32 ANIMALS IN MENAGERIES. 



branchy and from tree to tree, that the eye cannot 

 follow them; they appear, in short, to fly; and when 

 thus scouring the forests, it is totally impossible for the 

 hunter to take aim at them with his gun. To us, their 

 movements seemed far superior in swiftness and elas- 

 ticity to that of the squirrel. It is known among the 

 Portuguese by the name of Sanglinu. Edwards says of 

 one individual that belonged to a INIrs. Kinnon, 

 " formerly midwife to the Royal Family," ( this was in 

 1758,) — " that once, when let loose, it suddenly 

 snatched a Chinese goldfish out of a basin of water, 

 which it killed and greedily devoured; after which she 

 gave him small live eels, which frightened him at first by 

 their twisting round his neck, but he soon mastered and 

 ate them."* 



The size is about that of our squirrel. On each side 

 of the head, and round the ears, is a tuft of long white 

 hair, standing out in a remarkable manner; the rest of 

 the face and head are black : the hair of the body is 

 darkish brown, with deeper transverse shades ; each hair 

 being dusky at its root, reddish in the middle, and tipt 

 with grey. The tail is very long, bushy, and alter- 

 nately annulated with light ash-coloured and black 

 rings. The head is very small, and the face of a dark 

 flesh colour. 



The Silky Monkey. 



Midas rosalia, Geoff. ( Fig. 5. ) 



This, perhaps, is the most beautiful of all the little 

 monkeys brought from Brazil ; yet, although by no means 

 uncommon in its native country, it is so much affected by 

 the ungenial climate of Europe, and its existence is so 

 frequently terminated by the humidity and coldness of 

 our winters, even with the most scrupulous care, that it 

 seldom survives the change many months. Its delicacy 

 of constitution is extended to its habits under confine- 

 ment, which are described as unusually neat and clean. 



* Edwards's Gleanings, p. 218. 



