OEDEE OP CAENIVOEA. 



429 



The Brown Bear leads a solitary life in the dark pine forests, 

 amidst the deepest gorges, or on the highest mountain ridges. It 

 makes its den in caverns, on clefts of the rocks, often, also, in the 

 hollow of some giant old tree. Sometimes, too, it builds for 

 itself a bower of branches and moss. It generally sleeps during 

 the day, and seeks its food at night ; but this is by no means 



Fig. 174. — Brown Bear ( Vrsus arctos). 



a settled habit in the animal. It feeds on the nuts of the beech, 

 and the yarious descriptions of wild fruits and berries, especially 

 those that are slightly acid ; also various seeds, vegetables, and 

 roots. It is very fond of honey, strawberries, and grapes, and 

 will travel many miles to procure these delicacies. An agreeable 

 repast is also furnished it by swarms of ants, which it likes on 

 account of their acid taste. 



In the lofty regions which it generally inhabits, when all these 

 kinds of food fail, it makes its way down to some of the lower 

 plateaux, and ravages the fields of wheat, oats, and maize. When 



