686 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
The Black Chameck ( Ateles ater ) is Brazilian and distinguished by its 
black face. Domesticated chamecks have been known to make friends of dogs 
and to use them for horseback exercise. 
The Grizzled Coaita {Ateles gridescens) has the characteristics and habitat of 
the other coaitas and is known by its grizzled coat. The Hooded Coaita {Ateles 
cucullatus) wears a hairy hood on its forehead. The Coaita of Nicaraugua 
{Ateles albifrons) has a white forehead. The Red-bellied Coaita {Ateles rufi- 
venter) belongs to Columbia, is smaller and has a flesh-colored face, while the 
black of its body is in marked contrast with the red of its under parts. The 
Hairy Coaita {Ateles vellerosus ) belongs to Vera Cruz, lives at high altitudes, 
and each of its long hairs seems to have a direction of its own. 
The Marimonda {Ateles belzebuth ), of Guiana and Central America, is 
another of the spider monkeys. It is quite small and slender, its head is diminu¬ 
tive and its tail is almost whip-like. Its color is black, becoming lighter on 
the under parts and frequently relieved by chestnut color on its sides. When 
resting, it throws its arms back 
of its head. It is easily tamed 
and makes so amiable a pet, as 
to be a great favorite. 
The Spider Monkey or 
Coita {Atelespaniscus ), is another 
South American form, and it is 
so wholly adapted to life in the trees as to 
be almost helpless on the ground. It uses 
its tail not simply for prehensile purposes, 
but likewise as antenna, and when in mo¬ 
tion curls it over its body, so that it pro¬ 
jects in front of its head ; he is said to use 
his tail, as the ant-eater does its tongue, 
and to insert it into the nests of birds, extract¬ 
ing the eggs and conveying them, one by one, 
to its mouth. It is small-sized in body, long 
and spider-like in its hairy legs, and the duc¬ 
tility of its tail adds to its general resemblance 
to a black, hairy spider, as it sprawls about in its climbing. The male, at 
least in captivity, is quite playful, while its mate yields a somewhat reluctant 
assent to its overtures for a romp. Although averse to terrestrial locomotion, 
it will, when necessity compels, walk off on its hind feet, using its tail as a 
reversed rudder, or balancing-pole. Although exceedingly active when so dis¬ 
posed, it is exceedingly fond of its dolce far niente , and numbers of them, almost 
equal to the leaves on the tree, will suspend themselves by their tails and rock 
themselves for hours at a time, until the inexperienced observer would suppose 
that he had not only found an unknown species of tree, but that he had met 
with the phenomenon of a spectral breeze which agitated the leaves of the tree, 
without being otherwise perceptible. This is the monkey whose success in 
transforming himself into a suspension bridge has so often formed the subject 
of popular description and illustration. One of them will fasten his tail to a 
bough, and then a series of monkeys will tie themselves to it and to each 
other until a sufficiently long chain has been formed. Next, they use their 
NEGRO MONKEY. 
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