294 
ZOOLOGY. 
plantigrade, and while standing at the base of the carniv- 
orous series, have some features suggesting and anticipating 
those of the lemurs and monkeys. The raccoon, Procyon 
lotor (Linn.) abounds throughout the United States. It is 
strictly nocturnal in its habits, and feeds on mice, young 
birds, birds' eggs, turtles, frogs, fish, crayfish, and shell- 
fish, as well as insects, nuts, and corn. It nests in hollows 
in trees, being a good climber. An old 'coon is a tough 
match for an average dog, says Merriam, and to their cun- 
ningness the saying ^^a sly 'coon" owes its origin. The 
raccoon hibernates during the severest part of the winter. 
Allied to it is the coati {Nasua) of Central America, a 
creature about the size of and with the general habits of 
the raccoon, being an exceedingly knowing and mischievous 
animal. A number of extinct Eocene mammals are also 
allied to a small plantigrade, long-tailed carnivore, Cerco- 
leptes, which resembles the Primates in its two cutting 
premolars and three true molars; while the rami of the 
mandible are coossified; for these reasons it was placed by 
F. Cuvier between the orders Carnivora and Primates 
(Cope). It is allied to the raccoon, is called the kincajou, 
and lives in northern South America. 
The bears have a thick, clumsy body, with a rudimen- 
tary tail, and the teeth are broad and tuberculated, so that 
they can live indifferently on fish, insects, or berries. Our 
North American species are the polar bear {Ursus mariti- 
mus, Fig. 324) and Ursus ardos, with its varieties of 
brown, cinnamon, and grizzly bears; and the true black 
bear, Ursus Americanus, The black bear weighs from 
two to four hundred pounds, and is common in the wooded 
or mountainous parts of the country, and is destructive 
to sheep, lambs, and calves. They will rarely attack man, 
unless wounded or in defence of their young. When the 
weather is severe and the snow is deep they make a den in 
a hollow tree, cave, or under the root of a tree, and there 
hibernate. They have young but once in three years. 
Bears can be tamed and easily taught to perform various 
