fe Sti aAR aeh S wte ACER AS Tn Ha EE ; Regt, iat se wee RIN dig ond NB pe Re ethan tied nett atin ae Bong hs \ i =) iu GS Neos acd 4 ual = ES Cag aN COS a NOILOLILSNI NVINOSHLINS S31yuY z S) Wee 2) = Ne 6 5 19 LP ® 5 > NR 5 |: mr ‘hy if - = i = a a 2 eK 2 SNI NVINOSHLINS S3IYVYEIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTIT Zz op) m airs ” z re rs = is = = . Dy ake 2 = Zz = 2 AWW os =) 6 z 5 GA a oO % Be O os NN | = Zz) = z E SN a 3 ” Pd = | ES SMITHSONIAN _ - ni Saiuve Ms 1G “ 2 us : oc. tA oc 2 o = > = >" Se ” i Zz ” Eo SNI SAJ!IYVYUEIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITU in i eh 4 ia b : a ul z = w = z = = re) ws ys = O s oa O ma O z pas = y wall me ES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILALILSNI NVINOSHLINS S31yV = Je Zz ‘cole ; = ro) Recs Oo 0 as. oO \ & S "a = th E =e = = eae x 3 a a 0 a a = ye - : = f z wo Zz lh iz SNi NVINOSHLINS S3I1YVYHYEIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN INST = SON, = = SK g - = s a ay ‘4 Ps — pes SS NS =o Wy VM 5 an Z \ Sh ee NS a yee Z gs Awe or YW 9 WG & FZ PL t\ 9 es Ps = = _ e pe c ey | oO BN = oO ae e) Hae z oS ea =i = BRAR IES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILOALILSNI NVINOSHLINS S$) ‘ z fd z rc - ; S) i S oo = ra ie e a > = > = ces Oy es) ae 7 a D = DD = z 2 z wiz SStYVYEIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN IN Fa ” z es n - < = .< = < Zz a od fy 2 =| a O zs Big om ~ 2 S ‘ a es Vd, Sg ce - 2 “iy = » 2 : ie : op) SMITHSONIAN _INSTITUTION NOILOLILSNI NVINOSHLIWS S: ” > v) = ee n ts Oo ve ”n : i Se easy ec = tr 2A = : : z | m ti, (aa : 0 “gy = o0 = ca 1 | = a Zz i ee NVINOSHLINS S3I1YVYUSIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN” IN at = — rae , a oo = wO. 2 w ) 5 0 = ee sn EK 2 =e ae (Tp) > o z D z o SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION wn Fs ” z. = < & = =i Zz 4 z = 6 O os t OC 2) “” » wa Bei dp) O ae aS) } ae = = a, 2m > = > = 2 = ” za ” NVINOSHLIWS LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN a he ie & us Zz tu 3 2 oc a re Gy Ba ea 4 ; i PROCEEDINGS OF THE Bristol Naturalists’ Society VOLUME XXXI, 1964-1969 Epirep By A. J. WILLIS anp J. W. COWIE ASSISTED BY A COMMITTEE ‘“‘Rerum cognoscere causas’’—Virgil Authors alone are responsible for the accuracy of their articles DaTEs oF IssuE Part I- - - 2nd August, 1965 Part II - - Ist August, 1966 Part III - - 18th August, 1967 Part IV - - 20th August, 1968 Part V - - 20th August, 1969 Part VI - - 3lst August, 1970 PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY AT THE BURLEIGH PRESS, BRISTOL Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. | 31 | pp. 1—658 | 1971 | % U} ow TAY x ae Lineage Nees wt a 101 vo LUME XXXI, PART I PRICE TEN SHILLINGS ( 6 ye 1964 PROCEEDINGS q OF THE : pristo! Naturalists’ Society Epirep sy A. J. WILLIS . AssISTED BY A COMMITTEE Qme rs) ° Se e “s bf > x ‘ a a TTY Ne 7 y AH (ta 2 oo: MA J f e a»! Pa “‘Rerum cognoscere causas’’—Virgil PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY “ae AT THE BURLEIGH PRESS, BRISTOL | - we Issued 2nd August, 1965 ‘ ol » me. “ —s > a — =" i i cape i eo sod Se aes te - ae eet See ot cm e = . Ps RP ee eg IE ae EO er LT Ee ee ye RT : SS nee eS PS RB: Se Se Ay ag Pears cone ae eS Een ee og ee ee Ss Ee Ee, Ty rer £ SE a ae ie eS apr aE es (ote Ss age Bo cs pi "PE BoA RS i Sees So ee ae ER ya eT RS a PE Oe reg Ee eae ee ee ee a hth PF Oe A Ee Oe a i - ee igh Pe ey z - . = ye. * SS ee 2 di iS ae Re ~ os on Ass Eee : 2 Sr ese A é = Vee Se et way ee Tee eh % ; 2 2 ‘ Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 31, () pp. 1—112 1965 { i idiadesibias All matter ir inclusion in the next issue of the Proceedings should be sent to :— i Dr. A. J. WILL, DEPARTMENT OF Borie THE UNIVERSITY, BRisTOL 8 © NOT LATER THAN FEB. 28. Other instructions for authors appear on Contents page. All Books, Pamphlets, Reports of Proceedings sent by way of | exchange, gift or otherwise, and all correspondence relating thereto and to purchases of the Society’s publications should be addressed — to :— | Hon. Lisprarian, Bristot Nat. Soc., THE Criry Museum, BrisTou 8 Applications for membership of the Society should be addressed _ to the Hon. Treasurer :— q P. J. M. Netuercort, Esgq., 6 HazELwoop, HazELWoop Roap, BRISTOL g Enquiries concerning Field Meetings should be made of the | Hon. Secretary, Field Committee :— Dr. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, 59 FALCONDALE Roap, WESTBURY-ON-T RYM, BRISTOL ~ All other communications should Lg adders to the Hon. ; Secretary :— | : Mrs. F. R. STERNE, B.Sc., g CHARLCOMBE Way, _ BATH, SOMERSET The SOCIETY’S LIBRARY is housed in the City Museum / | and is available to members between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. Certain publications (chiefly American) are, however, | now kept in the University Library, Queen’s Building. Sse as ee VOLUME XXXI, PART I, 1964 CONTENTS PAGE Council .. : i aie Me sis BY, Ms ae 2 Members at 27 ell Ae ca it ss we a ae ie 3 Report of Council aes eA ao a sa i ve ae 18 Report of Entomological Section = ot res se he a 18 Hon. Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts... ee ie me MG 19 Report of Botanical Section .. a us sh ts ee ac 20 Report of Geological Section .. ae - iis bas a ia 21 Hon. Librarian’s Report ae be af ae hs ae as 21 Report of Ornithological Section... a a - a - 22 Account of the General Meetings... as ie us of: ee 23 Bristol Botany in 1964, by N. Y. Sandwith .. ae ahs ae ee 25 Bristol Bird Report, 1964 a : 33 Lepidoptera Notes, Bristol District, een eer F. Burin ei K. H. peer 59 Sedimentary, Tectonic and Superficial Structures, and Iron Mineralization in the Devonian Rocks of the Brendon Hills, West Somerset, By B. D. Webby SH 69 The Status of the Dunnock on Sicp (Sion By R. H. Boulates 5 a 83 Coastal Changes at Bridgwater Bay: 1957-64, by A. P. Carr - ; gI Submerged Peat Layers in the Severn Channel near Avonmouth, by Brian Seddon ae ; IOI Observations on the Steppe Lemming (Lagu lguras) i in Captivity, by J. E. Cooper a 107 A Coelacanth, Macropoma, Fon he Chalk of Wiltshire, by M. Waldman re III INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS 1. All matter offered for publication in the ‘‘PROCEEDINGS’ must be sent as directed on p. 2 of cover of current issue. 