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they box, and they play hide and seek with utmost 

 enthusiasm. They climb upon mother's back, they 

 swat and pummel her and maul her. She will en- 

 dure this by the hour with absolute indifference. 

 Mother sometimes plays with the cubs but more 

 often lets them play with her, or, unconcerned, 

 simply watches them in their scrambles. 



Playing cubs are strikingly boylike in their ways. 

 They tumble and roll about with lively energy. 

 Their boxing is a ludicrously earnest show. Stand- 

 ing up they clinch, struggle, break away and watch 

 for a new advantage. They strike first with one 

 paw, then with the other, then with both at once. 

 They come close, dodge, and jump back; they hold 

 one paw high and the other low; sometimes they 

 guard the face with one arm while striking with 

 the other. Often they strike wildly, evidently in- 

 tending to miss; they bristle up, growl, and have 

 great fun, pretending to be more in earnest and 

 terrible than they really are. 



No two boys ever had more excitement and fun 

 swimming in a river than did two cub bears whom 

 I once watched. These cubs raced, splashed, and 

 pushed one another under the water. They dived 

 and swam beneath the surface and from a bowlder 



36 



