THE DOUROUCOULIS l6 5 



peace, for they had not tasted meat for some days, and the monkey proved a very 

 dainty dish." 



The first example of this monkey brought alive to England came from the 

 Upper Caura river in Venezuela, and arrived at the Gardens of the London 

 Zoological Society on July i4th, 1870. Its stay there was, however, of the briefest, 

 since it died on August i8th, following. 



THE DOUROUCOULIS 

 Genus Nydipithecus 



The douroucoulis, or nocturnal owl-faced monkeys, belong to a group of three 

 genera, distinguished from all the American monkeys hitherto noticed by their long 

 tails not being prehensile. All of. them have well-developed thumbs, and their 

 general form is massive. They agree with the members of the preceding group in 

 the upright profile of the face, and also in the circumstance that the front or incisor 

 teeth of the lower jaw are placed vertically. 



The douroucoulis, of which a party is represented in our illustration on p. 167, 

 are distinguished from the other genera of the group by their rounded heads and 

 the enormous size of their eyes. The latter are, indeed, so large that in the dried 

 skull their sockets occupy almost its entire width, being separated from one another 

 by a mere line of bone, considerably narrower than the opening of the nostrils. 

 Another distinctive feature is the narrowness of the partition between the two 

 nostrils, which is more like that of the monkeys of the Old World than of the other 

 New World monkeys. 



The ears are short, and the hair round the eyes is arranged in a radiating 

 manner, after the fashion of the disc of feathers round the eyes of an owl. All the 

 species are of relatively small size, and of purely nocturnal habits. 



Apparently from the small size of their ears the traveler Humboldt gave them 

 the name of earless monkeys {Aotus), but the name nocturnal monkey (Nyctipithe- 

 cus) had been applied at an earlier date. We are unacquainted with the origin of 

 the name douroucouli. 



According to Mr. Bates, they are known to the inhabitants of Ega, on the 

 Upper Amazon, by the name of E-ia. 



Writing of them at Ega, he says : " I found two species, closely related to each 

 other, but nevertheless, quite distinct, as both inhabit the same forests, namely, 

 those of the higher and drier lands, without mingling with each other or inter- 

 crossing. They sleep all day long in hollow trees, and come forth to prey on 

 insects, and eat fruits only in the night. They are of small size, the body being 

 about a foot long and the tail fourteen inches, and are thickly clothed with soft gray 

 and brown fur, similar to that of a rabbit. Their physiognomy reminds one of 

 the owl or tiger-cat. The face is round and encircled by a ruff of whitish hair ; 

 the muzzle is not at all prominent ; the mouth and chin are small ; the ears are 



