24 
possessor into ready adaptation to new conditions, he is 
strikingly deficient and is really a dull and stupid animal. 
The Beaver Pond at the Garden affords, perhaps, as good an 
opportunity as is possible, in confinement, of watching the 
habits of these animals,—the rough dome-shaped structure of 
mud and sticks on the island being the far-famed beaver hut, 
built by the animals themselves out of the natural materials. 
In a state of nature these huts are generally built on a small 
stream where the beavers have constructed a dam, deepening 
the pond sufficiently to keep the water from freezing to the 
bottom, so that they can get out under the ice during the win¬ 
ter. Most of their work is done during the night, but towards 
the hour in the afternoon when they are accustomed to be fed 
they may often be seen swimming about the pond and disap¬ 
pearing with a flap of the tail as they get within diving dis¬ 
tance of the entrance to the hut. 
Their food is purely vegetable, consisting mostly of the 
bark of trees and the roots of aquatic plants. They formerly 
ranged over the whole of North America, but have long since 
been almost exterminated in the Southern, Middle, and 
Eastern States, and are rapidly approaching this condition 
even in the far west. 
Our beaver is so nearly identical with that of Europe, that 
it is questionable if there is even a varietal distinction. 
No. 5—THE BEAR PITS. 
The question as to the number of species of bears which 
inhabit North America cannot yet be regarded as fully set¬ 
tled, but for the present purpose it is enough to name the 
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus'); the Grizzly Bear (£7 . 
horribilis) ; the Black Bear (U. americanus); and the Cin¬ 
namon Bear ( U . cinnamomeus). Alaska contains several 
more or less distinct forms, chiefly of the grizzly type, which 
reach a size far exceeding that of any others now known to 
exist, and perhaps equalling the extinct cave bear. The 
grizzly ranges through the whole Rocky mountain chain and 
the mountains of the Pacific coast, but in all this region they 
are now comparatively scarce; those from California being 
somewhat darker in color and reaching a larger size than 
those to the eastward. The bears known to hunters by the 
various names of “ range bear,” “ bald face,” “ silver tip,” 
and “cinnamon” are all of this species. 
