VIII. 



BROTHER LONGLEGS. 



No nickname was ever more aptly chosen 

 than that given by the natives of Guatemala to 

 the spider monkey, — Brother Longlegs. His 

 limbs are the most conspicuous part of him. 

 Somebody has said that he looks like four legs 

 tied together in a knot in the middle, the knot, 

 of course, being his small body. With his 

 sprawling and grotesque motions, he is the de- 

 light of the menagerie, and the ease and rapidity 

 with which he can travel the treetops of his na- 

 tive forest make him the despair of the ordinary 

 hunter. 



There is hardly a position possible to so large 

 an animal that he does not sooner or later put 

 himself into with the greatest ease. Sometimes, 

 in their native woods, according to Humboldt, a 

 cluster of spider monkeys may be seen, hanging 

 by the legs, arms, and tails to each other, like 

 some enormous overgrown and very lively fruit, 

 swinging, chattering, and frolicking together, all 

 suspended by the tail of one stout fellow who 

 must have begun this queer sport. 



The coaita, the best known of the family, is 



