

UK AH. 



BBAR 



n 



Weigh beasU of chaw, and Pennant adduce* the place* which retained 

 the na- nth, or the Bear'* Head, a* evidence that it existed 



in that principality. In the ' History of the Gordon*' it u stated 

 that one of that family, ao lute on the year 1057, waa directed by the 

 king to carry three beat*' head* on hU banner, a* a reward for his 

 ir in day ing a fierce boar in Scotland. 



many years it hoa been swept away from our island* *o com- 

 pletely that we find it imported for baiting, a sport in which our 

 nobility, a* well as the commonalty, of tho olden time nay, even 

 royalty itaelf delighted. A boar-bait wa* one of the recreation* 

 offered to Elizabeth at Kenilworth, and in the Karl of Northumber- 

 land'* ' Household Book' we read of 20f. for his bear-ward : " Item. 

 My lorde uith and accuatomyth to gyfe yerly when hi* lordshippe is 

 at 'hi une to hi* bar-ward, when he comyth to my lorde in Crietmas 

 with hi* lordahippe'a beesta, for makynge of hU lordshippe pastime, 

 the said xij days, xxa." In Southward there waa a regular bear- 

 garden, that disputed popularity with the Globe and the Swan 

 theatre* on the came side of the water. Now however, *o much do 

 taste* alter (in this instance certainly for the better), such barbarous 

 port* are banished from the metropolis. (Slot. 3 Wm. IV. cap. 19, 

 sec. 29.) 



The firm support afforded by the well-developed sole of the foot 

 enable* the Bears to rear themselves with comparative facility on their 

 hind feet, and this has been taken advantage of to teach the animal 

 to dance in an erect position. The discipline put in force to produce 

 this accomplishment is said to be BO severe that it ia never forgotten. 



Baron Cuvier, in hi* ' Ossemens Fossilee,' distinguished the Black 

 Bear of Europe under the title of Urtui niijtr Europam, observing 

 that the frontal bone was flattened, and that the well-marked depres- 

 sions and ridges of the skull, for the reception of the strong muscles 

 of the lower jaw, were evidence of its being more decided! y carnivorous 

 than the Brown Bear ; but in the last edition of his ' Regne Animal ' 

 he confesses his doubts about the data on which he hod come to this 

 conclusion, and it is probably a variety only. The usual size of the 

 Brown Bear is about 4 feet in length by about 2J feet in height. The 

 cliwa are 2 inches long, very much curved and nearly equal. 



- 



- 



Common Brown Bear (I 'nut Arctoi). 



P. Cuvier ha* figured the bear of the Pyrenees and of tie A 

 whoao fur in it* youth is of a yellowish white colour. The hair of the 

 feet is an intense black. This is most probably only a variety, though 

 |>vrliapi a .: of I'rmu Arctoi. The Barren-Ground Bear of 



.lohn Uichardson is inclined to believe now is a 

 of this, and not of the next specie*, as he at one time was inclined 

 to think. 



American flcan. 



U. Anuricamtu, American Black Bear, or Mtuiquaw. Pallas first 

 described this species (the Soss of the Chipi>ewayan Indiana and the 

 Muaquaw of the Crces), whose general proportions are smaller than 

 those of U. Atttv*. The head of the American Block Bear is narrower, 

 the ear* more distant, and the muzzle more prominent, and it wonts 

 the depression above the eyes. Tho fur is composed of soft smooth 

 hair*, which are of a glony block for the greater part of their length, 

 instead of poweasing the shaggy and woolly character of tic- 

 ratively grizzled fur of the Brown Bear, except on the muzzle, which 

 i" clothed with short thick-set hairs, brown on the upper part and 

 paler on the side. The tail is apparently more prominent, and the 

 sharper and more curved claws are nearly hidden in the hair. 



quoted an not grnuint ; but the expression ' non faU* crucc ' 1* pretty strong ; 

 ami If the rnt of the verses ire allowed to be Martial'*, there in no doubt that 

 he here dcserlbef a ml spectacle. Whichever be the truth, the horrible uitc 

 to which thene bears were occasionally put In the arena is but too evident. 



