GIBBONS. 
59 
Disposition. 
Habits. 
teeth, which project far beyond the level of the other teeth. The long and narrow 
hands and feet of these animals (shown in Figs. 11-13 of the illustration on p. 15) 
are characterised by the great extent to which the thumb and great toe are 
respectively separated from the other fingers and toes, as well as by the flatness 
of all the nails. In colour, the gibbons vary from black to yellowish-white; this 
variation occurring even in different individuals of the same species. The com¬ 
paratively well-formed nose, as seen in our figure of the white-handed gibbon, 
imparts to their physiognomy an expression far less repulsive and forbidding 
than that which characterises the larger Man-like Apes. 
In disposition the gibbons are gentle and confiding; and when 
captured young they can be readily tamed. Their constitution is, 
however, even more delicate than that of the other Man-like Apes; and consumption 
soon terminates their existence in Europe, even when the greatest care and atten¬ 
tion are bestowed upon them. In the Zoological Gardens at Calcutta, gibbons 
thrive excellently; and one, kept there some twelve years ago, was accustomed to 
make his presence known to people living more than a mile away by the loudness 
of his morning and evening cries. 
All the gibbons are thoroughly arboreal in their habits; and in 
the rapidity of their movements among the trees they offer a marked 
contrast to the more deliberate and somewhat sluggish motions of the orang. So 
rapid and lightning-like are these movements that one species—the hoolock 
—has been observed, when in captivity at Calcutta, to catch birds on the 
wing that had flown into its cage; and there can be but little doubt that 
such habits are natural to these animals in their wild condition, when it is probable 
that birds thus captured constitute an appreciable portion of their food. 
Although several of the species are found in the forests of the plains, the 
hoolock appears to be almost if not exclusively restricted to those of hilly districts. 
In marked contrast to the larger Man-like Apes, most of the gibbons go in large 
flocks or droves, which may comprise from fifty to a hundred, or even more 
individuals; although, as with most gregarious animals, solitary males are 
occasionally observed. The long arms are the chief agents in their active 
movements among the trees; and by their aid the distances they can swing 
from bough to bough, and thus from tree to tree, are of surprising length. 
When going down-hill they travel at an extremely rapid pace, by swinging 
themselves in a downward direction from one bough till they catch another on a 
lower level, and so from that to the next one. 
Although walking rapidly when on the ground, gibbons, as Mr. W. T. Blanford 
tells us, can easily be overtaken by men. The same writer observes that, “ when 
walking on the ground, the hoolock rests on its hind-feet alone, with the sole flat on 
the ground, and the great toe widely separated from the other digits. The arms 
are usually held upwards, sometimes horizontally, their great length (as shown in 
our illustration on p. 58) giving the animal a very peculiar aspect.” 
We have already mentioned the fondness of the hoolock .for small birds, and, 
in addition to this kind of diet, gibbons subsist mainly on various fruits and leaves, 
as well as young and tender shoots; they also feed on insects and spiders, and the 
eggs and callow nestlings of birds. 
