202 



LEMURS. 



or for the purpose of crossing from one plantation or coppice to another, they but 

 rarely leave the trees. Their diet is extremely mixed, scarcely anything coming 

 amiss to them, as will be inferred when we mention that leaves, fruits, insects, 

 reptiles, birds' eggs, and birds themselves are eagerly consumed by most of these 

 animals. 



By the natives of Madagascar the lemurs are looked upon with suspicious 



FEMALE BLACK LEMUR WITH YOUNG. (From Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1885.) 



awe, and are consequently but seldom molested. This is doubtless due to their 

 nocturnal habits and ghost-like movements ; while the large eyes essential to these 

 and all other nocturnal creatures have perhaps contributed to this feeling. In 

 Ceylon and India, as we shall subsequently see, the large glaring eyes of one of the 

 prettiest of the lemurs used to lead to the unfortunate creatures being put to a cruel 

 death. None of the lemurs attain any very large size, and all of them, when 

 unmolested, are perfectly harmless and inoffensive animals, except to the birds, 

 reptiles, and insects upon which they prey. The nostrils of a lemur, which are 

 always situated at the extremity of the muzzle, differ markedly in form from 



