. Natural history. Zoology. 24 MAMMALIA—ORDER I.—PRIMATES. body golden yellow ; whereas in the black howler (A. nigra) the whole of the long hair is deep black. All the howlers are surlj' in disposition, and feed chiefly on fruits and leaves. When howling, two or three take up their position on the topmost branches of the forest trees, and commence their chorus. Mr. O. Salvin writes that their wonderful cry is certainly most striking, "and I have some- times endeavoured to ascertain how far this cry may be heard. It has taken me an hour or more to thread the forest undergrowth from the ti
. Natural history. Zoology. 24 MAMMALIA—ORDER I.—PRIMATES. body golden yellow ; whereas in the black howler (A. nigra) the whole of the long hair is deep black. All the howlers are surlj' in disposition, and feed chiefly on fruits and leaves. When howling, two or three take up their position on the topmost branches of the forest trees, and commence their chorus. Mr. O. Salvin writes that their wonderful cry is certainly most striking, "and I have some- times endeavoured to ascertain how far this cry may be heard. It has taken me an hour or more to thread the forest undergrowth from the time the cry first struck my ear to when, guided by the cry alone, I stood under the tree where the animals were. It would certainly not be over-estimating the distance to say two miles. When the sound came over the Lake of Yzabal unhindered by the trees, a league would be more like the distance at which the cry may be ; Agreeing with the howlers (which form a sub-family by themselves) in hav- ing the lower incisor teeth placed vertically, the capuchins, CapucMns together with several allied genera, difi'er by the absence of (Oebus). any inflation of the hyoid bone. In all the group the tail is long and prehensile ; although in some species, when its tip is haired, instead of bare and sensitive, the grasping power of this organ is much less well marked than in the rest. The thumli may be either present or wanting. The capuchins, or typical representatives of the entire family, are some- what stoutly-built monkeys, with the limbs of moderate length, the fur not woolly, the thumb fully developed, and the lower surface of the extremity of the tail covered with hair. Although the various species of capuchins are extremely difficult to distinguish, about eighteen different kinds are now re- cognised by naturalists ; their range extend- ing from Mexico to Paraguay. In constitu- tion these monkeys are exceedingly hardy, and as they are easy to train, and gentle in disposi
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