396 



THE NATURE BOOK 



(i) the Pine IMarten (Pine Weasel, Yellow- between the two types, and in the dentition 

 breasted Marten) and (2) the Beech Marten slight but constant differences. Their 

 (Common >Marten, Stone ]\Iarten, White- separation into distinct species is therefore 

 breasted Marten). It may be said at a matter on which opinions may reasonably 



be divided. A question which 

 has excited considerable con- 

 troversy is whether both 

 types (or species) are, or 

 e\'er have been, indigenous 

 to this country. There seems 

 to be little doubt that, what- 

 ever the previous distribu- 

 tion may have been, it is 

 the Pine Marten type alone 

 which has sur\"ived ; and all 

 recent Natural Histories fol- 

 low Alston in declaring that 

 the Beech Marten type never 

 existed in this country at 

 all. I cannot help thinking 

 that the weight of evidence 

 afforded by the older writers 

 tells strongly against this 

 view. All of them, from 

 Pennant to Bell, appear to 

 have regarded the Pine ]\Iar- 

 ten and Beech Marten as 

 separate species, and to have 

 been familiar with both, but 

 most familiar with the Beech 

 or ■' Common " ]\Iarten. Buf- 

 ion. who was evidently 

 quite well acquainted with 

 the latter, states that in 

 France " this animal is as 

 frequent as the Pine Weasel 

 is rare," and that " the Pine 

 Weasel does not exist in 

 Britain because the}^ have no 

 extensi\'e forests in that 

 country." Bingley. writing of 

 the Beech Marten, says : 

 " Xot very uncommon in 

 some of the southern parts of Great 

 Britain and Ireland. It inhabits woods 

 in the neighbourhood of \-illages and 

 farmyards — in Wales it resides also 

 among rocks." Of the Pine ^larten he 

 says : " Pine Martens are sometimes, 

 though rarely, observed in the woody 

 and thinly inhabited districts of Wales 

 and Scotland, and in two or three of 

 the northern counties of England." We 



SITE OF A MARTENS BREEDING QUARTERS IN THE 

 CUMBERLAND FELLS. 



A buzzard's nest, with a south aspect, situated oa a pinnacle of rock 

 overlooking Little LanSdale. 



once, and without fear of contradiction 



from anyone who has seen the animals 



alive, that they exhibit marked differences 



in the external contours of their heads. 



The Pine Marten type has the longer 



muzzle and the larger ears. Generally he 



has the darker colouration, and in most 



instances a yellow rather than a white 



front. The colour distinction is of small 



moment, but the facial distinction has 



something behind it, for naturalists seem need only add Ireland to make the above 



to be generally agreed that in the skull description strictly applicable to the 



proportions there are marked differences Pine Marten's present-day distribution. 



