J2 Field and Forest Rambles. 



in the district. For many years the bears that used to come 

 in numbers to feed on the autumn fruits totally disappeared 

 until 1865, when there was a general failure all over the country; 

 then, to the astonishment of the settlers, their old enemies 

 rapidly increased, and the locality became overrun by bears 

 until the grain was reaped, when they dispersed.* Although 

 it prefers vegetable to animal food, nothing comes amiss, from 

 a sheep down to the daintiest fruit the forest can afford. 



The decayed trunk of a pine is a favourite position for hyber- 

 nating ; but if such is not procurable, it will make a bed in 

 some clump of trees, selecting the nearest soft substance at hand. 

 The desire to retire to its winter retreat becomes manifest as 

 soon as the cold has destroyed all the fruits and the grain has 

 been gathered ; then it sleeps for the greater part of the day, 

 moving from place to place, and on every occasion attempting 

 to make a bed, until at length it settles down for its long 

 siesta, which is seldom broken throughout the winter months ; 

 however, during the usual mild weather that sets in suddenly 

 after a continuance of intense cold, it will rouse from its- 

 slumbers and walk about the vicinity of its layer, picking a 

 scanty subsistence by devouring the bark of trees ; f but its 

 susceptible organism and a recurrence of cold compel it to 

 return to its layer. 



The only abnormality in colouring to which the animal 

 is subject is the frequent absence of the white spot on the 

 brisket, which is more or less defined in all bears, even 



* Mr. Rowan says it is plentiful on the island of Anticosti, off the 

 Gulf of the St. Lawrence, where it feeds on fish and spawn thrown up 

 on the beach, and makes its den in dense shrubberies where it hibernates. 

 — Field, May, 1869. 



f The Esquimaux believe the polar bear prevents the passage of evacua- 

 tions during hybernation by devouring moss and earth, whilst the Indians 

 of this region entertain a belief that the obstruction is caused by eating 

 quantities of pine resin, and precisely the same view is maintained by the 

 natives of the Himalayas with reference to the brown bear. I often 

 observed, immediately after leaving its den, that the spoor of the latter 

 was very mucous, which may have led to this mistake. 



