Part 6 (1/2)

_GENUS NYCTICEBUS_.

NO. 28. NYCTICEBUS TARDIGRADUS.

_The Slow-paced Lemur_ (_Jerdon's No. 10_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Sharmindi billi_, Hindi.

HABITAT.--Eastern Bengal, a.s.sam, Garo Hills, Sylhet, Arracan.--_Horsfield_.

[Figure: _Loris gracilis_ and _Nycticebus tardigradus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Dark ashy grey, with a darker band down middle of back, beneath lighter grey; forehead in some dark, with a narrow white stripe between the eyes, disappearing above them; ears and round the eye dark; tail very short.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Length about 14 to 15 inches; tail 5/8 of an inch.

Nocturnal in its habits; sleeping during the day in holes of trees, and coming out to feed at night. Sir William Jones describes one kept by him for some time; it appeared to have been gentle, though at times petulant when disturbed; susceptible of cold; slept from sunrise to sunset rolled up like a hedgehog. Its food was chiefly plantains, and mangoes when in season. Peaches, mulberries, and guavas, it did not so much care for, but it was most eager after gra.s.shoppers, which it devoured voraciously. It was very particular in the performance of its toilet, cleaning and licking its fur. Cuvier also notices this last peculiarity, and with regard to its diet says it eats small birds as well as insects. These animals are occasionally to be bought in the Calcutta market. A friend of mine had a pair which were a source of great amus.e.m.e.nt to his guests after dinner. (See Appendix C, p.526.)

_GENUS LORIS_.

Body and limbs slender; no tail; eyes very large, almost contiguous; nose acute.

NO. 29. LORIS GRACILIS.

_The Slender Lemur_ (_Jerdon's No. 11_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Tevangar_, Tamil; _Dewantsipilli_, Telegu. (_Oona happslava_, Singhalese.--_Kellaart_.)

HABITAT.--Southern India and Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Above greyish rufescent (tawny snuff brown: Kellaart); beneath a paler shade; a white triangular spot on forehead, extending down the nose; fur short, dense, and soft; ears thin, rounded (Jerdon). A hooped claw on inner toes; nails of other toes flat; posterior third of palms and soles hairy (Kellaart).

SIZE.--About 8 inches; arm, 5; leg, 5-1/2.

This, like the last, is also nocturnal in its habits, and from the extreme slowness of its movements is called in Ceylon ”the Ceylon sloth.” Its diet is varied--fruit, flower, and leaf buds, insects, eggs, and young birds. Sir Emerson Tennent says the Singhalese a.s.sert that it has been known to strangle pea-fowl at night and feast on the brain, but this I doubt. Smaller birds it might overcome. Jerdon states that in confinement it will eat boiled rice, plantains, honey or syrup and raw meat. McMaster, at page 6 of his 'Notes on Jerdon,'

gives an interesting extract from an old account of 'Dr. John Fryer's Voyage to East India and Bombain,' in which he describes this little animal as ”Men of the Woods, or more truly Satyrs;” asleep during the day; but at ”Night they Sport and Eat.” ”They had Heads like an owl. Bodied like a monkey without Tails. Only the first finger of the Right Hand was armed with a claw like a bird, otherwise they had hands and feet which they walk upright on, not p.r.o.nely, as other Beasts do.”

These little creatures double themselves up when they sleep, bending the head down between their legs. Although so sluggish generally, Jerdon says they can move with considerable agility when they choose.

SUB-ORDER PLEUROPTERA.--FAMILY GALAEOPITHECIDAE.

There is a curious link between the Lemurs and the Bats in the Colugos.

(_Galaeopithecus_): their limbs are connected with a membrane as in the Flying Squirrels, by which they can leap and float for a hundred yards on an inclined plane. They are mild, inoffensive animals, subsisting on fruits and leaves. Cuvier places them after the Bats, but they seem properly to link the Lemurs and the frugivorous Bats.

As yet they have not been found in India proper, but are common in the Malayan Peninsula, and have been found in Burmah.

NO. 30. GALAEOPITHECUS VOLANS.

_The Flying Lemur_.