THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



S, in order that it may serve as a balancing-pole ; just as a pole 

 balances a tight-rope walker. 



But this useful member can be employed for other purposes as 

 well. Its muscular strength is very considerable, for it will sustain 

 the whole weight of the animal for any length of time that may be 

 required. A spider monkey will suspend himself by his tail from 



a branch, in order to 

 obtain a bunch of 

 fruit which would 

 otherwise be out of 

 his reach. In pass- 

 ing from one tree to 

 another, he will some- 

 times hang by his tail 

 alone, and swing him- 

 self through the air to 

 a distant bough. 



There is said to 

 be still another use 

 for the tail. All the 

 spider monkeys are 

 very fond of birds' 

 eggs; and sometimes 

 they find a nest in a 

 hole with an opening 

 sosmall thateven their 

 narrow paws cannot 

 enter it. But the tip 

 of the tail, which has 



Spider Monkey 



almost as much delicacy of touch as our own fingers, is easil\' 

 inserted, and the eggs are dexterously hooked out one after another. 



You will recollect, no doubt, that the thumb of the gibbon is 

 very small, and is set side by side with the fingers. Most of the 

 spider monkeys, however, have no thumbs at all, and their hands 

 consist simply of the four fingers and the palm. 



Perhaps the most curious of the American monkeys are the 

 Howlers, so called from the hideous cries which they utter almost 



