MACAQUES. in 



smooth, is brown or greyish-brown above, and pale brown, or whitish on the under- 

 parts. The face and ears are flesh-coloured, and in some examples the ends of the 

 hairs are ringed. The tail is generally nearly or quite as long as the head and 

 body ; the length of the two latter being about 20 inches. 



This macaque, which occurs all over Southern India and extends westward to 

 Bombay, is the common monkey of those regions, being found not only in the 

 t'oivsts, but likewise in the towns, where it pillages the shops of the bhanias, or 

 native grain-sellers. It is exceedingly mischievous, and a ready mimic, although 

 Mr. Blanford believes that the rhesus monkey is its equal in these respects. 



In Ceylon this monkey is replaced by the closely allied toque monkey 

 (M. jiifcdfii*), which appears only to differ in colour, although the long hair of the 

 crest of the head seems to be more generally continued on to the forehead. It is 

 shown in Fig. 5 of the coloured Plate. 



Among the Singalese this monkey is known as the Bilawa. Sir Emerson 

 Tennent speaks of it as being " the universal pet and favourite of both natives and 

 Europeans. The Tamil conjurors teach it to dance, and in their wanderings carry 

 it from village to village, clad in a grotesque dress, to exhibit its lively performances.'* 

 After all, however, the mimicry and amusing tricks of a monkey in captivity are a 

 mere shadow of what they are in its native condition, so that persons who have 

 only seen these animals in confinement have but a faint idea of their true nature. 



THE CRAB-EATIXG MACAQUE (Macacus cynomolgus). 



This species derives its name from its peculiar habit of feeding largely on crabs 

 from the brackish water of the lagoons and swamps on the coast. It is the true 

 macaque of Buffon, and is known to the Malays, apparently from its cry, as 

 the Kra. This monkey is shown in Fig. 6 of the coloured Plate. 



It may be at once distinguished from the bonnet monkey by the circumstance 

 that the hair on the crown of the head is neither longer than the rest nor distinctly 

 radiated from the middle. In some individuals there is, however, a trace of a crest, 

 with slight radiation of the hair from one or more points on the forehead. As a 

 rule, the general colour of the fur of the upper parts varies from a dusky or greyish- 

 brown to a rufous or golden-brown ; the under-parts being either light greyish- 

 brown or nearly white. The hairs of adult individuals vary in colour in different 

 parts of their length, and are ringed at their tips. The naked parts of the face and 

 the callosities on the buttocks are flesh-coloured or dusky. The eyelids are either 

 white or bluish -white. The tail is nearly as long as the head and body, the 

 combined length of the two latter reaching to 22 inches. 



In the dark and smaller variety of this common monkey the fur is dusky; 

 while in the lighter or golden-rufous variety, its hair is flesh-colour. 



The range of the crab-eating macaque is a very wide one, extending from 

 Siam in the east through the Malay Peninsula into Lower Burma and the 

 Arakan coast. It is also found in the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, 

 although Mr. Blanford considers that it has probably been introduced there by 

 human agency. 



What induced the ancestors of this monkey to forsake the usual simian food 



