_? Lemur podje_, Kerr, Linn. Anim. Kingdom, p. 86 (1792).
_Tarsius fuscus, s. fuscomanus_, Fischer, Anat. der Maki, pp. 3, 7
(1784).
_Tarsius fuscomanus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 168 (1812); Max Weber,
Zool. Ergebn. Reis. Nederl. Ost-Indien, iii., p. 264 (1893).
_Tarsius fischeri_, Burm. Tarsius, pp. 29, 129 (1846).
CHARACTERS.--Closely related to the preceding species in size and other
characters, but distinguished by the colour of the hands, which are dark
brown.
DISTRIBUTION.--Inhabits the islands of the Indian Archipelago, farther to
the eastward than those in which _Tarsius Tarsius_ is found. It has been
recorded from Celebes, and the neighbouring groups of Salayer and Sanghir,
and from some of the Philippine Islands, such as Bohol and Mindanao.
HABITS.--The habits of both species of Tarsier are identical, and may be
described together. They are almost entirely nocturnal and arboreal
animals, rarely, of their own accord, coming to the ground. They move from
place to place by leaping along the larger branches, or from tree to tree,
even when these stand several feet distant. When they do descend, however,
they advance on the ground by the same curious Frog-like leaps, without
bringing their fore-limbs down to the ground. The Tarsier is said to climb
easily, even without grasping, by means of the round discs on its slender
finger-tips, which, like suckers, enable it to hold on by the side pressure
of its limbs to any smooth surface, such as the stems of the
{22}bamboo-brakes which it frequents. Mr. Charles Hose, in his "Mammals of
Borneo," states that, in that island, the Tarsier is found in the jungles
of the low country, skipping about from branch to branch. According to the
notes of this excellent field-naturalist, it has a habit of turning its
head almost completely round without moving the rest of its body. This very
remarkable creature lives in pairs in the tropical forests, in holes in the
tree stems, or under their roots, feeding chiefly on insects and small
lizards, which, as Mr. Cuming has recorded, it holds by its fore-paws while
devouring, sitting up the while on its posterior. In drinking it is also
said to lap water like a Cat. The Tarsier seldom makes any kind of noise,
but when it does emit a sound, it is a sharp, shrill call. The female
produces one, rarely two, young at a birth; these are similar to the
parents. They are covered with hair, and have the eyes open. Mr. Hose
further states that the mother often carries her young one about in her
mouth, after the manner of a Cat. On the second day after its birth, the
infant Tarsier can move about by itself. By the natives of Sumatra, and,
indeed, of most of the islands inhabited by these animals, the Tarsiers are
held in superstitious dread, their presence in the neighbourhood of the
rice-fields being supposed to portend misfortune to the owner or to some
member of his family.
Their elongated ankle-bones, and their leaping habits, seem to indicate
that the Galagos and the Chirogales, or Mouse-Lemurs, are the nearest
relatives of the Tarsiers.