GROUPS OF NORTH AMERICAN BEARS 



35 



North American Bears. — Leaving out of 

 count the subspecies, and the species of which 

 we know Uttle or nothing, the world contains 

 fourteen well-marked types of bears. Of these, 

 eight inhabit Asia and Europe, four are found 

 in North America, one is found all around the 

 north pole, and one in South America. From 

 both the Old World and North America, quite 

 a number of additional species and subspecies 

 have been described; but it must be remembered 

 that at present we are dealing only with con- 

 spicuous types. 



Owing to puzzling variations in color, claws 

 and skulls, and the great difficulty of bringing 

 together several hundred adult skins with skulls, 

 it is at present impossible to state precisely how 

 many different kinds of bears inhabit this con- 

 tinent, or how they are related. In the near 

 future, however, many existing questions will be 

 settled; and until then the wisest course for the 

 student and the general reader is to accept only 

 well-known facts, and wait with patience for 

 more. 



The bears of North America constitute four 

 distinct groups, as foUows: 



Polar Bear, of the far North. 

 Very large. 



White. 



Big Brown Bears, of Alaska. Light 

 brown. Very large. 



Grizzly Bears, Mexico to Alaska. Gray 

 or brown. Medium to very large. 



Black Bears, North America generally 

 from Mexico to Alaska. Black or 

 brown. Medium size, and large. 



To most persons, the second group of this 

 series is quite new, and for several reasons its 

 members are of unusual interest. 



The Polar Bear. 



The Polar Bear stands alone in its genus. It 

 is the king of the frozen North, and its robe is 

 pure white, all the year round. It inhabits 

 the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, all around the 

 pole, and wanders over the arctic islands and 

 the great ice-fields almost as far north as man 

 has ever gone. Nansen saw its tracks at Lati- 

 tude 84°, — its farthest north. 



As a rule, the Polar Bear follows the edge of 

 the great ice-pack, for the sake of the seals and 

 wahuses which move with it, north in summer, 

 and south in winter. He seldom travels more 

 than a day's journey inland on any shore. His 

 food consists chiefly of seals, wabuses, fish and 

 dead whales; at times of vegetable matter. 



FULL LIST OF THE BEARS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



Corrected to December J, 1903. 



The Big 

 Brown 

 Bears. 



The 

 Grizzly 

 Bears. 



The 

 Black 

 Bears. 



Polar Bear, . 



Kodiak Bear, . 

 Yakutat Bear, 

 Peninsula Bear, 

 Merriam's Bear, 

 Kidder's Bear, 

 Sitka Bear, 



Silver-Tip Grizzly, 

 Sonora Grizzly, . . 

 Alaskan Grizzly, . 

 Barren-Ground 

 Grizzly 



Black Bear, . 

 Labrador Bear, 

 Louisiana Bear, 

 Everglade Bear, 

 Glacier Bear, 



Queen Charlotte 

 Bear, . . . . 



Thalardos maritimus (Phipps), 



^Ursus middendorfji (Merriam), 



^Ursus dalli (Merriam), 

 Ursiis dalli gyas (Merriam) , 

 Ursus merriami (Allen) , . 

 Ursus hidderi (Merriam), . 



*Ursus sitkensis (Merriam), 



Ursus horribiHs{ Ord), . . . . 

 Ursus horribilis horriaeus (Baird;, 

 Ursus horrihilis alascertsis (Merr). . 



t Ursus richardsoni (Swainson), . . 



Arctic regions generally, 



Kodiak Island, Alaska. 

 Yakutat Bay, Alaska. 

 Pavlof Bay, Alaska. 

 Portage Bay, Alaska. 

 Chinitna Bay, Alaska. 

 Alaska coast, near Sitka. 



Wyoming to Alaska. 



S-W. New Mexico. 



Norton Sound, Alaska, 

 j Great Slave Lake and 

 ( Barren Grounds. 



Ursus americanus (Pallas), . . . North America. 



Ursus americanus sornborgeri(Ba,iigs) Labrador. 

 'Ursus luteolus (Gnffith), . . . . Louisiana and Texas. 

 'Ursus floridanus (Merriam), . . Florida. 



Ursus emmonsi (Dall), .... St. Elias Alps, Yakutat 



Bay, Alaska. 



} Ursus carlottaeiOs,oo6), . . • { QSKhmJf "'^' 



