354 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



flat behind the eyes ; the whole expression of the head being 

 as unmistakably pugnacious and dangerous as the expression 

 of the long shallow head of the black bear is weak and inoffen- 

 sive. As most people are aware, naturalists rely for purposes 

 of identification more upon the shape of a bear's skull than 

 upon any external characteristics, and for that reason I have 

 inserted here an engraving from a photograph of two skulls 

 placed side by side, the larger one being that of a medium- 

 sized grizzly bitch (or sow) from Alaska, the other that of a 

 very large black bear (male) from British Columbia. 



As far as the general expression of the beast goes, it seems 



Black bear Grizzly bear 



to me that that is no better guide than his colour, for even 

 amongst grizzlies I have in one trip come across one specimen 

 with a head as full of vice as a viper's, and another as mild as 

 a Chinese cook's. It is true that the sexes differed ; the mild 

 face naturally belonging to the lady. 



As to the claws again, the typical Californian grizzly should 

 have extremely long flat claws of a bony whiteness claws 

 obviously meant for digging and not for climbing ; while the 

 genuine black bear should have claws to climb and fish with, 

 sharply curved, small and dark coloured. 



But here again the characteristics are not constant. The 

 Alaskan grizzly (if it is a true grizzly) has claws far too 



