Part 42

Brachyurus ouakary, Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras., p. 12, pl. viii. (1823).

Ouakaria spixii, Gray, P. Z. S., 1849, p. 10, cum fig.

Ouakaria melanocephala, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 62 (1870).

Brachyurus melanocephalus, W. A. Forbes, P. Z. S., 1880, p. 645, pl. lxiii.

CHARACTERS.--Head and nude face-black; back, sides, thighs, upper surface of tail, and outer and inner sides of legs more or less chestnut-brown; shoulders, arms, hands, feet, and rest of tail, black. Ears large, naked, and similar in form to those in Man.

DISTRIBUTION.--Confined, so far as at present known, to the forests traversed by the Rio Casiquiare, Rio Negro, and Rio Branco. This is the most northern form of the three species of the genus, and apparently the most widespread also (see map, p. 180). This is doubtless the "black-faced, grey-haired" species, neither white nor red, which Mr. Bates was {176}assured took the place of B. calvus, at 180 miles northward from the mouth of the Japurá.

HABITS.--Living in the high trees of the forest, feeding on fruits; and not differing in habits from those of the other species of the genus, which are referred to below.

II. THE RED UAKARÍ. BRACHYURUS RUBICUNDUS.

Brachyurus rubicundus, Is. Geoffr. and Dev., C. R., xxvii., p. 498 (1848); Is. Geoffr., Arch. Mus., v., p. 564, pl. 30 (1845); Castelnau, Expéd. Amér. Sud, Mamm., p. 19, pl. 4, fig. 2 (1855); W. A. Forbes, P. Z. S., 1880, p. 646, pls. lxi., lxii.

Ouakaria rubicunda, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 62 (1870).

Pithecia rubicunda, Schleg., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 228 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Face, chin, lips, forehead, and sides of face, bare (except for a few superciliary hairs, and scant representatives of moustache and beard), all bright vermilion red, deepening with emotion. Eyes brown; ears square in shape, without a lobule; hair on top of head short, silky, and grey; that on the side of the lower jaw and throat long and rich chestnut-red, running forward as far as the symphysis, and forming whiskers. Hair of upper surface of body entirely rich chestnut-red, more or less black-tipped and long, especially on the shoulders and limbs; hair of head, nape, and neck paler than on the rest of the body; tail, haired below at tip, rich chestnut-red; under surface of body rich chestnut-red, and less hairy. The fur in general colour and texture resembles that of the Orang, the red hair, continued on to the limbs and tail, being particularly long on the arms and shoulders (forming a sort of cape), and {177}along the hind border of the thigh and leg. (W. A. Forbes). Between the thigh and the lower part of the leg there is a wide expansion of the skin behind the knee.

The thumb is in the same plane with the other digits and not opposable; digits with compressed and rather elongated nails; the nail of the thumb and the great-toe shorter and more "nail"-like; upper surface of the hands and feet haired, on to the fingers. The cæcum (6 inches) and intestines (22 inches) are absolutely and relatively longer than in any other New World Monkey.

Length of the body, 27-28 inches; of the tail, 6½

DISTRIBUTION.--Forests on the north bank of the Amazons, opposite Olivença, not passing eastwards of Iça on the Iça river. The exact westward extension of this species still remains unknown. The young specimen seen at Fonteboa by Bates, and by him referred to this species, was more probably B. calvus, as we know from the account given by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Castelnau, that the young of B. rubicundus resembles in coloration the adult, and is not paler.

HABITS.--Gregarious and diurnal; living in the high trees, and feeding on fruits, probably exclusively, the length of its intestines seeming to indicate that it is more of a vegetarian than its allies.

III. THE BALD UAKARÍ. BRACHYURUS CALVUS.

Brachyurus calvus, Is. Geoffr., C. R., xxiv., p. 576 (1847); id., Arch. Mus., v., p. 560 (1845); Castelnau, Expéd. Amér. Sud, Mammif., p. 17, pl. 4, fig. 1 (1855); W. A. Forbes, P. Z. S., 1880, p. 646; Beddard, P. Z. S., 1887, p. 119, pl. xii.

{178}Ouakaria calva, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 62 (1870).

Pithecia calva, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 228 (1876).

Pithecia alba, Schl., t. c. p. 229.

(Plate XVI.)

CHARACTERS.--Fur very long, straight, and shining from neck to tail. Face scarlet; top of head nearly bald, greyish, passing into brown anteriorly and at the sides, with bushy sandy whiskers meeting below the chin; throat dark brown, mixed with numerous black hairs, the general tint being rich chestnut-brown; back whitish-grey, with black hairs mixed with white ones, which are in greater number. Under surface fulvous brown, darker on the breast, where brown hairs are numerous; the same brown tinge is visible on the arms, legs, the hinder region of the thighs, at the wrist, and ankle, and especially on the tail; eyes reddish-yellow. Length, 18 inches.

Some species are paler than the above description, being pale sandy-white, slightly rufous below and on the inside of the limbs.

Cæcum 10 inches long along its greater curvature, and not sacculated.

According to Mr. Beddard, B. calvus and B. rubicundus agree very closely in external and in internal characters, while B. melanocephalus differs more in external characters from the other two than they do from each other.

DISTRIBUTION.--Opposite Fonteboa; banks of the Japurá river west of its mouth. This species appears to be confined to the triangle formed by the union of the Japurá river and the Amazon. It does not pass east of Ega, nor does it cross to the south of the Amazon, but keeps to the forests of the low lands to the north of that boundary and south of the Japurá.

PLATE XVI.