2. To ensure consideration for inclusion in the next issue, contributions must be received not later than February 28. 3. All copy must be type-written (preferably double-spaced) or in very clear manuscript and, in either case, with good margins. . Copy submitted is not returnable and authors are advised to keep a duplicate. . At the discretion of the Hon. Editor, contributors may be required to furnish short abstracts of their communications, for printing as summaries. . Photos and drawings supplied for illustrations will be returned. . The copyright of all published matter shall be the property of the Society, whose Council has power to permit reproduction. 8. Authors shall be entitled to 25 copies of their papers (without covers), free of charge. NV.B.—AUTHORS ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY OF THEIR ARTICLES. Tue Society 1s A SIGNATORY TO THE Fair Copyinc DECLARATION, DETAILS OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ROyYAL Society, BURLINGTON Housg, W.1. A ] ~I oe COUNCIL 1964 OFFICERS : PRESIDENT : R. J. G. SAVAGE, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. PAST PRESIDENTS : F. S. WALLIS, D.Sc., Ph.D. Prof. W. F. WHITTARD, Prof. MAGGREGOR SKENE, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S. D.Sc., F.L.S. R. BASSINDALE, M.Sc. F. W. EVENS Miss M. H. ROGERS, M.A. H. H. DAVIS, M.B.O.U. Prof. F. COLES PHILLIPS, M.A., Ph.D. VICE-PRESIDENTS : F. R. STERNE A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. HON. TREASURER : P. J. M. NETHERCOTT HON. AUDITOR : A. E. BILLETT HON. SECRETARY : MRS. F. R. STERNE, B.Sc. HON. ASSISTANT SECRETARY : F. STENHOUSE ROSS HON. BULLETIN SECRETARY : D. W. B. FROST CHAIRMAN, FIELD COMMITTEE : H. G. HOCKEY HON. SECRETARY, FIELD COMMITTEE : A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. HON. LIBRARIAN : R. BRADSHAW, M.Sc. HON. EDITOR : A. J. WILLIS, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. HON. SECRETARY, JUNIOR ACTIVITIES : MRS. M. SCAWIN, B.Sc. OFFICERS OF SECTIONS: BOTANICAL : President—I. W. EVANS Hon. Secretary—Miss I. F. GRAVESTOCK, B.A. ENTOMOLOGICAL : President—P. F. BIRD, B.Sc. Hon. Secretary—D. A. STOPHER, B.Sc., Ph.D. GEOLOGICAL : | President—R. BRADSHAW, M.Sc. Hon. Secretary—Miss M. A. SMITH | ORNITHOLOGICAL : President—H. J. BOYD, M.B.O.U. Hon. Sec-—S. M. TAYLOR, B.Sc., A.M.I.Mech.E. | OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL: | P. F. BIRD, B.Sc. M. D. KAMM D. A. C. CULLEN C. E. LEESE, B.Sc. Miss C. GROVES W. J. MUNDEN Mrs. A. J. HOLLOWELL, M.A. Mrs. M. J. ROGERS, M.A. G. SWEET, M.B.O.U. Ex-officio the Professors of Borany, GEOLOGY and Zoo.Locy at the UNIVERsITy OF BRISTOL A.—Associate Member MEMBERS AT 27 APRIL 1965 who are entitled to the respective privileges of the Society C.—Corresponding Member H.—Honorary Member * Have contributed Papers to the Proceedings. The addresses of Junior Members may be had from the Hon. Secretary (Junior Activities). Members are asked to advise the Hon. Treasurer of any corrections to this list. A. = 20] 8) 0Yo) Hay ee hea Adams, Miss J.B. 2.5... Adams, A. W., M.B., M.S., 1D ol OS Sime oe rr Addison, D., A.R.I.C.S. .... JENNIE ci Den Band 2 ae Andrews, Mrs. M. L., M.Sc... Angles, R., A.M.I.Mech.E., PAPA REY NGY OG alee i i. a e'ce os s'eil> JANG) all END aaa ea mtherton, Miss Ryo 2... 2.2.2. PACS ENP SER TO 2 Ye bie los oe baconn PeiVie eo ctees Sl bo eee « Bacon, Mirs, P.M). 3... 2 2. Bailey, Miss M. J. .......... Baker, MissJ.M. .......... balch, Wass P.M. us ho oe Baldwin Pe. ele sieye o's ee s. « Ball, R. E. Bambridge, Mrs. M......... Bambridge , Miss M., B.A. Barker, Miss J. A. 7....... ie Barnett, S. Peri Se Siciscie: ao: se Barnett, Mrs.S.H.G. ...... Baron, Muss J.P. .......... Barrett, J. H... ee. ae Bartlett, Mays, So. 063s. ek ee Bashford,,Mrs..G.1.,...... 2 *Bassindale, Bassindale, ResMESee 9 cc. Ys Virsa ec Se acelars JS OEM BA Datby. Mrs. 1. lee ss Bebbington, A., B.Sc., M.I.Biol ee ee © © © © 8 &© © ee ew oo 22 Owen Grove, Henleaze, Bristol St. Martin’s, Long Ashton, Bristol 4 Portland Street, Clifton, Bristol 8 60 Downs Cote Drive, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 7 Coombe Bridge Avenue, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 167 Bishop Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 c/o Postmaster, Post Office, Filton, Bristol 83 Queenshill Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Banksian House, Flax Bourton, nr. Bristol Warren Cottage, Box Hill Road, Tadworth, Surrey Honeysuckle House, Church Street, Blagdon, nr. Bristol Do. 24 Arundell Rd., Weston-super-Mare, Som. 5 Theresa Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 580 Wells Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 t West Mall, Clifton, Bristol 8 13 Charis Avenue, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 286 Canford Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. 2 Ashgrove Road, Redland, Bristol 6 2 The Avenue, Sneyd Park, Bristol 9 Do. Cotswold Cottage, Lansdown Lane, Upton Cheyney, Bitton, nr. Bristol 15 Leicester Walk, St. Anne’s, Bristol 4 75 Ellacombe Road, Longwell Green, nr. Bristol 115 Reedley Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 209 Stoke Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. Steppings, Ladye Bay, Walton St. Mary, Clevedon, Somerset Do. 1 Westover Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol MEMBERS Beguins Mass!P. TR: 2 x2)... 17 Manor Park, Tockington, nr. Bristol Bennett, Miss A. E., B.Sc..... 37 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bennett, MissE.B. ........ 2 Alexandra Road, Southmead, Bristol Bennett, Miss]. M.F. ...... 8 Beaconsfield Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 iBestaGiR. tsa eee Hortham Cottage, Hortham Lane, Almonds- bury, nr. Bristol Billett: Avge yc.) ae ere Hardy Lane, Tockington, nr. Bristol * Bird, El. Wo Ve oc tek eee Redclyffe Home, ‘The Avenue, Walton Park, Clevedon, Somerset Bird, P. F., B.Sc., F.Z.S., CSN TICA aeesSSt a ae The City Museum, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 Blackman AD]. .)