Chapter VII: The Nilgiri Langur. Semnopithecus Johni

_Simia johnii_, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., i., p. 25 (1829).

_Semnopithecus cucullatus_, Is. Geoffr. in Bélang. Voy. Zool., pp. 38,
72, pl. i. (1834); Wagner in Schreber Säugeth. Suppl., i., p. 98 (1846);
Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870).

_Semnopithecus johnii_, Waterh., Cat. Mamm. Mus. Zool. Soc., p. 5 (1838);
Anderson, Res. Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 21 (1878; with synonymy);
Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 33 (1891); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas,
vii., p. 50 (1876).

_Semnopithecus jubatus_, Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl., i., p. 305
(1840); Horsf., Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co. Mus., p. 14 (1851).

_Semnopithecus cephalopterus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii., p. 469
(1844; in part).

_Presbytis johnii_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., pp. 734, 1272 (1847).

_Presbytis cucullatus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xxviii., p. 283 (1859);
id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 14 (1863).

_Presbytis jubatus_, Jerd., Mamm. India, p. 7 (1867).

{112}CHARACTERS.--Hair long and glossy, entirely black or brownish-black; hairs of crown and sides of head very long, not radiating, yellowish-brown; lower back and root of tail grey. Length of body, 26 inches; of tail, 30 inches; a very large individual measured, body, 29 inches; tail, 37. (_Hornaday._)

Nearly allied to the next species (_S. cephalopterus_) of Ceylon, and _S. obscurus_, which inhabits the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal.

FEMALE.--With a yellowish-white patch inside each thigh. (_Davison._)

DISTRIBUTION.--In the thick, sharply circumscribed woods of the Nilgiri hills, south to Cape Comorin, above 2,500 feet.

HABITS.--This species lives in small troops of ten to twelve individuals, and is remarkable for the extraordinary leaps it can make. "It is shy and wary, the result," as Dr. Blanford states, "of human persecution. It is very noisy, having a loud guttural alarm cry, used also to express anger, and a long loud call." Jerdon relates "that when the sholas of the Nilgiri range were beaten for game, these Monkeys made their way rapidly, and with loud cries, to the lowest portion, and thence to a neighbouring wood at a lower level. In consequence of the beauty of their skins, and the circumstance that certain castes eat their flesh, these Monkeys are more frequently shot than most of the Indian species: hence their shyness."