OF WILD ANIMALS 125 



Now, did the mothers of those bears bequeath to them the 

 special knowledge which enabled them to perform the acrobatic 

 mid-air feat of warping themselves over that sharp-pointed 

 overhang barrier? No; because none of their parents ever 

 saw steel cage-work of any kind. 



Universal Traits. The traits common to the majority 

 of bear species as we see them manifested in captivity are the 

 following: 



First, playfulness; second, spasmodic treachery; third, con- 

 tentment in comfortable captivity; fourth, love of water; fifth, 

 enterprise in the mischievous destruction of things that can be 

 destroyed. 



The bears of the world are distributed throughout Asia, 

 Borneo, the heavy forests of Europe, all North America, and the 

 northwestern portion of South America. In view of their won- 

 derfully interesting traits, it is surprising that so few books 

 have been written about them. The variations in bear char- 

 acter and habit are almost as wide as the distribution of the 

 species. 



There are four books in English that are wholly devoted 

 to American bears and their doings. These are "The Grizzly 

 Bear" and "The Black Bear," by WiUiam H. Wright, of Spo- 

 kane (Scribner's), "The Grizzly Bear," by Enos A. Mills, and 

 "The Adventures of James Capen Adams." In 1918 Dr. C. 

 Hart Merriam published as No. 41 of "North American Fauna" 

 a "Review of the Grizzly and Brown Bears of North America" 

 (U. S. Govt.). This is a scientific paper of 135 pages, the pro- 

 duct of many years of collecting and study, and it recognizes 

 and describes eighty-six species and sub-species of those two 

 groups in North America. The classification is based chiefly 

 upon the skulls of the animals. 



It is unfortunate that up to date no bear student with a 

 tireless pen has written The Book of Bears. But let no man 

 rashly assume that he knows "all about bears." While many 

 bears do think and act along certain lines, I am constantly 



