196 



THE BEARS. 



fender and looking around \vit'i the satisfied air of 

 an old gentleman reposing after dinner. 



"One of the funniest scenes that ever happened 

 with Jemmy was as follows. Some seaside speci- 

 mens had been sent me, and among the seaweed 

 was a live shore crab about the size of a five- 

 shilling piece. Little Judy, the marmoset, who will 

 eat any quantity of meal-worms, bluebottle flics, 

 &c., came down at once off the mantel-piece and 

 examined the crab, who was crawling about on the 

 floor. None of my animals evidently had seen a 

 live crab before. The monkeys were very fright- 

 ened, and made the same cry of alarm as when 

 I show them a snake or the house-broom. Judy 

 plainly thought that the crab was a huge insect. 

 The crab put out his two nippers at full length and 

 gave the marmoset such a pinch that she retreated 

 back again to the mantel-piece, and from this safe 

 height gazed down upon the still threatening crab, 

 uttering loud cries of 'Chich, chicly, chich,' alternated 

 with her plaintive, shrill, bat-like note. Presently 



round the corner comes Mrs. Cat. The cat 

 evidently thought that the crab, that was gently 

 crawling about, was a mouse. She instantly 

 crouched, head, eyes, and ears all intent, as if 

 trying to make up her mind whether the crab was 

 a mouse on which she ought to pounce or not. 

 Hearing the row caused by the crab and marmoset 

 fight, up comes Jemmy in full cry, with tail cocked 

 well in the air. He also attacked the crab, but 

 could not make head or tail of him. He did not 

 like the smell, still less did he like the sundry nips 

 in the nose that he received from the crab's claws. 



"A grand crab and Jemmy fight, which lasted 

 nearly half an hour, then took place, ending in the 

 discomfiture of the crab, whose carcass, when dead, 

 the marmoset and the cat, both coming forward, 

 evidently desired to share. Although it was appa- 

 rent that the taste of the crab was not agreeable 

 to Jemmy's palate, yet he gradually ate him up, 

 claws, shell, and all, simply that the other animals 

 should not get a single bit." Frank Buckland, 

 A T otcs and Jottings from Animal Life. 



THE BEARS 



(URSIDA). 



Plantigrade carnivores, often with a plump and thickset body, with a degraded and often scarcely 

 recognizable carnassial, and large tubercled teeth. 



The characters of this large and very 

 numerous family, which is distributed over 

 all parts of the world inhabited by Carnivora 

 generally, are not so clearly marked as might 

 be supposed by those who are acquainted 

 only with the bears usually kept in our 

 menageries. 



All bears are, indeed, unmistakably planti- 

 grade, touching the ground with the naked 

 sole of the foot throughout its whole length, 

 but this character is found also in certain 

 Viverrida and Mustelida, and consequently 

 does not belong exclusively to the bears. 

 The strong toes, usually five in number, are 

 furnished in most species with large curved 

 claws, which get worn away in walking, but 



there are also species in which these claws 

 are more or less retractile. The body is 

 mostly clumsy and thickset, but we also meet 

 with elegant members of the group with 

 long slender bodies. The tail, which in the 

 large bears is very short and often a mere 

 stump, is in other cases a genuine prehensile 

 organ, like that of the American monkeys. 

 With the exception of one species inhabiting 

 the far north beyond the tree limit, all bears 

 are excellent climbers. In our zoological 

 gardens most of them play the role of clowns, 

 inasmuch as their movements present the 

 appearance of a clumsy helplessness, while 

 in reality they are accomplished with much 

 dexterity, caution, and delicacy. 



