from
Mexico to its declension near the shores of the Arctic Sea. Some
writers have asserted that he is confined to these mountains, but that
is an error. To the west of them he is encountered throughout all the
countries lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast--
wherever circumstances are favourable to his existence; and to the east
he extends his wanderings for a considerable distance into the great
plains--though nowhere so far as to the wooded countries near the
meridian of the Mississippi. In these the black bear is the only
forest-ranger of the family.

Woods are not the favourite haunt of the grizzly bear; and although in
youth he can make a sort of scramble up a tree, when full-grown his
enormous claws--always blunted at the tips--hinder him from climbing.
Low bushy thickets, with open glades intervening--and especially where
the underwood consists of berry-bearing bushes--are his chosen retreats.
He often sallies out into the open ground; and on those prairies where
grows the _pomme blanche_, or "Indian turnip" (_psoralea esculenta_), he
may be seen tearing up the earth with his claws, and leaving it turned
into furrows--as if a drove of hogs had been "rooting" the ground. On
the bottoms of the streams he also digs up the "kamas" root (_camassia
esculenta_), the "yampah," (_anethum graveolens_), the "kooyah"
(_Valeriana edulis_), and the root of a species of thistle (_circium
virginianum_). Many species of fruits and berries furnish him with an
occasional meal; and the sweet pods of the mesquites (species of
_acacia_), and the cones of the pinon tree (_pinus edulis_) form
portions of his varied larder.

He does not, however, confine himself to a vegetable diet. Like most of
his kind, he is also carnivorous, and will dine off the carcass of a
horse or buffalo. The latter animal, notwithstanding its enormous bulk
and strength, frequently falls a prey to the grizzly bear. The long
masses of hair that hang over the eyes of the buffalo, hinder it from
perceiving the presence of an enemy; and, unless warned by the scent, it
is easily approached. The bear, knowing this, steals up against the
wind; and, when within safe distance, springs upon the hind quarters of
the ruminant, and cramping it in his great claws, succeeds in dragging
it to the ground. He is even able to transport the huge carcass to a
considerable distance--for the purpose of concealing it in some thicket,
and devouring it at