450 fHE ZOOLOGIST. 



THE BRITISH MARTEN. 



MARTES 8YLVATICA, Nilsson. 



By the Editor. 



(Continued from p. 409.) 



And first, as to England. Commencing with the northern- 

 most county, and working southwards, I find the following records 

 amongst my notes : — 



Northumberland. — Mr. Edward Charlton, of Reedsmouth, 

 had a young Marten taken in that neighbourhood, as noticed by 

 Wallis, Nat. Hist. & Antiq. Northumberland (vol. i. p. 412). 

 Others, according to Messrs. Mennell and Perkins (Cat. Mamm. 

 Northumb. in Tyneside Nat. Field Club, vol. vi. p. 125), have 

 been met with at Slaley, near Hexham, and Unthank. In July, 

 1871, a Marten was killed on the North Tyne ('Naturalist,' 1886, 

 p. 278) ; and in May, 1883, another was obtained near North 

 Shields ('Naturalist,' 1886, p. 238). On May 23rd, 1883, one 

 was taken alive in the grounds of Mr. Hedley, near Chirton, 

 and passed into the possession of Mr. Yellowly, of South Shields, 

 who reported its capture ('Zoologist,' 1883, p. 295). At first it 

 was very wild and intractable, burying itself in the hay of its 

 bed, and refusing to feed if looked at, but subsequently it became 

 more reconciled to captivity. 



Cumberland. — In 1877, Mr. W. A. Durnford reported the 

 Marten to be still plentiful in the wilder parts of Cumberland, 

 and the immediately adjoining portions of Westmoreland and 

 Lancashire, where it is hunted with hounds at all seasons. In 

 the particular district where hunted, he estimated that from 

 twelve to twenty were killed annually (Zool. 1877, p. 291). 

 During a hunt in Wastdale, in the spring of 1878, an old 

 " Mart," as it is locally termed, was observed to rush up the 

 face of a precipice, with a young one about a quarter grown 

 hanging on firmly to her tail, and both luckily escaped (Zool. 

 1878, p. 128). An interesting account of the Marten in Cum- 

 berland, derived from the huntsman of the Wastdale Head 

 Hounds, is given (Zool. 1879, p. 171) ; and in the same volume 

 (p. 264) two are noticed that were procured in April, 1879, one 

 killed by the hounds on Middlefell, in Wastdale, the other trapped 



