URSID^E 559 



Kashmir and Xipal, not being specifically separable. The Brown 

 Bear hibernates in cold regions, and in the Himalaya keeps to 

 comparatively high regions, emerging from its winter lair in March, 

 April, or May, according to the season and elevation, to feed on 

 the numerous bulbous plants which abound in the regions it inhabits. 

 Both the Syrian and Himalayan varieties are generally of lighter 

 colour and smaller size than the typical European form. Bears 

 were at one time found in the British Isles, from which, how- 

 ever, they have been long since exterminated. They are still found 

 in the Pyrenees, and are comparatively abundant in parts of 

 Norway, Hungary, and Russia. In the Kashmir Himalaya they 

 were very abundant in some districts a few years ago, one of the 

 present writers having in 1874 seen no less than seven examples 

 at one time from the top of a mountain ridge ; of late years their 

 numbers have, however, been greatly diminished. The Brown 

 Bear, although with strong powers of smelling, is very slow of 

 sight and hearing, and in the Himalaya it is easy to approach so 

 near that they may be shot with a smooth-bore gun. The Grizzly 

 Bear (U. horribilis) of North America is so closely allied to the 

 Brown Bear that some writers think it should only rank as a very 

 well-marked local variety. The Black Bears of the Himalaya ( U. 

 torquatus), Japan (U. japonicus), and North America (U. americanus) 

 belong to this group. The Himalayan species ranges from Persia 

 to Assam, and thence to China and Formosa. In the greater part 

 of this area it is essentially a forest animal, and may be found in 

 autumn in the forests of the Kashmir valley feeding upon chestnuts 

 and other fruits. It is also exceedingly fond of maize, mulberries, 

 and walnuts ; and a few years ago it was no very uncommon 

 sight to see three or even five of these bears up a single mulberry 

 or walnut tree in Kashmir. The Spectacled Bear (U. ornatus) of 

 the Peruvian Andes is another member of this group. 



The Hdarctine group is represented only by the Malay Bear or 

 Sun Bear ( U. malayanus), in which the head is short and broad ; the 

 molar teeth are comparatively broad (but the length still exceeding 

 the breadth), the tongue is very long and extensile, and the fur 

 short and smooth. This small species inhabits the Malay Peninsula, 

 Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Tenasserim, Arakan, Chittagong, and the 

 Garo hills of India; it inhabits forest districts, and is an expert 

 climber. 



The earliest known occurrence of the genus is in the Lower 

 Pliocene of the Indian Siwalik Hills ; where it is represented by 

 U. theobaldi, which was probably the ancestor of the existing 

 Melursus. The genus is represented in the Upper Pliocene of 

 Europe by the small U. etruscus ; and in the Pleistocene by the exist- 

 ing U. arctos, as well as by the great extinct Cave-Bear ( U. spelcms), 

 distinguished by the complexity of the crowns of the molars and 



