CLASS MAMMALS: ORDER CARNIVORA. 



45 



an approach to the amphibious mammals. The peculiar 

 position of its eye enables it, with a slight motion of the 

 head, to see the fish on which it preys, whether swimming 

 above, below, beside, behind, or before. % It burrows in the 



Fin .<> 



Fig. 57. 



a 



Ultra canadensls, Otter. . 



banks of streams, forming the entrance under water, and 

 providing numerous cells to occupy, according to the height 

 of the stream. Its pastime of sliding in companies into the 

 water, down a snow-bank in winter and a slippery clay-bank 

 in summer, presents a singular 

 feature of animal life. 



Ursidse. The Bear is a typical 

 example of a plantigrade (see Glos- 

 sary). The entire sole of the foot 

 applied to the ground; the broad, 

 flat crowns of the molars; large, 

 curved, n on -retractile claws; smooth 

 tongue; mobile nose; circular pu- 

 pils, and short tail, exhibit such f / 

 variations from the strictly carniv- ' 

 orous animals as betoken different b TopviewofBear , shnverjaw . 

 habits of life. Bears arc carnivorous c . side view of jaws shut.. 



