THE SAKIS. 



69 



gentle and good-natured, and purr like cats 

 when they feel themselves comfortable, which, 

 however, is scarcely ever the case in Eu- 

 rope. About seven different species are 

 known. 



The Saimiri or Squirrel-monkey (Ckryso- 

 tkrix sciurea or Pithesciurus sciureus), fig. 

 21, which is found 

 living in large herds 

 in Guiana, is distin- 

 guished from the 

 former by the pro- 

 minent, sharp, cur- 

 ved canines, the 

 large middle in- 

 cisors in the upper 

 jaw, and the pre- 

 molars and molars 

 of nearly the same 

 form. Elegant, slen- 

 der, active, graceful 

 in climbing, and 

 excellent at leap- 

 ing, the saimiri is at 

 the same time ex- 

 tremely shy and 

 timid, and very 

 sensitive to cold. 

 It is fond of low 

 bushes, but on the 

 approach of danger 



at once seeks refuge with great celerity 

 in the high trees; and it spends the night 

 mostly amidst the crown of leaves at the top 

 of palms. It uses its long tail partly as a 

 rudder, but also for warming itself, wrapping 

 it for that purpose round its neck. When the 

 weather is rather cold for them, the members 

 of a company crouch together in a ball or in 

 several balls covering each other with their 

 tails; and the Indians generally take advan- 

 tage of the opportunity which this practice 

 affords to catch old animals for food and 

 young ones to tame. In a state of freedom 

 they often shiver, cry, and whine for cold and 

 rain, and their cry of terror in presence of 



Fig. 21. The Saimiri or Squirrel-monkey (Clirysothrix siiurcti). 



beasts of prey serves as a warning to other 

 animals. They live chiefly on insects and 

 small birds, but also eat fruits and juicy 

 buds. The fur in young animals is of a dark 

 brownish -red; but in old males is often 

 orange-yellow on the back, rusty on the 

 limbs, while the muffle and tip of the tail 



are black. Yet 

 there are many 

 varieties in colour. 

 The nails are 

 arched and claw- 

 like, the thumb only 

 slightly developed. 

 These extremely 

 amiable creatures, 

 which are often 

 kept as domestic 

 animals, and serve 

 to cleanse the huts 

 of the I nclians from 

 all kinds of minute 

 vermin, though 

 they appear to pre- 

 fer spiders, attain a 

 size of 1 5 inches at 

 most. 



A peculiar type, 

 with which we close 

 our series of true 



American mon- 

 keys, is represented by the genus Nyctipi- 

 thecus, of which several species are known. 

 The dentition, and the structure of the tail, 

 hands, and feet are like those of the saimiri, 

 but the body is more thickset. The ears 

 are very small, the eyes very large and so 

 close to one another that only a narrow 

 bridge of the nose remains between. The 

 legs are much longer than the arms. 



Entirely nocturnal in their habits these 

 animals, whose range of distribution in South 

 America is tolerably wide, sleep during the 

 day in pairs, seldom in larger companies, in 

 holes in trees, which they line with moss 

 and feathers to keep them warm. But their 



