42 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



ally about the head. Its face is very naked, and of a flesh-colour just 

 like human skin ; its neck and shoulders are straw-colour, contrasting 

 with the dark hue of the rest of its body ; and on the crown is a patch 

 of very short black fur, like a little cap. It is more gentle and delicate 

 than the Brown species. 



The Capuchins are to America what the Guenons are to Africa, the 

 common and characteristic monkeys of the country, found all over the 

 forest regions, and often approaching and pilfering from the cultivations 

 of men. They live in troops, which travel from tree to tree under the 

 direction of leaders, springing from bough to bough and swinging 

 themselves by their tails, the young being of course carried clinging to 

 their mothers according to the usual monkey custom. They seldom 

 come to the ground, and when there do not move so actively as the 

 common monkeys of the Old World. In walking they place the flat 

 of the whole hand on the ground, and do not support themselves on 

 the fingers only. Some will make great leaps in the air, from one tree 

 to another fifty feet below, their tails being of course of great assistance 

 in righting themselves after such a leap. 



Their food, as with other monkeys, consists partly of fruit, and when 

 they visit a plantation to steal, they will carry away all they can ; but 

 they have a very strong propensity for animal food, devouring all sorts 

 of insects, even the largest beetles, and harrying the nests of birds. 

 Indeed, as in captivity they have been known to kill such large and 

 powerful species as Macaws and Toucans, few of their feathered neigh- 

 bours can be safe from their attacks. 



They have a great variety of notes, though not given to uttering 

 loud cries, and their common expression is a kind of tittering or twitter- 

 ing sound ; when pleased they smile in a very human manner. The 

 intelligence of these monkeys is undoubtedly very great, as shown by 

 their actions in captivity, and they need all of it to escape such foes 

 as Jaguars, Eagles, and Boas, which they are liable to fall victims to in 

 the forests. In many works will be found the statement that the 

 Capuchins are the monkeys most commonly seen in captivity ; but, what- 

 ever may have been the case some decades back, it is not so now, and 



