er to ascertain whether monkeys have any choice of colours or not,
I selected some bright candies, balls, marbles, bits of ribbon, &c. I
took a piece of pasteboard, and on it placed a few bright-coloured bits
of candy, which I offered to a monkey and watched to see whether he
would select a certain colour or not. In this experiment I generally
used two colours at a time, and changed their places from time to time
in order to determine whether he selected the colour by design or
accident. After having determined which of two colours he preferred, I
substituted a third colour for the one which he cared least for, and
continued thus until I exhausted the list of bright colours. By
changing the arrangement of the objects a great number of times, it
could be ascertained with comparative certainty whether the colour was
his preference or not. I find that all monkeys do not select the same
colour, nor does the same monkey invariably select the same colour at
different times; but I think, as a rule, that bright green is a
favourite colour with the Capuchin, and their second choice is white. In
a few cases, white seemed to be their preference. I have sometimes used
paper wads of various colours, or bits of candy of the same flavour
rolled in various coloured papers. They seemed to choose the same
colours in selecting their toys. I have sometimes used artificial
flowers, and find, as a rule, that they will select a flower having many
green leaves about it. It may be that they associate this colour with
some green food which they are fond of, and consequently that they are
influenced by this in selecting other things. I kept a cup for a monkey
to drink milk from, on the sides of which were some brilliant flowers
and green leaves, and she would frequently quit drinking the milk to
play with the flowers on the cup, and seemed never able to understand
why she could not get hold of them. In one test I had a board about two
feet long, and laid a few pieces of white and pink candies in four
places on it. The monkey took the white from each pile before touching
the pink, except in one instance it took the pink piece from one pile. I
repeated this test many times. In another test I took a white paper ball
in one hand and a pink one in the other, and held out my hands to the
monkey, who selected the white one nearly every time, although I changed
hands with the balls from time to time. These experiments were mostly
confined to the Cebus monk