RECENTLY LIVING IN THE GARDENS. 357 



Tliei^e ave two points iu H. agilis worth mentioning which are 

 well shown in the female now living :■ — 



(1) Tlie tongue is of a dark bluish purple, the colour when 

 first seen suggesting that the organ liad been very sevei'ely bruised 

 and that there was much extravas;ited blood in it ; the absence 

 of any swelling, however, soon showed it to be quite normal. In. 

 the other species (i^T. hainamts, H. leuciscus, and H. lai') the tongue 

 is, as one would expect in a genus so near to Man, of a pale reddish 

 colour, as is also tlie case in Symjyhalangus syndactylas. 



There is considerable resemblance between young specimens of 

 H. agilis and H. leuciscus, and consequently this dark bluish- 

 purple tongue of //. agilis should be of value in distinguishing the 

 species from H. leuciscus, in which, as already mentioned, the 

 tongue is pale red. So far as I can discover, this peculiarly 

 coloured tongue of H. agilis has not been previously noted. 



(2) In addition to the common chatter of excitement and 

 laugh which all species of Hylohates make, H. agilis has a loud cry, 

 quite distinct from the " hoo hoo hoc " &c. of H. hainanus and the 

 " hah hoo hali hoo " (fee. of H. hoolock (see Pocock on M. hainanus, 

 P. Z. S. 1905, vol. ii. p. 176), and I have not as yet heard either 

 M. lar or H. leuciscus utter a similar sound. This peculiar cry of 

 a. agilis is best described by a word " whopp," and is shouted 

 out, the mouth being wide open and the throat conspicuously 

 dilated. It is only uttered once and then silence ensues for 

 about thirty seconds, then another " whopp," then a period of 

 silence, then another " whopp," and so on. Usually tliis cry 

 continues for about ten minutes, but a few times I have heard 

 it continued for over an hour ; and very occasionally the " whopp " 

 is prolonged into a long loud screech lasting a minute or longer, 

 the mouth being kept wide open the whole length of the screech 

 and the throat dilated. I have never heard it uttered when 

 playing or quarrelling with the II. hainanus (both species utter 

 the common chatter at these times), but only v.rhen the H. agilis 

 is swinging by itself. It is also a quite different sound from 

 anything uttered by S. syndactylies. 



The voice of Symphalangus syndactylus is remarkable for the 

 variety of cries, which follow rapidly one after another, and at 

 least five sounds can be distinguished, with all of which the 

 gular bag dilates. Anyone with their eyes shut would certainly 

 think there was more than one animal in the cage. These cries 

 are : — 



(1) The usual and loudest, best described by the words "woe, 

 woe, woe," &c., repeated rapidly and for a variable number of 

 times, sometimes forty or fifty. Judging from the deafening noise 

 the animal made with the '' woe woe" &c. on the first occasion I 

 heard it, I should think it could be heard much further ofi" than 

 an adult II. hoolock, but unless one hears two adults shouting 

 against one another, it is very difiicult indeed to be certain which 

 of the two has the louder cry. 



(2) A gurgling noise, best described by the word " moo," drawn 

 Pkoc. Zool.W.— 1911, No. XXI Y. " 24 



