Polar Bear 



and swims far out among the whitecaps to the leaward and 

 makes his approach under water. He is a powerful swimmer 

 even in a heavy sea, and catches sahnon swimming like 

 an otter. 



Anything eatable that floats or is cast ashore is his food, 

 a dead whale or a herring being alike acceptable. With com- 

 paratively few exceptions, it is only the old males of the species 

 that face the dull length of an Arctic winter out-of-doors. In 

 the autumn, when the snowstorms become heavy and frequent, 

 and the driving scud from the sea shuts out the low sun, 

 most of the she bears look round for some protected hollow in 

 which to pass the winter. 



Under the projecting shelf of a ledge and between neighbour- 

 ing rocks are favourite winter dens of theirs. Sometimes one 

 will dig a cave for herself in the snowdrift, or, curling up in 

 the bed of a rock, she lets the snow bury her as it will, the 

 one object in any case being to have plenty of snow piled 

 above her for protection against the coming winter. In those 

 northern latitudes the summers are far too short for a young 

 bear born in the spring to gain sufficient strength for with- 

 standing the hardships of the rough winter that closes in so 

 rapidly. 



The young polar bears are born soon after the old one has 

 buried herself for the winter, and for months she hibernates 

 there under the snow with only a slender breathing shaft kept 

 open by the warmth that rises from her fat body. 



For the entire winter the cubs draw all their nourishment 

 from her and grow strong and lusty, while she, being without 

 food of any sort, becomes lean and gaunt during her long 

 rest before the late spring releases them from their prison. 



In the latter part of the winter the cave is gradually en- 

 larged by their breathing and the warmth of their bodies, which 

 melts away the snow around them, until finally they succeed 

 in breaking away a passage and come out into the flat rays of 

 the sun. There are now great companies of wild fowl and 

 sea-birds gathering to nest among the cliffs, and seals with their 

 young on the ice; so the old bear has a good chance to recu- 

 perate her strength and teach her cubs to hunt and fish for 

 themselves. 



When more nourishing food is hard to get, she crops thfc 



as6 



