364 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jtjive 5, 1884. 



The Willet Breeding in Delaware Bay.— For the 

 information of "Homo" I would say that on one of my col- 

 lecting tramps (May 19) I discovered a nest of the willet 

 (Si/mpfremia xemrpahnala) containing three beautiful fresh 

 eggs, and they now form a valuable addition to my collec- ■• 

 tion. This nest was found in the long grass on the marsh, 

 near the Warner house, on the Delaware Bay, and what we 

 Jerseymen call Big Island. The mother bird* would not leave 

 her nest until 1 had my hand almost upon her. This is the 

 first nest of the willet I have ever found, and I have collected 

 in the same locality for several years.— Chas. E. Bellows. 

 Ph. G. (Bridgeton, IS". J. } June 2, 1884). 



Heated Sparrows. — Hollidaysburg, Pa.— While stand- 

 ing in the casting house of a blast furnace at this place I 

 witnessed a striking illustration of the well-known pugnacity 

 of the common English sparrow. The two birds engaged in 

 the battle fell from the rafters of the building to the heated 

 surface of a large cake of slag, on which they continued to 

 fight, until a distinct smell of scorching feathers was no- 

 ticed, when a workman with a broom served them notice to 

 quit.— Juniata. 



?## m\d 



EARLY ACCOUNTS OF THE GRIZZLY. 



THE exploring expedition of Captains Lewis and Clarke 

 across the western territory of the Uuited States, along 

 the Missouri and Columbia rivers, early in the present cen- 

 tury, probably gives the earliest description of the grizzly 

 bear now accessible. Thinking some extracts from their 

 journal may prove interesting to readers of the Forest and 

 Stream, after the lapse of eighty years from the time the 

 incidents occurred, I have compiled the following pertaining 

 to the animal named: 



The expedition set out from the mouth of the Wood Biver, 

 Hear St. Louis, Mo., May 14, 1804. It consisted of the 

 officers of the United States Army above named, and forty- 

 two men, provided with three boats of twenty-two, seven 

 and six oars respectively, with sails to be used when practi- 

 cable, and two horses, "to be led along the banks of the river." 

 Those who have seen the Missouri Biver need not be told 

 that progress up its turbid current, with row or sail boats, 

 was very tedious. 



The first mention of the grizzly occurs October 20, when 

 they were just above the mouth of Cannonball Biver, in 

 speaking of the game observed: "We have seen great 

 numbers of elk, deer, goats and buffalo, and the usual attend- 

 ants of these last, the wolves, who follow their movements, 

 and feed upon those who die by accident, or who are too 

 poor to keep pace with the herd; we also wounded a white 

 bear, and saw some fresh tracks of those animals, which are 

 twice as large as the track of a man." 



No further mention of the grizzly is made that year. Nov. 

 3, they established winter quarters about midway between 

 the mouth of Cannonball Biver and that of the Little Mis- 

 souri Biver; built cabins protected by a stockade and called 

 it Fort Mandan. More or less of the men were engaged in 

 hunting most of the winter but no mention of bears occurs. 

 April 7, 1805, the expedition resumed its tedious voyage up 

 the Missouri. April 10 they "saw the track of a large white 

 bear." April 13, "two white bears were seen." April 17: 

 "Around us are great quantities of game, such as herds of 

 buffalo, elk, antelope, some deer and wolves, and the tracks 

 of bears." April 27 they passed the mouth of Yellowstone 

 Biver. 



April 29: * * "Capt. Lew is, who was on shore with one 

 hunter, met about 8 o'clock two white bears. Of the strength 

 and ferocity of this animal the Indians had given us dread- 

 fuLaccounts; they never attack bim but in parties of six or 

 eight persons, and even then are often defeated, with the loss 

 of one or more of the party. Having no weapons but bows 

 and arrows, and the bad guns with which the traders supply 

 them, they are obliged to approach very near to the bear, 

 and as no wound except through the head or heart is mortal, 

 they frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim. He 

 rather attacks than avoids man; and such is the terror he has 

 inspired that the Indians who go in quest of him paint them- 

 selves, and perform all the superstitious rites customary 

 when they make war on a neighboring nation. Hitherto 

 those we had seen did not appear desirous of encountering 

 us; but, although to a skillful rifleman the danger is very 

 much diminished, the white bear is still a terrible animal. 

