This Monkey is very active and intelligent, and is not very mischievous, and, indeed, is much less so than the other Monkeys of Ceylon. In captivity it is remarkable for the gravity of its behaviour, and for an air of melancholy in its expression and movements, which is completely in character with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. Its disposition is gentle and confiding; it is in the highest degree sensible of kindness, and eager for endearing attentions, uttering a low plaintive cry when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and spends much of its time in cleaning its fur, and carefully divesting it of the least particle of dust. The Nestor is about sixteen inches in length (the body and head), and the tail measures twenty inches. The prevailing colour is a deep grey, with a slight tinge of brown, becoming paler on the back of the neck and on the tail, where the previous tinge is more marked. The hands and lower part of the limbs are nearly black. Its lips, chin, and whiskers are nearly pure white, the tips of the latter, which are brushed backwards, being grey. There is a stiff ridge of black hairs over the eyebrows, and they are about an inch and a half in length. The moderate length of the hairs, the light colour and the white of the lower sides of the face, are distinctive. It inhabits the southern and western provinces of Ceylon, and is found at a higher elevation than even 1,300 feet. THE MAHA, THE GREAT WANDEROO.[35] This is a larger Monkey than the last, and lives in the hills higher up the country of Ceylon than the Nestor. It is wilder and more powerful than its lowland neighbour, and is rarely seen by Europeans. It clings to the deep woods, and seldom approaches the few roads which have been made through these solitudes. There is a good deal of the Bear in its general appearance, and Major Forbes, travelling in Ceylon, noticed this first of all. He says:--“A species of very large Monkey, that passed some distance before me, when resting on all-fours looked so like a Ceylon Bear that I took him for one.” Hence the name Ursinus. Another very rare Monkey in Ceylon is, for some hidden cause, named _Semnopithecus Thersites_. Thersites was the most ugly and the most impudent talker of the Greeks before Troy, and probably this Monkey is ugly and impudent in the extreme. It is deficient in the head-tuft, which adds to the beauty of the genus; but its temper is good, and it is grateful. One which was caught was fond of being noticed and petted, stretching out his limbs in succession to be scratched, drawing himself up so that his ribs might be reached by the finger, and closing his eyes during the operation, evincing his satisfaction by grimaces absolutely ludicrous. He was fond of fresh vegetables, plantains, and fruit, and ate freely of boiled rice, beans, and grain. The last Ceylonese Monkey to be noticed is the _Semnopithecus Priamus_.