In the same cage with the Tee-Tee is the curious Feline Douroucouli, or Vitoe (Nyctipithecus felinus), a pretty, though sober-coloured, little animal, mostly active during the night, but at times lively in the daytime.
The fur of this animal is thick, deep, and soft, though not drooping. It has a round face, a short, stumpy nose, and very large round eyes of a beautiful chestnut hue. The general colour of the fur is greyish-brown; there is a dark stripe over the top of the head, and just above each eye is a patch of white. Its fingers are very long, and the tail is large, full, and nearly black. This creature is found, as are all the tribe, in the Brazils.
During the daytime it spends much of its time in its box, which is long and narrow, with an aperture near each end, and the creature seems to find some amusement in popping into one round hole, traversing the box, and poking its head out of the other. When a slice of orange was given to the Douroucouli, it did not attempt to eat it for some time, but only patted it, and then licked its fingers, thus giving time to its neighbour, the Moustache Monkey, to rob it of the dainty.
The last of the true New World Monkeys which can be described in these pages will be found in the large Monkey House near the refreshment-room. These are the Capucins, (Cebus Apella), of which there are several specimens in the cages. They are funny little animals, of a singularly sedate and grave aspect.
Two of them, called “Jack” and “Charley,” are notable for their nut-cracking powers. Their jaws are too feeble to break the shell of a well-grown nut, and accordingly they have learned to achieve that object in another manner. Some time ago a very little monkey was placed in the cage quite unable to crack nutshells, and the keeper, taking compassion on his weakness, showed him how to break a nutshell by means of a large pebble. The other monkeys learned the art by watching their comrade, and it is very amusing to see one of them take a nut, put it into his mouth, hunt under the straw for the pebble, drop the nut on the floor, pick up the stone in both hands, smash the shell with a single blow, and pick up the fragments in haste, lest the others should avail themselves of his ingenuity.
Jack is also very fond of eggs, breaking one end by knocking it against the floor, and then, inserting his hand, pulling out the semi-liquid contents and eating them. For the benefit of those who read Gulliver’s Travels, I may mention that the monkey might have found little favour at the court of H.M. Golbasto Momarem Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue, Emperor of Liliput, being an obstinate Big-endian, and never breaking his eggs at the little end.
As to Charley, he developed tastes that to me were rather unexpected. The keeper put his hand into his pocket, and, drawing out a dead mouse, presented it to Charley, who received it with eagerness sparkling in his eyes, and withdrew to the side of the cage, where he was nearly surrounded by his fellows, who sat around him in eager expectation, watching every movement, like small boys when one of their comrades has an apple.
His first operation was to put the head in his mouth, to bite the skull asunder with a single effort, and eat the brains. He then deliberated upon the mouse, pulled off a leg, and laid it on the ground, whence it was instantly seized and eaten by a companion. He seemed anxious to make the treat last as long as possible, and after a lapse of half-an-hour he had not quite finished the mouse. The keeper told me that he preferred them just killed.
By some writers these monkeys are called Weepers. The colour of the Capucin is rather variable: yellowish with an olive cast on the back, and paler round the face.