26 THE TRAPPER'S ART. 



nuts, and, it is said, resemble the bear in their fondness for 

 honey. They are active climbers, and their small size enables 

 them to pursue the gray squirrel and capture him in his 

 hiding-places. They are, however, unable to cope in speed 

 with the red squirrel or chickaree. They are not strictly 

 nocturnal in their habits, as some have asserted, being fre- 

 quently seen and killed in the daytime. Their breeding sea- 

 son begins in March or April, and they have from three to 

 five young at a time, which are hidden from the males during 

 infancy. 



Sir John Richardson, the Arctic explorer, says that " par- 

 ticular races of Martens, distinguished by the fineness and 

 dark color of their fur, appear to inhabit certain rocky dis- 

 tricts." 



Throughout the Hudson's Bay Territory there is a period- 

 ical disappearance of the Martens, w^hich is very i-emarkable. 

 It occurs, according to Bernard Rogan Ross, in decades, or 

 thereabouts, with wonderful regularity, and it is not known 

 what becomes of them. They are not found dead, and there 

 is no evidence of their migration. The failure extends through 

 the whole territory at the same time. In the seasons of their 

 disappearance, the few that remain will scarcely touch bait. 

 There seems to be a providential instinct in this by which the 

 total destruction of the race is prevented. 



Martens are taken in steel-traps by the same method as the 

 mink. In winter, however, the traps should be set in hollow 

 logs or trees, secured from the covering of snows, and con- 

 cealed by the feathers of a bird. The Marten trappers of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company commonly bait with fish-heads, pieces 

 of flesh-meat, or, what they consider still better, the heads of 

 wild fowl, which the natives gather for this purpose in au- 

 tumn. 



THE SABLE. 



As I have already remarked, the Sable is closely allied to 

 the martens. It is classed with them in Natural History, un- 

 der the scientific name of 3Iartes Zibellina. Two species are 

 known : the 3Iartes Zibellina or Russian Sable, and the Jap- 

 anese Sable. The latter is marked with black on its legs and 



