THE OUSTITI 539 



mode of life, and by its restless activity, as its little head is never 

 quiet. They use their tail, which in many species is hand- 

 somely marked by transverse bars, as a protection against the 

 cold, to which they are acutely sensitive. Their numerous species 

 are dispersed over all the forests of tropical America, where they 

 live as well upon fruits and nuts as upon insects and eggs ; and 

 when they can catch a little bird, they suck its brain with all the 

 satisfaction of an epicure. They are easily tamed, but very 

 suspicious and irritable. The learned French naturalist Audouin 

 made some interesting observations on a pair of tame ouistitis, 

 which prove their intelligence to be far superior to that of the 

 squirrels, to whom they are so often compared. 



One of them having one day, while regaling on a bunch of 

 grapes, sqiurted some of the juice into its eye, never failed from 

 that time to close its eyes while eating of the fruit. In a draw- 

 ing they recognised not only their own likeness, but that of other 

 animals. Thus the sight of a cat, and what is still more remark- 

 able, that of a wasp, frightened them very much, while at the 

 aspect of any other insect, such as a cricket or a cockchafer, 

 they at once rushed upon the engraving, as if anxious to make 

 a meal of the object that deluded them with the semblance 

 of life. 



