THE PINE-MARTEN. 145 



was said to be seventeen years of age ; and the son 

 of the house, who was aged twenty-one, told me 

 that he could remember its existence in the yard 

 for so long as he could remember anything. This 

 fact would appear to indicate that the pine-marten 

 is a long-lived creature, albeit the most active and 

 restless of all the wild beasts with which this book 

 deals. 



The cage which held the captive was about six 

 feet high, three feet wide, and nine feet long, and 

 the antics it performed in this confined space were 

 truly marvellous. Choosing a quiet time, and sit- 

 ting at some little distance, so as not to excite 

 the animal's interest, I have watched it for minutes 

 on end looping the loop round its cage at a speed 

 which made one giddy and bewildered to behold. 

 It would mount the wire-netting on one side at 

 a speed which carried it, back downwards, across 

 the narrow span of corrugated iron roof, obtain 

 fresh impetus as it descended the opposite wall, 

 head down, to tap the floor, and bound up the 

 wire again so lightly that the movements of its 

 paws were scarcely audible. It was more like 

 some accurate machine on frictionless wheels than 

 a living creature of flesh and blood. Occasion- 

 ally it would vary the programme by lengthen- 

 ing the loop, mounting the wire, and descending 

 the wall at an angle from the perpendicular. It 

 must have run miles in this manner every day, and 

 except for the very natural sense of pity one felt 

 for so active a thing in confinement, its evolutions 

 were certainly a joy and a wonder to behold. 



Even in this way a captive specimen, with a 

 warm bed and all the food it required at hand, 

 obtained less exercise than was necessary for its 

 perfect health ; so one can readily imagine that a 



W.A. j 



