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money, but one whose opinion should be consulted as to the birds and animals that
ought to be protected or condemned in particular districts. Thus we might arrive
at something which would meet both the practical and the aesthetic view of the case.
It is somewhat difficult to say definitely whether the Marten can be said to
‘ still linger’ in the various counties where its presence has been reported within
recent years, and a review of Mr. Halting’s careful summary of these1 and more
recent records of capture causes one to wonder how these few isolated individuals
have so long defied capture, even granting that their numbers are added to by
occasional beasts which had escaped from confinement. Putting aside Cumberland,
Westmorland, and North Lancashire, the other English counties may be summed
up as follows, whilst for further particulars I must refer my readers to Mr. Harting’s
own notes and the pages of the ‘ Zoologist ’ and ‘ Field.’
N orthumberland.—Now probably extinct throughout the greater part of the county ; a few
linger in the Border fir woods. Twenty years ago it was rare. One was trapped in
April 1905 at Bardon Mill.2
D urham.—The same applies to Durham. Perhaps the last killed was in 1882.
Y orkshire.—According to Clarke and Roebuck8 the Marten was common in many districts
at the beginning of the last century, but its occurrence is now exceptional. One was
trapped at Swainby-in-Cleveland in February 1900.
L ancashire.—Extinct throughout South Lancashire.
C h e shire .— Martens have been reported several times as having been seen or killed within
the last fifty years, but only one specimen is preserved—one which was killed at Eaton
in 1891.
S hropshire, S tafford, D er b y sh ir e , and N ottingham.—Extinct. Formerly existed in
Needwood Forest, Sherwood Forest, and the limestone district.
L incolnshire.—Several have been recorded within the last fifty years; but some of the most
recent occurrences are supposed to be of animals which had escaped from confinement.
In the early part of the last century the Marten must have been fairly common.
H ereford.—Probably became extinct about 1884, when one, perhaps the last, was seen on
the river Dore.
W orcester.—Formerly existed at Malvern Chase, but no recent records.
L e ic est er .—As in the Midlands generally, the Marten considered to be extinct. One was
reported as having been seen in December 1902.4
N orfolk.—The Marten was considered ‘ extremely rare’ in 1834, when the Pagets published
their ‘ Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth,’ and Mr. Southwell thinks that no truly
wild Marten has occurred in the county during the last half of the nineteenth century.
Mr. Harting, however, does not agree with him that the more recent captures were
1 Zoologist, 3rd series, November-December 1891.
3 Fauna o f Yorkshire.
4 Field, April 15, 1905.
4 Field, January 3, 1903.
all animals which had escaped from confinement. One trapped at Heydon in 1879
was supposed to be an escape.
C ambridgeshire.—No records since 1844.
N orthampton.—Now extinct; no recent records.
S uffolk and E s s e x .—The latest recorded captures were in 1845 and 1853, and long before
that time it was considered rare. Lubbock1 says that it ‘ is occasionally found in Essex.’
This was written in 18791 but further confirmation is needed.
H ertford.—Apparently lingered until 1872 or thereabouts.
B uckingham, B er ksh ir e , Oxford.— N o recent records.
W orcester, G loucester, W il t sh ir e .—Now extinct; in the last county it is said that it was
exterminated so long ago as the end of the seventeenth century.
K e n t .— A Marten was captured in 1898 in Crayford Woods, but as it was examined by
Mr. Oldfield Thomas and Mr. de Winton and declared to be a Beech Marten there can
be little doubt that it was an escaped animal. It appears to have been extinct for about
seventy years.
S u s sex .—In most parts of the southern counties the animal is undoubtedly extinct, but in a
few localities it may still linger, though records get scarcer and scarcer year by year.
Since 1840 some five or six have been taken, and it is hardly likely that all these are
escapes; yet how the animal manages to survive in the neighbourhood of thickly populated
districts is a mystery. In November 1904 I heard of one having been trapped near
Horsham.
S u r r e y .—My friend Mr. George Lodge saw one in a wood near Dorking in May 1879.2
There are, however, few other records for this county since the first half of the last
century.
H ampshire.—A few may linger in the New Forest, but there are no recent records, and the
animal has long been extinct in the Isle of Wight.
D orset, S omerset, D evon, C ornwall.—In the western counties the animal has shared
the usual fate. Perhaps the last date for Dorset was 1851, for Devon 1871, and
for Cornwall 1878.
In Wales the Marten still lingers, and thirty years ago it must have been fairly
common. There are stuffed specimens in most of the inns in the wilder parts,
and the few records that exist are fairly recent.8 In Carnarvonshire and Merioneth
several examples exist‘which were killed in the late seventies; three were killed in
1879 near Bethgelert; in Brecon several were seen or killed in the eighties, perhaps
the latest being in 1886, and in Montgomery three are recorded in the ‘ Field ’ for
February 8, 1896. Near Conway two were killed so recently as 1890, and there is
no reason to suppose that in such suitable country all have been exterminated.
In Scotland the Marten is still found, though in greatly diminished numbers,
1 Fauna o f Norfolk. * Zoologist, 1878, p. 127.
3 The last killed in the neighbourhood of Cardiff was taken in 1866, as I am informed by Mr. R. Drane, who examined it.