Part 18

HABITS.--Gregarious and diurnal, feeding on fruits, insects, and small animals.

IV. SCLATER'S LEMUR. LEMUR NIGERRIMUS.

Lemur nigerrimus, Scl., P. Z. S., 1880, p. 451, figs. 1 and 2; Milne-Edw. et Grandid., H. N. Madag., Mamm., pls. 154, 155 (1890).

Lemur macaco (nec L.), Scl., P. Z. S., 1878, p. 1016.

Prosimia rufipes, Gray, Ann. N. H., 1871, p. 339 (female).

CHARACTERS.--Face covered with short hair; ears nude and without tufts; nose-pad and lower lips nude. Similar to L. macaco, but larger and more intensely black, with a raised crest of upstanding hair on the head, formed by the longer fur of the body terminating arcuately on the forehead. External ears pinkish flesh-colour. Eyes blue, turning to green. Length, 16 inches; tail, 20 inches.

{74}FEMALE.--(Prosimia rufipes of Gray) Brown; eyes brownish-yellow.

DISTRIBUTION.--Cap d'Ambra, N. Madagascar.

Nothing is known of the habits of this species.

V. THE WHITE-HANDED LEMUR. LEMUR ALBIMANUS.

Le Maki aux pieds blancs, Audebert, H. N. Singes, p. 10, pl. 1 (1797: male).

Lemur albimanus, Is. Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., pp. 161-169 (1812); Milne-Edw. et Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., Atlas, pls. 156, 157, 162-164, 165, figs, 1 and 2 (1890).

Lemur mongoz (nec L.), Schl., Mus. Pays. Bas., vii., p. 312 (1876, pt.).

CHARACTERS.--Nose sharp and Dog-like; eyes oblique; ears, except the central portion, haired.

MALE.--Face, anterior to a line over the forehead, cheeks, snout (except a greyish wash on its sides and the upper lip) umber-brown; rest of head, neck, down to the middle of the back, and fore-limbs, grey; margins of ears, chin, and under surface of body white; rest of back and hind-limbs umber-brown; tail darker, except for a short distance at the base; upper surface of hands and feet grey. The nose varies in different species in the amount of grey colouring, and the forehead and face in depth of brown. Some specimens also have an arcuate black band over the forehead from one outer corner of the eye to the other.

FEMALE.--Greyish-black; nose grey; rest of face washed with brick-red, deeper on the forehead, cheeks, ears, and sides of neck, fainter in tint on the upper back; lower back and tail darker, except at the base, where it is washed with reddish-yellow. Hands and feet greyish-white. The colour of the face varies much in different specimens, being deeper or lighter rufous. {75}The arcuate band from the corners of the eyes over the forehead varies in breadth and depth of colour.

DISTRIBUTION.--Madagascar; the precise locality unknown.

VI. THE CROWNED LEMUR. LEMUR CORONATUS.

Lemur coronatus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. Hist., x., p. 257 (1842); Schl., Mus. Pays. Bas., vii., p. 313 (1876); Milne-Edwards et Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., Atlas, pls. 158-161, 165, 166.

Lemur chrysampyx, Scheurm. Mém. Cour. Acad. Brux., xxii., p. 6 (1848 = female).

Prosimia coronata, Gray, P. Z. S., 1863, p. 138.

CHARACTERS.--Tips of ears naked; tail a little more than the length of the body.

MALE.--Face, nose, and region round the eyes greyish-white; cheeks and forehead rufous or yellowish-red; a conical spot in the centre of the head between the eyes, dark brown or black, intruding sometimes on the rufous of the forehead; ears white; inner side of limbs and under side of body greyish-white; tail rufous at base, the upper side blackish, and the under side lighter; rest of body sienna-grey.

FEMALE.--Upper side entirely grey, washed with yellowish cream-colour on the middle and lower part of the back, and on the upper side of the tail; long black hairs present in the tail; the under side entirely silvery-grey; fur at base black, the tips grey or silvery; instead of the black spot on the forehead there is a golden yellow-hooped, or widely V-shaped, bar above the eyes, narrower in the centre over the nose.

Albino specimens are sometimes found, which are entirely white, except for the golden bar over the eyes.

{76}VII. THE RED-BELLIED LEMUR. LEMUR RUBRIVENTER.

Lemur rubriventer, Is. Geoffr., C. R., xxxi., p. 876 (1850); Schl., Mus. Pays. Bas., vii., p. 311 (1876); Milne-Edw. & Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., Atlas, ii., pls. 167-170 (1890).

Lemur flaviventer, Is. Geoffr., tom. cit., p. 876 (1850).