MONKEYS 



357 



one-third the length of the body. They are clothed with long silky hair, and 

 their beard is either very slight or absent altogether. The most remarkable is the 

 bald uacari (Ouacaria calva), a species of about 18 inches in length, conspicuous 

 on account of its brilliant red face which contrasts strongly with the pale 

 chestnut of the long hair. It inhabits a small tract bounded by the Japura and 

 the Amazon in the vicinity of Ega. Here these monkeys live in small troops 

 among the crowns of the taller trees, feeding on fruits of various kinds. 



BALD UACARI. 



Very different from all the foregoing are the howlers, distinguished not only by 

 their protruding muzzles and retreating foreheads, but likewise by the fringe of long 

 hair with which the naked face is bordered, this forming a well-developed beard 

 on the cheeks and chin and a thick tuft on the forehead. Their most noticeable 

 characteristic is, however, the enlargement of the upper part of the windpipe into 

 a hollow shell of bone. It is by means of this organ that these monkeys produce 

 the loud howls to which they owe their name. Howlers, which are "said to feed 

 exclusively on leaves, are numerous and widely distributed in Brazil, whence they 

 range northwards into Central America. One of the most familiar representatives 

 of the group is the red howler (Alouatta seniculus) a chestnut-coloured species 

 inhabiting Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, the most southern species 



