THE KING OF THE WILDERNESS. 193 



shelter for thisir prospective offspring, and in the 

 Adirondacks thej have been found traveling as late 

 as the middle of January. Their dens do not amount 

 to much, and are often hastily scooped out beneath 

 the upturned roots of a fallen tree or a pile of logs ; 

 the nest is frequently made of bits of brush and dried 

 leaves, without so much as a bit of moss to soften it. 

 In severe weather, however, madam makes a much 

 better bed, and frequently remains snowed under and 

 walled up in it until April or May. The den is some- 

 times revealed by a small opening in the snow which 

 has been melted by the animal's breath. 



Mr. Frank J. Thomson has published an inter- 

 esting account of baby bears born in the Zoological 

 Garden at Cincinnati,* the substance of which I 

 copy : " About the middle of January the female 

 bear refused to come out of her den, and would not 

 let her mate approach her ; she was at once supplied 

 with hay, which she used to make her nest comfort- 

 able and warm, and was then closed in. On Janu- 

 ary 26th the young were born, but they were not 

 seen until the third day after, as she would not allow 

 the keeper to enter the den ; then, by feeding her 

 with bread held high above her head, she sat upon her 

 haunches and thus exposed her babies to view. Ap- 



* Vide Forest and Stream for September 4, 1879, p. C05. 

 14 



