MOUNTAIN FAUNAS viel 
monkey of the Himalayas is one of the langurs, a group 
of slender-limbed, leaf-eating forms widely distributed 
over South-eastern Asia. The particular species is 
Semnopithecus schistaceus, and the animal occurs at 
heights up to 12,000 feet. All who have seen it in 
its native home speak of the peculiar effect of the 
animal among the snow-covered pines and deodars 
there, and the number of forms found on the lower 
ground in India and the adjacent region proves that 
the acquisition of the mountain habitat in this case 
must be recent. The Himalayan form is very closely 
related to the common sacred monkey of India, and 
while sharing with its allies the usual adaptations to 
arboreal life—to be described later—it does not seem 
to show any special fitness for mountain life. Better 
adapted for life at high elevations is the Tibetan langur 
(S. roxellanae), which lives in the forested regions of the 
east of Tibet, especially in the vicinity of Lake Kuku 
Nor, and also extends into China. It is found at 
elevations of over 10,000 feet, and migrates to some 
extent according to the seasons, but never descends to 
the region of cultivated land, the district plundered 
so frequently by the low ground forms. The Tibetan 
langur is somewhat stouter in build and shorter in the 
limbs than the other forms, and has a curious tip- 
tilted nose, whose use is unknown, unless it has any- 
thing to do with facilitating respiration at these high 
altitudes. The hair is very long, and the skin is greatly 
prized by the Chinese on this account. The animal is 
stated to live chiefly on ‘fruits’, but no doubt the 
seeds of the mountain trees are also important. As 
the other monkeys of China are species of Macacus, 
there can be no doubt that the Tibetan form has found 
its way into China from the south, through the moun- 
