THE AVAHI LEMUR 209 



covered. The neck and upper parts of the body, as well as the limbs, are of the 

 same white color, having a more or less distinct rosy tinge on the limbs and at the 

 root of the tail ; this rosy tint being most distinct in the more southern race of this 

 species, in which it may extend on to the back. There is a patch of gray or brown, 

 varying in size, on the nape of the neck. The tail and hands are invariably pure 

 white. 



This species is restricted to a small area on the northwest coast of Madagascar, 

 situated to the northeastward of Cape St. Andre, and bounded on the east by the 

 river Betisbooka, and by the Manzaray river to the west. 



In concluding their notice of these animals, Messrs. Milne-Edwards and Gran- 

 didier remark how curious it is to find the various races and species so sharply sep- 

 arated from one another that it is sufficient to cross a river it may be of no great 

 width in order to find that, while on one bank all the sifakas belong to one race, 

 on the opposite bank they will be of another race, if not of a distinct species. No 

 satisfactory explanation of these peculiar features in topographical distribution has, 

 however, suggested itself to the authors quoted. 



THE AVAHI L,EMUR 

 Genus Avahis 



The third and last genus of the present group of lemurs is represented only by 

 the avahi or woolly lemur (Avahis laniger); a species discovered at the same time 

 as the indri in the year 1870 by the French traveler Sonnerat. The avahi, although 

 furnished with a long tail like the sifakas, is readily distinguished by the still 

 shorter muzzle, and also by the' ears being completely concealed by the fur, which is 

 of a woolly instead of a silky nature. Although these differences are amply suffi- 

 cient to distinguish the avahi from the sifakas when they are seen together, it is 

 not on these alone that the zoologist relies when referring them to distinct genera. 

 There are, indeed, well-marked differences in their teeth ; but it will be sufficient 

 for our present purpose to merely record the existence of these points of distinction. 

 The avahi differs, moreover, from all the other members of the group to which it 

 belongs in being of nocturnal instead of diurnal habits. 



The avahi is the smallest member of all this group of lemurs, its dimensions 

 being rather less than two-thirds of those of the diademed sifaka. In color, the 

 long hairs on the forehead immediately above the eyes are gray at the base and 

 pinkish at the tips ; while there is in some individuals a small white or yellowish 

 band, more or less irregular, across the crown of the head. The rest of the head, 

 the neck, the back, and the arms are covered with woolly fur, of which the individ- 

 ual hairs are gray at the roots, reddish in the middle, and black at the tips ; an 

 arrangement which communicates a peculiar appearance to the whole fur. The 

 concealed ears are reddish, and the cheeks gray. The loins and flanks are of a 

 much lighter color than the back, especially in the region of the tail, where there 

 is a large triangular patch of pinkish white running forwards into the dark area of 

 the body. The hind limbs are still lighter in color, and as the hairs here tend to 

 14 



