90 



THE MARMOSET. 



tiny fingers with restless impatience. It then insinuated its hand among my closed fingers, 

 and never failed to find and to capture the imprisoned fly. 



When properly tamed, the Marmoset will come and sit on its owner' s hand, its little paws 

 clinging tightly to Ms fingers, and its tail coiled over his hand or wrist. Or it will clamber 

 up his arm and sit on his shoulders, or if chilly, hide itself beneath Ms coat, or even creep 

 into a convenient pocket. 



The Marmoset has a strange liking for hair, and is fond of playing with the locks of its 

 owner. One of these little creatures, wMch was the property of a gentleman adorned with a 

 large bushy beard, was wont to creep to its master' s face, and to nestle among the thick masses 

 of beard which decorated his chin. Another Marmoset, which belonged to a lady, and which 



GROUP OP MARMOSETS. 



fras liable to the little petulances of its race, used to vent its anger by nibbling the end<of her 

 ringlets. If the hair were bound round her head, the curious little animal woidd draw a tress 

 down, and bite its extremity, as if it were trying to eat the hair by degrees. The same indi- 

 vidual was possessed of an accomplishment which is almost unknown among these little 

 monkeys, namely, standing on its head. 



Generally the Marmoset preserves silence ; but if alarmed or irritated, it gives vent to a 

 little sharp whistle, from which it has gained its name of Ouistiti. It is sufficiently active 

 when in the enjoyment of good -health, climbing and leaping about from bar to bar with an 

 agile quickness that reminds the observer of a squirrel. 



Its food is both animal and vegetable in character ; the animal portion being cMefly com- 

 posed of various insects, eggs, and it may be, an occasional young bird, and the vegetable diet 

 ranging through most of the edible fruits. A tame Marmoset has been known to pounce upon 

 a living gold fish, and to eat it. In consequence of this achievement, some young eels were 



