THE BROWN BEAR 181 



claws, muscularity and agility, there is an all-round in- 

 feriority. Nor have the Bears so wide a range as the 

 Felidae, for though they are found in both hemispheres, 

 there are vast regions from which they are excluded. 

 They are unknown in Africa, south of the Sahara, and are 

 absent from not only the true Australasian regions, but 

 also from many of the islands of the south-east of Asia, 

 where various members of the cat tribe abound. 



BROWN BEAR (Ursus arctos). 

 Coloured Plate XI. Fig. i. 



The Brown Bear is not only the commonest, but is the 

 most typical species of the whole tribe. Its range extends 

 throughout almost the whole of Europe, particularly Russia, 

 Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Pyrenees, and the Balkan 

 Peninsula ; in Asia it is found throughout Siberia to the 

 shores of the Pacific ; and it also inhabits the colder regions 

 of North America. 



There is not the slightest doubt that this Bear at one time 

 existed in Britain, for the Romans exported the beast to 

 fight in the arena. The citizens of Norwich sent annually 

 to Edward the Confessor a Bear and six dogs with which to 

 bait it ; and there is rather a shadowy record that one of the 

 Gordon family killed a fierce animal in Scotland in 1057. 

 Bear-baiting and whipping the blinded Bear were con- 

 sidered sports sufficiently refined to please Queen Elizabeth ; 

 but there is reason to believe that by that time the Bear had 

 been exterminated in Britain, and that animals were im- 

 ported from the Continent to make sport for British holiday 

 crowds. 



The Brown Bear is the largest of the European Carnivora, 

 if we except the Polar Bear, which is found in the frozen 

 regions of the extreme north. In length from five to seven 

 feet, and standing about three and a half feet high at the 

 shoulder, the Bear, with its long and shaggy dark brown coat 

 and shambling gait, is an uncouth-looking brute. 



Not only are the Bears plantigrade, but the lower surface 

 of the foot is so large that when they fight they stand nearly 



