THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
living along the shores of Hudson Bay come regularly in sum- 
mer to feed upon the windrows of day-flies (ephemerids) drifted 
Taéeat upon the beach. The insects most sought for are 
Base such as dwell in colonies and have nests stored 
with luscious grubs or combs of honey; and all over the world 
Bruin’s favorite summer occupation is tearing rotten logs and 
stumps to pieces in search of fat larve, and digging out ants and 
bees from their nests in the ground or in tree trunks — the 
latter an exercise of which our black bear is particularly fond. 
; The outraged in- 
sects swarm over 
the marauder, buzz 
in his coat, creep 
into his ears, eyes, 
and mouth, and 
sting him till he 
rolls on the ground 
in a fury of pain, 
or blinds himself 
‘ with a smear of 
Copyright, N. Y Zool. Society. Sabam Phot. honey and dirt in 
AN ALASKAN BEar. madefforts to brush 
the tormentors away; but his appetite outlasts his distress, and he 
keeps at it till gorged with honey, and then, cloyed and bedaubed 
with “linked sweetness,” stumbles off to some retreat where he 
may give himself sleepily to the delightful task of licking his fur. 
The most inveterate insect hunter of the tribe, probably, is the 
Indian sloth bear, a common name for which, indeed, is “honey 
bear.” Baker “? remarks that its favorite delicacy is termites, 
for which it will scratch a large hole in the hardest soil to the 
Sloth depth of two or three feet. “The claws of the fore- 
Beat paws are three or four inches in length, and are use- 
ful implements for digging. It is astonishing to see the result 
upon soil that would require a Pickax to excavate a hole. 
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