This animal is distinguished from the common Brown Bear, not only by its black fur, but by its slenderer snout, more convex forehead, and smaller size: it rarely exceeds five feet in length. Its habits are more strictly vegetarian than those of the brown kind. “Its favourite food appears to be berries of various kinds, but when these are not to be procured, it preys upon roots, insects, fish, eggs, and such birds or quadrupeds as it can surprise. It does not eat animal food from choice; for when it has abundance of its favourite vegetable diet, it will pass the carcass of a Deer without touching it.” It usually hibernates--at any rate, when able to obtain a sufficiently plentiful meal, or rather series of meals, before the commencement of winter. Sometimes, however, when food is scarce, Bears will roam about the whole winter, never being able to obtain a sufficiently good feed to warrant their going, with any safety or comfort, into permanent winter quarters. With regard to the hibernating Bears a very remarkable fact is mentioned by Sir J. Richardson, who is a most cautious and accurate writer, namely, that when the Bear “comes abroad in the spring it is equally fat” (as it was at the commencement of winter), “though in a few days thereafter it becomes very lean.” The Indians have an unbounded reverence for the Bear. When they kill one, they make exculpatory speeches to it, give it tobacco to smoke, call it their relation, grandmother, &c., and try in every possible way to appease its _manes_. They then cook and eat it with great gusto. [Illustration: GRIZZLY BEAR.] THE GRIZZLY BEAR.[142] This animal, which inhabits the region of the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico, is the most savage member of the whole family, and is more dreaded by Indian and Canadian trappers than any other. It is stated to attain a length of nine feet and a weight of eight hundred pounds, so that it greatly exceeds the Brown and Black Bears in size, and approaches in these respects to the Polar Bear. Its strength is enormous. “It has been known to drag to a considerable distance the carcass of a Buffalo, weighing about one thousand pounds.” The fur is of a dark-brown colour, with a good deal of grey on the head, and is of an inferior quality to that of the brown and black kinds. It is also distinguished from the latter by shorter and more conical ears, by very long, arched, white claws, and by the ridiculously small size of its tail, which is completely hidden by the surrounding fur. “It is a standing joke among the Indian hunters, when they have killed a Grizzly Bear, to desire any one unacquainted with the animal to take hold of its tail.” The Grizzly is much more carnivorous in its habits than other Bears, and its ferocity is so great that it will often attack man unprovoked. “The young Grizzly Bears and gravid females hibernate, but the older males often come abroad in the winter in quest of food.” [Illustration: ISABELLINE, OR INDIAN WHITE BEAR.]