pocock, F.Z.S. ('Field,' 

 20th Nov. 1909, p. 889) suggested that " Ward's Zebra is nothing but a hybrid 

 between a Mountain Zebra (JJ. zehra) and Chapman's Zebra." He substantiated this 

 view in the ' Field ' (IBth Dec. 1909) by a letter from Dr. Heck, the Director of the 

 Berlin Zoological Garden, who states that he saw a hybrid Zebra resembling Ward's 

 Zebra in Hagenbeck's Menagerie in 1902. He adds an extract from a letter from 

 Mr. Hagenbeck, who speaks of this Zebra as a hybrid between JSquus zebra and 

 Uquus cJiapviani that came from the Jardiu des Plantes in Paris. "The photo- 

 graph of this specimen," says Mr. Pocock, " taken by Hagenbeck and also kindly 

 submitted to me by Dr. Heck, repi-esents an animal differing in no important par- 

 ticulars from Ward's Zebra. It is therefore highly probable that Messrs. Barnum 

 and Bailey procured Ward's Zebra from the Jardin des Plantes." 



Mr. Pocock seems to have got the real provenance. If from the outset it had 

 been stated that it was procured from Barnum and Bailey's, much unnecessary 

 propagation of error would have been avoided. This story shows the immense 

 importance of getting specimens direct from Africa, as is the case with the series of 

 skins figured in my paper. — W. R. 