< acest: 5 Battson Road, Gardens Downs Estate, Stockwood, Bristol Blackman, G.oMe oo. 3. G 3 Pendoch Road, Winterbourne, nr. Bristol Blake, Miss F. N., B.Sc....... 18 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Blana,( Miss Jo Groen tc. 20 Dundonald Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Bland; IR bs BrA Soa cetoe Clifton College, Clifton, Bristol 8 *Blathwayt, C.S. H., M.A., 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somer- | 2 52h) Dt RN eee alee set “Boley, Mis. GaN rec. ae nen: Willow Cottage, Dundry, Bristol Bond, Dr. T. E. T., D.Sc., Sonoma, Knightcott Road, Abbot’s Leigh, PHD SL Se). 2 eee nr. Bristol Bond, Mrs. TBD), 25.2 0.005 Do. Boswallinl ) rvccu ccna roe B.B.C. Natural History Unit, Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bowen, Miss M., B.Sc. ...... 211 Redland Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Box, MuissiN. Gis. ai. ese oe 104A Wells Road, Bath, Somerset *Boyd, H. J.,M.B.0O.U. ...... The Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Glos. Bradley.¢M-. B:Sces0 3050. 3. Si 19 Fremantle Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 Bradley, Mrs. W.E. .....3. 63 Highbury Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Bradshaw, R., M.Sc., F.G.S. Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Brain, MissM.D.M. ...... 17 Moordell Close, Yate, nr. Bristol Brannon, Miss F. H......... Gordano, Cambridge Road, Clevedon, Som. Breckniell Ce Ji. iehsicti ec 'ete o' Iwood, Robin Lane, Clevedon, Somerset Bridge; Col Gr A xe. ee Glencorse, 14 Ridgeway Road, Long Ashton, Bristol Bridge, Miss M.E........... Do. Bright i Gye. ower sores 73 Bryant’s Hill, St. George, Bristol 5 Bright, MrsghuGi, wees Do. Bristol Central Library ...... College Green, Bristol 1 Britton; Mrs..D. H. .....2... 50 Kingsway, Kingswood, Bristol Britton, Mrs. [eRe nee 23 Buckingham Place, Downend, Bristol Britton, Missts Jens. ac one Village Farm, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol Brock. PRs eis ta cite 8 eal B.B.C. Natural History Unit, Whiteladies Road, Bristol 8 Brown, Miss D. E........... Portland Cottage, The Mall, Clifton, Bristol 8 Brown, D.H., B.Sc. ........ Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Brown, G. F. G., B.A.Sc., g Stoke Park Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 PSEROAC Serine Mote Browning, D: Jeon. eee 35 Malvern Buildings, Fairfield Park, Bath, Somerset Bunce, Mrs. D. E., B.Sc. .... Grove Cottage, Old Park Road, Clevedon, Somerset | BurkevAr Re uae sone eres The Grange, 60 Gloucester Road North, | Filton, Bristol Burnettobo ec sents cee: Backwell House, Flax Bourton, nr. Bristol Burnett) Mrs.P. Jie. cee oa Do. MEMBERS 5 *Burton, J. F., F.R.ES., B.B.C. Natural History Unit, Whiteladies 1iC15) O80 ar Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 E004) Od Be Ellfield, 23 Merlin Haven, Wotton-under- Edge, Glos. IOS 0 Cl Oo 36 St. Silas Street, Bristol 2 Bussell, Miss D. M. ........ The Bungalow, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 Batt. Miss) Mic R. .......... 1 Northcote Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 @ameron, Miss T.L. ........ 44 Kellaway Avenue, Bristol 6 Campbell, Dr. A. M. G., 79 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P. Campbell, Mrs. A. M.G..... Do. C. Campbell, Dr. B., Ph.D., Hordley, Woodstock, Oxfordshire M.B.O.U. Campbell, C. K., M.Sc. .... 10c Downfield Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Camppoel Tl, assis eases 32 Gore Road, Ashton Gate, Bristol 3 40 Gelb eel CRS ke 8 Hazeley Close, Hartley Wintney, Hants. *Carlton, Miss L., M.A....... Corner Cottage, Downside, Backwell, nr. Bristol Carpenter, Mrs.R.K. .... Beaufort House, 52 Park Road, Stapleton, Bristol Bee CarrvA., PP. BSC. asec os Haysom, Mrs. 8. O. L., B.Sc. PCat PA lost. wpoisiest, «ss css wa Hembrough, Miss E. M. .... He TacS Sy dM INA Soe ans 6 os Eleslop, 1.. R. P., M.A. F.R.E.S. Hewlett, Miss C. M. E., M.Sc. Higgens, Miss B. .......... Raley, Miss MID... oc... Hill, Miss L. M., B.A. ...... itimton, Prof. H. E., Sc.D., Ph.D., F.R.S. utehcock,. R. BE. .......... 1ALG|5) Suiits 4 ayaa eee 15 (0). 5) Of CORT Cs altars ee Blockey EL. Giosee. es ee se e's Hockey, Mrs. H. G.’........ lS IDR) Dk er Holgate, Miss M. E., M.A... Holley, Wiss J. MR. ...... Hollingsworth, N. H., B.Sc., €@.P.A. DIGINSIS Si iEtollister, Mrs. R. .:......<.. Holloway, Mrs. M. M....... Tellowell, A. j., B.Sc. ...... MEMBERS 9 Tanglewood, Cuckoo Lane, Wraxall, nr. Bristol Ross-Lyn, Middleway Lane, Broadoak Hill, Dundry, Bristol Roseway, West End, Nailsea, nr. Bristol 4 Bell Barn Rd., Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 39 Broadfield Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 11 Ivywell Road, Sneyd Park, Bristol 9 12 Stoke Park Road, Bristol 9 Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Flat 4 Arvalee, Clifton Down Road, Bristol 8 Do. 31 Draycott Avenue, London S.W.3 Pine ‘Trees, Camp Lane, Clapton-in- Gordano, nr. Bristol 243 Coronation Rd., Ashton Gate, Bristol 3 Malt House, Chelwood, nr. Bristol Stone House, High Street, Chipping Sod- bury, nr. Bristol Do. 28 Windermere Road, Patchway, Bristol 48 Westover Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 2 East Croft, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Church Farm, Bitton, nr. Bristol 53 Warleigh Drive, Barnfield, Bannerdown, Bath, Somerset The Shieling, 17 Shipley Road, Westbury- on-Trym, Bristol 2 Nore Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol 51 Goodwin Drive, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 Oakhurst, London Road, Warmley, Kings- wood, Bristol 6 Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Belfield, Poplar Road, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset 4 Cavendish Crescent, Bath, Somerset Ley Cottage, The Ley, Box, Chippenham, Wiltshire 66 Queen’s Court, Clifton, Bristol 8 15 Clare Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 11 West Park, Clifton, Bristol 8 137 Tower Road North, Warmley, Bristol D oO. 66 Fourth Avenue, Bristol 7 Greystones, 