FOREST, AND ITS FAUNA 45 



woods or in the open, wherever food can be easily 

 obtained. The fox with its burrowing habits is more 

 of a forest animal, but only because in the woods it 

 finds the necessary shelter and abundant food. It has 

 no special adaptations to life there. 



In addition to wolf and fox Siberia has another 

 member of the genus Canis, in the form of the Siberian 

 wild dog (C. alpinus), which apparently haunts the 

 high Alpine forests, as well as open country. 



The brown bear ( Ursus arctos) occurs in the Siberian 

 taiga, as in the woods of the temperate region of the 

 Eurasian continent generally. It can climb, though it 

 is not so agile as some of its relatives, and, like all the 

 bears, it takes a large amount of vegetable food. It is 

 stated to be particularly fond of the edible seeds of the 

 Cembra pine, and climbs the pines in search of them, as 

 weU as seeking to rob the peasants' stores. Like its 

 relatives also it is very fond of honey. In the taiga of 

 North America it is replaced by the black bear ( Ursus 

 americanus), of similar habits. The grizzly {U. horri- 

 bilis) is only found in the western forest. Both the 

 black and brown bears eat fish and other aquatic 

 animals in addition to warm-blooded forms, nor do they 

 disdain insects. 



In the Siberian forests two kinds of martens occur, 

 the pine-marten {Mustela martes) and the more valuable 

 sable {M. zibdlina), with a more northerly range and 

 a more valuable coat. Both are thoroughly arboreal, 

 though both descend to the ground upon occasion. 

 Closely related is the American marten (M. americana), 

 which is of similar habits, while the fisher marten 

 (M. pennanti), in spite of its name, is also largely 

 arboreal. It occurs throughout the greater part of 

 North America, haunting mountain regions in the 



