8 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 



never cruel. They are generally full of 

 homely, careless kindness, and are very fond 

 of music as well as of honey, blackberries, 

 nuts, fish and other delicacies of the savage 

 feast. 



The matter of season affects a bear's tem- 

 per and looks as the time of the day affects 

 those of a man. 



He goes to bed in the fall, when the fish 

 and berry season is over, fat and happy, 

 with no fight in him. He comes out in 

 spring, just as good-natured, if not so fat. 

 But the hot sun melts him down. His hun- 

 gry hunt for roots, bugs, ants and small 

 game makes him lean and cross. His claws 

 grow long, his hair is unkempt and he is 

 soon a shaggy ghost of himself, looking 

 "like a second-hand sofa with the stuffing 

 coming out," and in this out-at-elbows condi- 

 tion he loses his own self-respect. 



Mr. Miller has strenuously insisted that 

 bears of the United States are of more than 

 one or two species. In this he has the un- 

 qualified support of the latest scientific in- 

 vestigations. Not long ago naturalists were 

 disposed to recognize but three kinds of bear 

 in North America. These are the polar 

 bear, the black bear, and the grizzly bear, 



