480 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The grizzly bears of Alaska belong to at least two varieties, one 
(Ursus horribilis phceonyx) of the interior, the other (TJrsus kenai- 
ensis) of the Kenai Peninsula and adjacent coast region. They are 
generally distributed in these regions and although not comnion near 
settled and traveled parts are often met in unexpected places. Their 
habits are similar to those of the well-known grizzlies of the western 
part of the United States. They spend the summer chiefly above 
and near timber line and in such places are not infrequently encoun¬ 
tered by the mountain sheep hunter. Like most bears, however, they 
are seldom caught unawares. They roam widely, are very keen- 
scented, and get out of danger with great ease and alacrity. At 
present they are perhaps most numerous in the Endicott Mountains 
and the Nutzotin and Alaskan Mountains, including the region of 
Mount McKinley. 
Black bears ( Ursus americanus) are fairly common throughout all 
Alaska south and east of the treeless tundra. They are among the 
shyest of animals and many doubtless slip away without allowing 
themselves to be seen. Thus in many districts where fairly common 
they are supposed to be scarce. The cinnamon variety is very common 
in the interior but rare or almost unknown on the coast. The north¬ 
ern and interior black bears of Alaska are the same as those of 
eastern North America, but those of Prince of Wales Island off the 
extreme southeast coast appear to belong to a larger subspecies (Ursus 
americanus carlottce ), in which the cinnamon phase is unknown. 
Belonging with the black bear group is the rare and interesting 
glacier bear ( Ursus emmonsi) , inhabiting the southern slopes of the 
St. Elias Range and near-by mountains, at least from Cross Sound to 
the vicinity of Cape St. Elias. It is supposed to live near the numer¬ 
ous glaciers of this region, but its habits are practically unknown and, 
so far as reported, it has never been killed by a white man. Scarcely 
a dozen specimens, mostly imperfect, are contained in the museums of 
the world. The glacier bear is very similar in size and general charac¬ 
ters to the black bear, differing mainly in color, which is silvery gray 
slightly mixed with black, the nose being brown and the feet blackish. 
In certain conditions of pelage the color has a somewhat slaty or blu¬ 
ish gray effect, hence the name “ blue bear ” sometimes applied to the 
animal. 
The well-known polar bear ( Thalarctos maritimus ), which is no 
less common near the northern coast of Alaska than elsewhere in 
similar latitudes, completes the list of Alaska’s bears. Owing to the 
remoteness of its habitat it is seldom seen except by whaling or ex¬ 
ploring parties. During the cruise of the revenue steamer Corwin , 
E. W. Nelson found polar bears abundant about Herald Island and 
Wrangell Land in August, where doubtless they are still numerous. 
They have been found occasionally in summer on islands in Bering 
