94. MAMMALS

is hunted by the southern hill-tribesmen with poles
smeared with bird-lime.

The bear which has been longest known to Euro-
peans is Bruin, the brown bear (UV. arctos), found all
over Northern Europe and Asia, as far south as the
Himalayas and the Pyrenees, and in one of its varieties,
Crowther’s bear, even in the Atlas range of Northern
Africa. The brown bear ‘eats almost anything, and
fattens himself up for the winter, when he makes
himself comfortable in a cave or hollow tree and
takes a long sleep until the weather becomes warmer,
when he goes forth, looking miserably thin, to get
himself into condition. It is during this period of
hibernation that the young are born, two or three
cubs at a time, blind for a month and nurslings for
two months more.

The biggest of the bears seems to be the
Polar one (U. maritimus), who is the only white bear.
He has a much longer head than the others and it is
smaller in proportion to his bulk. He is the most
carnivorous of the bears, and the most aggressive
towards man ; awkward as he looks, he gets over ice
at a great rate, and he swims magnificently. Some
years ago the Polar bear at the Zoological Gardens
escaped, and was discovered early one morning near
the dromedary house by a blacksmith, who had come
to his work. The blacksmith, says Mr. Broderip,
looked at the white bear, and the white bear looked
at the blacksmith, who, like a valiant and wise smith,
did not run, but stood his ground and shouted,
whereupon the bear retreated into a bush of laurel.
Presently the bear put forth his nose, as if meditating