 On approaching these two, both Capt. Lewis and the hunter 

 fired, and each wounded a bear. One of them made his 

 escape; the other turned upon Capt. Lewis, and pursued 

 him for seventy or eighty yards; but being badly wounded 

 he could not run so fast as to prevent him from reloading 

 his piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third shot 

 from the hunter brought him to the ground. It was a male, 

 not quite full grown, and weighed about three hundred 

 pounds ; the legs were somewhat longer than those of the 

 black bear, and the claws and tusks much larger and longer. 

 Its color was a yellowish brown, the eyes small, black and 

 piercing. The front of the fore legs of the animal, near the 

 feet, is usually black, and the fur is finer, thicker and deeper 

 than that of the black bear ; added to which, it is a more 

 furious animal, and very remarkable for the wounds which 

 it will bear without dying." 



May 6: "Captain Clarke and one or the hunters met this 

 evening the largest brown bear we have seen. As they fired 

 he did not attempt to attack, but iled with a most tremen- 

 dous roar; and such was his tenacity of life, that although 

 he had five balls passed through his lungs, and five other 

 wounds, he swam more than half across the river to a sand- 

 bar, and survived twenty minutes. He weighed between 

 five and six hundred pounds at least and measured eight 

 feet seven inches and a half from the nose to the extremity 

 of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and a half round the 

 breast, three feet eleven inches around the neck, one foot 

 eleven inches round the middle of the foreleg, and his claws, 

 five on each foot, were four inches and three-eighths in 

 length. This animal differs from the common black bear in 

 having his claws much longer and more blunt; his tail 

 shorter; his hair of a reddish or bay brown, longer, finer 

 and more abundant; his liver, lungs and heart much larger 

 even in proportion to his size, the heart particularly, being 



unable to describe the cause of his anxiety; but he at length 

 told us that about a mile and a half below he had shot, a 

 brown bear, which immediately turned, and was in close 

 pursuit of him; though, being badly wounded, he could not 

 overtake him. Captain Lewis, with seven men. immediately 

 went in search of him; and having found his track, followed 

 him by the blood for a mile, found him concealed in some 

 thick brushwood and shot him with two balls through the 

 skull. Though somewhat smaller than that killed a few 

 days ago, he was a monstrous animal, and a most terrible 

 enemy. Our man had shot him through the center of the 

 lungs; yet he had pursued him furiously for half a mile, then 

 returned more than twice that distance, and with his paws 

 had prepared himself a bed in the earth two feet deep and 

 five feet long, and was perfectly alive when they found him, 

 which was at least two hours after he received the wound. 

 The wonderful powers of life which these animals possess 

 render them dreadful ; their very track in the mud or sand, 

 which we have sometimes found eleven inches long, and 

 seven and a quarter wide, exclusive of the claws, is alarm- 

 ing; and we had rather encounter two Indians than meet a 

 single brown bear. There is no chance of killing them by a 

 single shot unless the ball goes through the brains, and this 

 is very difficult on account of two large muscles which cover 

 the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection of the 

 center of the frontal bone, which is also thick. The fleece 

 and skin of this bear were a heavy burden for two men, and 

 the oU amounted to eight gallons." 



