76 APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS 



the langurs, not only having acquired the black tint in the adult, but even in the 

 earlier stages of their existence. 



As its name implies, it is found in the Nilgiri Mountains (or Hills as they are 

 commonly called by Anglo-Indians) of Southern India, and its range extends 

 from the Wynaad southwards to Cape Comorin. 



According to Mr. W. T. Blanford, this langur "is shy and wary, the result of 

 human persecution. It inhabits the sholas, or dense but abruptly limited woods of 

 the Nilgiris, and other high ranges of Southern India, and is also found in the 

 forests on the slopes of the hills, usually in small troops of from five to ten individ- 

 uals. 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 neighboring 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." 



THE PURPLE-FACED MONKEY (Semnopithecus cephalopterus) 



The purple-faced monkey is the representative of this group in the island 

 of Ceylon. It is known to be liable to considerable variations of color, and 

 at least, in a popular work like the present, we may follow Dr. Anderson in- 

 regarding the Singalese langurs known as the white monkey (S. senex}, and the 

 bear monkey (5*. ursinus} as nothing more than well-marked varieties of this 

 species. 



There is a ready means of distinguishing the purple-faced monkey from the 

 Nilgiri langur. In the latter the cheeks are of the same brown color as the rest of 

 the head, in the former they are always much paler than the crown. Typically this 

 species is of small size, the length of the head and body being only 20 inches, and 

 that of the tail 24^ inches. The so-called bear monkey is, however, somewhat 

 larger ; the length of the head and body being 21, and that of the tail 26 inches. In 

 color the typical purple-faced monkey varies from dusky- to smoky-brown and 

 black, more or less tinged with gray on the back and upper parts, this gray being 

 always present on the haunches. In the head the long whiskers on the cheeks 

 stand out in striking contrast to the brown hue of the rest of the head. Some varie- 

 ties are more decidedly brown ; and in the bear monkey dusky-brown is the preva- 

 lent hue, with complete absence of the gray on the haunches. The white monkey, 

 which we are disposed to regard merely as a variety of this species, is a curious- 

 looking animal, being of a general yellowish-white color, with a faint brownish 

 tinge on the head, and tending to a dusky hue on the shoulders and down the mid- 

 dle of the back. The face and ears retain the usual black color, but the palms of 

 the hands and the soles of the feet are flesh colored. 



The typical form is found over the greater part of Ceylon at low or moderate 

 elevations, and apparently not ascending above some thirteen thousand feet above 

 the sea level. The bear and white monkeys are, however, confined to the southern 



