Chapter XIII: The Cross-Bearing Langur. Semnopithecus Cruciger

_Semnopithecus cruciger_, Thomas, Ann. N. H. (6), x., p. 475 (1892); id.,
P. Z. S., 1893, p. 3; Hose, Mamm. Borneo, P. 15 (1893).

CHARACTERS.--Fur long and soft on the head and shoulders; hairs of the crown standing upright everywhere, but somewhat longer in the median line; crown chestnut; sides of the body from the axillæ, the haunches, and the outer aspect of the legs to the ankles, brilliant red, paler on the lower legs; shoulders and outer side of the fore-limb, the hands, nape, and median dorsal line, deep glossy black, sometimes broken with red and black hairs; eyebrows black; short facial hairs, whiskers, hair of the ears, the sides of the neck, chin, and the whole of the under side of the body, and lines down the inner sides of the limbs, glossy white, washed with yellow; tail at the base above, black, and duller at the tip.

The young are marked like the adults.

DISTRIBUTION.--Borneo; Bakam, in the Baram district of Sarawak, where it was discovered by Mr. Charles Hose. He has since obtained it on the Batang Lupar river, in Western Sarawak.

{122}XIV. THE URSINE LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS URSINUS.

_Presbytis ursinus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xx., pp. 155, 182 (1851);
id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 13 (1863); Kelaart, Prod. Faun.
Zeylan., p. 2 (1852).

_Semnopithecus ursinus_, Anderson, Rep. Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 24
(1878); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind. Mamm., p. 36 (1891).

CHARACTERS.--Very nearly allied to _S. cephalopterus_, but larger; hair on the sides very long. Hair more rufous on the top of the head; the back of the head greyish; the lower back and thighs wanting the grey colour; whiskers, beard, throat, and chest, whitish; beneath, of the same colour as the back.

DISTRIBUTION.--The island of Ceylon, where it is confined to the mountains.

HABITS.--For an account of the habits of this species, we have again recourse to the pages of that delightful historian, Sir E. Tennent:--

"The low-country Wanderoo," he records, "is replaced in the hills by the larger species, _P. ursinus_, which inhabits the mountain zone. The natives, who designate the latter the 'Maha,' or Great Wanderoo, to distinguish it from the 'Kaloo,' or black one, with which they are familiar, describe it as much wilder and more powerful than its congener of the lowland forests. It is rarely seen by Europeans, this portion of the country having, till very recently, been but partially opened; and even now it is difficult to observe its habits, as it seldom approaches the few roads which wind through these deep solitudes. At early morning, ere the day begins to dawn, its loud and peculiar howl, which consists of a quick repetition of the sounds '_How, how!_' may be frequently heard in the {123}mountain jungles, and forms one of the characteristic noises of these lofty situations. It was first captured by Dr. Kelaart in the woods near Nuera-ellia, and from its peculiar appearance it has been named _P. ursinus_ by Mr. Blyth."