HABITS.--This Monkey has been known to science for many centuries. It is now certain, as M. Frederick Cuvier remarks in his "History of Mammals," thanks to the researches of M. de Blainville upon the Monkey dissected by Galen, that the _Pithecus_ of Aristotle was our Magot, as we know of no other species of Macaque without a tail. The Barbary Macaques, when on the ground, invariably walk on their four legs, but in an uneasy and clumsy manner compared with their motions when climbing; they are far more at home in trees or rocks, where they climb with amazing rapidity. They live chiefly on fruits and leaves, feeding themselves with their hands, and smelling everything they are uncertain about, before putting it into the mouth. They also eat grass very readily. They are found in large crowds in the forests of Barbary, which reach to the sea, and are very destructive to the cultivated fields of the Moors, on which they make constant raids, and during which, like the Baboons, they post sentinels to give warning of danger to their foraging friends. This Monkey sleeps on its side or in a sitting posture with its head dropped between its knees. On the European side of the Mediterranean, these Apes were at one time very abundant on the Rock of Gibraltar, but as they robbed the gardens of the garrison they were killed by every means for several years, till they were eventually reduced to three. Orders were, however, issued by the authorities for their preservation, and a few additional pairs were imported from Africa. They now frequent the inaccessible ledges of the Rock, especially on its Mediterranean face, on which they climb about with marvellous rapidity. {7}In reply to inquiries about the present condition of the Barbary Apes (_Macacus inuus_) on the Rock, Dr. Sclater records in 1893 that General Sir Lothian Bell, the Governor of Gibraltar, had informed him "that they were now distinctly increasing in numbers. He had himself counted as many as thirty in one group, and, according to some reports, there were altogether as many as double that number on the Rock. In fact they were so numerous, and their depredations had become so serious that a short time ago an agitation had been got up for their reduction in numbers, and it would perhaps be necessary to thin them a little, but their extermination was quite out of the question, and would not be thought of." These animals are remarkably affectionate parents, the mother constantly tending her single young one, while the males may often be seen carrying about some of the babies of the troop. When young the "Rock Ape" is playful and gentle; but, when old, becomes ill-natured and vicious.