May 14: * * "Toward evening the men in the hind- 

 most canoes discovered a large brown bear lying in the open 

 grounds, about three hundred paces from the river. Six of 

 them, all good hunters, immediately went to attack him, 

 and concealing themselves by a small eminence, came un- 

 perceived within forty paces of him. Four of the hunters 

 fired, and each lodged* a ball in his body, two of them di- 

 rectly through the lungs. The furious animal sprang up 

 and ran opemmouthed upon them. As he came near, the 

 two hunters who had reserved their fire gave him two 

 wounds, one of which, breaking his shoulder, retarded his 

 motion for a moment, but before they could reload he was 

 so near that they were obliged to run to the river, and before 

 they had reached it he had almost overtaken them. Two 

 jumped into the canoe, the other four separated, and con- 

 cealing themselves in the willows, fired as fast as they could 

 reload. They struck him several times, but instead of weak- 

 ening the monster, each shot seemed only to direct him toward 

 the hunters, till at last he pursued two of them so closely 

 that they threw aside their guns and pouches and jumped 

 down a perpendicular bank of twenty feet into the river ; 

 the bear sprang after them, and was within a few feet of the 

 hindmost, when one of the hunters on shore shot him in 

 the head and finally killed him. They dragged him to the 

 shore and found that eight balls had passed through him in 

 different directions." 



May 19:. * * "Our game consisted of deer, beaver and 

 elk; we also killed a brown bear, which, although shot 

 through the heart, ran at their usual pace nearly a quarter 

 of a mile before he fell." 



May 22 : * * "We killed a dear and a bear : we have not 

 seen in this quarter the black bear, common in the United 

 States and on the lower parts of the Missouri, nor have we 

 discerned any of their tracks, which may easily be distin- 

 guished by the shortness of its claws from the brown, griz- 

 zly or white bear, all of which seem to be of the same family, 

 assuming those colors at different seasons of the year. " This 

 is the first reference to the animal under the name grizzly. 

 This was just below the mouth of Judith Biver. 



June 2: * * "The hunters who were out the greater part 

 of the day, brought in six elk, two buffalo, two mule-deer, 

 and a bear. This last animal had nearly cost us the lives of 

 two of our hunters, who were together when he attacked 

 them. One of them narrowly escaped being caught, and the 

 other, after running a considerable distance, concealed him- 

 self in some thick bushes, and, while the bear was in quick 

 pursuit of his hiding place, his companion came up, and for- 

 tunately shot the animal through the head." 



June 14: Captain Lewis, alone at the time, was exploring 

 the country about the falls of the Missouri when "he met a 

 herd of at least a thousand buffalo, and, being desirous of 

 providing for supper, shot one of them. The animal im- 

 mediately began to bleed, and Captain Lewis, who had for- 

 gotten to reload his rifle, was intently watching to see him 

 fall, when he beheld a large brown bear which was stealing 

 on him unperceived, and was already within twenty steps. 

 In the first moment of surprise he lifted his rifle; but remem- 

 bering instantly that it was not charged, and that he had no 

 time to reload, he felt that there was no safety but in flight. 

 It was in the open, level plain ; not a bush nor a tree within 

 three hundred yards; the bank of the river sloping, and not 

 more than three feet high, so that there was no possible mode 

 of concealment. Captain Lewis, therefore, thought of re- 

 treating with a quick walk, as far as the bear advanced, to- 

 ward the nearest tree ; but, as soon as he turned, the bear 

 rushed open-mouthed, and at full speed, upon him. Captain 

 Lewis ran about eighty yards; but, finding that the animal 

 gained on him fast, it flashed on his mind that, by getting 

 into the water to such a depth that the bear would be obliged 

 to attack him swimming, there was still some chance for his 

 life; he therefore turned short, plunged into the river about, 

 waist deep, and, facing about, presented the point of his 

 spoutoon. The bear arrived at the water's edge within 

 twenty feet of him; but, as soon as he put himself in this 

 posture of defense, he seemed frightened, and, wheeling 

 about, retreated with as much precipitation as he had ad- 

 vanced. Very glad to be released from danger, Captain 

 Lewis returned to the shore, and observed him run with 

 great speed, sometimes looking back, as if he expected to be 

 pursued, till he reached the woods. He could not conceive 

 the cause of the sudden alarm of the bear, but congratulated 

 himself on his escape, when he saw his own track torn to 

 pieces by the furious animal; and he learned from the whole 

 adventuYe never to suffer his rifle to be for a moment un- 

 loaded." 



