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).
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."
VIII. THE PURPLE-FACED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS CEPHALOPTERUS.
Cercopithecus vetulus, Erxl., Syst. Régn. An., Mamm., p. 25 (1777; in part).
Cercopithecus senex, Erxl., t.c., p. 24 (1777); Zimm., Geogr. Gesch., ii., p. 183 (1780); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 35 (1891).