GROUPS OF NORTH AMERICAN BEARS 
35 
North American Bears. — Leaving out of 
count the subspecies, and the species of which 
we know little or nothing, the world contains 
fourteen well-marked types of bears. Of these, 
eight inhabit Asia and Europe, four are found 
in North America, one is found all around the 
north pole, and one in South America. From 
both the Old World and North America, quite 
a number of additional species and subspecies 
have been described; but it must be remembered 
that at present we are dealing only with con- 
spicuous types. 
Owing to puzzling variations in color, claws 
and skulls, and the great difficulty of bringing 
together several hundred adult skins with skulls, 
it is at present impossible to state precisely how 
many different kinds of bears inhabit this con- 
tinent, or how they are related. In the near 
future, however, many existing questions will be 
settled ; and until then the wisest course for the 
student and the general reader is to accept only 
well-known facts, and wait with patience for 
more. 
The bears of North America constitute four 
distinct groups, as follows: 
Polar Bear, of the far North. White. 
Very large. 
Big Brown Bears, of Alaska. Light 
brown. Very large. 
Grizzly Bears, Mexico to Alaska. Gray 
or brown. Medium to very large. 
Black Bears, North America generally 
from Mexico to Alaska. Black or 
brown. Medium size, and large. 
To most persons, the second group of this 
series is quite new, and for several reasons its 
members are of unusual interest. 
The Polar Bear. 
The Polar Bear stands alone in its genus. It 
is the king of the frozen North, and its robe is 
pure white, all the year round. It inhabits 
the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, all around the 
pole, and wanders over the arctic islands and 
the great ice-fields almost as far north as man 
has ever gone. Nansen saw its tracks at Lati- 
tude S4°, — its farthest north. 
As a rule, the Polar Bear follows the edge of 
the great ice-pack, for the sake of the seals and 
walruses which move with it, north in summer, 
and south in winter. He seldom travels more 
than a day’s journey inland on any shore. His 
food consists chiefly of seals, walruses, fish and 
dead whales ; at times of vegetable matter. 
FULL LIST OF THE BEARS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
Corrected to December I, 1903. 
Polar Bear, 
Thalardos maritimus (Phipps), 
Arctic regions generally. 
The Big 
Brown 
Bears. 
! Kodiak Bear, . . 
Yakutat Bear, 
Peninsula Bear, . 
Merriam’s Bear, 
Kidder’s Bear, . 
Sitka Bear, . . 
Ursus middendorffi (Merriam), 
Ursus dalli (Merriam), . . 
Ursus dalli gyas (Merriam) , . 
Ursus merriami ( Allen), . . 
U rsus kidderi (Merriam) , . . 
Ursus sitkensis (Merriam), . 
Kodiak Island, Alaska. 
Yakutat Bay, Alaska. 
Pavlof Bay, Alaska. 
Portage Bay, Alaska. 
Chinitna Bay, Alaska. 
Alaska coast, near Sitka. 
The 
Grizzly 
Bears. 
Silver-Tip Grizzly, 
Sonora Grizzly, . . 
Alaskan Grizzly, 
Barren-Ground 
Grizzly, . . . . 
Ursus horribilis{ Ord), .... 
Ursus horribilis horriaeus (Baird), 
Ursus horribilis alascensis (Merr). . 
Ursus richardsoni (Swainson), . . j 
Wyoming to Alaska. 
S-W. New Mexico. 
Norton Sound, Alaska. 
Great Slave Lake and 
Barren Grounds. 
The 
Black 
Bears 
Black Bear, . . 
Labrador Bear, . 
Louisiana Bear, . 
Everglade Bear, . 
Glacier Bear, 
Queen Charlotte 
Bear, .... 
Ursus americanus (Pallas), . . . North America. 
Ursus americanus sornborgeri (Bangs) Labrador. 
Ursus luteolus (Griffith), . . . 
Ursus floridanus (Merriam), 
Ursus emmonsi (Dali), . . . 
| Ursus carlottae (Osgood), . . 
. Louisiana and Texas. 
. Florida. 
. St. Elias Alps, Yakutat 
Bay, Alaska. 
j Queen Charlotte Islands, 
‘ ( British Columbia. 