June 25: * * "J. Fields was sent up the Missouri to 

 hunt elk; but he returned about noon and Informed us that, 

 a few miles above, he saw two white bears near the river, 

 and, while attempting to fire at them, there came suddenly a 

 third, which, being only a few steps off, immediately at- 

 tacked him ; that, in running to escape from the monster, he 

 leaped down a steep bank of the river, where, falling on a 

 bar of stone, he cut his hand and knee, and bent his gun; 



equal to that of a large ox; and his maw ten times larger. .. 



Besides fish and flesh he feeds on roots and every kind of but ; fortunately for him, the bank concealed him from his 



wild fruit." antagonist, or he would have been most probably lost." 



May 11: * * "About 5 in the afternoon one of our men June 27: The hunting party lulled nine elk and three 



* * came running to the boats with loud cries and eveiy bears. "As they were hunting on the river, they saw a low 



symptom of terror and distress. For some timeafterwe had ground covered with thick bushwood, where, from the tracks 

 taken him on board he was so much out of breath as to be J along the shore, they thought a bear had probably taken 



refuge; they therefore landed without making any noise, and 

 climbed a tree about twenty feet above the ground. Having 

 fixed themselves securely' they raised a shout, and a bear 

 instantly rushed toward them. ' These animals never climb. 

 and, therefore^ when he came to the tree and stopped to 

 look at them, Drewycr shot him in the head. He proved to 

 be the largest we had yet seen; his head appeared to be like 

 that of a common ox; his fore feet measured nine inches 

 across, and his hind feet were seven inches wide, and eleven 

 aud three quarters long, exclusive of the claws. One of 

 these animals came within thirty yards of the caffip last 

 night, and carried off some buffalo meat which we had 

 placed on a pole." 



July 3: "Having completed our celestial observations, 

 (this was at the head of the Great Falls of the Missouri) we 

 went over to the large island to make an attack upon it3 

 inhabitants, the bears, which have annoyed us very much of 

 late, and were prowling about our camp last night. We 

 found that part of the island frequented by the bear forms 

 an almost impenetrable thicket of the broad-leafed willow, 

 into this we forced our way in parties of three, but could 

 see only one bear, which instantly attacked Drewycr. For- 

 tunately, as he was rushing on, the hunter shot him through 

 the heart within twenty paces, and he fell, which enabled 

 Drewyer to get out of his way ; we then followed him one 

 hundred yards and found that the wound had been mortal. 

 Not being able to discover any more of these animals we 

 returned to camp." 



July 24: * * "We saw a large bear, but could not 

 comeNvitbin gunshot of him." Again, under the same elate. 

 "On this island we saw a large brown bear, but he retreated 

 to the shore, and ran off before we could approach him. 

 These animals seem more shy than they were below the 

 mountains." Th.fi expedition was now in the neighborhood 

 of the Three Forks of the Missouri, and bears are rarely 

 mentioned. They appear to have been very numerous from 

 the mouth of Judith Biver upward to the head of the Gnat 

 Falls of the Missouri. 



July 25: * * "While crossing the island they killed 

 two brown bears, and saw great numbers of beaver." 



On Aug. 26, the expedition passed over the summit of the 

 Bocky Mountains and reached the waters of the Columbia. 

 From here onward game was very scarce and bears are not 

 mentioned at all. Horses, dogs and roots procured from the 

 Indians, became the chief food. Nov. 16 they reached the 

 mouth of the Columbia. A few days later they established 

 winter quarters a few miles south of the Columbia, on the 

 sea coast, naming it Fort Clatsop. 



