SPIDER, OWL AND SQUIRREL MONKEYS 



15 



It has a wrinkled and care-worn face, as if bur- 

 dened with sorrows — which most captive mon- 

 keys certainly are! Its forehead, throat and 

 shoulder-points are white, and the remainder 

 of the body is either gray, brown or jet black. 

 The Sapajous inhabit Central America and 

 northern South America. About two hundred 

 specimens are brought to New York every year, 



BLACK-FACED SPIDER MONKEY. 



At'e-les a'ler. 



where they are sold by dealers at prices ranging 

 from $ 10 to $15 each. 



The Spider Monkeys 1 may easily be recog- 

 nized by their very long, slender legs and tails, 

 and small, round heads. In color they are usu- 

 ally either black or gray, and rarely reddish 

 brown. As they swing on their way through 

 life, always using their prehensile tails to cling 

 or to swing by, they have a very uncanny look, 

 and it is no wonder that they are called "Spider" 

 monkeys. They can come as near tying them- 

 selves into knots as living mammals ever can. 

 1 At'e-les. 



When fully grown, they are much larger than 

 the sapajous, but are weak, unable to fight, and 

 therefore timid. In a cage containing several 

 species of monkeys, they are always the greatest 

 cowards, and often are heard shrieking from 

 fright at imaginary terrors. They are dainty 

 feeders, and very difficult to keep in health in 

 captivity. Four species are found north of 

 Panama. The Mexican Spider Monkey oc- 

 curs up to Lat. 23°, and is the most northern 

 monkey on this continent. 



The Owl Monkeys. — Next to the spider 

 monkeys is found a group often represented in 

 captivity, the members of which are distin- 

 guished by their small size, their round heads, 

 very large, owl-like eyes, and long, hairy tails, 

 which arc not prehensile. As their staring eyes 

 suggest, these creatures are of nocturnal habits, 

 and in daylight hours are as inactive and un- 

 interesting as opossums. Because of this, they 

 make rather uninteresting pets ; but being good- 

 tempered creatures, they are frequently kept. 

 They are sometimes called Do-rou-cou'lis. 

 They are found from Central America to 

 southern Brazil. 



The Squirrel Monkeys of northern South 

 America and Central America are next in order, 

 and in activity and general liveliness of habit 

 they make up for all that the owl monkeys lack. 

 They are the most active of all the small Amer- 

 ican monkeys, and so nervous and unmanage- 

 able they are unfit for captive life elsewhere 

 than in cages. The Common Squirrel Mon- 

 key, 1 sometimes, though erroneously, called 

 the Teetee, is a trim little yellow fellow, with 

 a very long cranium, close-haired head, and 

 a very long tail, which it gracefully curls up 

 over its own shoulders whenever it sits down. 

 This species comes from the Guianas and Vene- 

 zuela, and is very common in captivity. 



On board ship a Squirrel Monkey of my ac- 

 quaintance once furnished constant entertain- 

 ment and amusement. Its favorite food was 

 big, fat cockroaches, contributed by the sailors 

 from their collection in the forecastle. Each 

 morning a sailor would bring a jacket, and shake 

 it over a clear space on the deck. As the cock- 

 roach shower struck the deck, the agile little 

 monkey dashed at the insects like a terrier at 

 rats, cramming them into his mouth as fast as 

 1 Sai-mi'ri sci-u're-a. 



