Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Mammalia).djvu/50

14 Face and callosities flesh-coloured, being bright red in adults at all times.

Dimensions. Head and body 22 inches, tail 10 without the hairs, 11 with, hand 4½, foot 6. These are the measurements (by Hodgson) of a very large individual, doubtless a male. Females measure much less, body 16 to 18 inches, tail about 6 to 7. Skull of a male 5 inches long from occiput, 3·5 from foramen, breadth across zygomatic arches 3·55; of a female 4·3 and 3 inches long, 3·1 broad.

Distribution. The Rhesus is the common monkey of Northern India from the Himalayas to the Godavari river. It is found in Kashmir up to an elevation of 5000 feet (10,000 according to some authorities), and there is a colony, I believe of this species, on the top of Jako hill, about 8500 feet high, at Simla. Specimens have also been sent from Nepal by Hodgson (as M. oinops) and by Mandelli from Sikhim, but from low elevations. M. rhesus is found close to the west coast near Bombay, but not much further south; it is common throughout Guzerat and the Central Provinces, in Bengal, Orissa, and parts of the Northern Circai's. There is a specimen in the Calcutta Museum from Samaguting, in Assam, and Anderson met with a form not distiuguishable from this in Upper Burma and Yunnan. All the specimens obtained, however, were in captivity, but he saw a colony of wild monkeys that appeared to belong to this species on the Irawadi below Yenankhyoung. Closely allied forms (M. lasiotis and M. cyclopis) occur in China.

Habits. Although this monkey is not regarded as sacred by Hindus, it is never molested by them, and in many parts of the country it is as impudent as the Hanumán and even more mis-chievous. Very intelligent, and, when young, fairly docile, it is one of the commonest animals kept tame, and throughout Northern India it is the monkey carried about by itinerant showmen, and taught to perform tricks of various kinds. It is a most amusing creature, the incarnation of mischief and curiosity, but frequently rather ill-tempered. Older individuals are usually savage.

In the wild state it is found in herds, often of considerable size. It has generally but little fear of man, and may occasioually be found in native villages, though less commonly than the Hanumán. It is very frequently seen on the ground searching for food, and it eats spiders and many kinds of insects, especially Lepidoptera and Orthoptera, besides fruits and seeds. Flocks of this monkey are more frequently seen near cultivation, especially around tanks or amongst trees on the bauks of streams, than in forest jungle. These animals are very quarrelsome, perpetually screaming and tightiug, or teasing each other—in fact, they behave very much like unruly children.

M. rhesus swims well and takes readily to water.