OLD EPHRAIM, THE GRISLY BEAR. 49 



east of the great plains, and it is also plentiful 

 in the forest-clad portions of the Rockies, 

 being common in most heavily timbered tracts 

 throughout the United States. The other is 

 the grisly, which weighs three or four times as 

 much as the black, and has a pelt of coarse 

 hair, which is in color gray, grizzled, or brown 

 of various shades. It is not a tree climber, 

 and the fore-claws are very long, much longer 

 than the hinder ones. It is found from the 

 great plains west of the Mississippi to the 

 Pacific coast. This bear inhabits indifferent- 

 ly lowland and mountain ; the deep woods, and 

 the barren plains where the only cover is the 

 stunted growth fringing the streams. These 

 two types are very distinct in every way, and 

 their differences are not at all dependent upon 

 mere geographical considerations ; for they are 

 often found in the same district. Thus I 

 found them both in the Bighorn Mountains, 

 each type being in extreme form, while the 

 specimens I shot showed no trace of intergra- 

 dation. The huge grizzled, long-clawed beast, 

 and ts little glossy-coated, short-clawed, tree- 

 climbing brother roamed over exactly the same 

 country in those mountains ; but they were as 

 distinct in habits, and mixed as little together 

 as moose and caribou. 



On the other hand, when a sufficient number 

 of bears, from widely separated regions are 

 examined, the various distinguishing marks are 

 found to be inconstant and to show a tendency 

 exactly how strong I cannot say to fade 

 mto one another. The differentiation of the 

 4 



