472 MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE BRITISH MARTENS. [June 3, 



Passing over the older writers, who merely copied the accounts of 

 Gesner and Aldrovandus, we may come at once to Pennant, who 

 describes Mustela foina as " The Martin," distinguishing " The 

 Yellow-breasted Martin " as a distinct species, of which he says 

 that it "is found in Great Britain; but is much less common in 

 England than the former ; it is sometimes taken in the counties of 

 Merioneth and Caernarvon, where it is distinguished from the other 

 kind by the name of bela goed, or Wood Martin, it being supposed 

 entirely to inhabit the woods, the bela graig to dwell only among 

 the rocks. Though this is so rare in these parts, yet in Scotland it 

 is the only kind ; where it inhabits the fir forests, building its nest at 

 the top of the trees" l . 



Pennant was followed by subsequent writers without much addi- 

 tional information being supplied. Thus Bingley states that the 

 "Common Martin" is "not very uncommon in many of the southern 

 parts of Great Britain and Ireland ;" while " Pine Martins are some- 

 times, though rarely, observed in the wooded and thinly inhabited 

 districts of Wales and Scotland, and two or three of the northern 

 counties of England " 2 . 



Fleming gives the habitat of Martes fagorum as " In woods and 

 rocks in the south of Scotland and England;" that of M. abietum, 

 " in the wooded districts of Wales and Scotland ;" but adds that 

 " the characters of these two species are ill-defined" 3 . 



The Rev. L. Jenyns in his excellent ' Manual ' considered that 

 Mustela foina was " more generally diffused " than M. martes, which, 

 he says, " inhabits the fir-woods of Scotland : occurs also sparingly 

 in the west of England" 4 . 



Edward T. Bennett, then Secretary of this Society, discussed the 

 question of the distinction of the Beech and Pine Martens in 1835, 

 evidently inclining to the belief that they were specifically identical, 

 and referring two British specimens then in the Society's Museum to 

 the former and two others to the latter race 5 . W'hat was the ulti- 

 mate fate of these examples I know not ; but it is to be remarked 

 that no exact localities are mentioned, and that the supposed 

 " Beech Martens " had " dirty-white breasts :" not improbably they 

 were faded specimens. 



Two years later appeared the first edition of Mr. Bell's standard 

 work, in which he gave separate figures and descriptions of the two 

 Martens, but " with the precaution of a protest against being con- 

 sidered as decidedly supporting the opinion that they are essentially 

 different." No new information was here given as to the supposed 

 distribution of the animals in this country 6 . In Scotland, however, 

 the elder Macgillivray had better opportunities for observation, and 

 a comparison of specimens convinced him of " the indivisibility of 

 the species." Young specimens, he says, have yellow throats, and 



1 Brit. Zoology, 1768, i. p. 81. 2 Mem. Brit. Quad. (1809), pp. 164, 169. 



3 Hist. Brit. Aniui. (1828), pp. 14, 15. 



4 Man. Brit. Vert. An. (1835), p. 11. 



5 Gard. and Menag. of the Zool. Soc (1835), i. pp. 227-240. 



6 Brit Quadr. 1st ed. (1837). pp. 167-176. 



