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."