The only other quadrumanous animal found in Ceylon is the little loris[1], which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the “Ceylon Sloth.”

[Footnote 1:  Loris graeilis, Geof.]

[Illustration:  THE LORIS.]

There are two varieties in the island; one of the ordinary fulvous brown, and another larger, whose fur is entirely black.  A specimen of the former was sent to me from Chilaw, on the western coast, and lived for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vegetables.  It was partial to ants and, other insects, and was always eager for milk or the bone of a fowl.  The naturally slow motion of its limbs enables the loris to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes birds before they can be alarmed by its presence.  The natives assert that it has been known to strangle the pea-fowl at night, to feast on the brain.  During the day the one which I kept was usually asleep in the strange position represented on the last page; its perch firmly grasped with both hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep between its legs.  The singularly-large and intense eyes of the loris have attracted the attention, of the Singhalese, who capture the creature for the purpose of extracting them as charms and love-potions, and this they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the fire till its eyeballs burst.  Its Tamil name is thaxangu, or “thin-bodied;” and hence a deformed child or an emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil districts the same epithet.  The light-coloured variety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat resembling the namam, or mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu; and, from this peculiarity, it is distinguished as the Nama-thavangu.[1]

[Footnote 1:  There is an interesting notice of the Loris of Ceylon by Dr. TEMPLETON, in the Mag.  Nat.  Hist. 1844, ch. xiv. p. 362.]

II.  CHEIROPTERA. Bats.—­The multitude of bats is one of the features of the evening landscape; they abound in every cave and subterranean passage, in the tunnels on the highways, in the galleries of the fortifications, in the roofs of the bungalows, and the ruins of every temple and building.  At sunset they are seen issuing from their diurnal retreats to roam through the twilight in search of crepuscular insects, and as night approaches and the lights in the rooms attract the night-flying lepidoptera, the bats sweep round the dinner-table and carry off their tiny prey within the glitter of the lamps.  Including the frugivorous section about sixteen species have been identified in Ceylon; and remarkable varieties of two of these are peculiar to the island.  The colours of some of them are as brilliant as the plumage of a bird, bright yellow, deep orange, and a rich ferruginous brown inclining to red.[1]

[Footnote 1: 
  Rhinolophus affinis? var. rubidus, Kelaart. 
  Hipposideros murinus, var. fulvus, Kelaart. 
  Hipposideros speoris, var. aureus, Kelaart. 
  Kerivoula picta, Pallas. 
  Scotophilus Heathii, Horsf.]