lxii PROLEGOMENA 



apart. They do not usually come down to the woody parts of 

 the country except for breeding purposes, but the greater part 

 of the year they follow the screes and higher fell ground. 

 Though they generally come down to the woods in the valleys 

 in April and May to have their young ones, selecting some old 

 magpie's nest or squirrel's dray for a home, still they sometimes 

 breed in the rocks near the tops of the highest hills. It is only 

 at such times that the Marten is easily trapped, for unlike the 

 Polecat, it does not approach a given spot by one track. They 

 do not seem so suspicious of traps as some wild animals, or as 

 the Polecat. If you find traces of or see the latter about a build- 

 ing, you will most likely find a run near which it frequents, and 

 a trap has only to be set, and it will be taken ; not so with the 

 Marten Cat, as it is only by accident that it is captured in this 

 manner, and they never approach buildings. The cause of the 

 sudden decrease of the Marten in some localities is principally 

 owing to their unsuspiciousness of a baited trap. They are 

 very fond of Eabbits, and where these are numerous, and are 

 systematically trapped, if there are any Martens about they are 

 almost certain to get accidentally into the rabbit traps. It is 

 said they are not so common as formerly, but the writer does 

 not think their numbers are much lessened during the last 

 twenty years in the Lake District. In other parts of England 

 they occasionally occur, but as woods disappear so does the 

 Marten. In large woodlands, which are unpreserved for game 

 and not much disturbed, they may roam at will without their 

 presence being suspected, which accounts for their having been 

 taken many times during the last few years in Lincolnshire and 

 Norfolk; and in December 1872 one was shot in Hertfordshire, 

 within twenty miles of London. They still maintain their 

 ground in the wilder districts of North Wales, Ireland, and 

 Scotland. There is still a divided opinion amongst zoologists as 

 to whether there is really a specific difference between the so- 

 called Pine Marten and Beech Marten, or whether they are only 

 different forms of the same species or races. The present writer 

 has seen specimens from various localities in the British Isles, 

 and all, without any exception, were Pine Martens (the yellow- 

 breasted variety), and not one the Beech Marten (the white- 



