. . rilla;old males reach a height of sixty-four inches; females, forty-eight inches. The arms are long, reaching a little below theknee, and possess great muscular power. In the feet thelarge toe is separated from the others by a deep incision;and the sole is flat. The hair of the chimpanzee is smooth,the color usually black, but in some specimens it is a dullreddish-brown. Chimpanzees walk on all fours, restingthemselves on the calloused backs of their hands. The toesof the feet are sometimes drawn in when walking. Natu-ralists say
. . rilla;old males reach a height of sixty-four inches; females, forty-eight inches. The arms are long, reaching a little below theknee, and possess great muscular power. In the feet thelarge toe is separated from the others by a deep incision;and the sole is flat. The hair of the chimpanzee is smooth,the color usually black, but in some specimens it is a dullreddish-brown. Chimpanzees walk on all fours, restingthemselves on the calloused backs of their hands. The toesof the feet are sometimes drawn in when walking. Natu-ralists say there is a strong inclination in this species toshow remarkably varying individual types, which has led tocontroversies as to whether there were not several differentspecies. It was formerly believed that the chimpanzee was a gre-garious animal, but it is now known that there are seldommore than five, or, at the utmost, ten living together. Some-times, however, they gather in greater numbers for observer claims to have seen at one time about fifty of. -}\/ ._: v:-^>^4-^ 217 THE ^lONKEY TRIBE 189 tliem which had assembled on trees and amused themselveswith screaming and drumming on the tree trunks. Theyshun human habitation. Their nests are built in trees, notat a great height from the ground. They break and twistand cross larger and smaller branches and support thewhole on a strong bough. A nest will sometimes be foundat the end of a bough, twentj^ or thirty feet from theground. They change abiding places often in looking forfood or for other reasons. Two or more nests are rarelyseen in the same tree. Xests, properly so called, consistingof interwoven branches, as Du Chaillu describes, have notbeen seen by any of the other narrators. When in repose the cliimpanzee in the wild state usuallyassumes a sitting posture. He is often seen sitting orstanding, but it is said that the minute he is detected hedrops on all fours and flees. He is adept at cl
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