200 Remarks on Ursus labiatus. 



The Bhaloo is one of the commonest animals of the 

 Jungle Mehals, Singbhoom, Chutia Nagpore, and all the 

 central parts of India ; and affords a constant source of 

 amusement to the sportsman, who follows them among 

 their rocks and fastnesses. In Singbhoom they are ex- 

 ceedingly numerous, and equally so at Sumbhulpore, the 

 species in question being, I believe, met with throughout 

 the Madras and Bombay Presidencies. 



A large male or dog bear is a powerful, and at times 

 dangerous animal. He measures up to b\ feet from the 

 snout to the rump, and stands about 3 feet from the ground 

 to the centre of the back. The weight I never ascertained, 

 but it is a sufficient load for four men. The limbs are huge 

 and bulky, and the size of the head and neck, encased in 

 massive muscles and clothed in long shaggy hair, adds to 

 the animal's formidable appearance. The large prolonged 

 muzzle is covered with short grizzly brown hair, which 

 reaches to within an inch of the eyes, a crescent of the same 

 colour, varying in different species from a dullish white to a 

 dirty cream colour, extends across the sternum, or collar 

 bone, to the outer edge of the fore arm. The rest of the 

 fur is a deep shining black. The hair on the forehead is 

 smooth and parted, lengthening as it reaches back till it 

 hides the ears, and falls shaggily on each side the cheeks, 

 a short beard also hangs from the chin. The fur of 

 the body is about six inches long, and on the centre of 

 the back still longer, forming there a thick, compact 

 hunch ; on the fore part of the legs and feet it is shorter 

 and sleeker, and the belly is thinly clad. The tail is 

 about seven or eight inches long, lies close to the buttocks, 

 and is seldom or ever erected. The genital parts are 

 shaped much as in a dog, but the animal voids its urine back- 

 wards. The nostrils are flat and wide, flabby, moveable, and 

 constantly wet. The lips, but especially the under one, are 

 thick and fleshy, and capable of great extension, the bear con- 

 torting them in grimaces, similar to those of many species of 



