i; K A 



B E A 



(luring Septem\>oror the beginning of October, and seldom 

 taking lU Anal departure l>o!ore tlie end of April or be- 

 M i\ . The \ arums UK-US, (luring tlieir residence 

 in this country, have each their particular haunts or feeding 

 illstricts, t>> which, on each ensuing season, they invariably 

 return, as I have found to be the case in Northumberland 

 and the southern parts of Scotland, where wild geese have 

 been known to frequent certain localities for a continued 

 series of years. The habits of this and the pnrcding 

 species* are very similar, and they show the same vigilance, 

 and use the same means of guarding against surprise: their 

 capture is therefore proportionality difficult, and it is only 

 b> stratagem that, when at rest on the ground or feeding. 



.in be approached within gun-shot. In storm;. 

 ther, when they are compelled to lly lower than they usually 

 do, they may be sometimes intercepted from a hedge or 

 bank, situated in the route they arc observed to talv 

 in the morning, in passing to their feeding ground. At 

 night they retire to the water, or else (as I have often re- 

 marked in Northumberland) to some ridge or bar of sand 

 mi the sea-coast, sufficiently distant from the main land to 

 uflbril a secure retreat ; and where the approach of an > 

 must become visible, or at least audible to their acute or 

 . lfore it could endanger their safety. The haunts or 

 feeding-grounds of these birds are more frequently in the 

 r districts than in the lower and marshy tracts of the 

 country, and they give the preference to open laud, or where 



[llcan Goooe.] 



the inclosiircs are very large. They feed much upon the 

 tender wheat, sometimes injuring these fields to a great 

 extent ; and they frequent also the stubbles, particularly 

 such as are laid down with clover and other grasses. In the 

 part of spring they often alight upon the newly-sown 

 bean and pea fields, picking up greedily such of the pulse 

 as is left on the surface ; and 1 am inclined to think that 

 their trivial name has been acquired from their apparent 

 predilection for this kind of food, rather than from the shape 

 and aspect of the nail of the upper mandible, to which it 

 .My attributed. They usually lly at a con- 

 siderable elevation, either in a diagonal line, or in two such 

 lines, opposed to each other, and forming a leading acute 

 angle, like the other specie's ; and when on w ing they main- 

 i loud cackling, in which the voices of the two sews 

 may be easily distinguished. The rate at which they move, 

 when favoured by a gentle breeze, is seldom less than from 

 !> fifty miles an hour, a velocity which enables them 

 .< their roosting-place for removed from the distriet 

 frequent by day. The principal breeding' Millions, ot 

 sumii. -. of the bean goose are in countries within 



it is said, however, that great numbers 

 annually in Harris, and some of the other outermost 

 tl is made in the marshy grounds, 



:i:i-l formed of grasses and other dry vegetable materials; 

 ire white, and (ruin eight to twelve in number. 

 The trachea of this species increases in diameter to. 

 the middle, and the bronchia) are rhort and tumid. The 

 The Owjr Lagf, or Irot Wild Iww. 



denticulated lamina' cf the sides of the bill an.' similar in 



formation to those of the .In ice jxiluitris, and form thin sharp 



ruttiir. .:iner in which they lix-k within 



i her renders the bill an instrument beautifully adapted 



food.' 



In bulk, the bean goose is generally rather less than the 

 grey lagg, and it is. accordingly, sometimes called provin- 

 cially the tma!l grey goote, but it not unfrcquently equals 

 the cither in fcizo and weight. 



The head and upper part of the neck incline to brown, 

 with a crrvish tinge, and the feathers of the latter hue are 

 so disposed as almost to produce a furrowed appearance. 

 The lower parts of the b.xly are ash-grey, with Iran- 

 darker shades ; and the back and scapulars are brown, with 

 tinire. the feathers being edged with white. Wing- 

 condaries brown, edged and tipped wiih 

 white; primaries grey-black : rump grc\ : up|>crt 

 white : tail brown, with the feathers deeply bordered and 

 tipped with white; legs and toes reddish, inclining to 

 orange, the intensity of the colour varying according to the 

 bud s age. [SeeGoosE.] 



