THE BADGER AND MARTEN. 325 



he may furnish sport to the huntsman, he cannot be 

 regarded as a friend to the fowler. 



THE BADGER holds his own in many parts of 

 Ireland, and in some of the wilder districts, if 

 looked for, would probably be found to be almost 

 numerous. The retired nature of his haunts, and 

 his nocturnal habits, no doubt cause this animal to 

 be often overlooked. I have notes of the occur- 

 rence of the Badger in the counties Kildare, Wick- 

 low, Clare, Leitrim, Sligo, and Donegal, and I 

 believe it is tolerably common in the Mourne 

 Mountains, co. Down. In co. Galway I have 

 seen as many as five and six in one field at day- 

 break in summer. 



THE WILD CAT, according to Thompson, cannot 

 be included with certainty in the Irish fauna, and I 

 have failed to obtain any positive evidence of its 

 occurrence in any part of Ireland. It is true that 

 I have, from time to time, received reports of one 

 having been killed, as for instance from the Scotch 

 keeper at Ballynahinch, co. Galway, who informed 

 me in October, 1881, that a Scotc&Wild Cat had 

 been killed on that property about ten years ago. 

 But in no case, that I am aware of, has the animal 

 thus designated been preserved and submitted for 

 inspection to competent authority, and there can, I 

 think, be little doubt that the so-called " Wild Cats" 

 killed in Ireland have been merely tame cats 

 which have run wild, or have been bred in the 

 woods from domestic ancestors, which have them- 

 selves been for some time at large. 



That beautiful animal THE MARTEN {Maries syl- 

 v at ic a] must at one time have been abundant and 



