58 COMMON BRITISH ANIMALS 



the pine marten. It lives amongst the wildest re- 

 cesses of the hillsides and rocks, and is so shy a 

 creature that it is rarely seen in its native haunts. 

 In the denser forests of Germany and Austria it is 

 said to live in the trees and to hunt squirrels, 

 bounding and leaping from tree to tree with great 

 agility and grace. 



In north-eastern Asia and Canada it is replaced 

 by the more silky coated sable, an animal so highly 

 prized and so much hunted for its fur. 



Polecat. 



The polecat is about the same size as the marten, 

 but may be distinguished from it by its colour, which 

 is a deep chocolate brown; by its shorter tail of 7 

 inches against the marten's tail of 13 inches; and by 

 the colour of the under parts, which are blackish- 

 brown. The lips are white, and a yellowish-white 

 band extends across the forehead and down the 

 cheeks; the ears also are fringed with white, and 

 the under fur is yellow. 



Since the polecat is the most dreaded enemy of 

 all game preservers it has been hunted down merci- 

 lessly, and is now more or less a rare animal. 

 Formerly both the marten and the foumart, as the pole- 

 cat was called, were hunted with wire-haired terriers 

 in Westmoreland and Cumberland. The meaning of 

 the name "polecat has puzzled etymologists. Some 

 derive "pole" from Gaelic "poll" or Cornish "pol" 

 meaning a pool or burrow, from its home in a hole 

 or burrow; others say "pole" is the French "poule,'' 

 a hen, and thus derive the name from the propensity 



