Kamchatkan Brown Bear 95 



ever of the creamy tint characteristic of immature examples ot the 

 Kashmir race. 



The typical habitat of this bear is Syria and Palestine, but, as men- 

 tioned above, it seems very doubtful whether the silver-grey bears of 

 Transcaucasia and the higher levels of the Caucasus can be satisfoctorily 

 distinguished from the Syrian form. In any case, there is probably a 

 complete gradation between the two. 



THE KAMCHATKAN BROWN BEAR 



{Ursits arctiis collar is) 



(Plate H. Fig. 4) 



With the Kamchatkan brown bear we come to the first of several races 

 of the species inhabiting North-Eastern Asia and North-Western America 

 which are characterised, among other features, by their huge bodily size. 

 It is these bears, moreover, which serve to connect the typical European 

 race of Ursiis arctiis with the so-called grizzlies of North America. Com- 

 pared with the brown bear of Scandinavia, the present race (of which a 

 mounted example, presented by Mr. St. George Littledale, is exhibited in 

 the British Museum), in addition to its superior size and certain peculi- 

 arities in the form of its skull, differs by its shorter, more rounded, and 

 thickly-haired ears, the great thickness and massiveness of the body, and 

 the length of the fur, which is very long and tangled, forming a kind of 

 ruff on the throat. The colour of the fur varies, according to season and 

 age, from yellowish brown to blackish brown ; the chest and shoulders 

 being in some instances marked with a white collar or gorget, and the legs 

 being always much darker than the back. The front claws are long, 

 highly curved, and of a dark horn-colour. Dr. Guillemard possesses an 



