THE SPIDER-MONKEYS 163 



body is generally some shade of pale or reddish brown, although more rarely 

 yellowish, or even yellowish white, and indeed extremely variable in coloration. It 

 is commonly found on the volcanic mountain known as Orizaba, near Vera Cruz, in 

 the south of Mexico, where it ranges up to an elevation of some two thousand feet, 

 living in troops in the forests of the deep valleys. In the neighboring district of 

 Oajaca it reaches, however, to a height of four thousand feet. 



With the white-bellied spider-monkey (A. belzebutti) of Brazil we 

 White- Bellied , ,, c , . . , , 



S 'd M k come to t* 16 fi fst * a g rou P f two or three species of spider-monkeys, 



distinguished from all those hitherto noticed by the under surface of 

 the body and the inner sides of the lower legs and fore-arms being white or grayish- 

 white. The present species is very variable in color, shading from black to reddish, 

 with the loins paler, and the under parts and inside of the fore-arms, together with 

 the front of the thighs, the inner surface of the legs, and the under side of the tail, 

 whitish ; the hair being rather long, and somewhat limp. 



A Brazilian monkey, with rather longer hair and the under side of the tail 

 black, has been described as a distinct species, under the name of the long-haired 

 spider-monkey (A. vellerosus) ; but it may more probably be regarded as a well- 

 marked variety of the species under consideration. These monkeys have been long 

 known, and were described by Cuvier under the name of Coaita ct, ventre blanc. 

 Besides inhabiting Brazil, they were met with by Humboldt on the Orinoco. They 

 are stated to assemble in considerable troops. 



THE VARIEGATED SPIDER-MONKEY (Ateles variegatus) 



The last of the spider-monkeys we shall notice is the species represented in 

 the figure on p. 164. It is remarkable for its brilliant coloration, and for 

 its wide geographical distribution which extends from the upper reaches of the 

 Amazon in Peru to the banks of the Rio Negro, flowing from Venezuela into 

 the lower portion of the Amazon, and northwards into the Andes of Ecuador 

 and Colombia. It was originally described by the German naturalist Wagner, 

 from specimens obtained on the Rio Negro. Later on, however, Dr. Gray described 

 a monkey, brought by Mr. Bartlett from the river Tigre, which flows from the 

 north into the Amazon soon after it takes its great easterly bend on leaving Peru, 

 as a new species, under the name of Bartlett' s spider-monkey (A. bartlettt). It 

 proved, however, to be identical with the variegated spider-monkey of the Rio 

 Negro. 



The variegated spider-monkey is characterized by its thick, long, and soft hair. 

 The general color of the fur is black, but the cheeks are white. There is a band 

 of bright reddish yellow passing across the forehead a little distance above the eyes ; 

 while the under surface of the tail, the under parts of the body, and the inner sur- 

 faces of the limbs are yellow in the male and grayish white in the female. With 

 the above variations in color it will readily be imagined that the male of this species 

 is a striking animal. In addition to the more sombre tints of the female, the lines 

 of separation between the colors are less marked. 