20 Ham Lane, Stapleton, Bristol O. 47 Goodwin Drive, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 The Mount, Providence Lane, Long Ashton, Bristol 13 Oakwood Road, Henleaze, Bristol 7 Eastcombe Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset 10 Cherington Road, Henleaze, Bristol D oO. 94 Broad Street, Staple Hill, Bristol 81 Cranbrook Road, Redland, Bristol 6 10 oS Ls C. MEMBERS Hollowell, Mrs. A. J.. M.A... 81 Cranbrook Road, Redland, Bristol 6 iolmmess Wie Av 52.2). cece roma Tanglewood, Eddystone Road, St. Austell, Cornwall Efopkins; Ws [Ede 2 aes 9g Churchill Road, Wells, Somerset Howard, HH. F:, MAl ice 41 Thingwall Park, Fishponds, Bristol Howard, R. W., M.R.C.V.S. 75 Wellsway, Keynsham, nr. Bristol Hughes; MirsvC; Hiv Siete 44. Druid Stoke Avenue, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 iulbert, RaiGs o:) see nee No Name, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol Hulbert) Mrs: RGQi 5 nto Oo. ull Misch. (Os. Weta 42 College Road, Clifton, Bristol FumiphrissyNe Ps eevee: Fiddlers Bottom, Abbotside, Cromhall, Wotton-under-Edge, Glos. Humphris, Mrs. N. P., B.Sc. Do. Bhurrell iiss 155 Bio... pele cue 8 The Glen, Durdham Down, Bristol 6 Eiyiman, (Wiss Jen cs 1 Lansdown Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Notts Dip se Es eyes 25 York Gardens, Clifton, Bristol 8 MO GtsIMirs ES. oes Se ee ete Do. Ingram, Dr. H. A. P., B.A., 33 Leap Valley Crescent, Downend, Bristol Ph.D. Ingram, Mrs. H. A. P., B.Sc., Do. Ph.D. Isaac, Dr. D. H., M.D., 1 South Road, Taunton, Somerset M.R.C.P. ‘Jago, Miss PM.) BSc; 2)...’ 43B Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Niay, Miss Guideviy Ace mee Aynho, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol avres Ae Hig. c at Sees Alwyn Cottage, 55 Bury Hill, Winterbourne Down, nr. Bristol plelleya Nissi tec < e cen Barrow Court, Barrow Gurney, nr. Bristol Jenkins. “Vitss DER ae 14, Lancashire Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Jenkins, Dr. F.G., M.B., Ch.B. 51 Redcliff Hill, Bristol 1 Jenkins Mirs(Gye ee ee 201 Wellington Hill West, Westbury-on- Trym, Bristol Jenlkans, Mrs: MiG. os. 2 2. 47 Rookery Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Nolms; Viissi@ NIC ean ee 2 Gloucester Row, Clifton, Bristol 8 Jones, Miss’B.E..(B-Sc:. .. 2. Wychelm, Martcombe Road, Easton-in- Gordano, nr. Bristol lones;WiissVE Wiis cee 11 Burnham Road, Shirehampton, Bristol NOmeS MIN ee aca sete ese ees 10 Lake Road, Henleaze, Bristol Jlomes; Miss 'S. Mic, B:S¢...5. 0 20 Ormerod Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Kamm, M. D., A.R.I.C.S8.... Old Dower House, Highdale Road, Cleve- don, Somerset *Kearns, Prof. H. G. H., Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol O.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D. IKMeatessiVinss Sal a ste es 56 Priory Road, Shirehampton, Bristol Ween ni Ei AN. ceo, tere eae 1 Winscombe Hill, Winscombe, Somerset *Kellaway, G. A., B.Sc., F.G.S. H.M. Geological Survey and Museum, South Kensington, London S.W.7 Kelting, E. L., O.B.E., J.P., Windown, 23 Wembdon Hill, Bridgwater, M.Inst.C.E. Somerset Kemp | pb BA. Ge eerste St. Thomas More’s, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, nr. Bath, Somerset Kendall, M., M.B.O.U. .... 34 South Meadows, Wrington, nr. Bristol Kendall) Mis) Mie tn) f a: Do. *Kendall, O. D., M.A. ...... 111 Passage Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol MEMBERS 11 Kenney, D.J., A.M.I.Mech.E., Merlin Haven House, Wotton-under-Edge, A.F.R.Ae.S. Glos. ieuney,, Mrs: D. J. ........ Do. GRR UN i eee aes ows Mayfield, Uplands Road, Saltford, nr. Bristol IM ORAROUBE ec oe ce eee 6 Bromley Heath Avenue, Downend, Bristol Remo WR By... ke ee Da Marmelo, Church End, Charfield, Glos. iRengie Mrs. K. EF. ........ Do. Ladhams, D. E., B.Sc., Willow Lodge, Breach Hill Lane, Chew F.R.LC. Stoke, nr. Bristol ance IR: Fle. oo. 2. se. 8 Atlantic Road South, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset Lansdowne, W.H.H. ...... 1 Napier Road, Redland, Bristol 6 H. *Leach, A. C., T.D., M.A..... Lower Lodge, Knoll Hill, Bristol 9 ees Mass Gs. ew tice wee 78 The Dell, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Pat eese i CautingOC. 65 so s.0 4 « 32 Haverstock Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Wentons/Miss EB. Jo... .. +. +s 6 Camden Crescent, Bath, Somerset Iewas; Wiss MioJi) ov... 6. 5" 10 Channons Hill, Fishponds, Bristol Ditton, Miss D. M.........+. 10 St. Alban’s Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 Wallico; Miiss\ J: W........... 45 Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 lilwall,. G:,-B:Sc. ........ c/o Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and C. cA. Food, Infestation Control Division, Government Buildings, Burghill Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Lippiatt, Miss E. M......... Amber-Leigh, Rudgeway, nr. Bristol EKO.) eS A erica 7 Blenheim Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Lodowska, Miss A. M....... 28 Russell Grove, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 C. *Loupekine, Prof. I. 8., B.Sc., Geology Department, The Royal College, Ph.D.., A.M.I.M.M., P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya F.G.S. ILO TS Se White Cottage, Butcombe, nr. Bristol Hovello Mrs. RJ... ese ee Do. esmaoney ING Fe”. i.e 8 a es 28 First Avenue, Highfields, Dursley, Glos. Ieusdord, Mrs. 3. Mio... 2... 15 Sunnyside, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 IMace, Muss Ei Mi... 2.05 6 Manor Cottage, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol Machin, Mirs..J. Ei... 0.6... 106 Cromwell Road, St. Andrew’s, Bristol 6 Mack Mrs. 3B. .. dee eee Bell Court, Nympsfield, Stonehouse, Glos. IMacKellar, ID. A. .......).. 2 Park Crescent, Frenchay, Bristol A, MacMillan, Mrs. A., B.Sc., 9 St. Margaret’s Drive, Henleaze, Bristol Ph.D. Mages, Miss Fl... 005... 55 11 Grove Avenue, Coombe Dingle, Bristol 9 Marcin; Miss A.V. 2.02625. 322 Wells Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Martin, IM'H., BSc. ...... Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Mathieson, A.M. ....7..... Weavers, Thackeray Road, Clevedon, Som. H. *Matthews, Dr. L. Harrison, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, M°A;; D.Sc., F.R.S., London N.W.8 gy Matthews, R. C., B.Sc....... Ty Gwyn, St. Margaret’s Lane, West Town, nr. Bristol Matthews, Mrs. R. C., B.Sc., Do. M.I.Biol. Maunder, Miss M. E. ...... 6 Oak Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 MicKeag, Mrs. I. M......... 53 Alma Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 McKnight, Mrs. N. H....... 1 Osborne Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Mielicod, Miss J. .......... School Farm, Chew Stoke, nr. Bristol Mead, Miss C. E., B.A....... 16 Quadrant West, Fishponds, Bristol Meade-King, M.G., B.A..... 5 Worcester Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Meese, Mrs. L.R:.......... 164 Bloomfield Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 12 MEMBERS Mercer, Miss 8. C., B.A. .... 16 Royal Park, Clifton, Bristol 8 | Cs Merrie, T. D. H., B.A., 39 Hillside Road, Cardross, Dunbarton- GaP Mech Ts... str itecr shire Messiter, Miss F. E., B.Sc., 1 Tyndall’s Park Road, Bristol 8 F.Z.S. Milburne,Mirs. Den). 342 4.8: Syston Court Cottage, Mangotsfield, Bristol Miller, K. W., B.Sc., M.B., Grove Cottage, Flax Bourton, nr. Bristol Ch.B. Malton sofa. etc hues saeco 10 Randall Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Milton Mirss Ji cs: ates es eae Do. IMimifiesMiassiS a2 4a. oe ere 26 Grange Road, Saltford, nr. Bristol Morgans ie 5 iia. ier ase eens Dodmore Crossing, Westerleigh, nr. Bristol IM Organica) Oha.\eo since 6 cata Hortham Hospital Nurses Home (Beech- wood), Almondsbury, nr. Bristol Morgan Viiss Vi cease a 305 New Cheltenham Road, Kingswood, Bristol Az. Morse Ne odd creas 174 Kingshead Lane, Bishopsworth, Bristol 3 Morris; Mis. Pi M.. .c2 3222. 103 Passage Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Miundem,W i Jios.. 2..)6 eee 11 Red House Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol C. Nature Conservancy (The) .. 19 Belgrave Square, London S.W.1 Neal Eas ise cna ey boas 70 Trym Side, Sea Mills, Bristol Nethercott Beale. se 6 Hazelwood, Hazelwood Road, Bristol 9 Nettle, Missi @ 22) se ideccinre 3 Beaufort Road, Kingswood, Bristol Neville, Miss M., B.Sc....... 7 Belmont Rd., St. Andrew’s Park, Bristol 6 Ce Neville Re elect ee 24 Cleeve Gardens, Downend, Bristol Niblett; BGaM. See 6 eee 33 Beaufort Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Nicholls, W. T., Fernleigh, Durbin Park Road, Clevedon, A.M.1.Mech.E., Somerset. A.F.R.Ae.S. Nicholls, Mirsa Ws Vie. ee Do. A.) North, (Cs Wares dtelenesare oheier oe 71 Totterdown Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset ALM I OAGES, TRE HA feet erep cheer 24. Knowle Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 OgilviesiME Asa its eee The Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Glos. @rme: Ac OA ose s ne Oakfield Lodge, 27 Julian Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Ormaey Virsa Asal Ace eae Do. Ormonde biG. se ace wise 1 Chapel Hill, Farleigh, Backwell, nr. Bristol Owen, Mrs. MEM se ioer. aie et 62 Parry’s Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Packer, Mrs. K. M., M.A... 34 Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Palmer, Miss E. M., M.B.O.U. Highfield, Sandford Hill, Bridgwater, Som. Bariitta WW opal iia 4 Caine Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 ‘Partitt Mirss Woe os. ee ees Do. Parsley; Muss. 1.5... %5 20). 13 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 Parslow.sAw Me 6 cscs che exetehers 41 Woodleigh Gardens, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 Parslows, Wins AE. iiss esr oO. Partridge, C. A., 247 Park Lane, Frampton Cotterell, nr. A.M.I.Mech.E. Bristol Payne, ik. GiB :Se.i eee ae The City Museum, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 C. *Pearman, J. V., F.R.E.S..... Beechcroft, Upper Icknield Way, Aston Clinton, nr. Aylesbury, Bucks. Peddle Rs Bie eile ecto 127 Charlton Road, Kingswood, Bristol Peddie; Mirs si) sis eyey sa Do. Peneycad) (Gis ieee ie nets 32 Redland Grove, Redland, Bristol 6 Peneycad, Mrsui@. cowie. ss: Do. Perkins, Mrs. M. M......... leevcom Dh) s Perry, F.C., M.A., F.L.A. .. Peterson, Miss M........... Le oui owe oats eae * Phillips, Prof. F. Coles, M.A., Ph.D., F.G.S. Phillips, Mrs. F. Coles ...... Jetinonet 6? Je ee ioigee S72) (od a Pitt. IMrs.Gi Ps... ee ee es LEC IOIG OFS an ee er Poole Bo Was 2.6.2... ee es 12{a(0) (eh) al os a a IB GtLeE Gis Weta cc os aan es 4s Prourding. Re Te... iv. ee we Pratt; (Miss DL. ......5... ratte Vrs. IVE... sc. aoe Prowse, Dr. D. C., M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. ByGyLRCL CN. Joes’. os s'o so es Buddy, Mrs. M.-C. ........ Pugsley, Prof. Sir Alfred G., O.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S. Mugsley, lady oc. 6c ee ee ugslevic Bs se tis ses ce ss Pullan, J. M., M.A., M.Sc. .. Pullan, Mrs. J. M., B.Sc..... Purkis, Miss E. M........... ealobitts, BvAc) oe. )c nese ey Rake, Miss B. A., B.Sc., N.D.H. Randall, Mrs. E. M......... Rapps, Mrs. B. M..........; Rawlings, F. H., M.P.S.,.. D.P.A. eade,D. J:; B.Sc. ........ ieese, Miss F. M........... Richards, Mrs. S. W., B.A... Racketts; Maddy i.5,..06.<5 5+. Riddell, Prof. A. G., M.B.E., MS., F.R.C.S. Riddick, S.J. ....:s-..-5- iiddick, Mrs.S.J..........- INoach, Mrs. G. ............ IN@WCHES JOE cose ae a os BNO ASS) Gre dae 5 Gisele ls dais ieaie-a-d Roe, Capt.R.G.B.,R.N..... Roe-Mrs..R.G.B........... Rogers, Miss M. H., M.A. .. MEMBERS 13 25 Sandy Leaze, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 15 Springfield Avenue, Bridgwater, Som. 38 Kellaway Avenue, Bristol 6 21 Clifton Wood Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Wyvern, Almondsbury, nr. Bristol 89 Coombe Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. 