A Hunting Marten 343 



young to provide for, it may sometimes be met with, abroad, 

 during daylight. Its first impulse, on becoming aware of 

 human presence, is to get out of sight ; and it was that, 

 probably, as much as anything, that had induced one to 

 take refuge in the hay-loft, over one of the cow-houses, that 

 stand away out on the hillside on so many of the farms. 

 The entrance had been effected through a slit in the wall, 

 level with the ground at the back, owing to the house 

 having been built into the hill, and when found, the Marten 

 was thought to have been asleep amongst the hay. Attacked 

 by a dog, encouraged by the farmer's lad, it showed so 

 much activity, however, in jumping from hay to rafters, 

 and from one of these to another, anon disappearing beneath 

 the hay, that it quite baffled the dog and eventually evaded 

 the man who guarded the entrance, and escaped into the 

 neighbouring dingle, and thence to the hill. 



One afternoon, when I had been botanising, near the top 

 of Aran Mawddwy, and had sat down amongst the rocks, 

 above Craig-Llyn-Dyfi, I noticed a disturbance amongst 

 some rooks that were caterpillar-hunting on a grassy slope 

 far away down below, and presently saw what, at first sight, 

 I supposed to be a dark-coloured collie hunting about near 

 them. To my delight, however, the binoculars showed it 

 to be a Marten, and for the next half hour, or longer, I had 

 it almost continually under view. At first it was hunting 

 up a rushy syke, evidently on the lookout for voles, which 

 were numerous thereabouts. It crossed the ground where 

 the rooks were feeding, slowly, but apparently paid little 

 attention to them, nor did they attempt to mob it, as I 

 should have expected them to do. One or two made a 

 half-hearted feint to do so, but for the most part they 

 simply flew out of its way and went on with their grub- 

 hunting. Occasionally one mounted a rock, and scolded the 

 intruder from that vantage point. Some sheep scattered 

 in affright as the Marten passed them, but it took no more 

 notice of them than of the rooks. It dodged out and in 

 amongst the peat hags, and broken ground, near the lake, 

 for some time, resting on the top of a bank, some two or 

 three hundred yards from me, for several minutes, and then 



