10 URSIDiE. 



round ears, and a bushy tail. In point of colour 

 it varies a good deal, but is generally grey and 

 diflferent shades of brown, the hairs being tipped with 

 black. Of two skins in my possession, obtained in 

 Upper Canada, one is grey and brown mixed, the other 

 entirely brown, with very dark extremities to the 

 longer hairs. Along each side of the face is a brown 

 stripe; the under parts are whitish, and the tail is marked 

 with alternate black and yellowish-brown bars. 



The Racoon preys upon wild ducks, for which it 

 watches among the thick reeds at the edge of swamps, and 

 also greedily devours their eggs; it has no objection to 

 mussels and frogs, and like the bear, is very partial to 

 fields of growing maize. As soon as its presence is 

 thus discovered in the neighbourhood, the farmer takes 

 advantage of the first moonlight night to compass its 

 destruction by the aid of dogs trained for the pur- 

 pose, which, casting about till they strike the scent, 

 chase the animal to the foot of some large tree, in which 

 it is its invariable habit to take refuge. The barkinsf 

 guides the party to the place, and the only difficulty 

 then is to discover the object of their chase, which 

 is sufliciently cunning to lie flat on the large branches 

 and keep as much of its body out of sight as possible, so 

 that without the aid of a blazing fire it is not easy to get 

 a shot at it. The flesh is said to be excellent. 



