NO.1405. MAMMALS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORIES—MAVFARLANE. 7l7 



five in nuniber. One informant says they are born with their e3^es 

 wide open, but all of the others assert the contrary. Richardson 

 mentions that the female has one litter of from one to three annually 

 in April; but Indians in the far north (in New Caledonia, British 

 Columl)ia, on the Peace and Saskatchewan Rivers) vary in their sev- 

 eral accounts. Traces of its "sliding," or travels from one stream to 

 another over the winter snow, have been frequently observed, and as 

 a result some — not all — of those seen are shot or run down and bludg- 

 eoned. 1 never, however, heard of any instance in keeping with 

 Godman's "otter-sport" sliding amusement. 



GRAY SEA-OTTER. 



Latfi.r lulris (Linnanis). 



During the oft-mentioned twenty-live 3'ears, the Hudson's Ba}" Com- 

 pany obtained from the natives of Alaska and northern British Colum- 

 bia, a total of -1,100 skins of this formerl}- abundant but now rare and 

 very valuable sea-otter. The three best years were 1855, which pro- 

 duced 338 skins; 1856, 319 skins, and 1858, 343 skins, and the three poor 

 seasons were 1862 with 84, 1870 with 90, and 1872 with only &} pelts. 

 Their London catalogue sales for 1902 and 1903 seen by me do not 

 contain a single entry of this animal. 



GRIZZLY BEAR. 



Urs}(s Jiorrihilif: Ord. 



There are no bears of this species in the Anderson River countr}^ 

 nor on the adjoining arctic coast, but I believe they are sometimes 

 encountered, and their skins secured, in other parts of the northern 

 districts on the west side of the valle}" of the Mackenzie to the Rocky 

 Mountains. The female, it is said, brings forth one or two, and occa- 

 sionally as many as three at a birth, every third year. The first few 

 years are always spent by them in their mothers company, after which 

 they are expected to provide food, a mate, and hibernating quarters for 

 themselves. Comparatively few skins of this l)ear are received from 

 the Indians, and they, together with most of those of fJ. ric/iardsoni, 

 figure under gray in the company's accounts. As all of the four kinds — 

 black, brown, gray, and white — are grouped together in the fur sales 

 statement, it is impossible to give the quantities of each for the period 

 in question; but the catalogues for 1902 and 1903 furnish details, while 

 their totals are only 143 skins below the average collections for the 

 twenty-five 3^ears. The year 1902 yielded 161, and 1903, 246 skins of 

 the "gray" bear. For fifteen of the twenty-five years (1863 to 1877) 

 Mackenzie River District furnished 665 "gra}'^" bears. There are no 

 available data for a similar period for Athabasca; but in 1886, 1887, 

 and 1889, 68 more skins were obtained from that district, while the 

 Proc. N. M. vol. sxviii— 04 i6 



