ZOOLOGY. Ill 



zlies so that tbey accompanied him in his hunting excursions, 

 defended him against wild animals, and carried burdens for 

 him. The meat of the young grizzly resembles pork in tex- 

 ture and taste, exceeding it in juiciness and greasiness ; but 

 the meat of the old he-bear is extremely strong, and to delicate 

 stomachs it is nauseating. 



The black bear ( Ursus americanus) is found in the timbered 

 portions of California, but is not abundant. It is more often 

 seen near the coast north of Bodega than in any other portion 

 of the state. Dr. Newberry, speaking of the food of the black 

 bear on this coast, says: "The subsistence of the black bears 

 in the northern portion of California is evidently, for the most 

 part, vegetable. The manzanita, wild plum, and wild cherry, 

 which fruit profusely, and are very low, assist in making up 

 his bill of fare. Rarely, too, we saw trees of yellow-pine bear- 

 ing marks of bears' teeth, where they had torn off the outer 

 bark to get at the succulent inner layer, which is capable of 

 sustaining life, and to which the Indians very generally have 

 recourse when pressed with hunger." It is believed that nei- 

 ther the grizzly nor the black bear hybernates in California. 



§ 88. Panther and Wild- Cat. — The panther of California, 

 supposed by Dr. Newberry to be the Felis concolor — the same 

 with the panther found on the Atlantic slope of the continent 

 — ^has a body larger than that of the common sheep, and a tail 

 more than half the leng^th of the bodv. Its color is dirtv-white 

 on the belly, and elsewhere a brownish-yellow, mottled with 

 dark tips on all the hairs. The panther is a cowardly animal, 

 and, except when driven by some extraordinary motive, never 

 attacks man. A friend of mine, who was out hunting, dressed 

 in a buflf coat, was creeping through some brush to get near a 

 deer, when he felt a heavy animal strike his back. He sprang 

 up very suddenly, and saw a panther, which had jumped down 

 upon him from a tree, probably mistaking him for a calf or a 

 deer. The brute seemed very much astonished and frightened 

 at seeing a man there, and immediately fled at full speed. The 

 panther is nocturnal in his habits, and always prefers the night 



