510 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 
CALE OF INCHES 
Skull of Kamchatkan Bear. 
BEARS (Urside). 
Bears are so unlike other animals and so like one another that no 
one has the slightest difficulty in recognising a member of the group 
when he sees it. They constitute a family of Carnivora—the Urstd@— 
and are spread over the greater part of the globe, with the exception of 
Africa to the south of the Sahara desert, and the Australasian islands. 
As some of their leading characteristics, mention may be made of their 
large bodily size, clumsy build, shaggy fur, generally uniform coloration, 
the very short tail, and the application of the whole sole of the foot to 
the ground in walking. The skull and teeth are likewise very peculiar 
and distinctive, although these need not be taken into consideration in 
this place. 
In consequence of the marked similarity to one another of most 
members of the group, it is a matter of extreme difficulty to come to a 
definite conclusion as to the number of species of bears. The typical 
member of the group is the familiar brown bear (Ursus arctus) of 
Europe, whose colour is generally a darker or lighter shade of brown, 
but occasionally tends to greyish. The Syrian bear (U. arctus syriacus), 
in which this greyish tinge predominates, may be regarded as a local 
variety, and the same is the case with the snow-bear of Kashmir 
(U. arctus tsabellinus), in which the colour is generally a light creamy 
brown. European specimens probably seldom exceed 8 feet, but the 
Siberian and Kamchatkan bears (U. arctus collaris or piscator) grow to 
9 feet. Even more gigantic is the Kodiak bear (U. arctus mzdden- 
dorfi) of Kodiak Island, Alaska; while the Yezo bear (U. arctus 
yesoensis) of Japan is another large race, with much the external 
appearance of a grizzly. The Alaskan bear (U. arctus dallz), from the 
