HYLOBATES 163 



seum, and which is entirely a pale yellow, a hue not infrequently seen 

 among examples of H. lar. 



Capt. Flower (1. c.) under the name of H. agilis says that, "in 

 the Museum at Taiping there are specimens of both the black and 

 light varieties from Larut, Perak. In April, 1898, when I was in the 

 Larut Hills, a party of these Gibbons were to be seen daily in a group 

 of high trees at about 3,200 feet elevation ; every morning they com- 

 menced calling at 6 A. M. and continued until 10.30 A. M. They 

 must come down almost to the foot of the hills, as I have frequently 

 heard them in the morning from Taiping, which is but little above the 

 sea-level." 



Tickell (1. c.) gives the following account of this species as 

 observed by him in Tenasserim: "The Hylobates lar is found in 

 great abundance in all the forests skirting the hills, which run from 

 north to south through the Province of Tenasserim. They ascend 

 the hills themselves up to an elevation of 3,000 to 3,500 feet above 

 sea-level, but not higher, and are usually met with in parties of from 

 8 to 20, composed of individuals of all ages. It is rare to see a solitary 

 one ; occasionally, however, an old male will stay apart from the flock, 

 perched on the summit of some vast tree, whence his howls are heard 

 for miles around. The forests which these animals inhabit, resound 

 with their cries from sunrise to about 9 A. M. * * * During these 

 vocal efforts they appear to resort to the extreme summits of the 

 loftiest trees, and to call to each other from distant parts of the jungle. 

 After 9 or 10 A. M. they become silent and are engaged feeding on 

 fruit, young leaves, and shoots, and insects for which they will 

 occasionally come to the ground. When approached, if alone, they will 

 sometimes sit close, doubled up on a thick tuft of foliage, or behind 

 the fork of a tree near the top, so screened as to be quite safe from 

 the shot of the sportsman. But indeed when forced from its conceal- 

 ment and put to flight, the Gibbon is not easily shot. It swings from 

 branch to branch with its long arms, shaking the bough all around, 

 flings itself from prodigious heights into dense foliage, and is quickly 

 concealed from view by intervening trees. 



"If hit, there is no animal more tenacious of life, and its efforts 

 when desperately wounded to cling to the branch and drag itself into 

 some fork or nook where to hitch itself and die, excite amusement 

 and compassion. 



"The Gibbon (if we restrict that name to this species) is not nearly 

 so light and active as its congener H. hoolock (the Tooboung of the 

 Arakanese,) which latter species is not likely to vary in color, being 



