Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/92

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
60
THE ZOOLOGIST.

moving through long grass, where other enemies might lie concealed. Remus, on the other hand, when two days old, allowed a yellow collie to lie down within six inches of his muzzle, and only got up as a Dalmatian approached when a warning note was uttered by his watchful parent. When the four hybrids and two pure-bred foals were eventually weaned, Remus seemed to mind very little. While one of the hybrids and a half Arab foal were biting and kicking and rushing about as if demented, Remus simply stood looking over the fence. But by-and-by, when the others settled down, he set to walking backwards and forwards behind the wall of his court, exactly like his Zebra sire, and though he still keeps this up as if he were a caged Lion, none of the others have followed his example. When Romulus was weaned, he for some days rushed about, as much as a Zebra when highly excited, as his sire when upset by the beating of carpets. Recently it was necessary to give the hybrids milk containing thymol. The pure-bred foals offered but little resistance, but all the hybrids fought till they were exhausted, and nothing would persuade Remus to swallow the first dose.

As might have been expected, Biddy's foal is much lighter in colour than Mulatto's. With the exception of the muzzle and the lower part of the legs, the body colour is a rich light bay; the muzzle and legs were, at birth, more of a mealy colour, but are now of a bay colour. The bands are much lighter, and consequently less distinct than in Romulus. As a rule they are of a dark reddish brown hue, being especially evident on the brow, the forearms, and above and below the hocks. The plan of the striping is the same as in Romulus; but even at birth several of the rows of spots across the croup had already united to form narrow bands. The face, measured from the occipital crest to a line connecting the upper margins of the nostrils, was slightly longer than in Romulus; but the ears were the same length—six inches.

Sometimes when a Horse utters a warning call all the members of the herd hurriedly collect together and rush about in an excited manner. It seems to be of the utmost importance for wild Equidæ to at once make out the direction of any given sound. Probably the longer the ears the quicker this is accomplished. If the length of the ears, as is most probable, counts