MAMMALS 11 



According to Mr. Ridley 1 this species goes about in 

 groups consisting of two or more adult males, some 

 younger males and several females; these family groups 

 are very jealous, and a new member is not admitted 

 without a severe fight. "The leading monkey having 

 established his position, takes his food first, and has his 

 selection of the females first. The other males he drives 

 away should they presume to attempt to usurp his rights. 

 In processions from one place to the other he always 

 comes last, but if one of the younger monkeys gets into 

 a dangerous position or is attacked he always runs to 

 its rescue, and drives off the enemy, and the other big 

 males often assist him if necessary. The wild monkeys 

 always sleep in particular trees, those with bare branches 

 and very lofty, and towards evening they may be seen 

 slowly moving along, stopping here and there to eat, 

 till they reach the sleeping place about sundown, they 

 then settle down for the night, sitting usually in pairs 

 or singly on the bare boughs. The same tree is occupied 

 every evening for weeks at a time, and whereever they 

 are in the evening they make for the same spot. They 

 never sleep in a bushy tree, probably for fear of being 

 surprised at night by snakes. Young monkeys are 

 always born in the early hours of the morning before 

 daylight, as almost if not all mammals are, and are born 

 in the boughs, or if in a cage on the perch ; never I 

 believe on the ground. In cases of difficult parturition 

 at least, the other females act as accoucheuses, with 

 sometimes disastrous results to the baby. . . . The K'ra 

 breeds very easily in captivity, the females producing one 

 at a time about once a year. The young one when born 

 has black hair which gets lighter colored with age." 

 1 Journ. Roy. As. Soc. S. Br., No. 46 (1906), p. 142. 



