The “Walouvy,” or “Tantaroué-léla”—for such are its Malagasy by-names—is found in abundance in the forests on the western side of the island, but it equally inhabits the eastern parts of Madagascar. Their choice of a domicile is ordinarily in the hollow of a tree, particularly in one with a double aperture; and in their selection they not unfrequently stumble on a cavity already occupied by Bees, but this does not deter them from having a share in the busy business concern. For the natives pretend that it has a preference for the society of the Bees, doubtless with an eye to the dainty luscious honey, which it steals as opportunity offers. They make incredible leaps, so that it is extremely difficult to capture them. At night their cries resound in the woods almost continuously, and their noise somewhat resembles the piercing tones of the Guinea-fowl, a kind of “Ka-ka-ka-ka” being uttered loudly and precipitately.
FORKED-CROWNED CHEIROGALE. (Modified after Schlegel and Pollen.)
The name of this species comes from a dark brown streak which passes along the whole length of the back, and over the head, to fork into two bands—one over each eyebrow. Whatever may be its liking for honey, it has the means of biting hard fruit, for it has large middle front teeth, and also a strong first upper false molar. As a whole the teeth number the same as in the first division of the American Monkeys.
COQUEREL’S[127] AND THE DWARF[128] CHEIROGALE.
Another of these little Lemuroids, called Coquerel’s Cheirogale, is celebrated as a nest maker, for it gathers dead leaves, and twigs, and grass, and makes a comfortable nest of large size, for it is a foot and a half in diameter. It goes into it by day, and sleeps soundly whilst the sun is up, but comes out at dusk to leap, crawl, and swing amongst the trees, looking out for live food quite as much as for fruit.
M. Milius, who was Governor of the Island of Réunion in 1821, gave a pair of little Lemuroids, each being about nine inches in length, with a long tail, to the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. They lived there for some time, and used to get out of their cages at night and wander about the rooms and places where the beasts were confined. At dusk, after having been very quiet all day, they got up and stood well on their hind legs, and began to jump to and fro like mad creatures, and they kept it up when the room was quite dark, for they could be heard rushing about amongst a crowd of cages tenanted by other animals; but if the least light were admitted they darted through a small hole which led to their own cage, and were there again in the twinkling of an eye. They had beautiful silky fawn-coloured fur, and rolled themselves up in balls during the daytime, for the light seemed to be especially painful to them. In their captivity they were fed on bread, biscuits, and fruit.
One of the Cheirogales has a black circle around the eyes, and is called the Spectacled Cheirogale, and it is interesting because it is the species whose summer sleep has been noticed, and because it has an extremely important tail. This tail thickens greatly at the root, and tapers towards the end, not being cylindrical throughout, and it is the root which gets grossly fat, and finally excessively thin.
The last kind to be noticed is sometimes called the Madagascar Rat, or the Dwarf Cheirogale, for it is only four inches long, with a tail of six inches, and it might be passed by as only interesting for its small size and Rat-like look, but it has a most resplendent eye. The tapetum, or coloured tinsel-looking glaring structure situated deeply in the eyes, is so large, and the eye admits so much light at dusk, that quite an unnatural brilliancy is produced. They are night hunters, and are quiet and good-tempered when kept in cages.