Class I. PINE MARTIN. Ill 



name of bela goecL or wood martin, it being sup- 

 posed entirely to inhabit the woods ; the bela 

 graig to dwell only among the rocks. Tho' 

 this is so rare in these parts, yet it is the only 

 kind in Scotland, where it inhabits the fir forests, 

 building its nest at the top of the trees.* It 

 loves a cold climate, and is found in much 

 greater numbers in the north of Europe, than in 

 the other parts. North America abounds with 

 these animals. Prodigious numbers of their 

 skins are annually imported from Hudson s bay 

 and Canada ; in one of the company's sales ~\ 

 not fewer than 12,370 good skins, and 2360 

 damaged ones were sold, and about the same 

 time, the French brought into the port of 

 Rochelle from Canada, not less than 30,325. 



The principal difference between this and the 

 former kind, consists in the color of the breast, 

 which is yellow ; the color of the body is also 

 much darker, and the fur in general greatly su- 

 perior in fineness, beauty, and value. J 



* Vide Sibbald's Hist. Scot. Part II. Lib. iii. p. 11. 



f In 1743. Vide Dolls' s account of Hudson's lay, 200. 



X The length of a male, which the editor had an opportu- 

 nity of seeing in Suffolk, was nineteen inches, exclusive of the 

 tail, which measured ten inches ; the total length of the female 

 the same, but the tail longer in proportion to the body. The 

 breast of the latter was of a paler yellow, and the color extended 

 higher behind the ears. Ed. 



