Chapter I: The White-Throated Capuchin. Cebus Hypoleucus

_Saï á gorge blanche_, Buffon, Hist. Nat. Mamm., p. 64, pl. 15, fig. 9
(1767); Fr. Cuv., Hist. Nat. Mamm., livr. xvi.; Audeb., Hist. Nat.
Singes, fam. v., sect. 2, pl. 5 (1797).

_Simia hypoleuca_, Humb., Obs. Zool., i., p. 337 (1811); Pucher., Rev. et
Mag. de Zool. (2), 1857, p. 348.

_Cebus hypoleucus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 111 (1812); Gray, Cat.
Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 50 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 190
(1876).

_Cebus leucocephalus_, Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 827, fig. 4; Sclater, P.
Z. S., 1872, p. 4; Alston in Godman and Salvin, Biol. Centr. Am. Mamm.,
p. 13 (1879).

CHARACTERS.--Hair very silky, smooth and stiff, and thicker above than below. Face and forehead nude, flesh-coloured; hands and feet nude, of a violet hue, as also the thinly-haired skin of the under side of the body. The tip of the tail for a short distance being naked, distinguishes this species from all others. Shoulders, arms, and sides of the head behind the ears pure white; chest and throat yellowish; rest of the body deep black.

{207}Older individuals have the head longer than the younger ones, and the shoulders yellowish instead of white. Length of the body, 13½ inches; of the tail, 17 inches.

DISTRIBUTION.--This species was discovered by Humboldt in the low lands of Colombia. From Colombia its range extends north to Nicaragua. It has been obtained in Veragua, in Panama, in Costa Rica, and in the north-east of the country between the Pacuar and Chirripo rivers, and also on the mountains of Candalaria.

HABITS.--The White-throated Capuchin feeds partly on fruit, as Mr. Belt has narrated in his well-known "Naturalist in Nicaragua." He adds:--"It is incessantly on the look out for insects, examining the crevices in trees and withered leaves, seizing the largest beetles and munching them up with the greatest relish. It is also very fond of eggs and young birds, and must play havoc amongst the nestlings. Probably owing to its carnivorous habits, its flesh is not considered so good by Monkey-eaters as that of the fruit-eating Spider-Monkey; but I never myself tried either."

Mr. Salvin saw a troop of these Monkeys in company with several Spider-Monkeys by the margin of a watercourse in Nicaragua, and remarked that the actions of the latter were bolder and more active than those of the Capuchins, which were slower and more timid.

According to Cuvier, the cry of this animal in captivity is a continuous soft whistle until its wants are satisfied; if it wants nothing this whistle is intermittent, and very soft. When in terror, its cry is a veritable bark, broken by silent intervals.

It is extremely docile and very intelligent; the look in its eyes is remarkably penetrating, and it appears to read in the {208}eyes of its observer what is passing within him, and to comprehend every motion and gesture.

When pleased it utters a reiterated shrill note, and draws back the corners of its mouth, producing a smile by contracting the same muscles as in the human face.