AMERICAN MONKEYS. 155 



Although they flourish in captivity if well attended to, great care must be taken 

 to protect them from cold and damp. Their average term of life seems to be about 

 fifteen years. 



Like most other monkeys, captive capuchins are the very spirit of mischief, 

 and are also prone to theft, more especially of eatables. When detected in the act 

 of stealing, they will cry out before being touched ; but, if not caught, they pretend 

 perfect innocence, going about as if nothing had happened. When disturbed, small 

 substances are hidden by these creatures in their mouths, and consumed subsequently 

 at leisure. They are extremely covetous, and this covetousness is taken advantage 

 of to capture them. The negroes are in the habit of removing the pulp of a gourd 

 through a small aperture, and then putting sugar inside ; such a prepared gourd 

 is then placed near the haunts of the capuchins, who come down and endeavour to 

 extract the sugar, and during the process they suffer themselves to be caught. 



THE WHITE-FRONTED SAPAJOU (Cebus albifrons). 



The white-fronted sapajou is a common monkey in many parts of South America. 

 It is allied to the last species, but is distinguished by its pale reddish-brown colour, 

 which becomes redder on the back and the outer surfaces of the limbs. The most 

 characteristic coloration is, however, the white which occupies the face, forehead, 

 throat, shoulders, and chest. 



Mr. Bates, who described this species as being of a light brown colour, states 

 that it is pretty generally distributed over the forest-lands of the level parts of 

 Brazil ; and it was seen by this explorer in large flocks on the banks of the Upper 

 Amazon. The members of such a flock are described as affording a wonderful 

 sight when leaping from tree to tree ; for, according to Mr. Bates, these 

 monkeys (and we may presume their fellows of the same genus) are far-and-away 

 the best performers in this gymnastic exercise. " The troops," observes Mr. Bates, 

 " consist of thirty or more individuals, which travel in single file. When the fore- 

 most of the flock reaches the outermost branch of an unusually tall tree, he springs 

 forth into the air without a moment's hesitation, and alights on the dome of 

 yielding foliage belonging to the neighbouring tree, maybe fifty feet beneath ; all 

 the rest following his example. They grasp, on falling, with hands and tail, right 

 themselves in a moment, and then away they go along branch and bough to the 

 next tree." 



The same traveller, who had one of these monkeys as a pet, states that it 

 kept the house in a perpetual uproar, screaming in a piteous manner when alarmed, 

 excited, or hungry. It was always making a noise of some kind; frequently 

 screwing up its mouth and uttering a succession of loud whistling notes, resembling 

 those mentioned by Rengger in his account of the preceding species. Frequently 

 this young sapajou, when following its master, would walk upon its hind-legs alone, 

 although it had never been taught to do so. One day, however, in endeavouring 

 to wrest some fruit from an owl-faced night monkey, it attacked the latter so 

 fiercely that it cracked its skull with its teeth, upon which Mr. Bates considered 

 that he had had enough of pet sapajous. 



