128 PARTIAL WATER TRESPASSERS. 



The colour of the fur is a very deep black-brown 

 above, and whitish beneath. The animals live in pairs, 

 and are said to produce only one cub at a time. In size 

 it is far superior to our British species, for whereas 

 the common Otter weighs, on an average, about twenty- 

 four pounds, the Sea Otter weighs from seventy to 

 eighty pounds. 



Unsuited as the Bears may seem for aquatic feats, 

 they yet have a representative as a water trespasser 

 namely, the well-known Polar Bear, or White Bear, 

 so called from the cream-white colour of its coat. 



It is well known that in the colder regions there 

 are many creatures which assume a white hue in the 

 winter-time. The common ptarmigan of Scotland is a 

 familiar example which occurs within our own island. 

 Then there is the Arctic fox, which becomes perfectly 

 white in winter, and the Arctic wolf, which becomes 

 pale grey, while the lovely white ermine is, as most- 

 people know, merely the common stoat, which has as- 

 sumed its winter clothing. The last-mentioned animal, 

 by the way, has been artificially bleached by keeping 

 it in a cold atmosphere ; and even in our country are 

 occasionally found stoats which have partially assumed 

 the white winter's dress of the ermine. 



In all those creatures, however, the white hue is 

 but temporary, and at the beginning of the warm 

 weather the ordinary dark hue of the fur or plumage 

 is resumed. The white bear, however, forms an ex- 

 ception to the general rule, the fur retaining its white 

 colour through life, and even keeping it when the 

 animal is brought to a warmer climate. Several Polar 



