APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS 



29 



INDRI, and the BLACK INDRI all belong to this group. 



The SIFAKAS, as some of these and the allied forms 



are called, are venerated by the Malagasys, who never 



kill one intentionally. Mr. Foster observes that 



" they live in companies of six or eight, and are 



very gentle and inoffensive animals, wearing a very 



melancholy expression, and being as a rule morose, 



inactive, and more silent than the other lemurs. 



They rarely live long in captivity. In their native 



state they are most alert in the morning and evening, 



as during the day they conceal themselves under the 



foliage of trees. When asleep or in repose, the head 



is dropped on the chest and buried between the 



arms, the tail rolled up on itself and disposed between 



the hind legs. The sifakas live exclusively on vege- 

 table substances, fruits, leaves, and flowers, their diet 



not be- 

 ing varied, as in the other lemurs, by small birds, 

 eggs, or insects. Their life is almost entirely 

 arboreal, for which the muscles of their hands and 

 feet, as well as the parachute-like folds between 

 their arms and bodies, and their peculiar hooked 

 fingers, are well fitted. The young one is carried 

 by the mother on its back, its hands grasping her 

 armpits tightly." 



This is not the universal way of carrying the 

 young among lemurs. The CROWNED LEMUR, a 

 beautiful gray-and-white species, often breeds at 

 the Zoo. The female carries its young one 

 partly on its side. The infant clings tightly with 

 arms and tail round the very slender waist of the 



Photo by L. Midland, F.Z S.] [North Finchltj 



BLACK LEMUR 



Found on the coast of Madagascar 



Photo by L. Midland, F.Z.S., North Finchliy 



COQUEREL'S LEMUR 



A lemur 'which strongly objects to being awakened in the day- 



lemur, and pushes out its sharp 

 little face just above the thigh 

 of the mother. The WOOLLY 

 INDRI has more woolly fur than 

 the others of its tribe, a shorter 

 nose, and a longer tail. 



THE TRUE LEMURS 



Of these there are several 

 species, all confined to Mada- 

 gascar and the Comoro Islands. 

 One of the best known is the 

 RING-TAILED LEMUR, mentioned 

 above. It is called LEMUR CATTA, 

 the Cat Lemur, from being so 

 often kept in domestication. The 

 WEASEL LEMUR, the GRAY LEMUR, 

 the MOUSE LEMUR, the GENTLE 

 LEMUR, the SPORTIVE LEMUR, the 



Photo by L. Midland, F.Z.S.] [North FinchUj 



RUFFED LEMUR 



Another of the nocturnal lemur i. It li-ves mainly on fruit and insects 



