

Allen Mammals of Margarita Island. 9*7 



13. Cebus fatuellus (Linnaeus). Brown Capuchin. 

 Cebus apella Robinson, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XVIII, p. 651, 1896. 



A single monkey obtained on the island, July 13, 1895, seems refera 

 ble to this species. It appears to be not uncommon, but is rather shy. 

 Mr. Clark saw a single one in the thick growth on the mountain which 

 rises back of El Valle, but he was unable to procure it. One or two 

 were also seen, kept as pets by the natives. 



[In addition to the foregoing, both Capt. Robinson and Mr. Clark men 

 tion a deer as occurring on the island, but no specimens were obtained. 

 In this connection, it is of interest to recall Humboldt's statement, with 

 regard to the small islet of Cubagua, lying between Margarita and the 

 mainland. He says, "At Maniquarez [=Manicuaro on the mainland] 

 we met with some Creoles, who had been hunting at Cubagua. Deer of 

 the small breed are so common in this uninhabited islet, that a single 

 person may kill three or four in a day. I know not by what accident 

 these animals have got thither, for Laet and other chroniclers of these 

 countries, speaking of the foundation of New Cadiz [a small town on 

 Cubagua] , mention only the great abundance of rabbits. The venado 

 of Cubagua belongs to one of those numerous species of small American 

 deer, which zoologists have long confounded under the vague name of 



cervus mexicanus Its color is a brownish red on the back, and white 



under the belly; and it is spotted like the axis". (Humboldt: Personal 

 narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, 

 during the years of 1799-1804, p. 424 of 1815 English translation). I am 

 informed that Cubagua at the present time would hardly support as 

 much game as this passage implies, but doubtless a hundred years have 

 wrought a change, or the writer's remarks may possibly have referred 

 in part to Margarita itself.] 



