1851.] species of Birds inhabiting Ceylon. 155 



have had the albescent hue of the croup strongly contrasting, much 

 more so than in Pr. Johnii of the Nilgiris, and the head generally 

 brown as in the latter species, contrasting (though less so than in Pr. 

 Johnii) with the black of the body (vide J. A. S. XVI, 1271). 

 Should it be deemed worthy of a name, it might be designated Pr. 

 ursinus.* Other species nearly affined in all but colour to Pr. 

 cephalopterus, are Pr. pileatus, nobis, from the Tippera, Sylhet, 

 and Khasya hills, and Pr. maurus, (L.), from Java. In fact, most 

 of the black and rufous species of Presbytis are very closely affined, 

 and several that are undoubtedly distinct are only separable apart by 

 what might be considered trivial and insufficient distinctions. Another 

 quadrumanous inhabitant of Ceylon is the Stenops gracilis, which 

 is also found on the Coromandel coast. 



Cheiroptera. — The two common frugivorous Bats of India gene- 

 rally, Pteropus edulis (vel Edwardii, &c), and Cynopterus 

 marginatus, are equally abundant in Ceylon. Dr. Kelaart sends a 

 third, which is probably Pt. Leschenaultii, Dumeril, though not 

 completely according with the descriptions. This small Roussette (or 

 * Flying Fox') measures about 6 in. from muzzle to tail-tip, the tail 

 being about f in., and having its basal third invested by the interfe- 

 moral membrane. Expanse 19 or 20 in. Head If in. Ears f in. 

 Radius 3 in. Tibia 1^ in. Foot with claws 1 in. Upper-parts very 

 thinly covered with short downy fur, of a dull brown colour ; lower- 

 parts rather more densely covered with much paler brown fur. A 

 specimen procured by Mr. Elliot somewhere on the Coromandel coast 



* " At Newera Elia, and scattered over the colder parts of the island, is a species 

 of very large Monkey of a dark colour : some of those I saw were much bigger 

 than the Wandura ; and one that passed some distance before me, when resting on 

 all four feet, looked so like a Ceylon Bear" (Ursus labiatus), ** that I nearly took 

 him for one." Forbes's ' Eleven Years in Ceylon,' II, 144. In a letter recently 

 received from Dr. Kelaart, he remarks that he has now several specimens of this 

 Monkey, one procured within 20 miles of Kandy. " Not one of them has the grey 

 croup of Pr. cephalopterus, and the hairs of the hands and feet are, in all, jet 

 black. The ferruginous tinge of the hairs of the head and the grey of the occipital 

 are present in all. The arms, too, are shorter than in Pr. cephalopterus of the 

 low country. So that we may now consider this animal as distinct and confined to 

 the mountainous regions of Ceylon — only in the Newera Elia specimens, the fur is 

 longer and the tail more albescent." 



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