THE BROWN BEAR. 



than it had achieved while still uninjured. Many a hunter has received mortal wounds 

 by incautiously approaching a Bear which lay quiescent in apparent death, but was 

 really only stunned for the moment by the shock of the injury which it had received, 

 and which in a very few minutes would have deprived it of life. 



SEVERAL species of Bears are now recognized by systematic naturalists, the principal 

 examples of which will be noticed in the following pages. 



The Bear which is most popularly known in this country is the BROWN BEAR ; a 

 creature which is found rather plentifully in forests and the mountainous districts of many 

 portions of Europe and Asia. As may be supposed from its title, the color of its fur is 

 brown, slightly variable in tint in different individuals, and often in the same individual 



BROWN BEAR, UrsusArctos. 



at various ages. In many specimens it is found that the neck is encircled with a white 

 band when the animal is young, but that this curious mark is soon merged into the 

 general brown tint of the fur as the animal increases in years and dimensions. This 

 white neck-band was once supposed to be the mark of a male cub, but it is now 

 ascertained that it belongs equally to the male and female sex. In general it is merged 

 into the brown fur after the second or third year, but in some instances it remains 

 throughout the entire life of the animal, which is on that account termed a " Ring Bear." 

 The size to which a well-fed and undisturbed Brown Bear will grow is really 

 surprising, for although it loses its growing properties after its twentieth year, it seems 

 permanently to retain the capability of enlargement, and when in a favorable situation 

 will live to a very great age. The weight of an adult Brown Bear in good condition is 



