io8 



THE AVAHI, OR INDRI. 



vegetable food, preferring, however, the former. Living animals best please its taste, 

 and the greatest dainty that can be offered to the creature is a small bird, which it in- 

 stantly kills, plucks, and eats entirely, the bones included. Eggs are a favorite food 

 with it, as are insects. It will take butcher's meat, if raw, but will not touch it if cooked 

 in any way. Of vegetable substances, sugar appears to take its fancy the most, but it 

 will eat fruits of various kinds, such as oranges and plantains, and has been known to 

 suck gum arabic. 



Another curious inhabitant of Madagascar is the INDRI, or AVAHI, a creature that has 

 sometimes been considered as one of the lemurs, and placed among them by systematic 

 naturalists. From the curled and woolly hair with which the body is covered it derives 

 its name of " Laniger," or Wool-bearer. Just over the loins, and partly down the flanks, 

 the soft wool-like hair takes a firmer curl than is found to be the case in any other part 

 of the body or limbs. It is but a small animal, the length of its head and body being 

 only a foot, and its tail nine inches. The general color of the fur is a lightish brown, 

 with a white stripe on the back of the thigh, and a tinge of chestnut in the tail. In 



some individuals a rusty red, mingle with 

 a yellow hue, takes the place of the 

 brown ; and in all the under parts are 

 lighter than the upper. Its face is black, 

 and the eyes are gray, with a greenish 

 light playing through their large orbs. 



The name Indri is a native word, signi- 

 fying, it is said, " man of the woods." Its 

 voice is not very powerful, but can be 

 heard at some distance. It is of a mel- 

 ancholy, wailing character, and has been 

 likened to the cry of a child. 



The LITTLE GALAGO, which is repre- 

 sented in the lower figure of the accom- 

 panying engraving, is sometimes called 

 by the name of the Madagascar Rat, on 

 account of its rat-like form, and the color 

 of the fur. It is about the size of a small 

 rat, and, as may be seen by a reference to 

 the engraving, might easily be mistaken 

 for one of those animals by a non-zoolo- 

 gist. The tint of its fur is a very light 

 mouse-color. 



The ears of the Galago are large, and, 

 during the life of the animal, are nearly 

 transparent. The eyes are very large, 

 and of that peculiar lustre which is always seen in the nocturnal animals. It is a native 

 of Madagascar. 



The MOHOLI GALAGO is a larger animal than the preceding, being nearly sixteen in- 

 ches in length, inclusive of the tail. Its color is gray, with irregular markings of a deeper 

 hue. The under parts of the body are nearly white, and the limbs are slightly tinged 

 with a golden lustre. The tail is not very bushy, excepting at the extremity, and its 

 color is a chestnut brown. The texture of the fur is very soft, and there is a slight 

 woolliness in its setting. 



Nocturnal in habits, it sleeps during the day, with its large ears folded over the head 

 in such a manner as to give it the aspect of an earless animal. More active than the 

 loris, the Moholi does not secure its prey by stealing on it with slow and silent movements, 

 but leaps upon the flying insects on which it loves to feed, and seizes them in its 

 slender paws. Besides insects, various fruits form part of the Moholi's food, more 

 especially such as are of a pulpy nature, and it is said that the Moholi eats that vegetable 

 exudation which is known by the name of Gum- Senegal. Its diurnal repose is taken in 

 the curious nest which it builds in the forked branches of trees, using grass, leaves, and 



AVAHI, OR INDRI. -Indrls Laniger. 



