112 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



Characters. — Hair long and glossy, entirely black or brownish- 

 black ; hairs of crown and sides of head very long, not radiat- 

 ing, 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. {Homaday,) 



Nearly allied to the next species {S. cephalopterus) of Ceylon, 

 and S. obscuruSj 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 veiulus, Erxl, Syst. Regn. An., Mamm., p. 25 

 (1777; in part). 



