THE MARMOSETS. E37 
Mico melanurus, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 64 (1870). 
Hapale argentata, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 268 (1876). 
Characters. 

Face naked, flesh-coloured; ears naked, flesh- 
coloured, exposed ; no ear-pencils, as in A. chrysoleuca ,; tail 
uniform black ; head and fore-limbs pale brown; front of the 
body paler ; front edges of the thighs, and a band across the 
loins, white. Length, 7 inches, without the tail. Some varieties 
have the body entirely covered with long, white, silky hairs. 
Distribution.—Bolivia and Brazil. Mr. Bates says that the 
Black-tailed Marmoset is one of the rarest of the American 
Monkeys. He did not hear of its being found anywhere in 
Amazonia except near Cameta, on the River Tocantins. 
Habits.—Little is known of the habits of this species, few 
naturalists having had the good fortune to observe it in its 
native state. Mr. Bates, however, once saw three individuals 
together, running along a branch, and looking like white 
Kittens. ‘I afterwards saw a pet animal,” he says in his 
book, ‘‘of this species, and heard that there were many so 
kept, and that they were esteemed as choice treasures. 
It was a most timid and sensitive thing. The woman who 
owned it carried it constantly in her bosom, and no money 
would induce her to part with her pet. . . . The nervous 
little creature would not permit strangers to touch it. If any- 
one attempted to do so, it shrank back, the whole body 
trembling with fear, and its teeth chattered, whilst it uttered 
its tremulous, frightened tones. ‘The expression of its features 
was like that of its more robust brother, AZ¢das ursulus ; the 
eyes, which were black, were full of curiosity and mistrust, and 
it always kept them fixed on the person who attempted to 
advance towards it.” | 