64 Standish Avenue, Patchway, Bristol Castle Lawns, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol Do. 16 Woodstock Road, Redland, Bristol 6 10 Amberley Close, Downend, Bristol 51 Ashcombe Park Road, Weston-super- Mare, Somerset Exmoor, 6 Southdene, Bristol 9 10 West Park Road, Downend, Bristol 1 Hughenden Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 62 North Road, St. Andrew’s Park, Bristol 6 Glencoe, Seafield Lane, Sidmouth, Devon 38 Ravenswood Road, Redland, Bristol 6 West End, Wedmore, Somerset 4 Harley Court, Clifton Down, Bristol 8 Do. 34 Dublin Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol Badgers’ Wood, Brockley, nr. Bristol Do. 13 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 11 South View, Frome Road, East Horring- ton, Wells, Somerset 69 Providence Lane, Long Ashton, Bristol 287 Station Road, Kingswood, Bristol Dippinstile, Chew Stoke, nr. Bristol 19 Richmond Avenue, Bristol 6 26 Darnley Avenue, Horfield, Bristol 7 23 Montague Hill, Kingsdown, Bristol 2 Langley, Swan Lane, Winterbourne, nr. Bristol Forwood House, Minchinhampton, Stroud, Glos. Corbys, Castle Road, Clevedon, Somerset 179 King’s Head Lane, Bedminster Down, Bristol 3 Do. 12 Falcon Court, Southfield Road, West- bury-on-Trym, Bristol First Floor, 59 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 g Beaufort Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 56 Bloomfield Avenue, Bath, Somerset Do. Top Flat, Vyvyan House, Clifton Park, Bristol 8 14 MEMBERS Rogers, Mrs. M. J., M.A..... 21 Canynge Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 UA >... 26 Larksleaze Road, Longwell Green, nr. Bristol Salbter.t@ obs. ice aewyreiua:: 25 Cotham Road, Bristol 6 Sambels, Miss B. M......... 80 Stone Hill, Longwell Green, nr. Bristol Sampson, Miss A. M. ...... 36 Westover Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Sanders, J. D., B.D.S. ...... 32 Buckingham Gardens, Downend, Bristol pandover, Miss Eaj-2 5.24. 14 Sommerville Road, St. Andrew’s, Bristol 7 C. *Sandwith, N.Y., M.A., F.L.S. The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey *Savage, Dr. R. J. G., B.Sc., Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, Phas Prete S:,. 1k Gros Bristol 8 F.Z.S. DAVOLVs Mrs oe EUs ahcnaie tee. 114 Westbury Park, Durdham Down, Bristol 6 Scase aR Bey cee usta atic hlhayenes R.H.S. Gardens, Wisley, Ripley, Woking, Surrey Scawin, Mrs. M., B.Sc....... Quistholme, Knole Park, Almondsbury, Bristol Scott, P., C.B.E., D.S.C., The Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Glos. M.A., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. Screen ;/Jivkiiyease ese. oe 35 Rudgeway Park, Rudgeway, nr. Bristol Shaw, Dr War wti es is ee Ranalt, Townsend, Almondsbury, nr. Bristol Shaw. Miss JE aiNe 28 Gee se Upper Flat, 10 Sion Hill, Bath, Somerset Shearer, Miss O. M......... 75 Thornleigh Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Shepherd, DB Ala e oe 12 Lansdown Place, Clifton, Bristol 8 Shepherd, Miss J..E..2...... 54 Wellington Walk, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Sherborne, Mrs. E. A. ...... South Lodge, Frenchay, Bristol silcocks RAB es : sito ee ose Bryher, Kenmeade Close, Shipham, Wins- | combe, Somerset Silcocks: Mrs; iiss) ass stare Do. : C. Simpson, Prof. Scott, M.A., Dept. of Geology, Queen’s Building, The | Dro rernat.F.G:S: Queen’s Drive, The University, Exeter, | Devon | Simgletonn@s coo aire ar arge 12 Russell Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 Singleton, Ri. Woy. 18 Kewstoke Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 pkeelessiliiale..p cer pucts ih eet oe 20 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 *Skene, Prof. Macgregor, D.Sc., 6 Dover Court, Abdon Avenue, Selly Oak, | Pa: Birmingham 29 Sleigh, Dr. M. A., B.Sc., Ph.D. Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, | Bristol 8 | Sloaneh i; le BiSe sien ae... Do. Smeed ea ie oe 12 David’s Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Simecc eM ns cule ube see ea Do. | Smith alViissiB lta ey eee g West Parade, Sea Mills, Westbury-on- | Trym, Bristol MEMBERS 15 Smith, Dr. C. E. D., Ph.D. .. 5 Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Souci Wor, M.Sc. .......-. 70 Birchall Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Smith, Dr. D. Munro, 2 Cleeve Lodge Road, Downend, Bristol M.R.C.S., M.R.C.P. Sueaittl | isis ee 18 Beechwood Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol yrs toe | lel Se 21 Upper Belmont Road, St. Andrew’s, Bristol 7 Smith, J. O., B.Sc., Ph.D., 17 Worlebury Park Road, Weston-super- F.R.I.C. Mare, Somerset Smorto, Miss M,A........... 17 Heath Road, Downend, Bristol Smuths|Miss MA. V. ...... Flat 2, 33 Regent Street, Clifton, Bristol 8 SHUR OVEN Citticis gies vais soso « 10 Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 ‘Soog lH.) Se (BOs a 7 Greville Road, Southville, Bristol 3 Soltau, Mrs. H. K. V....... 19 The Avenue, Clifton, Bristol 8 Sperrings, Miss M. W....... 15 Cassell Road, Staple Hill, Bristol SUAMMELL; IR Oe. vistas. es 6s 75 Abbey Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Stamnett; Mrs-R. S..2...... Do. Stanton, Miss D. W......... 35 Beaufort Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 SiG) Nel ACs een a 9 Charlcombe Way, Bath, Somerset Sterne, Mrs. F. R., B.Sc. .... Do. Stiddard, Miss D. M. ...... 10 Rodney Road, Backwell, nr. Bristol BLOCH Vcc cvcialars selene cis ae es Hollow Road, Shipham, Winscombe, Som. SIRE es gy Te 25 Shaldon Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 SCIEN ole he 69 Nibletts Hill, St. George, Bristol 5 Stopher, Dr. D. A., B.Sc., Ph.D: Stopher, Mrs. D. A., B.Sc. .. Do. Stott, Miss E. M., M.B.E..... 10 Paulman Gardens, Long Ashton, Bristol Stracey, Miss F...:.. 2... 0: 13 St. Edward’s Rd., Clifton Wood, Bristol 8 Stride, W. H. B., L.D.S. .... 6 Briarwood, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Stl se dee. us bcic ale cs a « Green Orchard, Compton Greenfield, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol Sttbbs: Mrs. RR. Tes. o eo... ss Do. Sullivan, Miss J. M......... 139 Dovercourt Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Sutherland, 1.2... .. 12c Kingsdown Parade, Bristol 6 Swaine, Miss A. K., F.R.S.A. Pisang Cottage, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Swanborough, R. E......... 24. Highfield Avenue, Hanham, Bristol Sweet, G:; M.B.0.U........: 40 Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 BRVeels ViTSs God ea. eek es Do. SV GEL IVINSS Ont ce wee Do. VILLE LD 0A co Grove House, Grove Park, Weston-super- Mare, Somerset Sydenham. Wal. J. ......'