730 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



the course of my zoological studies ; and lastly, but not least, to 

 Messrs. Cecil Kirkpatrick and Lionel Harrington for their kindness 

 in having glanced through these sheets, and for having suggested 

 various helpful alterations in the manuscript, 



Okdee— PRIMATES. 



1. SiMiA KHESUS, Audeb. — The Bengal Monkey. 

 (Blanford No. 3.) 



(Simla=" Bandar " ; Simla Hill States (outer ranges) = " Kailu ". ) 



The following are the measurements of a very large S procured in the 

 neighbourhood of Simla on the 5th September last: — 



Head and body (between pegs) 507 mm. ; tail (without hair) 228 mm. ; 

 hand 108 mm. ; ear 44 mm. 



Skull. From the supraoccipital to the end of premaxillaries 127 mm. ; 

 from the anterior margin of the foramen magnum to end of premaxillaries 

 93 mm. ; zygomatic breadth 90 mm. 



This Monkey is very common at Simla, and occurs in large troups 

 throughout the lesser ranges. In the station here it has become a perfect 

 nuisance, and seems to be increasing enormously of late years. Blanford 

 speaks of the existence of a single colony of these animals on the Jakko 

 Hill (elevation 8,000 feet), but it would have been more correct to say that 

 the hill holds several colonies. 



Its courtship seems to be a prolonged affair, lasting for several days. Love- 

 makings take place throughout August, September and November when 

 numerous pairs may be observed constantly in copula. Between each act of 

 cohabitation a good deal of imaginary lice or flea-picking, tickling of 

 heads, and other domestic reciprocities are indulged in. The young are 

 born about March, April and May. Personally I have never seen more than 

 a single young one clinging to its mother, but have been assured on good 

 authority that twins are occasionally born. 



Some of the young females appear to breed in their third year. 



There are two facts in connection with this Rhesus at Simla which are 

 very noticeable, viz. (a) the enormous sizes to which some of the males 

 attain ; and (b) the long fur, which characterises them all, as compared 

 with the miserable and bedraggled specimens found in the lower hills. 



Regarded as sacred throughout these tracts, its shooting is strictly 

 prohibited. A curious thing that I noticed was that these Monkeys in the 

 more remote parts of the hills here had absolutely no idea of the signiii- 

 cance of a gun ! Another curious fact impressed on my attention is that 

 some of the large males occasionally leave the herds for considerable 

 periods at a time, and live in isolation. They generally take up their 

 quarters near some cultivation, sneak unobserved into the fields in the early 

 mornings, or late in the evenings, and do incredible damage, before they 

 can be discovered or dislodged. These unsociable gentlemen are known 

 to the hillmen as " Kalokurs. " 



I have witnessed several instances of tender devotion to their off- 

 spring in this species, and have great pleasure in putting the following 

 incident on record, if only, as a set-ofl' against their widely chronicled 

 misdeeds. 



During the course of a morning's walk here towards the latter end of 

 May 1911, a small troup of S. rhesus crossed my path, and I noticed 

 one of the females dragging along with her the remains of what appeared 

 to be a young monkey. These relics consisted of a highly decomposed 

 skin, with a few bones protruding out of it. As this proceeding was 



