90 
THE MARMOSET. 
tiny fingers with restless impatience. It then insinuated its hand among my closed fingers 
and never failed to find and to capture the imprisoned fly. 
When properly tamed, the Mannoset will come and sit on its owner’s hand, its little paws 
c rngmg tightly to his fingers, and its tail coiled over his hand or wrist. Or it will clamber 
up his arm and sit on his shoulders, or if chilly, hide itself beneath his coat, or even creen 
into a convenient pocket. 1 
The Marmoset has a strange liking for hair, and is fond of playing with the locks of its 
owner One of these little creatures, which was the property of a gentleman adorned with a 
large bushy beard, was wont to creep to its master’s face, and to nestle among the thick masses 
of beard which decorated his chin. Another Marmoset, which belonged to a lady, and which 
GROUP OP MARMOSETS. 
was liable to the little petulances of its race, used to vent its anger by nibbling the end of her 
ringlets. If the hair were bound round her head, the curious little animal would draw a tress 
down, and bite its extremity, as if it were trying to eat the hair by degrees. The same indi- 
vidual was possessed of an accomplishment which is almost unknown among these little 
monkeys, namely, standing on its head. 
Generally the Marmoset preserves silence ; but if alarmed or irritated, it gives vent to a 
little sharp whistle, from which it has gained its name of Ouistiti. It is sufficiently active 
when in the enjoyment of good health, climbing and leaping about from bar to bar with an 
agile quickness that reminds the observer of a squirrel. 
Its food is both animal and vegetable in character ; the animal portion being chiefly com- 
posed of various insects, eggs, and it may be, an occasional young bird, and the vegetable diet 
ranging through most of the edible fruits. A tame Marmoset has been known to pounce upon 
a living gold fish, and to eat it. In consequence of this achievement, some young eels were 
