. xm.] PINE-MARTEN BEECH-MAKTEN. 107 



lambs, and when they take to poultry-killing, enter the henhouse 

 fearlessly, committing immense havoc ; in fact seldom leaving a 

 single fowl alive having the same propensity as the ferret for 

 killing many more victims than he can consume. 



The eagle is said to prey frequently on the marten-cat, but I 

 never happened to witness an encounter between them ; my tame 

 eagle, however, always seemed to prefer them to any other food. 

 I have no doubt that the eagle on its native mountain pounces on 

 any living creature that it can conquer, and therefore must fre- 

 quently kill both marten and wild cat, both which animals fre- 

 quent the rocks and high ground where this bird hunts. 



From the strength and suppleness of the marten, he cannot 

 fall a very easy prey to any eagle of this country, and probably 

 when pounced upon he does not die without a severe battle. 



There are said to be two kinds of martens here, the pine- 

 marten and the beech-marten ; the former having a yellow mark 

 on the breast, and the latter a white one. I do not, however, 

 believe that they are of a distinct species, but consider the variety 

 of shade in the colour of the breast to be occasioned by difference 

 of age, or to be merely accidental having frequently killed 

 them in the same woods with every intermediate shade, from 

 yellow to white on their breasts ; the animals being perfectly 

 alike in every other particular. The oldest looking martens had 

 generally a whiter mark than the others, but this rule did not 

 apply to all. 



