78 APES AND MONKEYS. 



they are commonly called bj- Anglo-Indians) of Southern India; and its range 

 extends from the WjTiaad southwards to Cape Comorin. 



According to Mr. W. T. Blanford, this langur " is shy and Avarj-, the result of 

 human persecution. It inhabits the sholas, or dense but abruptly limited woods of 

 the Nilgiris, and other high ranges of Southern India, and is also found in the 

 forests on tlie slopes of the hills, usuallj- in small troops of from five to ten indi- 

 \-iduals. It is very noisy, having a loud guttural alarm-cry, used also to express 

 anger, and a long loud call. Jerdon relates that when the sholas of the Xilgiri 

 range were beaten for game, these monke\'s made their way rapidly and with loud 

 cries to the lowest portion, and thence to a neighbouring wood at a lower level. 

 In consequence of the beauty of their skins, and the circumstance that certain 

 castes eat their flesh, these monkeys are more frequently shot than most of the 

 Indian species, hence their shjiiess." 



The Purple-faced Monkey (Semnopitkecus cephalopterus). 



The pui"ple-faced monkey is the representative of this group in the island 

 of Ceylon. It is known to be liable to considerable variations of colour, and 

 at least, in a popular work like the present, we may follow Dr. Andei-son in 

 reirai'diucr the Siu<ralese lanjnii-s kno\\^l as the wliite moukev (S. senex), and the 

 bear monkey {S. nrsinus) as nothing more than well-marked varieties of this 

 species. 



There is a ready means of distinguishing the purple-faced monkey from 

 the Nilgiri langur. In the latter the cheeks are of the same brown colour 

 as the rest of the head, in the former they ai'e always much paler than the crown. 

 Tj-pically this species is of small size, the length of the head and body being 

 only 20 inches, and that of the tail 2-ii inches. The so-called bear monkey is, 

 however, somewhat larger; the length of the head and body being 21, and that of 

 the tail 26 inches. In colour the tjijical pui-ple-faced monkey varies from dusky- 

 to smoky-brown and black, more or less tinged with gi"ey on the back and upper 

 parts, this grey being always present on the haunches. In the head the long 

 whiskere on the cheeks stand out in striking contrast to the brown hue of the 

 rest of the head. Some varieties are more decidedly brown; and in the bear 

 monkey duskj' -brown is the prevalent hue, with complete absence of the grey on 

 the haunches. The white monkey, which we are disposed to regard merely as a 

 variety of this species, is a curious-looking animal, being of a general yellowish- 

 white colour, with a faint brownish tinge on the head, and tending to a dusky hue 

 on the shoulders and do\vn the middle of the back. Tlie face and eai-s i-etain the 

 usual black colour, but the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are flesh- 

 coloured. 



The tj-pical form is found over the gi-eater part of Ceylon at low or moderate 

 elevations, and apparently not ascending above some thiiieen thousand feet above 

 the sea-level. The bear and wliite monkeys are, however, confined to the southern 

 parts of Ceylon, and ascend to much greater elevations ; the foi-mer variety being 

 especially abundant in the high mountains in the neighbourhood of the town of 

 Newera EUia. 



