THE BRITISH MARTEK. 457 



1880; being in Epping Forest, near Loughton, I learnt from 

 T. Luffman, one of the keepers, that in March or April, 1853, 

 while he was acting as keeper to Mr. Maitland, he trapped a 

 Marten in a covert near Loughton. After keeping the carcase 

 for some days, till it was nearly spoilt, he took it to Epping, 

 where it was purchased by the late Mr. Doubleday. At a sale of 

 Natural History specimens at Stevens's Auction Rooms on the 

 10th Dec. 1889, a case of British Weasels (lot 52) contained a 

 fine Marten, stated to have been killed at Chingford, Essex — date 

 not mentioned. It belonged to a Mr. West, of High Street, 

 Gravesend, for whom the case was bought in at a reserved price 

 (' Essex Naturalist,' vol. iii. p. 271). Mr. E. A. Fitch, of Maldon, 

 heard that the reason the capture was not published was that the 

 woodman who set the trap was afraid of getting into trouble, and 

 that they knew all about it at the * Bald-faced Stag ' ('Essex 

 Naturalist,' vol. iv. p. 126 ; see also vol. iv. p. 185). 



Kent. — Mr. W. Oxenden Hammond writes: — "As to the 

 occurrence of the Marten in Kent, the only reported case I know 

 of happened about sixty years ago, when my uncle, Sir Henry 

 Oxenden, kept the East Kent Hounds. At that time it was said 

 that they saw a Marten two or three times. It was always found 

 at the same place in the ' Covet Wood,' a large woodland of 1000 

 acres or more, but was never brought to hand, and I am not 

 sure that the animal was identified beyond doubt." 



Surrey. — In May, 1834, a Marten was caught in Richmond 

 Park by Thomas Neal, an under-keeper employed by J. Sawyer 

 The Field,' March 10th, 1860). At a meeting of the Surrey 

 Nat. Hist. Society, held at the Museum, Guildford, June 3rd, 1847, 

 Mr. R. A. Austen, one of the Vice-Presidents, announced that a 

 Marten had been recently caught in a wood near Black-heath, 

 Albury, by Mr. Bray, of Shere (Zool. 1847, p. 1806). 



Sussex. — About the year 1841, a Marten was caught in a 

 rabbit-wire by one of the Duke of Norfolk's keepers in Clapham 

 Wood, near Findon ; and, about the same time, another and a 

 finer one was killed at Wadhurst by Mr. Gill, of Applesham. 

 On that gentleman's death and sale of his collection this specimen 

 was purchased by Mr. R. D. Drewitt, of 53, Holland Park, Ken- 

 sington, who furnished this information. A third, killed about 

 the same time, was taken in a rabbit-wire in Michelgrove Woods, 

 Arundel, and was for a long time in possession of one of the 



ZOOLOGIST. DEC. 1801. 2 O 



