FLOJ^A AND FAUNA 
45 
slept all day long with great perseverance, and only 
became active at the beginning of twilight; their shrill 
cry is like that of a shrew-mouse. 
The most peculiar of all the lemuridse of Madagascar 
is the A ye-Aye or finger-beast [Chewoinys madagasca- 
riensis). This was brought to Europe in the last century 
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta). 
(1781) by Sonnerat, and his specimen, which is still pre¬ 
served in the museum of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, 
was the only one known in Europe down to the year 1840. 
The animal was then believed to be extinct, but since that 
time it has several times come to Europe alive, and it 
may be met with rather frequently on the east coast, 
the Malagasy now and then bringing specimens to Tama- 
