Habits.—Similar to those of the Hanuman. According to Dr. Blanford, Capt. Hutton has observed it near Simla, at 11,000 feet, sporting amongst the fir-trees that were loaded with snow-wreaths at the time. "But," writes Dr. Anderson, "there is no evidence that any species of Monkey in the Himalaya is naturally resident at those heights at which snow annually lies, as was supposed by Hodgson, and it is the rarity of their occurrence at these high elevations, and during winter, that has directed so much attention to their hibernal wanderings. In the summer, they are much more widely distributed than in the winter, when, as a rule, they are driven to lower heights and into the warmer valleys."
V. THE MADRAS LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS PRIAMUS.
Semnopithecus priam, Elliot, MSS.; Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii, p. 470 (1844).
Semnopithecus pallipes, Blyth, Ann. and Mag. N. H., 1844, p. 312.
Presbytis priamus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., pp. 732, 1271, pl. liv. (1847); xx., p. 313 (1851); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 12 (1863); Kelaart, Prod. Faun. Zeylan., p. 3 (1852); Jerdon, Mamm. India, p. 7 (1867).
Semnopithecus albipes, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 14 (1851); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 15 (1870); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 18 (1878).
Semnopithecus priamus, Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 31 (1891); Anderson, Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 19 (1878; with full synonymy).
Presbytis thersites, Tennent, Ceylon, p. 132, plate, fig. 1 (1860).
Characters.—Nearly allied to S. entellus. Hair on head indistinctly radiated; back of head crested longitudinally; supra-orbital hairs very long and projecting forward; ears large, not hidden by the whiskers. Fur long; face and ears black; back, sides, outer aspect of fore-limbs, upper part of the thigh, and the tail, ashy-grey, or earthy-brown, sometimes slightly washed with purple; sides of the head, nape, lower half of the thighs, hands, and feet, yellowish, as also the under surface of the body and inside of the limbs. Length of body, 21 inches; tail, 28 inches.
Distribution.—The Coromandel coast of India, ascending to 6,000 feet; Ceylon, from the north as far as the Kandyan hills in the south.