URSUS A.MERICANUS. 07 



George, ran down one of them, and it \vas killed with an axe by a 

 drummer from Gotham. This was just above Anthony's Nose. 



As a rule our Bears " den up " in winter, but their hibernation is 

 not profound, and it is prudent not to take many liberties with them 

 when in this condition. The exact period when the event takes 

 place is determined by the food supply and the severity of the sea- 

 son. If the beech-nut crop has been a failure and deep snows come 

 early, they generally den near the commencement of winter. If, on 

 the contrary, there has been a good yield of mast, and the winter 

 is a mild one (and it is a fact that, with us, good beech-nut years are 

 commonly followed by open winters), the males prowl about nearly, 

 or quite, all winter, and the females only den a short time before the 

 period of bringing forth their young. Indeed, it can be set down as 

 a rule, that so long as a male Bear can find enough to eat he will not 

 den, be the weather never so severe ; for it is evident that he does 

 not den to escape either the low temperature or the deep snows, 

 but to thus bridge over a period when, if active, he would be unable 

 to procure sufficient food. And the female, under similar circum- 

 stances, remains out till the maternal impulse prompts her to seek a 

 shelter for her prospective offspring ; and in this Wilderness they 

 have been found travelling as late as the middle of January. 



The den is not commonly much of an affair. It is generally a 

 partial excavation under the upturned roots of a fallen tree, or under 

 a pile of logs, with perhaps a few bushes and leaves scraped together 

 by way of a bed, while to the first snow-storm is left the task of 

 completing the roof and filling the remaining chinks. Not infre- 

 quently the den is a great hole or cave dug into the side of a knoll, 

 and generally under some standing tree, whose roots serve as side 

 posts to the entrance. The amount of labor bestowed upon it de- 

 pends upon the length of time the Bear expects to hibernate. II the 

 prospects point toward a severe winter and there is a scarcity of 

 food, they den early and take pains to make a comfortable nest ; but 

 when they stay out late and then den in a hurry, they do not take 



