GIBBONS. 



4" 



gymnastics. While most of the gibbons onh- 

 scream and express their fear, excitement, or 

 anger in that way, the siamang is said actuallv 

 to sing and in fact to ascend the chromatic 

 scale through a whole octave; and of the 

 hoolock it is recorded, that it has a pleasant 

 melodious voice, although the .sounds that 

 it emits cannot exactly be called singing. 

 That older individuals when caught be- 

 have violently, biting and scratching, and 

 that mothers, who are generally timid, 

 defend their young even at the sacrifice 

 of their own lives, are too common phe- 

 nomena to call for an)' special remark. 



The Hoolock [Hyiodaics IcuiisiUS {/loo- 

 lock)), of which an illustration is given, 

 fig. I, is perfectly black with the excep- 

 tion of a white fillet on the forehead, and 

 even its teeth are dark coloured. It is a 

 harmless creature, which prefers figs to 

 any other kind of food, and is fond of 

 roaming about in bamboo jungles. It 

 has no throat-pouch, but has a loud 

 voice. Unfortunately it does not \\\q 

 long in captivity, since it is accustomed 

 to the moisture and heat of the low- 

 lying parts of Bengal and the Eastern 

 Peninsula. 



A contributor to Laud and Water (June 19, 

 1869) g"i\'es the following interesting account 

 of two hoolocks which he had kept while 

 resident in the north-east of India: — 



" I was luck}- enough to purchase a verv 

 young hoolock, which the one in my possession 

 [an adult female] immediateh- adopted, and on 

 the appearance of an}- danger it called it to 

 itself, opened its arms to receive it, and springing 

 with it into the nearest tree placed it in safet\'. 

 One da\- a servant brought to me a large snake 



esting manner, ran after it, and dragged it about 

 b\- its arms and legs, pinched it and pulled its ears, 

 and the two would tumble heels over head on the 

 grass together like two school-boys. 



The }-oung one was unfortunatel}- strangled in 

 a tree bv a string \\hich was round its neck, and 

 the grief of its foster-mother was quite heart-rend- 

 ing. She examined it carefull}-, raised its lifeless 

 hands with her own, and dropped them in deep 



Fi^ I — Fhe Hooloik(//i/</7/ii/,/;</ii//t) - o 



despair. Again and again did she repeat the 

 action, and on the removal of the body from her 

 sight she sat disconsolatel}' in the verandah, resting 



which he had killed, the sight of which caused j her head on her hand, and ne\er tasted food for 



the hoolock intense emotion. It called the }'oung 



one to its arms, sprang up a ladder which was near 



at hand, and commenced a series of short howls, 



arching its e}-ebrows, and apparentl}- calling the 



attention of the }-oung one to the dangerous enem}- 



in its vicinit}'. It refused to descend as long as the 



snake was in sight. 



It pla}-ed with the }'oung one in the most inter- 



the remainder of the da\-. During- the next morn- 

 ing she searched all the trees in the neighbourhood, 

 and crept in and out of the house in a dejected 

 manner, but in the e\'ening she ate food and 

 returned to the ordinar}- pursuits of apish life." 



The same writer states on the authority of M. 

 Barbe, a Roman Catholic priest whose general 

 accurac\- is asserted to be well vouched for, that 



