THE STEIATED MONKEY. 237 



parts of the extremities are brownish-gray. The 

 face is flesh-colour, and there is a white spot on the 

 forehead ; but the most conspicuous marking in the 

 physiognomy of the animal, are two tufts of pale 

 or grayish white hair, of considerable length, which 

 spring round each ear. All the claws, except those 

 on the hinder parts, are hooked, and very thick. It 

 generally walks in a quadruped position, and uses 

 the fingers in one direction. In a wild state, the food 

 may be said to be almost every thing ; fruits, roots, 

 and seeds, insects, and small or young birds. In con- 

 finement, it is even more varied. Edwards, who has 

 given us a very good figure of it in his Gleanings, in- 

 forms us that the specimen from which he made his 

 drawing, " fed upon biscuits, fruits, greens, insects, 

 snails, &c. ; and that once when loosed, it suddenly 

 snatched a Chinese gold fish from a basin of water 

 killed, and devoured it ; after this, Mrs Kennon, to 

 whom it belonged, gave it live eels, which frightened 

 him at first, by twisting round his neck, but he soon 

 mastered them and ate them." 



They breed occasionally in confinement ; Edwards 

 mentions a pair which had produced young in Portugal, 

 and Frederic Cuvier had two which bore young in 

 1819- The female produced three, but very soon 

 ate off the head of one of them ; in the mean time the 

 others began to suck, and from the period of their 

 commencement, she was as affectionate as she was 

 before careless. The male seemed more affectionate 