March 23, 1806, the return march was begun, retracing 

 substantially the route pursued in going west the year before. 

 On May 14, when well up toward the head waters of the 

 Columbia, the journal says: "The hunters killed some 

 pheasants, two squirrels and a male and female bear, the 

 first of which was large and fat and of a bay color; the 

 second meager, grizzly, and of a smaller size. They were 

 of the species common to the upper part of the Missouri, 

 and might well be termed the variegated bear, for they are 

 found occasionally of a black, grizzly, brown, or red color. 

 There is every reason to believe that they are of precisely 

 the same species. Those of different colors are sometimes 

 killed together, as in the case of these two, and as we had 

 found the white and bay associated together on the Missouri; 

 some nearly white were seen in this neighborhood by the 

 hunters. Indeed, it is not common to find any two bears of 

 the same color ; and if difference of color were allowed to 

 constitute a distinct species, the number would be increased 

 to almost twenty. Soon after they killed a female bear with 

 two cubs. The mother was black, with a considerable in- 

 termixture of white hairs, and a white spot on her breast. 

 One of the cubs was jet black, and the other of a light red- 

 dish brown or bay color. The fur of these variegated bears 

 is much finer, longer, and more abundant than that of the 

 common black bear ; but the most striking difference be- 

 tween them is that the former are larger, have longer tusks, 

 and larger as well as blunter claws; that they prey more on 

 other animals; aud that they lie neither so long nor so closely 

 in winter quarters, aud never climb a tree, however closely 

 pressed by the hunters, The variegated bear here, though 

 specifically the same with those we met ou the Missouri, are 

 bv no means so ferocious, probably because the scarcity of 

 ff'ame and the habit of living on roots may have weaned 

 them from attacking and devouring animals. Still, how-, 

 ever they are not so passive as the common black bear, 

 which are also found here; for they had fought with our 

 hunters, though with less fury than those on the other side 

 of the mountains. " 



May ?A : "Two men visited the Indian village where they 

 purchased a dressed bear skin of a uniform pale reddish 

 brown color, which the Indians called yuekah, in contradis- 

 tinction to Mtihoat, or the white bear. This induced us to 

 inquire more particularly into their opinions as to the several 

 species of bears; aud w'e produced all the skins of thai ani- 

 mal which we had purchased. The natives immediately 

 classed the white, the deep and the pale grizzly red, the 

 grizzly dark brown, in short, all those with the extreme-ties 

 of the* hair of a white or frosty color, without regard to the 

 color of the ground of the fur, under the name of Iwhhost. 

 They assured us that they were all of the same species with 

 the white bear; that they associated together, had longer 

 nails than the others, and never climbed trees. On the other 

 hand, the animals with black skins, those which were black 

 with a number of entire white hairs intermixed, or with a 

 white breast, the uniform bay, and the brown and light red- 



little vicious that they could be pursued with safety. 

 distinction of the Indians seemed to be well founded, and we 

 were inclined to believe, first, that the white or grizzly bear 

 of this neighborhood form a distinct species, which, more- 

 over, are the same with those of the same color on the upper 

 part of the Missouri, where the other species is not found. 

 Second, that the black or reddish brown, etc., arc a, second 

 species,' equally distinct from the white bear of this country, 

 and from the "black bear on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 

 which last two seem to form only one species. The common 

 black bear is indeed unknown in this country; for the bear 

 of which we are speaking, though in most respects similar, 

 differs from it in having much finer, thicker, and longer hair, 

 with a greater proportion of fur mixed with it, and also iu 

 having a variety of colors, while the common black bear has 

 no intermixture or change of color, but is of a uniform black. " 

 July 10: The expedition was now again on the head 

 waters of the Missouri, and near the scene of their long delay 

 of the year before at the Great Falls of that river. A party 

 had been sent in advance with the camp and reported at night 

 that "they had been pursued as they came along by a very 



