1922] Swarth: Birds and Mammals of the Stikine Region 159 



Microsorex eximius (Osgood). Osgood Shrew 



A single Microsorex (no. 30560) was trapped at the east end of 

 Sawmill Lake, near Telegraph Creek, on June 16. The skull was 

 crushed, debarring definite specific identification, but the specimen has 

 been provisionally referred to the species Microsdrex eximitis by Dr. 

 Jackson. 



Ursus, sp. 1 Grizzly Bear 



Grizzlies are still numerous in the Stikine region. We ourselves 

 saw fresh sign at many points, though no animal was encountered. 

 The most obvious indication of their presence was, of course, footprints, 

 but other evidence was frequently found, such as rotten logs ripped 

 to pieces by the bears for the insect food they contained. At Doeh- 

 da-on Creek an unoccupied cabin in the woods was entered by a bear 

 several times during the two weeks we spent at that place, and more 

 or less damage done. At this point we saw grizzly tracks in the snow 

 at timber line, about 4000 feet altitude. 



At Hyland 's store, Telegraph Creek, we examined ten grizzly skins, 

 killed the previous fall, all from about the same place, on the Klappan 

 Eiyer (a tributary of the Stikine) about 100 miles east of Telegraph 

 Creek. Of these we purchased a skin with the skull of an old male 

 (no. 31015) and a skin alone of a smaller animal, apparently a female 

 (no. 31016). These specimens, both skins and skull, answer fairly 

 well to the description of Ursus stikeenensis given by Merriam (1914, 

 p. 178; 1918, p. 88). 



There are no less than seven species of big bears accredited to this 

 general region by Merriam (1918). Whether or not I have ascribed 

 our specimens to the correct form, I think there is no doubt that all the 

 skins in the above mentioned series belonged to one species, for there 

 was really remarkable uniformity in color and markings in the lot. 

 Subsequently the skin of another bear was examined, a huge male 

 killed on Clearwater Creek, and it again was of exactly the same type. 

 The noticeable color features are the general dark coloration, the yel- 

 lowish or grayish grizzling on the shoulders and along the back, and 

 the black feet, legs, and lower parts. The tanned skin of the male 

 specimen, an animal that, from the appearance of the skull was evi- 

 dently past maturity, measures from tip of nose to base of tail approxi- 

 mately 1680 millimeters ; the one from Clearwater Creek, above men- 

 tioned, was very much larger. The claws are short for a grizzly, the 

 longest claw on the male obtained measuring, with dividers, 55 milli- 

 meters. They appear to be much worn. 



