LEMUR 131 



enable the animals to grasp the branch of a tree with great tenacity. In 

 size they are about equal to the house cat, and their fur is thick, some- 

 times woolly in texture. Not very much is known of their habits in 

 the wild state, but they are not so strictly nocturnal as the species of the 

 other genera of the family, and are seen during the day as well as at 

 night seeking food. They are only found in the Island of Madagascar 

 and the adjacent Comorin Islands. They go in troupes, sometimes of 

 many individuals, are very noisy and live in the forest, one species only, 

 L. catta, frequenting rocky places destitute of trees. They are very 

 agile and their movements are made with great rapidity. Their usual 

 note is a kind of low grunt, but they often utter loud cries. Fruits of 

 various kinds, and insects, bird's eggs and birds themselves, when they 

 can catch them, furnish their principal means of subsistence. During 

 the heat of the day they sleep, the head placed beneath the arms and the 

 tail coiled about the neck. They walk on the hands and feet, both when 

 on the ground or amid the trees, the tail usually carried high up. Great 

 confusion has existed in the many published articles on the species, 

 mainly from a lack of sufficient material by which a correct judgment 

 could be obtained. Much variability occurs in the coloration, individuals 

 of the same species differing greatly in this respect, and in not a few 

 instances the female has been described as a species distinct from the 

 male. In some cases there is wonderful difference in color between the 

 sexes, and in such cases it is not to be wondered at that the female 

 should have been considered as representing a species, the male of 

 which had not at that time been obtained. To rectify the synonymy 

 given by different writers is no easy task, as they have not always been 

 in accord as to the name of different species, and much confusion has 

 been created by bestowing various names upon the same species. De j 

 scriptions of these animals by the earlier writers were often so meagre 

 and insufficient that it was difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain what 

 one was intended, and the task was made no easier by the disappear- 

 ance of the type from the collection of the Institution in which it was 

 originally deposited. But after an examination of all the types now 

 existing, and a careful study of the collections of these animals in the 

 Museums of the World, the conclusions given in the articles on the 

 various species, deemed worthy of recognition, have been reached. 



LITERATURE OF THE SPECIES. 



1758. Linnceus, Sy sterna Naturce. 



Three species are included in Lemur, only one of which belongs 



