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LEMURS. 



round its body, and likewise taking a siesta during the heat of the day. Unlike 

 the members of the indri group, it is a noisy creature ; and the whereabouts of a 

 troop in the morning or evening is discoverable by the loud cries which they are 

 continually uttering. 



In captivity this species thrives well, and it is generally numerously repre- 

 sented in the menagerie of the London Zoological Society, although it does not 

 appear that it has ever bred there. 



Mr. G. A. Shaw, writing of the ring-tailed lemur, states that they are found 

 only in the south and south-western borders of the Betsileo province of Madagascar. 

 This province is about one hundred and fifty miles in length, by fifty or sixty in 

 width, and is situated on the central table-land, about one hundred to two hundred 

 and fifty miles south of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. A forest extends 

 along the whole eastern side of this province, fringing the table-land, and covering 

 all the slopes down into the lowland bordering the sea; but nowhere in these 

 forests have the ring-tailed lemurs been found. Their habitat in the south and 

 south-west is among the rocks ; over which they can easily travel where it is 

 impossible for the people, although bare-footed, to follow. An examination of their 

 hands will show that they are pre-eminently adapted for this kind of locomotion. 

 The palms are long, smooth, level, and leather-like, and enable the animal to find 

 a firm footing on the slippery wet rocks, very much on the same principle as that 

 which assists the fly to walk up a pane of glass. The thumbs on the hinder hands 

 are very much smaller in proportion than in the lemurs inhabiting the forests, 

 which depend upon their grasping power for their means of progression. These 

 spring from tree to tree, and rarely, if ever, touch the ground, except in search of 

 water. Hence the ring-tailed lemurs are an exception to the general habits of the 

 Lemuridce, in that they are not arboreal. There are very few trees near their 

 district ; and those which do grow there are very stunted and bushy. 



OTHER SPECIES. 



Red-fronted The whole of the other species of true lemurs are readily 



Lemur. distinguished from the preceding by their uniformly coloured 



tails. The number of nominal species is, however, too large to permit of reference 



to all of them, and the one which we select as the next representative of the genus 



is the red-fronted lemur (L. rufifrons.) 



This lemur may be easily recognised by the two small white stripes running 

 across each side of the rump. The general colour of the fur is grey ; the throat 

 and under-parts being reddish ; the nose and the middle of the forehead black ; 

 while the sides of the nose, the cheeks, and a large spot on either side of the fore- 

 head are white. The tail is blackish, with a reddish tinge at the root. 



The species represented in the accompanying figure (L. mungoz), 

 'was described as far back as the time of Linnseus. It inhabits the 

 western coast of Madagascar ; and may always be known by its black nose and 

 the iron-grey spot on each side of the forehead. The fur, which is of a somewhat 

 woolly nature, is reddish-grey in general colour ; but the face, chin, the middle line 

 of the forehead, and a streak across the crown of the head are black ; while the 