The Black Bear inhabit* every wooded district of the \- 



continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, an < . t > the 



shore* of the Arctic Sea. It still o..-m>. though not v.-ry often, in 

 the Blue Ridge, in Virginia. Its southern boundary is plated 

 Isthmus of Panama. Man has however gradually driven it ft 

 haunts to make way for hi* works, and ho* compelled it to take < 

 in the mountains and the immense inland forests. In Canada it is 

 still abundant, and it is tolerably numerous on the western coast u 

 far as California. 



Illack Bear (t'rau Americantu}. 



It is smaller than the other American lieam, the total length of an 

 adult seldom exceeding five feet. Its favourite food appears to ! 

 berries of various kinds, but when these are not to he procured it 

 preys upon roots, insects, fish, eggs, and such birds or quadruped* as 

 it can surprise. It does not eat animal food from choice, for when 

 it has abundance of its favourite vegetable dirt it will pass the carcass 

 of a deer without touching it. It is ratlin- :i timid animal, and will 

 seldom face a man unless it is wounded, or has its retreat cut "11. or 

 is urged by affection to defend its young. This boar when r< 

 in the fur countries almost invarialily hybcrnates, and about 1000 

 skins are annually procured by th. Haaaaaa HayCompany from Kla.k 

 Bears destroyed in thrir winter retreats. It generally .-elects a spot 

 for ita den under a fallen tree, and, having scratched away a portion 

 of the soil, retiree to it at the commencement of a snow-storm, whrn 

 the snow soon furnishes it with a close warm covering. Its breath 

 makes a small opening in the den, and tho quantity of hoar frost 

 which occasionally gathers round the aperture serves to In-tray its 

 retreat to the hunter. In more southern districts, where the timber 

 is of a larger siz, bears often shelter themselves in hollow treat The 

 Indians remark that a bear never retires to its den for the winter 

 until it has acquired a thick coat of fat; and it is remarkable that 

 when it comes abroad in the spring it is equally fat, though in a few 

 days thereafter it becomes very lean. The period of the retreat of the 

 bears is generally about the time when the snow begins to lie on the 

 ground, and they do not come abroad again until the greater part of 

 the snow is gone. At both the-c periods they can procure many 

 kinds of berries in considerable abundance. In latitude ti.V their 

 winter repose last* from the beginning of October to the tirstor second 

 week of May; but on the northern shores of Lake Huron the period 

 is from two to three months ~li n. r. In \cry severe winters great 

 numbers of bears have been o . ntcr the I'nitt'd States from 



the northward. It is not however true that the Black Bears generally 

 abandon the northern districts on the approach of winter, as has been 

 asserted, the quantity of bear-skins procured during that -eason in all 

 part* of the fur-countries being a sufficient proof to the contrary. The 

 females bring fortli about the middle of January ; and it is probable 

 that the period of their gestation is about 15 or 16 weeks, but 

 not been precisely ascertained. The number of cubs varies from one 

 to five, probably with the age of the mother, and they begin to bear 

 long before they attain their full si/,.-. 



It will be observed that the period of gestation attributed 

 Brown Bear is seven months. (Juvier says that, they couple in .lime, 

 and produce their young in January. Sixteen weeks is U 

 time, allotted to the American Black Bear for the name purpose by Sir 

 John Richardson, from whom we give the al>ovc account, and who 

 had the best opportunities of collecting evidcn The 



bear* kept in tbafoeMat I'.crne fi.. on for 



months; but it b SO oh !' ' he family for the females 



'hat in a state of nat i, i .lencoto be 



depended on for it.i accuracy can I . " No man," according 



to Brickcll, "either I'hri-tian or Indian, ever killed i with 



young;" anil Sir John Kichardson's numrroi. nig the 



Indians of Hudson'.- l'..i\ ended in the discovery of only .me hunter 

 who had killed a pregnant bear. 



