172 CUEIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



ble wreath of warm vapor perhaps issues from a tiny 

 crevice in the snow. This is enough : it tells the bear 

 all he cares to know of the dinner awaiting him 

 under the heavy crust of frozen snow upon which 

 he stands. 



Closing his feet together in a bunch, he leaps into 

 the air and brings his tremendous weight to bear upon 

 as small a spot as possible. If not successful in break- 

 ing through, "Nennook," as the bear is called by 

 the Innuits, will scratch away the surface and try 

 again ; but, as might be conjectured, he seldom fails 

 the first time in making his way through the roof of 

 the igloo and descending upon its unsuspecting in- 

 mates. 



When this takes place, the mother seal immedi- 

 ately plunges through the breathing-hole into the sea, 

 and the bear, well knowing the uselessness of attempt- 

 ing to catch her, contents himself with first securing 

 the baby, which is too young to follow its mother. 

 Having done so, ISTennook employs a very cruel strat- 

 agem to secure the old seal, using her maternal in- 

 stinct to lure her to destruction. Hooking one of his 

 formidable claws into the flipper of the little seal, he 

 carefully lets it down into the breathing-hole and al- 

 lows it to struggle and writhe about in the water be- 

 neath. 



As the old seal anxiously approaches, he slowly 

 and gradually -withdraws the little one through the 

 ice toward himself, until the poor mother, enticed 

 within reach of the powerful claws of his other fore 

 paw, is seized and secured. There is not the slightest 



