Marten 



911 



like a lamb when hungry. Its grand directive label is the 

 blazing patch of yellow, framed in dark-brown, which orna- 

 ments its chin and throat. By this ye may know the Marten. 



The mating of Martens is shrouded in mystery. There is mating 

 no positive evidence that they are monogamous, polygamous, 

 polyandrous, or promiscuous. Apparently no one has ever 



Fig. 217 — British Martens rubbing their musk on projections on the cage. (From Hfe.) 



yet seen two adult Martens living together freely and amicably. 

 Analogy seems to prove that the species pairs, but the slight 

 evidence at hand would add that they part again in a few days; 

 and the less they see of the cutthroat sire, the better for mother 

 and young. This is all so unnatural and so largely founded on 

 cage-observation, that we must hope for a pleasanter picture 

 when better study of wild individuals supplies more reliable 

 facts. 



A curious item bearing on the relation of the sexes is 

 supplied me by Madison Grant. In the winter of 1901 and 

 1902, two Bitter-root guides set about catching Marten on the 

 head-quarters of the Clearwater, with a view to starting a fur- 



