HABITS.--The habits of both species of Tarsier are identical, and may be described together. They are almost entirely nocturnal and arboreal animals, rarely, of their own accord, coming to the ground. They move from place to place by leaping along the larger branches, or from tree to tree, even when these stand several feet distant. When they do descend, however, they advance on the ground by the same curious Frog-like leaps, without bringing their fore-limbs down to the ground. The Tarsier is said to climb easily, even without grasping, by means of the round discs on its slender finger-tips, which, like suckers, enable it to hold on by the side pressure of its limbs to any smooth surface, such as the stems of the {22}bamboo-brakes which it frequents. Mr. Charles Hose, in his "Mammals of Borneo," states that, in that island, the Tarsier is found in the jungles of the low country, skipping about from branch to branch. According to the notes of this excellent field-naturalist, it has a habit of turning its head almost completely round without moving the rest of its body. This very remarkable creature lives in pairs in the tropical forests, in holes in the tree stems, or under their roots, feeding chiefly on insects and small lizards, which, as Mr. Cuming has recorded, it holds by its fore-paws while devouring, sitting up the while on its posterior. In drinking it is also said to lap water like a Cat. The Tarsier seldom makes any kind of noise, but when it does emit a sound, it is a sharp, shrill call. The female produces one, rarely two, young at a birth; these are similar to the parents. They are covered with hair, and have the eyes open. Mr. Hose further states that the mother often carries her young one about in her mouth, after the manner of a Cat. On the second day after its birth, the infant Tarsier can move about by itself. By the natives of Sumatra, and, indeed, of most of the islands inhabited by these animals, the Tarsiers are held in superstitious dread, their presence in the neighbourhood of the rice-fields being supposed to portend misfortune to the owner or to some member of his family. Their elongated ankle-bones, and their leaping habits, seem to indicate that the Galagos and the Chirogales, or Mouse-Lemurs, are the nearest relatives of the Tarsiers. THE TYPICAL LEMURS. FAMILY LEMURIDÆ.