Hunting the Marten with Foxhounds. 195 



HUNTING- THE MARTEN WITH FOXHOUNDS. 



It is painful to think that by the ruthless persecution 

 of gamekeepers the marten, or "marten-cat/' as often 

 called, is fast approaching extermination in the British 

 Isles. Both species, Maries foina and M. ahietum, are 

 now so rare that the capture of a specimen of either is an 

 occurrence so infrequent as to find triumphant record in 

 periodicals devoted to naturalist lore. Considering the 

 paucity of our indigenous four-footed fauna, it seems a 

 pity that'such a handsome quadruped should become ex- 

 tinct, and all through wreckless misconception on the 

 part of game-preservers. Perish the game, or a portion 

 of it, say I, rather than that these beautiful and interest- 

 ing animals should get totally extirpated, as ere long they 

 are likely to be. But the remedy is still in our hands. 

 Being, as all the Mustelidce, of a highly prolific nature, a 

 protective statute would soon restore them to numbers 

 again, enough to make them, as they once were, a feature 

 of interest in our sylvan scenery. And for the destruc- 

 tion of pine or beech marten, as of eagle, kite, osprey, 

 or peregrine, the penalty should be a heavy one. Were 

 such an act passed, and rigidly enforced, we should yet 

 have the pleasure of oft witnessing the graceful and ma- 

 jestic flight of our grand Falconidce, or, in a stroll through 

 the woods, observing the pretty "martlet" playing, squir- 

 rel-like, among the trees. Although both the species of 

 our martens (which some naturalists, without any valid 

 reason, deem only varieties) sometimes frequent treeless 

 situations among rocks, the tree is their real natural home 

 and habitat, a hole in it nearly always their breeding 

 place. The pine marten more especially confines itself 



