MAMMALS. 



17 



an organised party killed 4 Foxes — 3 dogs and 1 vixen — and 8 more 

 were seen the same day. This was upon a stretch of ground three 

 miles in length and one mile in width — from the Tomb and Runavey 

 in the south, to Craig Leacoch in the north. On the same ground 

 one man killed 12 old Foxes in one year, and another 30 Foxes in 

 two years. This locality is not far removed from the Spittal of Glen 

 Shee. Innumerable other similar statistics could be instanced, but 

 I think I have given enough to show how widely distributed Foxes 

 are, and how well they withstand the attacks made upon them both by 

 professional foxhunters, and by shepherds and sheep-farmers, etc. 



Among other items which refer directly to our present area, 

 Millais quotes the Rental Book of the Cistercian Monastery of Cupar 

 Angus (Grampian Club, under Fox, pp. 107, 141, 170, 251, 262, q.v.) 

 He also quotes the Black Book of Taymouth (1631), a communication 

 from the Earl of Mar to his cousin Sir Colin Campbell of Glenshur- 

 chag, as an authority in early days upon hunting the Fox with dogs. 

 Burt is also quoted in connection with Tay in Daniels's Bural SpmiSy 

 and is referred to by Millais. I consider it to be quite unnecessary 

 to repeat these here so soon again. 



Family MUSTELID^. 



Martes sylvestris, Nilss. Marten. 



The old Statistical Account only makes very casual comments on its 

 occurrence in parishes of Comrie (op. cit., vol. xi. pp. 134, 180) and 

 Weem (vol. xii. p. 134). 



Don considered it rare enough to warrant his recording one shot 

 in the Wood Hill of Glamis in 1808 (Agnc. of Forfar, Appendix, 

 p. 37). I find that a specimen was presented to the Old Museum of 

 Perth in 1827 by Mr. Smeaton, Breadalbane (Catalogue of the Vertebrate 

 Animals now or lately in the Perth Museum of the Literary and 

 Antiquarian Society" the Bazaar edition, 1881, p. 17). 



In 1881-2 I had gathered materials for a monographic article upon 

 the "Rarer Animals of Scotland" — see ante under Wild Cat — and 

 at that time I found that the Marten was of even greater rarity than 

 the Wild Cat, but of more general dispersal in Scotland, due to its 

 greater propensity to travel and wander over wide areas. Thus, in 

 1879 one was got in Glen Artney, and we may shortly follow the 

 steps of its decadence here to preserve some continuity in its history. 



None had been met with or heard of in any way for thirty years 

 previous to the time I wrote (1881-2), nor have any been seen since 



B 