.. 230 Overndale Road, Fishponds, Bristol myines, IR. G., B.Sc. ........ 58 Seymour Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Wamplm, Miss D........... 13 St. Edward’s Rd., Clifton Wood, Bristol 8 thanner, Miss‘A...... 2... 5 The Paragon, Clifton, Bristol 8 BIRT Se Me Vat N e ioig okie b,c! ane wes 46 Apsley Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Miasker-Mirs.Ti.)5 6 i.e ee ee Do. “Des tcieh CAN (RSG Laan ean 12 Claremont Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Taylor, R., A.C.ILS......... 16 Stanbridge Road, Downend, Bristol Miavlor) Mirs.cR).. 2 .\........ Do. Taylor, S. M., B.Sc., Glenalan, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol A.M.1.Mech.E. Maylor, Mrs. S-M. .... 2.5.3 fae pO: Mawlon.Nirs.W.N. 2.2... 46 Islington Road, Bedminster, Bristol 3 iiteattewwy, Bi. sd oe ec 17 Miles Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 iihearte, Mrs. R.F. ........ Do. Thomas, Miss K. M., B.A... 168 Brynland Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 16 aN MEMBERS sbhomas Peal ar oii ces epoeeee The Old Vicarage, Winterbourne Down, Bristol Thompson, Mrs. M. E....... 4 Ferndown Close, Kingsweston, Avon- mouth, Bristol horn; A. Ava. cc eee Heddon, 50 Church Lane, Farleigh, Back- well, nr. Bristol Trewman, Mrs. V.C.B. .... 11 Osborne Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Ducks jou 05. soe White Cottage, Ubley, Somerset "Buck, Mars...) Fs. cetera Do. Muck. Missi McGann. 5 eae ee Do. Turner, H. W., M.A., F.G.S. The Cottage, Kensington Place, Clifton, Bristol 8 Twells, Miss E., B.Sc. ...... 14 Oakfield Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Wipton Wer eee cee Shoe sense Glen Lynn, St. Saviour’s Road, Larkhall, Bath, Somerset Vance, Mrs’ RoDi i son. eee The Post Office, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Varley, Mrs N2Es). i... oe: 43 Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol 7 ve DSR. BSc., 22 St. David’s Road, Thornbury, nr. Bristol M.B.O.U. PIV CrNON SG VWVie Bit cA leas oa oer eles Wyngarth, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol Vickery, MisssP OME: i.50 2 ats 20 Dundonald Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Vine, Miss D. J., N.F.F. .... 64 The Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol Vinnicombe, Miss E. J., B. Sc., 32 Ridgeway Road, Long Ashton, Bristol M.A. Wolans Meh acjac uct ets mys 19 Thicket Road, Fishponds, Bristol Vowles, D. G., B.Sc.(Econ.).. 2 York Avenue, Ashley Down, Bristol 7 Wracners NIAC pe ges reals cave te Shepperdine House, Thornbury, nr. Bristol Wakefield, Mrs. G. S. ...... 2 Southwood Ave., Coombe Dingle, Bristol 9 Wallineton, WaA. jn ..5 sae Bregar, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Wallington, Miss J.......... Do. *Wallis, Dr. F.S., D.Sc., Ph.D., 5 High Green, Easton, nr. Wells, Somerset F.G.S. WraltomsG Ge casas cue 22 Reedley Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 9 Warden, J). BeVeM.Siae ee; Centaur, Ham Lane, Bishop Sutton, nr. Bristol Warden, Mas. sD. vanes Do. Wareham, Miss C. A. L. .... Corscombe, 74 Church Lane, Backwell, nr. Bristol Wareham, Miss F.H. E. .... Do. Watkins, N. A., M.A., 18 Old Sneed Park, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 F.R.E.S. ; Webb, AE iee eae dea Newport House, Newport, Berkeley, Glos. Webb, Mis: Ass 2.2/2. e3.. Do. Webb, NeRe Be: (oe. 45 Egerton Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Webbs: Ore RGiee iierlinn. bhatels bose 36 Frome Valley Road, Stapleton, Bristol Webber, MissN. D. ........ Manor Cottage, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol Weber, Miss J. INTE etree oe 31 Shirehampton Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Weeks Ate ear emarsi 4 Shepherds Way, Rickmansworth, Herts. Weir, MirsiAvMia tas dienes Hursley Hill, Whitchurch, Bristol Welch, Dr. F. B. A., B.Sc., Penyllan, Gadshill Road, Charlton Kings, Ph.D. Cheltenham, Glos. Welshman, Miss M. J....... 2 King’s Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 West, Mass NoLe g.c1 3557: 18 Dennyview Rd., Abbots Leigh, nr. Bristol Westcott, Miss M. V., M.Sc. 20 Linden Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Whatley. Dig foie secraege cg 43 Radley Road, Fishponds, Bristol MEMBERS 17 (ia e150) Di 8 Dundonald Road, Redland, Bristol 6 White, DiS., B.Sc. ........ 44 The Park, Kingswood, Bristol Whiting, Dr. H. P., D.S.C., 62 Woodstock Road, Redland, Bristol 6 M.A., Ph.D. *Whittard, Prof. W. F., D.Sc., Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, MOOR Se. 6 bs oes Bristol 8 Williams, Mrs. G. E......... 14 de Maulley Road, Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset Williams, Mrs. M.B......... Braeside, 10 Pine Hill, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset WValltams RG... 2. es ou 36 Strathmore Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Williams, T. R. J., M.Sc., 39 Orchard Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol A.R.I.C. Williams, Mrs. T.R. J....... Do. *Willis, Dr. A. J., B.Sc., Ph.D., Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, F.L.S. Bristol 8 VIII) RS) CSS eG 40 Claremont Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Vi atIS SOVIETS. RB ose wee oti Do. A, Wilson, Miss P. E........... Clifton Hill House, Clifton, Bristol 8 Winchester, Miss A., B.A..... 12 Wellington Terrace, Clifton, Bristol 8 Winchester, Miss D. E....... 33 Hampton Park, Redland, Bristol 6 Winter, Miss Bio. .........°. 151 West Town Lane, Bristol 4 Wathers, Muss D. .......... 