Apes, Monkeys, and Lemurs 



29 



the Woolly Inpri, and the ]]lack Indhi all belong 

 to this group. The Sifakas, as some of these and the 

 allied forms are called, are venerated hy the jMala- 

 gasys, wlio never kill one intentionally. jMr. Foster 

 observes that " they live in companies of six or eight, 

 and are very gentle and inoffensive animals, wearing 

 a very melancholy expression, and licing as a rule 

 morose, inactive, and more silent than the other 

 lemurs. They rarely live long in captivity. In 

 their native state they are most alert in the morning 

 and evening, as during the day they conceal them- 

 selves under the foliage of trees. When asleep 

 or in repose, the head is dropped on the chest 

 and buried between the arms, the tail rolled up on 

 itself and disposed between the hind legs. The 

 sifakas live exclusively on vegetable substances, fruits, 

 leaves, and flowers, their diet not being varied, as 



in the 



Photo l„j L. M III I / / -> J {!;orth Finddey. 



pr \i K I t Ml k 



FonnJ on the coast of Afadagascar. 



Photo by L. Mcdland, F.Z.S., North Finchley. 



COQUEEEL'S LEMUR. 



A lemur which strongly objects to being awakened in the 



daytime. 



arms and tail round the very 

 slender waist of the lemur, and 

 pushes out its sliarp little face 

 just above the thigh of the 

 mother. The Woolly Ixdri has 

 more woolly fur than the others of 

 its tribe, a sliorter nose, and a 

 longer tail. 



other lemurs, liy small birds, eggs, or insects. 

 Their life is almost entirely arboreal, for which 

 the muscles of tlieir hands and feet, as well as 

 the parachute-like folds between their arms and 

 liodies, and their peculiar liooked fingers, are well 

 fitted. The young one is carried by tlie mother 

 on its back, its hantls grasping her armpits 

 tightly." 



This is not tlie uni\'ersal way of carrying the 

 young among lemurs. The Crowned Leml'h, a 

 beautiful grey-and-white species, often breeds at 

 the Zoo. Tiie female carries its young one 

 partly on its side. The infant clings tightly with 



The True Lemurs 



Of these there are several 

 species, all confined to ^lada- 

 gascar and the Comoro Islands. 

 One of the best known is the Klng- 

 TAILED Le.mur, mentioned above. 

 It is called Lemur Catta, the Cat 

 Lemur, from being so often kept 

 in domestication. The Weasel 



RUFFED LEMUR. 

 Another of the nocturnal lemurs. It lives mainly on fruit and i 



