MAMMALIA— BEAR. 107 



again wounded the bear, and saved Mr D. from further peril. Neither re- 

 ceived any injury from this encounter, in which the bear was at length killed. 

 Mr Dougherty, the hunter before mentioned, relates the following in- 

 stance of the great muscular strength of the grizzly bear : — Having killed 

 a bison, and left the carcass for the purpose of procuring assistance to skin 

 and cut it up, he was very much surprised on his return to find that it had 

 been dragged off, whole, to a considerable distance, by a grizzly bear, and 

 had been placed in a pit, which the animal had dug with his claws for its 

 reception. 



THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR.i 



This animal is found in considerable numbers, in the northern districts 

 of America. In size and form he approaches nearest to the brown bear ; but 

 his color is a uniform shining jet black, except on the muzzle, where it is 

 fawn colored ; on the lips and sides of the mouth it is almost gray. The 

 hair, except on the muzzle, is long and straight, and is less shaggy than in 

 most other species. The forehead has a slight elevation, and the muzzle is 

 elongated, and somewhat flattened above. The young ones, however, are 

 first of a bright ash color, Avhich gradually changes into a deep brown, and 

 ends by becoming a deep black. 



The American black bear lives a solitary life in forests and uncultivated 

 deserts, and subsists on fruits, and on the young shoots and roots of vegeta- 

 bles. Of honey he is exceedingly fond, and, as he is a most expert climber, 

 he scales the loftiest trees in search of it. Fish, too, he delights in, and is 

 often found in quest of them on the borders of lakes and on the sea-shore. 



1 Ursxis Americanus, Desm. 



