slightly, the opening of the nares is heart-shaped. The palate is comparatively
broad. The upper premolars are crowded and often placed diagonally; the inner
cusp of the fourth is smaller. The upper molar and the first lower molar also
differ in shape from those in the Pine Marten.
The following weights and measurements are taken from my own specimens
and from four recorded in the ‘ Field ’ :
Locality Length from N ose
to tip of Tail
Tail
only
Head Weight Sex Date
I. Glenelg, N.B. . 2 ft. 10 in.
2. Glenmoriston, N.B. . 2 ft. 11 in.
3. Dunalastair, N.B. 2 ft 8 in. 12 -in. 5i in- 3 lb. 2 oz. male Oct. 1886
4. Ambleside 2 ft. 5 in. 12 in. 5 in. 3 * . Oct 14, 1897
5. Co. Clare . 2 ft 5 in. 12 in. 2 lb. 5 0?.
6. Co. Down 2 ft. 4 in. 12 in. Si in# female Nov. 1887
Dental Formula.-—I. f ; C. #; P. | ; M.
The young when first born are white, but in a few days become grizzled like
young polecats. They are blind for about three weeks; in a few months they
are coloured like the adults, but they are pale at first, the pelage1 darkening
with age.
Mr. Alfred H. Cocks thinks there is a slight difference between Irish Martens
and those found in Great Britain. He considers the former have larger ears.
D istribution.—The Pine Marten is found throughout Northern Europe, but
in North-eastern Asia, about the mouths of the great rivers which flow into the
Arctic Seas, it is replaced by the finer-coated but closely allied species, the Sable
(M z ib e llin d ). The Beech Marten has a more southerly range, but in both Europe
and Asia the ranges of the two species overlap; The American Sable or Pine
Marten (M. americana) differs but slightly from its Old World ally. In Newfoundland
and North Labrador sub-species of the American Marten occur; the Labrador
Marten is considerably larger, and both are darker in pelage than our British
Marten.
In the British Islands remains of the Pine Marten have been found in the
1 Mr. Meade Waldo tells me that the old fur is shed almost simultaneously, and that he has drawn his hand along the
body of a tame Marten and taken off the whole coat at once.