334 Wild Life in Wales 



while if a wealthy Saxon happens to be at " The Goat," 

 a correspondingly enhanced value may be looked for. 

 During my stay at Llanuwchllyn five Martens were dis- 

 posed of, alive and dead, at from half-a-crown to twenty 

 shillings each. One poor beast, that had been in confine- 

 ment for two days, probably without food, devoured a 

 blackbird, feathers and all, that was introduced into its 

 barrel a short time before it was killed ; while another, 

 that was kept alive for some time, subsisted on rabbits, 

 rats, and small birds, always showing a preference for the 

 two latter over the first named, if they were procurable. 

 A female, caught on 2nd March, gave birth to a single 

 young one on 24th April ; but, being very wild, she refused 

 to suckle it, and it died a day or two later, when the 

 mother made her escape. 



In and round Merionethshire the headquarters of the 

 Marten in Wales may be said to lie, and a number of 

 animals killed, or captured, in that district have, within the 

 last few years, been recorded in the newspapers. In 1905, 

 a young one was sent thence to the Zoological Gardens 

 in London. In March of that year, I saw one killed at 

 Llanuwchllyn, and another that had come from near 

 Dolgelly : in 1906, I saw three killed in the neigbourhood, 

 and heard of two others ; while in 1907, two more captures 

 were made. Of those I examined, all except one were 

 males, which is perhaps fortunate, as all came from a very 

 limited area ; and it is obvious that the small colony which 

 still inhabits these mountains, cannot long stand a drain of 

 this sort upon it, unless its females escape ; and, if for no 

 other reason than that it is killing the goose that lays the 

 golden eggs, the hunters of that district would be well 

 advised to spare the gentler sex. Those killed at the 

 beginning of March were in excellent fur ; but one on 

 2nd May had more than half cast its winter coat, and 

 was ragged in appearance in consequence, and its fur of 

 little value. Were the above - named hunters also to 

 observe a close time, starting from, say, not later than 

 ist March, they might likewise find it good policy. All 

 the Martens I saw here had a large amount of white 



