ORDER QUAD RUM AN A. 315 



Humboldt states of the individual in his possession up- 

 wards of five months, that it slept generally from nine in 

 the morning till seven in the evening ; light was extremely 

 inconvenient to him. When about to sleep he hid himself 

 in the darkest recess or crevice he could find, and like 

 the squirrels and weasels, seemed to have a particular faci- 

 lity in passing into small openings. 



If he awaked during day he was sad, lifeless, and 

 stupid ; and exhibited considerable difficulty in opening his 

 large eyes, which at night resembled those of the owl though 

 during day they were spiritless, and as if dying. His or- 

 dinary position for sleep was that represented in the plate. 



The listlessness and apathy of this animal during day is 

 only equalled by his impetuous activity at night. Nearly 

 blinded by the excess of day-light he seeks his food during 

 dusk, when he hunts after small birds and insects, indeed 

 his love of flies will sometimes keep him awake for a short 

 time in the day, provided he be in a situation sufficiently 

 obscured to permit his seeing them. Fruits, almonds, sugar- 

 cane, fyc, also furnish him with food, but he is, however, 

 by no means a great eater, and will go twenty or thirty 

 days without drinking. 



The Douroucoulis live in pairs and not gregariously- — they 

 are often taken in the day-time out of small clefts in trees, 

 into which they have retired to sleep away the day. They 

 are extremely difficult to tame, at least the individual in 

 the Baron Humboldt's possession, could not be reconciled by 

 any means. He played but very rarely, and occupied him- 

 self either with his own person or in the taking small flies, 

 which he caught with peculiar address. He hissed like a 

 cat, pushing out or striking with his paw at the same time 

 with great rapidity. His nocturnal cry (muh muK) resem- 

 bled that of the Jaguar of America. His voice was ex- 

 tremely powerful in reference to his size. He also uttered 

 two other cries, a sort of mewling (c-i-aou), and a dis- 



