ALOUATTA 269 



Measurements. Total length, 650; tail, 630; foot, 128. Ex type 

 British Museum. 



Mr. Salvin has given in Sclater's paper on this species, (1. c), the 

 following account of it. "The Mycetes of Guatemala is commonly 

 known as the 'Mono.' It is abundant throughout the virgin forests of 

 the eastern portion of the Republic, but is unknown in the forest clad 

 slopes which stretch towards the Pacific Ocean. In the former region 

 it is found at various altitudes over a wide expanse of country. I have 

 heard its cry on the shores of the Lake Yzabel, and all through the 

 denser forests of the valley of the river Polochie. It is very common, 

 from the steep mountain road which lies between the upland village 

 of Peruba and S. Miguel-Tucuru, and especially in the wilderness of 

 uninhabited forest which stretches from Teleman to the Lake Yzabel. 

 In the unbroken forest country which occupies the whole of the 

 northern portion of the Vera Paz, from Coban and Cahabon to the con- 

 fines of Peten, it is also abundant ; for seldom an hour passes but the 

 discordant cry of the Mono strikes upon the ear of the traveller as he 

 threads the lonely path to Peten. The elevation of this district varies 

 from about 700 to 3,000 feet ; and the Mycetes is found at all heights. 

 When travelling through this forest in 1862, I was dependent for the 

 animal food to supply my party of Indians entirely upon my gun ; and 

 Monos contributed not a little to the larder. The Indians eat monkey 

 without demur ; but the meat looks dark and untempting. For my own 

 part I far preferred the delicate Tinamou or Curassow, a sufficient 

 supply of which never failed for my own consumption. Perhaps there 

 is no district in Vera Paz where Monos are more abundant than the 

 mountains of Chilasco, a cold and damp region, elevated at least 

 6,000 feet above the sea but where the forest growth is of the densest 

 description and trees of the largest size abound. It was here that 

 the specimens were obtained that are now in the British Museum. The 

 wonderful cry whence Mycetes gets its trivial name of Howling 

 Monkey is certainly most striking, and I have sometimes endeavored to 

 ascertain how far this cry may be heard. It has taken me an hour or 

 more to thread the forest undergrowth from the time the cry first 

 struck my ear, to, when, guided by the cry alone, I stood under the 

 trees where the animals were. It would certainly not be overestimating 

 the distance to say two miles. When the sound came over the lake of 

 Yzabel unhindered by trees, a league would be more like the distance 

 a Mono's cry could be heard. These animals are found in companies 



