LETTER XIV. 



I NOW resume my pen for the purpose of giving a few 

 instructions in the destruction of vermin, hawks, crows, 

 magpies, &c. It may not be amiss to particularize the dif- 

 ferent kinds of animals and birds which prey upon game 

 generally, their time of breeding, habits, and haunts. 

 Foremost in the list, as most destructive, stand the pole- 

 cat, stoat, and weasel. The marten has become almost ex- 

 tinct in many of our provincial counties, but is still to be 

 found in the north of England and Scotland ; it is one 

 of the most beautiful of this species of animals — almost 

 a fox in miniature. In its head and ears it resembles a 

 fox, and also in its tail, which is thick and bushy. The 

 marten was formerly much sought after for its skin, 

 which was considered very valuable, and on that account, 

 perhaps, its tribe has been so much diminished in this 

 country. There are still, however, large quantities of 

 these skins imported from Canada. 



When a boy, I remember hunting the marten iii some 

 thick woodlands, with a pack of harriers, when other 

 game was scarce. They generally held to the thickest 

 parts of the covert, giving the hounds a good opportunity 

 of scratching their faces, and, when tired, ascended a 

 tree, or went to ground in the rocks. 



The polecat, stoat, and weasel afe the most blood- 



