[Illustration: BONNET MONKEYS.]
The Bonnet Monkey is frequently caught for exhibition. It is about the
size of a large cat, greenish grey above and white below, with a long
tail. The face is naked and wrinkled; the hair of the crown is long and
dark, and spreads in all directions, lying upon the surface of the head
like hair in a scalp-wig. On this account the animal is sometimes called
the Scalp Monkey.
In its native country the Bonnet Monkey is almost as much venerated as
the Hoonuman in Bengal, and although it does great injury to fields and
gardens, the natives forbid any one to kill it. Or if this has been done
through mistake, they demand from the culprit enough money to pay for a
grand funeral.
When young, the Bonnet Monkey is very amusing as a pet, performing all
his tricks with a comical gravity. When two or three are kept together,
they are constantly hugging and nursing each other. When a Monkey of
this kind has no companions of its own species, it will make friends
with some other animal, and will often pet and hug a kitten with great
gravity and all the fondness of a child, at a great risk of choking it.
When full-grown, however, the behavior of the Bonnet Monkey changes, and
it becomes sullen and savage and spiteful.