74 



THE COAITA. 



the avant courier of all his movements. One is constantly reminded of the elephant's pro- 

 boscis, so adroitly does he present this fifth clasping member at every move. 



So completely adapted is this species or group of monkeys to arboreal life, it is equally 

 unfitted for locomotion on the ground. So eminently is this tree- top existence his natural 

 condition, he would be nearly undone and quite miserable away from it. Its almost requisite 

 element seems to be an unbroken forest. This it has, in all the grandeur of immensity. The 

 Brazilian and tropical belt of woodland, which extends nearly from ocean to ocean, the width of 

 the continent, is his. Some of the marine mammals would be but little more embarrassed out of 

 their appropriate element, than the Spider Monkey deprived of the friendly branching trees. 



We have witnessed the movements of this monkey at the zoological collection in Central 

 Park, and in one instance there were two, a male and a female. The male seemed to be inces- 



COAITA. Ateles paniscus. 



santly teasing his mate. The latter seemed to care little for the fnn, but at times, when rudely 

 jerked from the floor by the long up-raised tail, she joined in the race and contributed to a 

 most astonishing display of calisthenics. 



The male of this pair was one of the most slender of its kind. On the wire screen of its 

 great cage it spread itself out like a "Daddy-long-legs," impressing us much as that insect 

 does, with its strange, furtive movements. Now one passes hand over hand along the hori- 

 zontal bar, never once omitting a convenient contact of the tail-tip, which clasps a similar bar 

 above, and slides along its surface as we lead our hand down a stair-rail, ready to grasp it 

 at any moment. A sudden caprice, and his body drops ; suspended by the tail he swings to 

 and fro, glancing aimlessly, in the manner of all monkeys in short, looking altogether as if 

 he was doubtful what to do next. In this moment of indecision, he suddenly entertains the 

 notion that his mate needs stirring up ; whereupon he drops upon the floor, instantly stands 

 erect, extends his long arms high above his head as a balance-weight, and strides off more 

 human-like than the great Apes, that are much nearer man in the scale of being. 



