Cercocebus sinicus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 98 (1812).
Macacus sinicus, Desm., Mamm., p. 64 (1820); Kelaart, Fauna Zeyl., p. 8 (1852).
Macacus pileatus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., p. 1272 (1847); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 29 (1870); Anderson, Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 91 (1878; with synonymy); Blanf., Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 24 (1891).
Cercocebus pileatus, Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 98 (1876).
Characters.—Closely allied to M. sinicus; muzzle narrow and protruding; hair in general long, wavy, rough; on the head elongated, radiating from the centre of the top of the head, extending down on to the forehead, and occasionally rising into an erect tuft; tail equal in length to the body; forehead thinly haired and wrinkled. Length, 13 inches; tail, 14¾, in some reaching 21 inches; tail, 18 inches.
In coloration the Toque closely resembles the Bonnet Macaque, but the upper-parts are more rufous, the hairs of the present species (though ringed as in M. sinicus) being above the grey roots rufous-brown, or golden with a shade of chestnut at the tips. It is easily distinguished, however, by the face being livid flesh-coloured, with scattered black hairs, and the margin of the upper lip black; a space about the ears whitish; hands, feet, and ears blackish; the under surface of the body and the inner aspect of the limbs whitish; upper surface of the tail brown, its apex light brown or grey; callosities livid flesh-colour.
Female.—Limbs redder than in the male; inner side of the arms, and patches on the chest and belly indigo blue.
Young.—Hair of the crown not so much flattened down or so radiating as in the adult; the face more old-fashioned and exquisitely comical; the tail nearly naked; and the cheeks, palms, soles, and callosities pale pinkish. (Templeton.)
Distribution.—The Toque Macaque holds in Ceylon the place occupied by the Bonnet Macaque in Southern India.
Habits.—Macacus pileatus closely resembles the Bonnet Macaque in size, habits, and form. It is known to the Singhalese by the name of Rilawa. "The little graceful grimacing Rilawa," as Sir J. Emerson Tennent writes, "is the universal pet and favourite of both natives and Europeans. The Tamil conjurers teach it to dance, and in their wanderings carry it from village to village, clad in a grotesque dress, to exhibit its lively performances. It does not object to smoke tobacco." Knox, in his interesting account of the island, gives an accurate description of the Rilawas, with "no beards, white faces, and long hair on the top of their heads, which parteth and hangeth down like a man's, and which do a deal of mischief to the corn, and are so impudent that they will come into their gardens and eat such fruit as grows there."