THE BLACK-HEADED SAKI. 9I 



ered with hair nearly four inciies long, the points of which turn for- 

 ward ; the hair hangs over the brow, partly hiding the face. Spix dis- 

 covered this species near the Rio Negro, and describes it as nocturnal 

 in its habits. 



VII.— GENUS BRACHYURUS. 



This genus is characterized by the short rudimentary tail (hence its 

 name from the Greek, brachys short, and otira tail) and the slight beard, 

 the egg-shaped head and the flat face. The teeth are peculiar. In the 

 upper jaw the central incisors are twice as long and broad as the exterior 

 ones ; in the lower jaw they are shorter. The canine teeth are short and 

 strong. Its short tail contains fourteen to seventeen joints. It embraces 

 five species. 



The Black-headed Saki or Cacajao, Brackyurus viclaiwccphalus, 

 measures about two feet, including six inches of tail. Its shaggy coat 

 is yellow-brown, brighter on the breast and stomach, but black on the 

 head and tail and fore-feet ; the ears are hairless and very large. Little 

 is known of its habits when wild ; in captivity it is docile and sluggish. 

 Fruit is its chief food, and when eating it bends over its food in a pecu- 

 liar manner, and is awkward in using its fingers. It is not common even 

 in its native abodes on the Rio Negro. 



Many names have been given it, the most common being the one we 

 have mentioned ; it is also called Chucato, Chucazo, Carniri, and Mono- 

 feo, which is, by interpretation, " The Hideous Ape." 



The species named the Scarlet-FACED Saki, Brackyurus ra/vus, has a 

 tail still shorter than the Cacajao ; it is nearly a pear-shaped stump. 

 The dull-yellow of his coat inclines to dull-white on the back, and to 

 bright-yellow on the belly. In old specimens the color is almost white, 

 from which the face stands out conspicuously ; it is scarlet-red, with 

 bushy yellow eyebrows and reddish-yellow eyes ; the hair on the head 

 looks as if it had been closely cropped, in marked contrast to the long 

 hair on the back. From its appearance it has received the name given 

 above ; the native name is Uakakl 



It is found in a small district near the mouth of the Japura river, and 

 can with great difficulty be removed from its home. The natives repre- 

 sent its motions as active, and capture it by means of the blowpipe and 

 weakly-poisoned darts. It is hard to tame, and repulses all efforts to 



