468 
THE STORY OF THE MARTEN. 
generally from four to five in number, are born about the month of April, 
and are blind for the first fortnight of their existence. 
Its wanderings at night during the summer are extensive; and no dove¬ 
cot—however lofty it may be—is safe when there is a marten anywhere in 
the neighborhood. The food of this species is much the same as that of 
the last, although in inhabited districts including more domesticated animals 
it feeds on mice, rats, rabbits, and all kinds of birds; and, when dwelling 
in woods, hunts and kills squirrels, lizards, and frogs. It likewise eats fruits 
of various kinds, such as cherries and plums; and in some parts of the 
Continent is considered to do so much harm to orchards that the stems of 
the trees are washed with tobacco-juice or petroleum in order to prevent 
the marten from ascending them. Like all its kindred, the beech-marten is, 
for its size, an exceedingly bloodthirsty creature, and will often kill more 
than it can devour. 
These animals utter a kind of mewing sound not unlike that of a cat; 
and a pair of them in a tree may be heard for a considerable distance. 
In general the fur of this species is less valued than that of the pine- 
marten; but some skins from Afghanistan and Turkestan have beautiful 
fur, with long, glossy, nearly black piles, and very soft white or pale ashy 
under-fur. These Turkestan martens were at one time regarded as be¬ 
longing to a distinct species. 
The inferiority of the fur of the ordinary beech-marten, as compared 
with that of the sable, is due not only to its color and actual length, but 
likewise to the relative length of the long piles as compared with that of the 
under-fur, which is scarcely concealed by them. The more northern skins 
are always superior to those from Southern Europe; and a large number are 
imported into this country and sold as an inferior kind of sable. 
The sable is so nearly related to the pine-marten that some writers^ 
have considered that it should be regarded merely as a variety distinguished 
by the greater length and fineness of the fur. In the most highly-esteemed 
specimens the fur should be thick, soft, and nearly uniformly colored. Such 
skins are blackish above, having a mixture of black and gray on the snout, 
gray on the cheeks, chestnut-brown on the neck and flanks, and orange- 
yellow, or sometimes reddish orange, on the throat. The margins of the 
ears are either greyish white or light brown in color. In a number of cases 
there is a larger or smaller admixture of white hairs among the dark fur of 
the back, while the muzzle, cheeks, breast, and under-parts are white. In 
other specimens the fur on the back is yellowish brown, while that of the 
