54 Hunting the Grisly 



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 consid- 

 erations; for they are often found in the same 

 district. Thus I found them both in the Big- 

 horn Mountains, each type being in extreme 

 form, while the specimens I shot showed no 

 trace of intergradation. The huge grizzled, 

 long-clawed beast, and its little glossy-coated, 

 short-clawed, tree-climbing brother roamed 

 over exactly the same country in those moun- 

 tains; but they were as distinct in habits, and 

 mixed as little together as moose and caribou. 

 On the other hand, when a sufficient num- 

 ber 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 can not say 

 to fade into one another. The differentia- 

 tion of the two species seems to be as yet 

 scarcely completed; there are more or less im- 

 perfect connecting links, and as regards the 

 grisly it almost seems as if the specific char- 

 acters were still unstable. In the far North- 

 west, in the basin of the Columbia, the "black" 

 bear is as often brown as any other color; and 



