470 
THE STORY OF THE MARTEN . 
hunters start on their winter expeditions after the sable towards the end 
of September; but, if the district is nearer, they wait until the first fall 
of snow or about six weeks afterwards. If a single hunter takes twenty 
sable skins in a season, he considers himself fortunate. The total number 
annually taken in Kamschatka must be very large. The price of a single 
sable skin in St. Petersburg ranges from $ioto $125, according to its quality 
and condition. 
The American marten is so nearly related to the pine-marten and the 
sable that there may be a question whether it should be regarded as any¬ 
thing more than a variety. The long hair is very like that of the pine- 
marten, to which it is most nearly allied; its general color being more or 
less uniformly brown, the breast-spot yellow, and the head and ears grey or 
whitish. 
It is found in the Hudson’s Bay district, Labrador, Alaska, and other 
parts of North America, descending on the eastern side as far south as the 
Adirondack Mountains, near New York. 
In habits it appears to be similar to the pine-marten. In the Adiron- 
dacks it inhabits the evergreen forests, and is chiefly, although not ex¬ 
clusively, nocturnal. Its food consists of partridges, rabbits, and other 
smaller rodents, birds’ eggs, young birds, frogs and toads, and large in¬ 
sects. It is said to display a distinct preference for forests of conifers, and 
is thoroughly arboreal, never venturing into the neighborhood of human 
dwellings. Although generally gentle-looking in appearance it is related 
that when attacking animals larger than itself, such as hares, it becomes 
as fierce in demeanor, in proportion to its size, as a tiger. When one is 
seen among the tree-tops, the hunter has but to whistle and thus attract 
its attention, when it will afford a ready shot. 
The fur is of great commercial value; the best skins selling at about 
$15. Curiously enough, at certain periods this species becomes exceed¬ 
ingly scarce; the periods of scarcity recurring with great regularity at in¬ 
tervals of about ten years. How the animals disappear is, however, un¬ 
known, since there is no region into which they can migrate without the 
knowledge of the hunter, and none are found dead. The best season for 
obtaining the skins is in November; the animals being generally caught 
in wooden traps, which are set in lines for miles across the country. In 
spite of the incessant persecution to which it is subject, it does not appear 
that this species has appreciably diminished in number in the wilder regions 
of its habitat. 
