184 
FRANK FORESTER^ FIELD SPORTS. 
THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 
URSUS AMERICANUS. 
Ursus Americanus ; Pallas , Spicileg. Zool. vol. xiv. p. 6. Ursua 
Americanus ; Harlan , Fauna , p. 51; Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. 
vol. i, p. 114. Black Bear; Penn. Arct. Zool. vol. i. p. 57. 
Ours Gulaire; Geoffroy , Mem. Mus. (variety.) The Black 
Bear ; Emmons, Mass. Rep. 1840, p. 20. 
“ Characteristics. —Black or brownish-black; a soiled brown or 
yellowish patch on each side of the nose. Facial outline some¬ 
what arched. Young, with hair wavy or curled. 
“ Description. —Ears high, oval, rounded at the tips, and distant. 
Soles of the feet short; the hair projects slightly beyond the 
claws. Fur long, straight, shining and rather soft. Tail very 
short. Claws short, blunt, somewhat incurved. 
“Color. —Beside the general black color of the body, which is 
occasionally light brown, verging in some instances into soiled 
yellowish, the sides of the nose are of a fawn color; occasion¬ 
ally a white dash on the forehead or throat, and sometimes a 
small spot of the same is seen above the eyes. Length from 
foui r* v feet. 4 
“ The ix once so numerous in this State, is now chiefly to 
be found in the mountainous and thinly inhabited districts, where 
they breed. The female, after a gestation of about one hundred 
days, brings forth two cubs. It does not eat animal food from 
choice, and never unless pressed by hunger; it prefers berries 
and fruits. In the forests in the northern parts of the State, a 
tornado will sometimes sweep through a region, prostrating 
the pines to an extent of many miles. In the course of a few 
years, the wild-cherry tree springs up in great numbers in this 
tract; and in the fruit season, it becomes the resort of numerous 
bears.* It also feeds on whortleberry, grapes, honey, persira- 
* “ The effects of such a tornado we observed in Hamilton County, in the sum¬ 
mer of 1840, near the Eighth Lake. The course of the windfall , as it is popu- 
