410 THE INTERMEDIATE PRIMATES 



probably circumscribes its habitat to the region in which it is found. Like 

 all members of this family, the hoolock is exquisitely arboreal. While it 

 makes some successful etTorts to progress over the surface of the ground, 

 balancing its Ix)dy in a rather awkward manner by holding its arms over its 

 head, its life is passed essentially in the trees. The effects of brachiation are 

 seen in the greater erectness of body which marks the beginning of the 

 Proanthropoid Stage. Mr. Candler, who has studied the habits of this 

 proanthropoid, gives such an interesting account of its actions, that it may 

 be here quoted in part: 



"He [Hoolock] swings along to the thinnest part of the bough or to the 

 slender end of a bamboo until it bends to his weight, then with a swing and a 

 sort of a kick-off, he flies through the air seizing another bough and swinging 

 along it with the unerring accuracy of a finished trapeze performer. I fancy he 

 does very little walking in the wild state, for I have never seen a wild Hoolock 

 on the ground. Moreover, they are only found in the dense jungle where the 

 ground is everywhere covered with tangled vegetation. It is puzzling to me 

 why these anthropoids, being so entirely arboreal in habit, should be lacking 

 in such a useful appendage as the tail. The Hoolocks are extremely shy and it 

 is most difficult to watch them as they are concealed by leaves high up on the 

 tops of the bamboo clumps or forest trees. You may hear their cries all around 

 as you ride quickly along the jungle track; but the moment you leave the 

 path or look up at them there is a dead silence and scarcely a leaf stirs until, 

 tired of waiting, you move on again. The cry of the Hoolock is a characteristic 

 sound in the Cachar jungle. It is a very pleasing note, rising and falling in 

 intensity and reminding one somewhat in its rhythm of a pack of beagles 

 giving tongue on a scent, which is waxing and waning in strength as a larger 

 or smaller number of the band join in the chorus. It is heard chiefly in the 

 early morning, then all through the heat of the day there is silence but towards 

 evening, as the sun sets, you may hear it again. 'Hoo'loo! Hoo'Ioo! Hoo'loo!' 



