28 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



African monkeys, the characteristic difference between the 

 countenance of Old and New World species will be at 

 once apparent. In those of the Old World the nose is 

 not only (save in the proboscis monkeys) very small, but 

 also very narrow, its nostrils being in close proximity. 

 In the sapajou and the New World forms, however, the 

 nose is remarkably broad, the two nostrils being widely 

 separated. In leaving the sapajous we bid adieu to the 

 groups furnished with prehensile tails, and come upon a 

 very different set of forms, which terminate the order 

 of apes. 



First we may notice the group of monkeys of about 

 the size of sapajous,' and known as sakis. They are 

 somewhat widely spread over the South American con- 

 tinent, but are nowhere very abundant, living in pairs, 

 alone, or accompanied by their young. They are gentle, 

 timid animals, which sleep much by day and go abroad 

 at night, thus escaping the persecution they would other- 

 wise suffer from the oppression of the more active and 

 powerful sapajous. Sakis are seldom seen alive in 

 captivity, but several of them are very singular in 

 appearance. One is known as the "Capuchin," on 

 account of its brown colour and long beard; while 

 another kind, also provided with a beard, has, on account 

 of its fine black colour, been called the Satanic saki. 

 Another species is black, with a, v^hite head, while 

 another has its pate more or less bald (Pig. 7). This last- 

 mentioned kind agrees with some others in having a very 

 short tail. In this they differ not only from the other 

 sakis, but from all the rest of the monkeys of America, 

 every one of which is provided with an elongated caudal 

 appendage. One of these exceptional apes has the tail 

 not only extremely short, but furnished with long hair, 

 so that it ferms a prominent ball which would serve as 



