178 MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 



Inquiries of the same character made farther west in Bedford and Somerset 

 counties elicit the same kinds of answers. This is surprising, as the region is 

 more in the faunal zone, preferred by the marten, than Pa. and N. J. locali- 

 ties once known to be its habitat. Rhoads, 1902. 



Sullivan Co. " Found in several thickly-wooded parts of Sullivan and 

 Wyoming Cos. I saw tracks of some in the winter of 1899-1900. I caught 

 a female, Feb. i, 1901, which I mounted for myself. A male [caught in 

 March ? same year] I sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences." Behr, 1901. 

 Still found in North Mountain. Buckalew, 1900. " One was trapped near 

 Eaglesmere last winter [i895-'96]." Bennett. 



Tioga Co. Once found in all deep woods. Hays. 



Wayne Co. Always rare in this Co. ; none left. Goodnough, 1900. 

 "Plenty in beech woods 30 years ago. Not now seen." Stevens, 1900. 

 Extinct ; once plenty. Teeple, 1 900. 



Wyoming Co. "A few still remain on the mountains." Robinson, 1900. 

 See also Behr, under Sullivan Co. 



Pa. in general. " Present, but only in small numbers, in a few sparsely- 

 settled sections of Cameron, Potter, Clearfield, Clinton, Sullivan and Elk 

 counties. Fur dealers claim from 25 to 50 are annually taken in this state." 

 Warren, Poultry Book, 1897, p. 503. 



Habits, etc. This animal, more than any other of its family, is an arboreal 

 species. For this reason, more than any other perhaps, has it become so 

 nearly exterminated in the mountains of northern Pa., where it once abounded. 

 While easily trapped and a desirable fur in Canada, the Pa. martens were 

 never so eagerly sought after, owing to their light color, as to have been 

 greatly reduced on this account. Owing to the prevalence of forest fires in 

 Pa., their habits peculiarly placed them at a disadvantage in the struggle for 

 existence as compared with more terrestrial species having their homes under 

 ground. My correspondents agree in saying that deciduous, hardwood timber 

 is preferred by this species in Pa. This seems at variance with its preferred 

 resorts in Canada. In all localities the marten is ever shy and retiring from 

 the abodes of man, unlike its kinsfolk, the mink and weasel, almost never dis- 

 turbing domestic animals. Its food consists largely of squirrels, birds and 

 their eggs, small rodents and insectivora, toads, lizards, frogs and even fish. 

 When we consider the value of its fur, the marten may well be regarded as a 

 most useful animal in the economic sense. The number of their furs exported 

 from Canada in the past has been equal to that of all the other species of furs 

 combined. Richardson states that about 100,000 skins were annually col- 

 lected in the fur countries for many years, and Dr. Coues says that their 

 numbers do not seem to diminish in these unsettled regions as time goes on. 

 The marten usually makes its home in a hollow tree or in the nests of the 

 gray squirrel, which it evicts without ceremony. It is prolific, bearing 6 or 8 



