Part 24

YOUNG.--Similar in colour to the adults, but lighter; the frontal band yellow, not white; limbs light yellow.

VARIETIES.--Several varieties of this species--the "Simpona" of the natives--have been described, of which the following deserve special notice:--

THE SILKY SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS SERICEUS.

Face black, with flesh-coloured spots; the body entirely white, faintly washed with yellow; the base of the tail washed with rust-red. It is of the same size as the type-form, and appears to be only an albino variety. Specimens showing every gradation in coloration between that of the type and the absolute albino are now well known. This form, however, is more or less restricted to the narrow belts of forest on the eastern side of the mountains in the north-east of Madagascar, between the rivers Lokoi and Bemarivo, a region conterminous with that inhabited by the typical species.

MILNE-EDWARDS' SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS EDWARDSI.

Differs from the true P. diadema in having the face slightly haired between the eyes and on the chin; a patch on each flank rufous-white or orange-yellow, separated by a reddish-black band; a spot at the root of the tail bright rusty-red, and all the rest of body black, washed slightly with rufous. The young are like the parents. This form is also of the {100}same size as the type, but is a melanistic variety, for a series of specimens show every intermediate shade between that here described and the BLACK SIFAKA (P. holomelas), which is of an entirely black colour, and inhabits, as has been shown by MM. Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, the same region as P. edwardsi.

DISTRIBUTION.--The typical form of the species is confined to the extended region on the east coast of Madagascar lying between the Bay of Antongil on the north, and the River Masora in the south, in the forest-belts on the eastern aspect of the mountains, where rain falls abundantly and the whole region is covered with luxuriant vegetation. Its melanistic variety (P. edwardsi) extends south from the Masora as far as the Faraouny river, but it ranges to higher and colder altitudes on the mountains; while its albinistic variety (P. sericeus) lives in the somewhat warmer region to the north of Antongil Bay, each being, to south and north respectively, conterminous with the central habitat of the typical form.

II. VERREAUX'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS VERREAUXI.

Propithecus verreauxi, Grandid., Album de l'île de la Réunion, iv., pp. 153-162, pls. 1, 2 (1867); Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 305 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pls. 4, 6, 8.

CHARACTERS.--Fur short and woolly; face entirely naked; head longer than broad; a well-marked swelling of the skull between the eyes; the upper incisors sub-equal. Smaller and more robust than P. diadema, the head longer, the hair on the limbs shorter, the tail longer.

{101}Body yellowish-white; a spot on the top of the head dark brown, sometimes washed with rufous, separated from the face by a white frontal bar. Face black; eyes brownish-yellow; interior of ears black, and naked; a grey patch on the middle of the back; outer aspect of the fore-arms, and hind-legs, ashy-grey; rest of the body white. Hands and feet white. Tail yellowish-white. Length of body, 18 inches; of tail, 22 inches.

YOUNG.--Entirely white, with a dark brown spot on the head; the under surface of the body washed with rufous.

VARIETIES.--Two well-marked varieties of this species are known, both of which were for many years considered to be distinct species. Continued exploration has, however, now resulted in the accumulation in various museums of a large amount of material from many localities, and this proves that the two forms really belong to but one species.

VON DER DECKEN'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS DECKENI.

Differs from the true P. verreauxi in having the face and ears black, and the body otherwise entirely grey, or white, washed more or less with yellow (sometimes rufous on the limbs); or of an ashy-grey colour on the loins, neck, and outer aspect of the limbs; the under side bright rufous; chest and inner sides of the limbs rusty-white, with a fulvous spot at the base of the tail. Specimens from the forests of the interior have a grey spot on the back of the neck expanding into a collar, which is absent in those from the coast. An albino variety comes, so far as is at present known, only from the wooded belts on the extensive plains between the rivers Manambolo and Manjaray, on the west coast.

{102}COQUEREL'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS COQUERELI.

(Plate XI.)

Has the face naked and black, but the centre of the nose white; the ears showing as black points amid the white hair; head and back of neck white, slightly washed with yellow; outer side of arm and fore-arm dark maroon-red, the lower border fringed with long white hair; a maroon patch on the upper and outer surface of the thighs, lighter on the chest and central part of the belly. Loins dark rusty-grey; hands white; tail rusty-grey.

DISTRIBUTION.--Verreaux's Sifaka, with its two varieties, is confined to the small thin woods on the sandy and almost rain-less plains along the western and southern coasts of Madagascar. The type-form is found, alone, and unassociated, in the extensive plains of Mesozoic geological formation--between the southern base of the eastern range of mountains and the River Tsidsubon, which flows into the sea on the west coast. Von der Decken's Sifaka inhabits the middle of the west coast, while Coquerel's Sifaka has its home further to the north. It occupies the area between the south side of Narendry Bay and the north side of Bembatoka Bay, the Betsiboka River being its extreme southern limit.

Though first observed by Flacourt, and described by him in 1661, Verreaux's Sifaka remained practically unknown from that time till re-discovered by M. Grandidier in 1867.

III. THE CROWNED SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS CORONATUS.

Propithecus coronatus, Milne-Edwards, Rev. Scient., 1871, p. 224; id. et Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 316 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pl. 7.

PLATE XI.

{103}CHARACTERS.--Muzzle very broad and naked; nose-pad wide; inside of ears naked. Face, top of head, sides of neck, and throat, deep brownish-black; muzzle black; a band across the temples, and a streak down the nose, white. Ears black inside, fringed externally with white; neck and upper surface white, washed with rust-colour on the limbs and root of the tail. Tail, hands, and feet, pure white. Under side rich orange-red, darker across the chest; inside of limbs white, washed with rufous. Of the same size as P. verreauxi.

Cranium larger in all its parts than in other species. Nasal bones elongated beyond the incisor teeth; nose very flat, this being due to the large air-cavity (called false nose) in the jaw-bone below, connected with the nose. The length and breadth of the muzzle gives a peculiar expression to the face of P. coronatus.

This species, like the preceding, is subject to considerable variation.

The whole head is sometimes grey, washed with rufous; the upper surface and root of the tail white, flushed with rust-colour.

In examples living further in the interior than the habitat of the type (Bay of Bembatoka), the back is more rufous, the neck has a large grey or brown patch, and the chest is very dark brownish rust-colour. The abdomen and the inner sides of the limbs are bright red.