WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 



cold, and they will bear excessive heat. I have sometimes 

 allowed some of the weakly and delicate members of this 

 family to have free run of my house, and it is a perfect 

 pleasure to find them basking before a large kitchen fire, 

 lying on the hearth within the fender in such a position 

 as would lead any one to expect that they would be 

 roasted alive. Out of this they would run into the open air 

 during the coldest weather in winter, to search the dust- 

 bin for some anticipated toothsome delicacy ; this they 

 frequently repeated without in any way receiving the 

 .slightest injury ; in fact, I have always found them thrive 

 better when allowed to have this freedom. 



It has sometimes happened that the marmosets have 

 bred in captivity, producing one and sometimes two at a 

 birth. The young one clings so tightly to the body of its 

 mother that, being hidden in her long fur, it is very 

 difficult to see. The young are suckled for five or six 

 months, but remain with the mother long after this 

 period, and become very amusing, darting off after some 

 insects or other food which it has discovered, returning 

 to the mother and hiding itself on her breast. 



My son Edward states that while in Peru he found a 

 very handsome species ,of marmoset (Midas dcvilli). " This 

 species is extremel}? delicate, and will not bear the least 

 cold. I have had several alive for two or three weeks, 

 but they appear to suffer from cold and die. They are 

 kept, however, by the Indian women, who make pets of 

 them and put them into the long hair on their heads; 

 with this protection they are able to live for a long time. 

 Having become tame, they frequently hop out to feed, 

 and, having captured a spider or two, scamper back again, 

 and hide under the luxuriant crop of hair of their owners, 

 who are generally unwilling to part with them." 



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