10 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



one in the zoological collection at the Botanic Gardens 

 in Singapore, that it would put one hind-leg over its 

 neck and beat it on the ground, pretending that it could 

 not get it back again to the normal position. Another, 

 that I kept in captivity for many months, would stand 

 on one leg, seize this leg just above the knee with both 

 hands and the disengaged foot, and then bend the body 

 up and down, "mopping and mowing" all the time 

 like an old witch. 



The Crab-eating Macaque, M. cynomolgus, is un- 

 doubtedly the commonest monkey in Borneo ; it is 

 smaller, noisier, and more active than the Brok, and 

 has a long tail. The native name, Kra, is onomatopoeic, 

 and represents fairly well the grating cry that the 

 monkey utters when alarmed or defiant. This species 

 has, as a matter of fact, quite an extensive vocabulary, 

 including a shrill squeal of terror, a querulous sort of 

 sound really indicative of pleasure, a smacking of the 

 lips also showing pleasure, and a grunt of anger. Mr. 

 Ridley asserts that it is actually possible to distinguish 

 between the alarm note of this monkey for a tiger and 

 that for a man. 



The trivial English name of the species is derived from 

 its habit of hunting for crabs on river-banks and even 

 on the sea-shore ; I have often seen them so engaged 

 at the mouth of the Sarawak River at low-tide in some 

 numbers hunting for little crabs of the genus Sesarma, 

 and occasionally diving into the water. They fall fre- 

 quently victims to the watchful crocodile. The Crab- 

 eating Macaques are almost omnivorous, and their tastes 

 in insect-food are catholic, as I found when experi- 

 menting on some with the intention of finding out the 

 relative palatability of certain insects. 



