Notices of Xerv Books. 



8347 



annoying them. It is generally fed on sweet fruits, such as the banana, 

 but it is also fond of insects, especially soft-bodied spiders and grass- 

 hoppers, which it will snap up with eagerness when within reach. 

 The expression of countenance in these small monkeys is intelligent 

 aud pleasing. This is partly owing to the open facial angle, which 

 is given as one of 60°; but the quick movements of the head, and the 

 way they have of inclining to one side when their curiosity is excited, 

 contribute very much to give them a knowing expression. Anato- 

 mists who have dissected species of Midas tell us that the brain is of 

 a very low type, as far as the absence of convolutions goes, the surface 

 being as smooth as that of a squirrel's. I should conclude at once 

 that this character is an unsafe guide in judging on the mental qualities 

 of these animals ; in mobility of expression of countenance, intelligence 

 and general manners, these small monkeys resemble the higher apes 

 far more than they do any rodent animal with which I am acquainted." 

 — (P. 96). 



The cigana [Opisthocomus crislatus) is a bird that has proved very 

 puzzling to ornithologists, from certain peculiarities of structure which 

 they have failed to understand correctly. Those who have really 

 studied the Fauna of the Amazonian districts have detected characters 

 pervading entire tribes which distinguish them readily from correspond- 

 ing tribes familiar in the Old World. Thus it is with monkeys : the 

 instructed eye cannot fail to distinguish between the Simiadae of the 

 Old World and the Cebidae. And thus with the gallinaceous birds : 

 we have learnt to discriminate them with equal facility. Opisthocomus 

 is one of the arboreal poultry of the New World, and has no characters, 

 so far as I know, that raise any doubt of its taking rank amongst them. 

 Nevertheless with the poultry of the Old World it has little in common. 

 But let us hear Mr. Bates on the subject. 



Cigana Fowl. — " A much commoner species was the cigana or 

 gipsy {Opisthocomus crislatus), a bird belonging to the same order 

 (Gallinacea) as our domestic fowl. It is about the size of a pheasant; 

 the plumage is dark brown, varied with reddish, and the head is 

 adorned with a crest of long feathers. It is a remarkable bird in many 

 respects. The hind toe is not placed high above the level of the other 

 toes, as it is in the fowl order generally, but lies on the same plane 

 with them ; the shape of the foot becomes thus suited to the purely 

 arboreal habits of the bird, enabling it to grasp firmly the branches of 

 trees. This is a distinguishing character of all the birds in Equinoc- 

 tial America which represent the fowl and pheasant tribes of the Old 

 World, and affords another proof of the adaptation of the Fauna to a 



