170 MARTEN. 



Length of the head and body , 19 inch. 



Length of the tail, including the hair, which is four 



inches long 12 



Length of the head..... 4^ 



Length of the ears 1 



Height at the shoulders 6| 



When young the Marten is of a darker colour; and 

 at first the white on the neck does not include the 

 chin, or extend to the thorax; it is then tinged 

 with yellow, in various degrees, sometimes of a pale 

 orange tint. In this state, it is the Pine Marten of 

 authors. In winter the fur is darker, thicker, and 

 more glossy, than at any other season. In summer 

 it changes to a duller greyish, or yellowish-brown, 

 very similar to that of the Arctic Fox at the same 

 season, and the head and nape become much lighter. 

 In old individuals, the whole fore neck, and part of 

 the breast, are white, or greyish-white, or pale grey 

 mottled with brownish. The yellow colour on the 

 throat gradually fades in specimens kept in Mu- 

 seums, so as at length to be scarcely perceptible. 



The Marten is generally distributed in Scotland 

 and England. A fine individual, having a yellow 

 patch on the throat, and of a rich brown on the 

 upper parts, was brought to me when residing in 

 Harris, having been killed by a shepherd's dog, in 

 a cairn. There, as in the other Outer Hebrides, it 

 is not very uncommon, residing among the blocks 

 and loose stones on the sides of the hills, and feed- 

 ing chiefly on birds. In the absence of wood of 

 any kind, it might with more propriety be there 

 named the Stone Marten ; nor does it really appear 



