A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 2 (of 2)Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Science
A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 2 (of 2)
Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Primates
_Presbytis cucullatus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xxviii., p. 283 (1859);
id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 14 (1863).
_Presbytis jubatus_, Jerd., Mamm. India, p. 7 (1867).
{112}CHARACTERS.--Hair long and glossy, entirely black or brownish-black;
hairs of crown and sides of head very long, not radiating, yellowish-brown;
lower back and root of tail grey. Length of body, 26 inches; of tail, 30
inches; a very large individual measured, body, 29 inches; tail, 37.
(_Hornaday._)
Nearly allied to the next species (_S. cephalopterus_) of Ceylon, and _S.
obscurus_, which inhabits the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal.
FEMALE.--With a yellowish-white patch inside each thigh. (_Davison._)
DISTRIBUTION.--In the thick, sharply circumscribed woods of the Nilgiri
hills, south to Cape Comorin, above 2,500 feet.
HABITS.--This species lives in small troops of ten to twelve individuals,
and is remarkable for the extraordinary leaps it can make. "It is shy and
wary, the result," as Dr. Blanford states, "of human persecution. It is
very noisy, having a loud guttural alarm cry, used also to express anger,
and a long loud call." Jerdon relates "that when the sholas of the Nilgiri
range were beaten for game, these Monkeys made their way rapidly, and with
loud cries, to the lowest portion, and thence to a neighbouring wood at a
lower level. In consequence of the beauty of their skins, and the
circumstance that certain castes eat their flesh, these Monkeys are more
frequently shot than most of the Indian species: hence their shyness."
VIII. THE PURPLE-FACED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS CEPHALOPTERUS.
_Cercopithecus vetulus_, Erxl., Syst. Régn. An., Mamm., p. 25 (1777; in
part).
{113}_Cercopithecus senex_, Erxl., _t.c._, p. 24 (1777); Zimm., Geogr.
Gesch., ii., p. 183 (1780); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 35
(1891).
_Cercopithecus kephalopterus_, Zimm., _op. et t.c._, p. 185 (1780);
Bodd., Elench. An., p. 58 (1785); Fischer, Syst. Mamm., p. 17 (1829).
_Simia veter_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., i., p. 36 (1800).
_Cercopithecus leucoprymnus_, Otto, N. Acta. Acad. Cæs. Leop., xii., p.
505, pl. xlvi. _bis_ (1825).
_Semnopithecus fulvo-griseus_, Desmoul., Dict. Class. Hist. Nat., vii.,
p. 570 (1825); Geoffr., C. R., xv., p. 719 (1842).
_Semnopithecus leucoprymnus_, Desmaret, Dict. Sci. Nat., xlviii., p. 439
(1827); Wagner, in Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl., v., p. 25 (1825); Gray,
Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870).
_Macacus silenus_, var. _alba_, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., 1829, p. 28.
_Semnopithecus nestor_, Bennett, P. Z. S., 1833, p. 67; Waterh., P. Z.
S., 1844, p. 1.
_Presbytes cephalopterus_, Gray, Hand-List Mamm., p. 4 (1843); Blyth, J.
A. S. Beng., xvi., pp. 734, 1271 (1847); Kelaart, Prodr. Faun. Zeylan.,
p. 1 (1852); Tennent, Ceylon, p. 5, plate, fig. 3 (1861); Blyth, Cat.
Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. Beng., p. 13 (1862).
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