HEAR, GREAT, and LITTLE. [See URSA M\ 

 ainl MINOR.] 



BEAR (Zoology), the English name for a family of 

 Plantigrades (mainmiferous quadrupeds of the carnr. 

 order, which are supported in walking on the entire sole of 

 the foot), forming a natural group with six inci-or 

 and two canine teeth in each jaw, twelve molars in the. 

 upper and fourteen in the lower jaw ; pentadactylc o. 

 toed feet, armed with strong claws; and a short tail. 



exhibit but a comparatively small carnivorous de- 

 velopment: for, notwithstanding their strength, tlieir denti- 

 tion, particularly in the form of the crowns of their n 

 teeth, indicates a propensity bordering on the frugi' 

 exclusively: and indeed it appears that, although tin 

 omnivorous*, they, for the most part, rarely devour tbsli. 

 unless pressed by necessity. Their claws, too, tl. 

 formidable weapons, are not retractile, and are more . 

 luted for diguing and climbing than for tearing prey. It is 

 their general characteristic to lay themselves up in ca\ 

 hollows for the winter, which they pass in a dormant state, 

 iml without taking food. The female produces her young 

 :it this season. 



EUROPEAN BEARS. 



The Brown Bear, "Aprroc of Aristotle, the Ours of the 

 French, Orso of the Italians, Bar of the Germans. Jl/w-/i of 

 the Swedes, Ursui Arctos (Linn.) This appears to have 

 been the only species certainly known to Linnirus 

 POLAR BEAR]; and though zoologists are not without 

 their suspicions as to some of the species since recorded, the 

 number of those which can no longer be considered doubt- 

 ful will prove how much this department of natural history 

 has been enriched since his time. The brown be. 

 widely diffused. The mountainous districts of Europe, from 

 very high latitudes (Arctic Circle) in the north, to tin- 

 am! Pyrenees in the south ; Siberia, Kamtchatka, and even 

 i to the eastward, and a portion of the northern n 

 erica, form the range of its geographical distribution. 

 Africa and the Moluccas have been added ; but it is l.u 

 from improbable that these localities have been assigned to 

 it by travellers who have taken some other species for it. 



'I'o the Kamtchatkans this bear seems to have given the 

 -arics, and even the comforts of life. The skin, we 

 are told, formed their beds and their coverlets, bonnets for 

 their heads, gloves for their hands, and collars for their 

 doirs: while an overall made of it, and drawn over tin- 

 of their shoes, prevented them from slipping on the ice. 

 The llesh and fat were their dainties. Of the intestines 

 they made musks, or covers for their faces, to protect them 

 from the glare of the sun in the spring, and used them as a 



^Amtulle well know tliifc and thui described tlie Imliil* orthr brar: 

 'II 01 jtexTof -rmptfxye* irn' xett "yii.3 xf<rov tffilt, tuu ttvufa'im i-ri rat 

 0i)f a liat Titt iiy^irwr* rtu rvfimrtt' < re'vt f rci>r rti; y i3oaTf . 

 r.r&ftt 01 xi fti\i. rattfjtf.ttt mttwywivr*' xcu xafxi'mrf, xa! pvpfttxtf' 

 Km fa(Kttffyi:. T. X. 1,1,. ,;a. r .V II, it it,,. War i. , 

 mi], .'UK! In the upulencit of it* body climb* trcr and rAtt t 



I nnu it r;iu, , Ac*h.' Ari*u4U thaVda* 



'nk'.T 111 ill.- I'mrutll,, 1', .,,,, n. .|,,.,.. :!. , ,.> wrkiiix nrni 

 In Imuuagr wliU-h, thou|{h if ' TtvtbMn 



i< llii' k 



.1 a il a j tofrthcr ;,i lli,- liunk, till Ili-y mak- , ,,..1; | 



. i. ami tli. n they'll I, .ml out lionry. !>,, and all' ( T i ruj,* 

 Sec the admirable .ktciintiun of a bee hunt, p. 68, 





