APES, MONKKVS, AND LEMURS 



29 



Indri, .md the Bi \< k Indri all belong to this group. 

 The Sifakas, as some of these and the allied forms 

 are called, are venerated by the Malagasys, who never 

 kill one intentionally. Mr. Foster observes that 

 " they live in companies of six or eight, and are 

 very gentle and inoffensive animals, wearing a very 

 melancholy expression, and being as a rule morose, 

 inactive, .uu\ more silent than the other lemurs. 

 They rarely live long in captivity. In their native 

 state the) are mosl alert in the morning and everting, 

 as during the (.lay they corneal themselves under the 

 foliage of trees. When asleep or in repose, the head 

 is dropped on the chest and buried between the 

 arms, the tail rolled up on itself and disposed betw een 

 the hind legs. The sifakas live exclusively on vege- 

 table substances, fruits, leaves, and flowers, their diet 



not be- 



H 



-M 



Phut, by I . Midland, h ./.. V. ] [Ntrlh Fin hit) 



BLACK LEMUR 



Found on the coait of Madagascar 



Ph.m h I.. Midland, F.Z.S., North Finrhlij 



COQUEREL'S LEMUR 



A lemur tuhich strongly objects to being aivakcned in the day- 



lemur, and pushes out its sharp 

 little face just above the thigh 

 of the mother. The Woolly 

 Indri has more woolly fur than 

 the others of its tribe, a shorter 

 nose, and a longer tail. 



The True Lemurs 



Of these there are several 

 species, all confined to Mada- 

 gascar and the Comoro Islands. 

 One of" the best known is the 

 King-tailed Lemur, mentioned 

 above. It is called Lemur Catta, 

 the Cat Lemur, from being so 

 often kept in domestication. The 

 Weasel Lemur, the Gray Lemur, 

 the Mouse Lemur, the Gentle 

 Lemur, the Sportive Lemur, the 

 3 



ing varied, as in the other lemurs, by small birds, 

 eggs, or insects. Their life is almost entirely 

 arboreal, for which the muscles of their hands and 

 feet, as well as the parachute-like folds between 

 their arms and bodies, and their peculiar hooked 

 fingers, are well fitted. The young one is carried 

 by the mother on its back, its hands grasping her 

 armpits tightly." 



This is not the universal way of carrying the 

 young among lemurs. The Crowned Lemur, a 

 beautiful gray-and-white species, often breeds at 

 the Zoo. The female carries its young one 

 partly on its side. The infant clings tightly with 

 arms and tail round the very slender waist of the 



J>*„r» by L. Midland, F.Z.S.] 



» . I Finchlt 



RUFFED LEMUR 

 Another of the nocturnal lemurs. It lives mainly on Jrutt and insect* 



