i 7 8 APES AND MONKEYS. 



species derives its name. The tail is very thick and bushy, and the beard greatly 

 developed. 



Humboldt describes the red-backed saki as " a robust, active, fierce, and un- 

 tamable animal ; when irritated it raises itself on the hinder extremities, grinds its 

 teeth, rubs the end of the beard violently, and darts upon the person who has 

 excited its displeasure. In confinement it is habitually melancholy, and is never 

 excited to gaiety, except at the moment of receiving its favourite food. It seldom 

 drinks, but when it does so the operation is performed in a peculiar manner. Thus, 

 instead of putting its lips, after the manner of other monkeys, to the water or the 

 vessel containing it, this species conveys it to its mouth in the hollow of the hand, 

 at the same time bending forward its head. It is not, however, easy to witness this 

 singular trait of character, since the animal is unwilling to satisfy its thirst when 

 watched or likely to be observed." In their wild state the same traveller relates 

 that these animals live only in pairs. Their voice, which is but seldom heard, is 

 described as a kind of disagreeable grunt. 



Closely allied to the preceding species is the one represented in 

 the figure on the previous page, (P. satanas), which is an inhabitant of 

 Brazil. It is readily distinguished by the absence of the yellowish-red on the back 

 and shoulders; the whole of the fur being of a uniform blackish-brown colour, 

 generally tending to a more decided black in the males, and being browner in the 

 female. In a male example in the Paris Museum the back is brown and the wig 

 black, while in a female both the back and the wig are more fulvous. Unusually 

 black individuals were described by Dr. Gray as a distinct species, under the name 

 of Chiropotes ater. 



The black saki, or cuxio, as this species is termed in Brazil, appears to be 

 restricted to the lower parts of the Amazon valley. It was observed by Mr. 

 Bates at Cameta, on the southern side of the Amazon delta, and is stated to dwell 

 in the most retired parts of the forests, in regions where the ground is not subject 

 to inundations. This naturalist was, however, unable to learn anything as to its 

 habits in a wild state. 



White-Nosed The last representative of these monkeys is the white-nosed 



saki. sa ki (p albinasa), which is likewise an inhabitant of the dense forests 



of the valley of the Amazon. It is of a deep black colour, with a paler tinge on 



the tips of the hair, except on the nose, which is pure white, and thus renders the 



animal easily recognisable. 



THE UAKARI MONKEYS. 

 Genus Uacaria. 



As we find among the monkeys of the Old World a great variation in regard to 

 the relative length of the tail in closely allied forms, so in the New World there is 

 a group of monkeys closely allied to the sakis, but distinguished by the extreme 

 shortness of this appendage ; and therein differing from all the other American 

 monkeys. From their peculiar coloration two of the uakaris, as these monkeys 

 are called, are among the most remarkable mammals in the world. 



