127 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
OccuRRENCE oF THE BrrecH Marten tN Cornwatyt.—The Marten 
has become one of the rarest of our wild animals, and is regarded as almost 
extinct; but every now and then one is met with, and when a specimen is 
obtained it is always regarded as an interesting fact, not only from its rarity 
as a British quadruped, but also from its striking size and graceful shape, 
far surpassing in this respect the other members of the Mustelid@, or 
Weasel tribe. Early in March a full-grown female Marten was captured 
in the immediate neighbourhood of Delabole Quarries in the north part 
of this county. Length twenty-three inches; length of tail nine inches and 
a half. I should imagine from these dimensions that it must be very 
inferior in size to the male, if the dimensions of authors can be depended 
upon, which give twenty-seven inches and a half. Its large bushy tail adds 
to its beauty, and at a distance the Marten resembles a gigantic Squirrel. 
It is very arboreal in its general habits, and is usually seen running over 
the long boughs of trees, apparently in pursuit of birds, squirrels, &c., upon 
which it feeds. It does not always exhibit agility or gracefulness in its 
movements ; but it can do so to a great degree when called upon. It has 
been observed creeping stealthily like a cat on the branches of trees, 
apparently in pursuit of its prey. Its actions have been noticed and 
watched by sportsmen when hunted with fox-hounds. They appear to lose 
their scent, from their eagerness in recognizing it. About thirty-five years 
since a pack of fox-hounds, in drawing Bodethiel Coombe, in the Glynn 
Valley, near Bodmin, found an animal, which at a distance appeared too 
large for a Squirrel and too small fora Fox. When moved it fled to the 
tops of the brushwood and furze, and then took a course through the 
Coombe at a good pace to Hallow Marsh Wood, when in leaping from one 
tree to another it missed its footing by alighting on a rotten branch, which 
gave way, and it fell amongst the hounds. This was a fine adult male 
Marten. Although arboreal in its habits generally, it is somewhat curious 
that the specimen just obtained was caught by its fore-foot in a gin set in a 
stone quarry; and I think another was caught in a similar way not many 
years ago at Northam Burrows, a sandy plain in the North of Devon. As 
to there being two species of Marten, the colour of the breast is no criterion 
of specific value, for specimens have been killed in the same wood which 
exhibited on the breast intermediate shades of colour from pure white to 
primrose-yellow. (See St. John’s ‘ Wild Sports in the Highlands,’ p. 107.) 
The fur in the yellow-throated Pine Marten is said to be far superior in 
texture and quality to that of the Common Beech Marten; but this may 
arise from the fur becoming coarser as the animal advances in age. It 
seems to be a generally entertained idea that the white-breasted Marten 
betokens age, and that the yellow tone is a sign of adolescence. In the 
