175 Lloyd's natural history. 



of hold necessary for freedom and security, the foot of the 

 Orang is, perhaps, less energetic in the grasp than that of 

 the semi-arboreal Chimpanzee, in which the hind-thumb is 

 proportionately longer, and the foot broader, than in the 

 Orang." 



The Orang drinks by dipping its fingers into the water, as 

 the Siamang does, and sucking the water off its knuckles, or 

 dropping it into its protruded trough-like lower lip. 



" The rude hut which they are stated to build in trees, would 

 be more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof or 

 cover of any sort. The facility with which they form this nest 

 is curious, and I had an opportunity of seeing a wounded 

 female weave the branches together and seat herself within a 

 minute." {^Sir James Brooke.^ " The Orang usually selects," 

 writes Mr. Hornaday, "a small tree, a sapling, in fact, and 

 builds his nest in its top, even though his weight causes it to 

 sway alarmingly. He always builds his nest low down, often 

 within twenty-five feet of the ground, and seldom higher than 

 forty feet. Sometimes it is fully four feet in diameter, but 

 usually not more than three, and quite flat at the top. The 

 branches are merely piled crosswise. I have never been able 

 to ascertain to a certainty, but it is my opinion that an Orang, 

 after building a nest, sleeps in it several nights in succession, 

 unless he is called upon to leave its neighbourhood." In this 

 nest he sleeps during the night or lies spread out on his back 

 during the day, with his hands and feet grasping the nearest 

 branches. The food of the Orang-Utan — whose eating-time 

 is during the middle of the day — consists of leaves and nuts, 

 especially of the durian, the rambutan, and the mangosteen. 



The Orang-Utan is of a very shy and uncertain disposition. 

 If captured when full-grown, it is wild and ferocious ; when 



