which happened at the opening meet of the Tivyside Foxhounds a season or
two ago.
‘ One of the many Foxes on foot at Noyadd Trefawr, after he had “ done a lot
of work and was getting his back up,” came round over the lawn in front of the
house, where a large flock of guinea-fowl had collected. ^Vhen the terror of the
hen-roosts appeared upon the scene, instead of the birds being frightened, the old
cock seemed to give the word of command, and at him they flew! Every single
bird chased him out of the place, pecking at him so long as they could keep
near him, and the poor Fox seemed as disconcerted as though he had been
surrounded by the hounds (which he very shortly afterwards was, as a matter of
fact).’
THE BEARS
Family URSIDÆ
T h e Bears are supposed to have originated in northern India, their descent being
traced from a common stock first found in the Upper Miocene strata. In Europe
their remains are not found in earlier deposits than those of the Upper
Pleistocene, but they are very abundant in the caves of England, France,
Germany, Belgium, Poland, Algeria, the Caucasus, and the Balkan Peninsula,
which contain the remains of various large mammals that existed in the
Pleistocene age.
Bears are of a more primitive type than dogs. They are plantigrade, possess
five completely formed toes on each foot, and are specialised by such points as
the long penial bone of the genital organs, the small tail, and the absence of
a cæcum and entepicondylar foramen in the humerus.
The Ursula possess the same number of teeth as the Canidce, but the two
first premolars in both jaws exhibit a tendency to disappear in ancient forms,
though present and weak in all types of modern Bears. The canines are very
strong, and the true molars are broad with tubercular crowns. Female Bears are
furnished with three pairs of teats.
When we know more about the various types of the European Brown Bear,
Ursus arctos, I believe it will be found that from Norway to Kamschatka there
is only one species. No terrestrial mammal varies so greatly, both in size and
pelage, as this animal. Between Brown Bears killed in eastern Norway and those
of western Sweden there is a perceptible difference in colour, whilst in the Bears
of Russia, especially those of the eastern districts, there is a further and much
greater difference in size. I have lately seen two immense Bears belonging to
the Russian Embassy in London, which measure nearly nine feet in length and
are almost black in colour. No naturalist could differentiate these from Californian