138 WILD ANIMALS. 



build themselves a nest as it were, and there retire, remaining 

 dormant till tlie ensuing spring warms into vitality their sluggish 

 blood. 



Before hibernating in this manner the animals get very fat, 

 and it is upon the gradual consumption or absorption into their 

 general system of this fat that they sustain life during the period 

 of their retirement, their digestive organs undergoing an extra- 

 ordinary change, while the stomach contracts into a small space, 

 adapting itself to the altered conditions of the animal's existence. 

 It is said by those who are acquainted with the habits of these 

 animals, that if they do not succeed in getting fat prior to the 

 setting in of winter they do not hibernate. 



Bears of one species or another are to be found in nearly all 

 parts of the world, excepting Australia. In Africa the family is 

 represented by one solitary species, and that one is a very scarce 

 animal, only inhabiting one section of the country. Mount Atlas 

 and its vicinity, in the north-west corner. 



The polar or white bear (Ursus maritimus) is found in the 

 Arctic regions of both hemispheres. It is in its natural state the 

 most carnivorous of all bears, the part of the world it inhabits 

 not allowing it much choice of vegetable food, except at certain 

 seasons when berries and roots are procurable and are readily 

 eaten. When, however, it is captured and transported from its 

 icy home to warmer latitudes it wiU subsist and thrive on a 

 purely vegetable diet. In its native haunts the foods most easily 

 obtainable are the carcasses of whales, birds and their eggs, any 

 of the smaller animals it can capture, and fish ; occasionally, even 

 a walrus, it is said, becomes a victim to its skill and formidable 

 strength. Its favourite food is the seal, and it persecutes these 

 animals most indefatigably. 



Its powers of swimming are very great, not only in the distance 

 it can accomplish, but in its agility while in the water. It is so 

 rapid in its movements that it can dive from a block of ice and 

 catch a passing salmon or other fish. In the capture of the 

 seal the bear displays considerable sagacity and patience. When 

 it sees one of these animals basking on the ice, it cuts off retreat 

 to the water by diving in some distance away, and swimming 



