The Mainmalia and Birds of Franz Josef Land. 79 



on the habits and structure of the Polar Bear, besides taking- 

 many interesting notes on the birds. The former will form 

 the subject of a separate communication, the latter are 

 embodied in Mr Eagle Clarke's section of this paper. We 

 are both extremely indebted to him for the valuable help 

 he has given us. I have also to thank Mr James Simpson 

 for the two interesting notes he has added to this paper on 

 some bones which I handed him for examination. 



1. Ursus maritimus. 



The Polar Bear is one of the two land mammals of 

 Franz Josef Land, if indeed it can be so called, for it 

 lives mainly on the floe, and only wanders on to the land 

 occasionally, and seldom far from the water's edge, although 

 I have met with bears' tracks more than two miles from 

 water, crossing a neck of land. Dr Nansen shot nineteen 

 at his winter quarters in 1895-96 ; the Austrians over sixty; 

 and over one hundred and twenty were seen by the Jackson- 

 Harmsworth Expedition during the three and a half years' 

 sojourn in Franz Josef Land. Dr Koettlitz took measure- 

 ments of the length of nearly all these bears, and the greatest 

 length was 8 feet 1+ inch from tip of nose to tip of tail. 

 Payer and others have mentioned bears of much greater 

 length, up to even 11 feet, but no bear of such enormous 

 size was seen by our Expedition. Payer gives an illustra- 

 tion of a bear emerging from its snow-cave. Five such caves 

 were found by our Expedition. It is for the female bear, to 

 give her shelter while she is giving birth to her young, and 

 probably sometimes for protection in stormy weather during 

 winter, but in no way a hibernating hole, — bears, both male 

 and female, wandering about all the winter. Each bear is 

 usually " found alone, unless it be the case of a mother with 

 cubs. The young are probably born in January or February, 

 and remain at least eighteen months with their mother. 

 Open water is essential to the life of the bear, and if the 

 ice is tight they will prowl about the edge of cracks in the 

 ice, and around seal-holes — seals being their main articles of 

 diet. But they do not altogether depend on seals, for when 

 these fail they will take almost anything they can get. 



