48 



SUBKINGDOM VEETEBEATA. 



Mg 61. 



Urams mari&mm. White Bear. 



latitudes it passes the winter usually in a hollow log, without 



becoming insensible. 

 The Polar Bear* is 

 the largest member of 

 this family. It feeds 

 on seals, fish, and 

 walruses, which it 

 pursues in the water, 

 swimming and diving 

 with great skill. To 

 secure firm footing 

 on the ice, the soles 

 of the feet are thickly 

 covered with long hairs. It passes January and February in 

 a lethargy, buried in the snow or hidden in the ice-rifts. 



Procyonidse. — The Raccoon is the only representative of 

 its family in the United States. It derives its specific name 

 from its habit of dipping its food in the water before eating. 

 Though its entire foot is naked, yet in walking it does 

 not, hke the bear, 

 bring its whole sole 

 to the ground. Om- 

 nivorous in its food, 

 it is, according to 

 circumstances, a fish- 

 er, a hunter, a trapper, 

 a reaper, or a fly- 

 catcher, having the 

 instinctive cunning of 

 the fox, the inquisi- 

 tive meddlesomeness 

 of the monkey, the greediness of the bear, and the slyness of 

 the cat. 



Fig. 63. 



Procpon lotor. Raccoon, or Common ' 



Coon." yV. 



* Its sense of emell 'being exceedingly keen, several are freqnently collected about 

 a carcass. This fact has given rise to the idea that the Polar, unlike other Bears, is 

 social In its nature. The ice-flelds on which it lives are often detached and float off, 

 carrying it to sea, where it has been descried hy sailors a hundred miles from land. 



