534 



NATURE 



\Oct. 6, 1 88 1 



ILLUSTRA TIONS OFNE W OR RARE ANIMALS 

 IN THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S LIVING 

 COLLECTION i 



IV. 

 8. ■'THE White-nosed Saki {Pilhccia ^/6i>iasa).—The 

 -^ peculiar American monkeys which belong to the 

 closely-allied genera Pithecia and Brachyunts of natura- 

 lists, and are generally known as "Sakis" — a name 

 probably derived from some Indian term — are restricted 

 to the forests of Guiana and Amazonia, and seem to have 

 in the case of each species a very restricted geographical 

 area of distribution, one of these monkeys not intruding 

 within the limits of another. As regards the genus 

 Brachytirus, which is little more than Pithecia with a 

 shortened tail, Mr. W. A. Forbes has lately shown this to 



Fig. 8.— 'the White-nosed Saki. 



be the case, in an article published in the Zoological 

 Society's Proceeditigs; wherein, after describing the 

 anatomy of Bracliyurus nil'ienndus, he has given a 

 map to illustrate the distribution of this and the two 

 allied species of Brachyurus. Each of them is limited 

 to a peculiar district of Amazonia, one {B. tnelano- 

 cephalus) to the forests of the Rio Negro, a second {B. 

 calvns) to those lying between the Putumayo and th = 

 Japura, on the north bank of the Amazons, and the third 

 (,/)'. rubicimdus) to the district contained between the 

 main stream and the Rio lea. 



In like manner the few particulars which have yet 

 been recorded as to the exact localities of the Pithecia 



Cnntinued from vol. xxiil. p. 48q. 

 = " On the E.xternal Characters and Anatomyof the Red Ouakari Monkey 

 (Brachyurus rtibicundus) ; with remarks on the other species of that Genus." 

 ByW. A. Forbes. B.A.. F.L S., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, 

 Prosector to the Society.^/'. Z. S.. i88o. p. 627. 



seem to tend to similar conclusions. Although we must 

 suppose them, in obedience to the laws of descent, to 

 have originated in common ancestors, they now occupy 

 restricted areas cut oft' from one another, and in some 

 cases rather widely separated. Why, in this as in similar 

 cases, the form should have ceased to exist in the inter- 

 mediate districts, is a subject on which it is at present 

 diflicult even to offer a conjecture. 



The Pitheciie are easily divisible into two sections — 

 one embracing the curly-haired species, such as P. 

 leucocephala, P. monaclius, and their allies, and the 

 other the smooth-haired forms, such as P. satanas (com- 

 monly called by the dealers the Jew-Monkey), and 

 P. chiropotes. The White-nosed Saki, of which a 

 figure is herewith given (Fig. 8), belongs to the latter 

 group, and is one of the rarest and least known of the 

 South American monkeys. A single ex- 

 ample of it was obtained by the French 

 collector Deville, on the Upper Amazons, 

 during his descent of that river in com- 

 pany with de Cabtlenau's celebrated ex- 

 pedition, and is now in the Paris Museum. 

 It was first described by Deville and 

 Isidore Geoffrey St. Hilaire jointly, in 

 1848, and subsequently figured in the 

 "2oologie" of Castlenau's expedition, but 

 the exact locality where it was procured 

 was unfortunately left unrecorded. 



The example of this monkey, lately 

 living in the Zoological Society's collec- 

 tion, was purchased of a dealer in January 

 last. It is uniformly, but rather sparingly 

 covered with black hairs. The nose is 

 ^ broadly naked, and of a bright fleshy red, 



but shows a few white hairs between the 

 nostrils, which are sufficient to justify its 

 scientific name. The long hairs on the 

 head fall on both sides of the head and 

 over the front. The length of the body 

 is about fifteen inches, of the tail eighteen 

 inches. The latter organ, although clothed 

 with elongated hairs, appears to be 

 slightly prehensile. The specimen is of 

 the female sex, apparently not fully adult. 

 9. Tlie Mmititain Nestor or Kea (Nes- 

 tor notabilis). — Whatever may have for- 

 merly been thought to the contrary, there 

 can be now no doubt that animals are 

 continually changing their habits in order 

 to suit themselves to the altered circum- 

 stances of their existence. A very familiar 

 instance of this is that of the common 

 ,'ii' _ swallow, which, in Europeat least, usually 



builds its nest in chimneys. Before chiin- 

 neys were invented it must obviously have 

 affi.xed its nest to some other chimney-like 

 structure — probably to the inside of a hol- 

 low tree. But a much more striking and less laudable 

 change of habit has of late years taken place in a New 

 Zealand bird, of which we herewith give an illustration 

 (F'&- 9)- Parrots, though varying much in the details 

 of their diet, are generally considered to be altogether 

 frugivorous. Fruit and seeds, and in certain special 

 cases moss and honey, are, no doubt, their proper food. 

 But since the introduction of the domestic sheep into 

 New Zealand the Mountain Nestor, which was pre- 

 viously content with a modest repast of an entirely veget- 

 able character, has developed a taste for mutton. Many- 

 instances have now been recorded of this bird attacking 

 not only sick and dying sheep, but, it is alleged, even 

 those that are strong and healthy, though we should hardly 

 suppose that this parrot exists anywhere in sufficient num- 

 bers to be likely to do the flock-masters any serious injury." 



' Fr.:m the interesting article by Mr. Pons on the habits of this parrot jnst 



