NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 121 



Breadalbane. It was a noble specimen, and, as Mr. Dewar relates 

 in a letter to Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown, easily knocked over his 

 terrier with each stroke of its paw, and turned twice upon himself 

 when he went to save his dog. 



Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown, in The Zoologist, Jan., 1881, says that 

 the last Wild Cat killed in the district south of Glen Dochart was by 

 Malcolm Macpherson, upon Benmore, near Suie, in 1863 or 1864. 



Family: Canidae. 



7. Fox. Cants wipes, Lin. — Common on the hills in this 

 district, where they feed on the white hares and rabbits, with an 

 occasional grouse. Formerly there was a professional foxhunter in 

 this part of the country who made his livelihood by killing foxes 

 and other vermin. Now, however, he gets but little to do, and is 

 only employed, so far as I can learn, at the head of Glen Lyon and 

 in Balquidder, for the numerous keepers and shepherds now-a-days 

 do all his work. They often turn out in considerable numbers with 

 their dogs in autumn, and have regular foxhunts, killing frequently 

 several in a day. I obtained a very fine specimen of the Mountain 

 Fox, on the top of Farragon, in 1874. 



Family: Mustelidae. 



8. Yellow-breasted Marten. Maries sylvestris, Nils. — One was 

 killed at Kemony in 1844. In Oct., 1867, Mr. Dewar killed 

 a Marten at Finlarig, which he still has in his possession. 



9. Common Weasel. Mustela vulgaris, Erxl. — Common. 



10. Stoat or Ermine. Mustela erminea, Lin. — Extremely- 

 abundant. It frequents old stone walls and cairns of stones. 

 When in its white winter dress, with only a black tip to the tail, 

 the fur is very pretty, and is the ermine of commerce. 



11. Polecat. Mustela putorius, Lin. — Like the Wild Cat this 

 species was formerly common. Perhaps its most favourite haunts 

 were the hills on the north side of Loch Tay, in Glen Lyon, and 

 the country about Glen Dochart. Mr. Dewar tells me that he 

 killed two Polecats, a male and female, in Feb., 1858, at Finlarig, 

 and that these are the last he has seen or heard of. Mr. J. A. 

 Harvie-Brown has given me the following notes: — " The Polecat 

 became extinct in Glen Queich, above Amulree, thirty years ago, 

 viz., about 1850. One was killed on Ballechin Hill, in Strath- 

 Tay, about the same date, by Mr. Murray, now gamekeeper with 



