Henry Ogg Forbes

“ Characters.—Head, neck, limbs and tail, dark chestnut-brown; back and sides golden-yellow; beard in the full-grown male long, the hair golden-yellow at the root, otherwise chestnut-brown; face naked, black; chest naked, the abdomen sparsely covered with long brown hairs.
The hair of the body is soft. The tail varies in colour in individual specimens, being sometimes, at its termination, of the same colour as the back, and sometimes bright golden-yellow. ”

“ To this species, we believe, belongs the following description given by Captain Dampier: "The Monkeys that are in these parts are the ugliest I ever saw. They are much bigger than a Hare, and have great Tails about two Foot and a half long. The under side of their Tails is all bare, with a black hard Skin; but the upper side and all the Body is covered with coarse, long black staring Hair. These Creatures keep together, twenty or thirty in a company, and ramble over the Woods, leaping from Tree to Tree. If they meet with a single Person they will threaten to devour him. ”

“ The characters of the genus Mycetes, which is the only one of the sub-family, are the same as those given above under the sub-family heading.
The genus contains six well-recognised species. According to Mr. Wallace the red and black species of the Amazon have females of the same colour as the males. Humboldt also remarks, speaking of the thousands of Arguatoes (M. seniculus) which he observed in the provinces of Cumana, Caracas, and in Guiana, that he never saw any change in the reddish-brown fur of the back and shoulders, either in isolated individuals or whole troops. ”

“ A male was followed by a great number of females, several of which carried their young on their shoulders. The uniformity with which the Arguatoes execute their movements is extremely striking. Whenever the branches of neighbouring trees do not touch, the male that leads the band suspends himself by the callous and prehensile part of his tail ”

“ Length, 20 inches; tail, 17 inches.
Female and Young.—Pale straw-colour washed with black; the tips of the frontal ridge of hair black; at birth the young are entirely straw-colour.
Dr. Slack observes that, in the young, about the period of the second dentition, the hairs upon the mid-line of the back become black at their bases; soon after, the change takes place upon other parts of the body, the black gradually taking the place of the straw-colour, until the entire body in the adult male is of an intense black colour—the adult female having the coloration of the half-grown male. ”

“ The angle of the lower jaw is very large and massive, and their chief characteristic is the conspicuous thickening of the throat, owing to the great enlargement of the hyoid bones—which are widely inflated and cavernous—to form the curious vocal organ which the males of these animals possess, and by which their voice can be so augmented as to be heard at a distance of several miles. ”

“ Characters.—Face naked; hair of forehead short, reflexed, forming a slight crest across the middle of the head; hairs of the back of the head rather longer; those of the cheeks few, short and grey; those of the fore neck lengthening into a short beard. General colour brownish-black; middle of back and upper part of sides, yellowish-brown; lower part of sides brownish-yellow, lengthened into a mantle; arms, legs, and tail black. Length, 191⁄2 inches; tail, 203⁄4. ”

“ The Arguatoes are sometimes accused of abandoning their young, that they may be more free for flight when pursued by Indian hunters. It is said that mothers have been seen taking off their young from their shoulders and throwing them down to the foot of the tree. ”

“ Female and Young.—Also quite black, like the adult male, instead of being pale yellow, like the corresponding age and sex of A. nigra, and having also the hair shorter and not so glossy.
Distribution.—This Howler is known only from the virgin forests of the eastern and north-eastern portions of Guatemala. Mr. Osbert Salvin has given the following account of this species. "The Mycetes of Guatemala is commonly known as the 'Mono.' It is abundant throughout the virgin forests of the eastern portion of the Republic, but is unknown on the forest-clad slopes which stretch towards the Pacific Ocean. ”

“ He did not, however, meet with it on any other part of the Amazon region. Mr. Graham Kerr saw it in troops on the banks of the Pilcomayo river.
Habits.—Like nearly all the Howlers, the present species is of a sulky disposition, in captivity slinking away out of sight when approached. The members of this genus are the only Monkeys which the Indians have not succeeded in taming. They rarely survive their captivity many weeks.
III. THE YELLOW-HANDED HOWLER. ALOUATTA BEELZEBUL.
Simia beelzebul, Linn., Syst. ”