BLACK-HEADED MONKEY. 29 



formed in a very peculiar manner ; instead of putting its 

 lips, like other monkeys, to the liquor, or to the vessel which 

 contains it, this species conveys it to the mouth in the 

 hollow of its hand, at the same time inclining the head 

 upon the shoulders. It is not easy, however, to witness 

 this singular trait of character, since the animal is un- 

 willing to satisfy his thirst when watched or likely to 

 be observed:" as connected with this, it has been ob- 

 served that it has an extreme aversion to its beard being 

 wetted. In their native forests, the hand-drinking 

 monkeys live only in pairs. The voice, which is seldom 

 heard, is a disagreeable grunt. 



The colour of the body above is reddish brown, and 

 the hair is long and smooth : the forehead and crown 

 are covered with long thick hair, directed forward, and 

 parted above the eyes into two thick distinct tufts ; this 

 division is formed by a longitudinal line destitute of 

 hair : the beard is long, thick, and bushy ; and the 

 canine teeth are of an enormous length and size. The 

 tail is not so long as the body, bushy, and deep brown. 



The Black-headed Monkey. 

 Pithecia melanocephala, Geoff. 



This, like the last, must be enumerated among the 

 more remarkable monkeys of the New World, from all 

 of which it is to be immediately distinguished by the 

 extreme shortness of the tail ; a structure which would 

 seem to make it the representative of the baboons of the 

 Old Continent. It is, in fact, the only one hitherto dis- 

 covered in America, whose tail does not exceed three 

 inches in length. It is altogether a small species; that 

 described by Humboldt measuring little more than 

 one foot five inches from the head to the feet ; in its 

 adult state, however, it is described as reaching the 

 length of another foot. Its disposition is inactive, phleg- 

 matic, but very docile. It eats with avidity all sorts 

 of fruits, sweet or sour: these it will seize by stretching 

 out both its hands at once, bending the back and body 



