2o8 
LEMURS. 
Verreaux’s 
Sifaka. 
Crowned Sifaka. 
This and the next species, which are smaller than the last, and 
are those which are known to the natives as the sifakas, are restricted 
to the western and southern coasts of Madagascar. Here they are only found in 
the thick forests which here and there occur among the desolate solitudes of the 
western and southern sides of the island,—regions of sandy plains where fertilising 
rains but seldom occur. 
The fur of P. verreauxi (of which the head is figured on p. 206) is woolly 
and soft to the touch; its colour being typically white with a faint tinge of yellow. 
The summit and hinder part of the head are, however, often of a marone colour, 
and more rarely reddish, while some individuals show more or less marked grey 
tints in various regions of the body. In no case, however, does the brown of the 
head ever extend on to the neck and back, as it does in the diademed species. 
There are two well-marked varieties of this species, one being pure white, with the 
exception of patches of bright red on the arms and thighs. 
A writer relates how he once had for some time two females and their young 
of this species in a cage. “ Nothing was more touching than to see these poor 
mothers holding their young lying in their arms. At the least movement, the 
young sifaka left its mother’s breast and leapt upon her back, where, with its hands 
resting on her shoulders, and its feet buried in her fur, it took so firm a grasp that 
it was impossible to make it leave go; and one could thus readily understand how 
that, whatever leaps the mother might take, the offspring would never be unseated.” 
The last species of the propitheques (P. coronatus ) agrees in size 
with the preceding, to which it is closely allied. It has, indeed, a crest 
of long blackish hairs on the forehead, from which it derives its name; but since a 
similar crest is found in some individuals of Yerreaux’s sifaka, this cannot be taken 
as the ground for specific distinction. Neither can its coloration, peculiar though 
it be, form the distinction, since the difference in this respect from the typical form 
of the latter species is scarcely if at all greater than that occurring between the 
various races included under that heading. 
It is, indeed, mainly from the characters of the skull that the crowned sifaka is 
ranked as a distinct species. Thus the skull is altogether larger than that of the 
preceding species, in addition to which it has a proportionately larger muzzle; while 
there are other distinctive features, into the consideration of which it would be 
beyond the scope of the present work to enter. 
In colour, the forehead, the crown of the head, and the cheeks are blackish- 
brown ; in bold contrast to which stands out the white fur with which the ears are 
covered. The neck and upper parts of the body, as well as the limbs, are of the same 
white colour, having a more or less distinct rosy tinge on the limbs and at the root of 
the tail; this rosy tint being most distinct in the more southern race of this species, 
in which it may extend on to the back. There is a patch of grey or brown, varying 
in size, on the nape of the neck. The tail and hands are invariably pure white. 
This species is restricted to a small area on the north-west coast of Madagascar, 
situated to the north-eastward of Cape St. Andre, and bounded to the east by the 
River Betsiboka, and by the Manzaray River to the west. 
In concluding their notice of these animals, Messrs. Milne - Edwards and 
Grandidier remark how curious it is to find the various races and species so 
