160 APES AND MONKEYS. 



In general characters the true spider-monkeys agree with the woolly spider- 

 monkeys, but are readily distinguished from them by the total absence of a 

 woolly under-fur, the comparatively slight degree of compression in the nails, and 

 the greater width of the partition between the nostrils ; the thumb being generally 

 absent. They are, moreover, of far more active habits ; and in this respect are 

 only equalled by the langurs and gibbons of the Old World, over which they have 

 the advantage of the prehensile tail. To the description quoted from Waterton 

 on p. 146, in which these monkeys are especially referred to, it may be added that 

 they not unfrequently use this tail to convey fruit and other articles of food to 

 their mouths. Those who have seen spider-monkeys swinging from rope to rope 

 and leaping from side to side of their cages in menageries, can, when the cage is 

 sufficiently large, gain some idea of their marvellous activity, although in such 

 confined spaces their movements bear no comparison to what they are when in the 

 boundless freedom of their native forests. 



It is noteworthy that the stomachs of the spider-monkeys have a trace of the 

 sacculated condition which distinguishes those of the long-limbed and long-tailed 

 langurs and thumbless monkeys of the Old World. Their fur is generally smooth 

 and stiff; and, as a rule, the hair on the crown of the head is directed forwards. 



The number of species of spider-monkeys is very large, and we shall thus 

 be compelled to limit our notice to some of the better-known types. The genus 

 has a wide geographical range, extending from Uruguay in the south to Southern 

 Mexico in the north. 



THE RED-FACED SPIDER-MONKEY (Ateles paniscus). 



The monkey represented in the figure on p. 145 is one of the best-known 

 representatives of the genus, and is commonly termed the red - faced spider- 

 monkey, although known to the natives of Brazil as the coaita. It is found over a 

 large area of Brazil and Guiana ; and, although exceeded in bulk by the woolly 

 monkeys, is in absolute length of body the tallest of all the monkeys of these 

 regions. It has been long known to science, its scientific name having been given 

 by Linnaeus, while its native designation, coaita, was in use in Europe as far back as 

 the time of Buffon. The coarse fur is black in colour, and short on the crown of 

 the head, although long and projecting on the forehead. The distinctive feature of 

 the species is, however, the tawny flesh-coloured hue of the prominent naked 

 portions of the face, from which it derives its name. 



In Brazil this species is found all over the lowlands of the valley of the 

 Amazon, but it does not range to the southward beyond the limits of the river- 

 plains, where it is replaced by the white- whiskered spider-monkey. Like the other 

 species, it lives in small parties ; and is comparatively silent. Its flesh is much 

 esteemed by the natives of Brazil, who capture it alive by shooting it with arrows 

 tipped with weak urari poison, and restoring it, when fallen, with salt. 



On one occasion when out hunting these animals on the Lower Amazon, Mr. 

 Bates remarks that his attention was first called to one of them by hearing a 

 rustling in the boughs above. " There was something human-like in its appear- 

 ance," he says, " as the lean, dark, shaggy creature moved deliberately among 



