THE DWARF MAKIS. 



107 



In habits it is simikir to the Lemurs which have already been de- 

 scribed. Being naturally a nocturnal animal, it passes the day in a 

 drowsy somnolence, its head pushed between its legs, and the long, 

 bushy tail wrapped round its body, as if to exclude the light and retain 

 the heat. Should it be accustomed to be fed during the daytime, it 

 shakes off its slumber for the purpose of satisfying the calls of hunger ; 

 but even though urged by so strong an inducement, it awakes with lin- 

 gering reluctance, and sinks to sleep again as soon as the demands of its 

 appetite are satisfied. Its entire length is nearly three feet, of which the 

 tail occupies about twenty inches. Its height is about a foot. 



III.— GENUS HAPALEMUR. 



This genus, containing two species, is distinguished by a slender body 

 and short limbs, but a tail as long as itself. The head is round and sharp- 

 muzzled, the eyes small, the ears broad and short and hidden in the fur. 



The Gray Lemur, HapaUmur griscus, called by the natives of the 

 Northwest of Madagascar the Bokambul, chooses tor its abode thickets 

 of bamboo. During the day it sleeps on the highest shoots, with its 

 head between its legs and its tail over its back. Like all the tribe, it is 

 lazy during the daytime but busy at night ; its cry is like that of a pig 

 grunting. Pollen had a captive which differed in no wise from other 

 Lemurs ; he remarks that, like some apes, it acquired the bad habit of 

 gnawing its own tail. 



IV.— GENUS MICROCEBUS. 



The Dwarf Makis have a compact form, a short head, a roundish 

 muzzle, a tail longer than the body, and the hind limbs not longer than 

 the fore ones. The eyes are large, the ears moderate, thinly covered 

 externally with fine hair, pretty hands and feet, with short fingers but 

 long tarsi. The dental formula is 



T 2 — 2 „ I — I 6 — 6 



I. , C. , M. = 34. 



2 — 2 I — I 5 — 5 ^^ 



Of the four species into which the genus is divided, the best known 

 is the Microccbus niyo.viiius, which attains a length of six to eight inches 



