ON THE RECENT OCCURRENCE OF THE PINE MARTEN 
IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 
By Joun Corpravx. 
Iy addition to the captures, in this county, of the Pine 
Marten already recorded, I have notes of several other occur- 
rences, an enumeration of which may interest zoologists. I am 
also in possession of information from correspondents, and orally, 
which leave it beyond doubt that the Marten, although becoming 
searce, is still to be found in certain haunts both in North and 
Mid-Lincolnshire. As it is probable any mention of its present 
habitats would only tend to hasten the extinction of the species, 
I must be excused for not mentioning the exact localities where 
‘it may still be found. 
It is satisfactory, however, to know that as there seems an 
increasing disposition, in some cases, on the part of our large 
landed proprietors rather to preserve than exterminate, we may 
hope that many years will elapse before we hear of the death of 
the last Lincolnshire Marten. That it has not become extinct is 
due to the comparatively undisturbed nature of its old haunts. 
Had the preservation of game been carried to the same excess 
which we know to be the case in other counties, it would probably 
long ere this have disappeared along with the Badger and 
Otter, Buzzard and Hobby, which, although few and far between, 
still linger on—the last representatives of the old Lincolnshire 
fauna. 
There are great woodlands in Mid-Lincolnshire, and wild and 
secluded valleys amidst the wolds, distant from any railroad, 
where, unless we except a higher cultivation, the natural features 
have continued much what they are since the Saxon and Danish 
invasions. A friend, a great lover of our county, recently sent 
me some lines descriptive of one of these secluded spots in the 
heart of the wolds. They are so true to nature that I venture to 
quote some portion :— 
“Tis hither many an exile flies 
Before the march of man; 
Here many a bird and beast defies 
Grim cultivation’s ban ; 
