108 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
ous character of this formidable animal. It is omnivorous 
in its habits, and in the stomachs of specimens that have 
been killed the remains of venison, seal, marmot, berries, 
edible roots, and grass have been found, showing the varied 
nature of the diet upon which it subsists. 
Buack Bear (Ursus americanus) 
(PLATE IX) 
Everywhere throughout the wooded regions of Canada, 
from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, this, our most com- 
mon and familiar bear, is to be found in greater or less 
abundance. Its range is practically co-extensive with our 
northern forests, for, unlike the aforementioned species of 
bear, the black bear is essentially a forest species, and its 
northward distribution is limited by the limit of forest 
growth. The fur returns of the Hudson’s Bay Company 
would indicate that this species, in common with the other 
species of bears, shows a tendency exhibited by the other 
fur-bearing animals to periodic increase and decrease in 
abundance. The greatest number of skins was obtained by 
the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1889 and 1892, when about 
11,500 were received annually, but, since 1900, the num- 
bers have gradually declined, and in 1915 only 4,500 skins 
were obtained. Nevertheless, no trip can be made into the 
woods in any section of Canada without evidences or speci- 
mens of this bear being encountered. It is a shy animal, 
and for that reason it is less commonly seen than might 
otherwise be expected. But its retiring habits are to its 
advantage, and so long as the main evidence of its existence 
in a region lies in the presence of its well-worn trails, claw- 
marked trees, and overturned stones or rotting logs, it can- 
not be considered an objectionable neighbour. Frequently 
it would not be seen by travellers in the woods were it not 