81 Stroud Road, Gloucester Woodland, P., M.A......... Dursley Grammar School, Dursley, Glos. Yemm, Prof. E. W., B.A., Stoneleigh, Long Ashton, Bristol D.Phil., F.L.S. Yemm, Mrs. E. W., B H. *Yonge, Prof. C. M Ph.D., D.Sc., F F.R.S.E. ae Do. .. C.B.E., Dept. of Zoology, The University, Glasgow RS. > AFFILIATED SOCIETIES BaTH— Bath Natural History Society (Hon. Secretary, F. R. Sterne), g Charlcombe Way, Bath, Somerset Newton Park Naturalists’ Society, Newton Park College, Newton St. Loe, nr. Bath, Somerset BRIsTOL— Bedminster Down School, Donald Road, Bristol 3 Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bristol Grammar School Field Club, Elton Road, Bristol 8 Clifton High School Field Club, College Road, Bristol 8 College of St. Matthias, Fishponds, Bristol Red Maids Scientific Society, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Redland High School for Girls Field Club, Redland Court, Bristol 6 eae Social Club, Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., 35 Queen Square, ristol 1 University of Bristol Animal Welfare Society, Dept. of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Park Row, Bristol 1 University of Bristol Geological Society, Queen’s Building, University Walk, Bristol 8 University of Bristol Zoological and Botanical Societies, The University, Bristol 8 DursLEyY— Dursley & District Bird Watching and Preservation Society (Hon. Secretary, T. P. Walsh), 76 Kingshill Road, Dursley, Glos. Dursley Grammar School Natural History Society, Dursley, Glos. Kincswoop— Kingswood Grammar School Natural History Society, Kingswood, nr. Bristol B 18 REPORT OF COUNGEHE 1964 societies. At the Annual General Meeting the Officers and Members of Council were elected with Dr. R. J. G. Savage as president. The usual General and Sectional meetings were held and the Field meetings continue to provide popular, varied and instructive programmes. ‘The new layout of the monthly bulletins has been well received. ‘The Annual Dinner was held on 20 March in the Senior Common Room of the University and was again voted a great success. We regret to have to announce the deaths of J. Parfitt and F. P. Phillips. TT» membership is now 660, including 58 juniors. There are 16 affiliated GWYNNETH STERNE, Hon. Secretary. RE BORD ENTOMOLOGICAL 4 196 following were elected : President, Mr. P. F. Bird; Secretary, Dr. D. A. Stopher; Committee: Mrs. A. J. Hollowell, Messrs. K. H. Poole, C. S. H. Blathwayt, D. G. Gibb and N. A. Watkins. After the meeting, the City Museum’s entomological collections were inspected. TT 100th Annual Business Meeting was held on 21 January, 1964, when the During 1964 the following meetings were held: Feb. 18: Insect Pests of Farms and Gardens, by Mr. J. D. R. Vernon. Mar. 9: Bees and Flowers, by Dr. M. S. Percival; joint meeting with Botanical Section. Oct. 20: Mimicry in Butterflies, by Mr. R. W. J. Henderson. Nov. 17: Members’ Exhibits. The Field Meeting was cancelled because of rain. D. A. STOPHER, Hon. 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W. Evans ; Secretary and Treasurer, Miss I. F. Grave- stock ; Committee: Mrs. C. H. Cummins, Dr. A. F. Devonshire, Mr. J. A. Eatough, Dr. R. M. Harley, Mrs. I. C. I. Milton, Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott and Miss A. M. Sampson. The Wild Plant table at the Bristol Museum has been much appreciated during the year and sincere thanks are offered to Mr. A. Warhurst and Mr. P. F. Bird of the Museum, and to Mr. I. W. Evans, Mrs. G. S. Wakefield and Mrs. C. H. Cummins as well as to all members who have contributed specimens. The following Winter Meetings were held during the year : Jan. 13: Annual Business Meeting, followed by Members’ Evening. Feb. 10: A Mapping Scheme for the Higher Fungi, by Dr. T. E. T. Bond, who described the scheme relating to certain species as inaugurated at an International Conference in Prague in 1960. Mar. g: Bees and Flowers, by Dr. M. S. Percival. Joint meeting with Entomological Section. Oct. 12: Introduction to the Fungi of Hanham Wood, by Dr. C. E. D. Smith. This talk was introductory to the field meeting on Oct.17. Nov. 9: Members’ Evening, with transparencies. The following field excursions took place, under the leadership of those shown : Feb. 29: Westonbirt Arboretum. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. Apr. 20: Bank of the Avon. Miss A. M. Sampson. May 9g: Dawlish Warren. Mr. I. W. Evans and Mr. J. A. Eatough. May 27: Dundry. Mr. I. W. Evans. A visit to Mr. L. Ogilvie’s garden. June g: Frampton Cotterell and Iron Acton. Mr. I. W. Evans. June 20 : Whitchurch to Keynsham. Mr. I. W. Evans. July 11: Leckhampton Hill and Badgeworth. Mrs. S. C. Holland, North Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society. The limestone flora of Leck- hampton Hill, including Herminium monorchis was seen ; at the Badge- worth Nature Reserve spring-germinated plants of Ranunculus ophioglossifolius were in full flower and the main crop had grown well. July 18: Michael Wood, nr. Stone. Dr. A. F. Devonshire. Aug. 15 : Chelvey and Backwell. Mr. I. W. Evans and Mr. C. H. Cummins. Mr. P. J. Abrams, Superintendent of Parks and Gardens, Bristol, showed his garden at the lodge of Backwell Hill House. The walk continued to Goblin Combe and Cleeve Hill. Sept. 5: Centenary Walk: Glen Frome to Frenchay. Dr. A. F. Devon- shire and Mr. I. W. Evans. The walk followed the route covered 100 years ago by the Botanical Section at its first field meeting. Oct. 17: Fungus foray to Hanham Wood. Dr. C. E. D. Smith. At least 40 species of fungi were identified, including Geastrum triplex and Lepiota rhacodes. Armillaria mellea and Coprinus disseminatus were also present in profusion. I. F. GRAVESTOCK, Hon. Secretary. HE Annual Business Meeting was held in the Geology Department of the University on 16 January, 1964, when the following officers were elected : President, Mr. R. Bradshaw ; Vice-President, Dr. J. W. Cowie; Hon. Secretary, Miss M. A. Smith ; Field Secretary, Mr. A. C. K. Fear ; Committee, Prof. W. F. Whittard and the Student President of the University Geological Society (ex-officio), Mr. T. R. Fry, Mr. R. G. Payne, Prof. F. C. Phillips, Dr. R. J. G. Savage, Mr. W. Stock, Mr. D. Vowles, Mr. F. S. Ross, Mr. M. D. Kamm. During 1964 the committee met twice—on 15 January to make proposals for officers and on 22 January to arrange summer and winter programmes. At the Annual General Meeting geological films were shown. In addition there were three lecture meetings of the section during the year : Feb. 20: Dr. J. W. Murray : The Ecology of Foraminiferids. Mar. 19: Dr. M. K. Wells : Geology of the Freetown District, Sierra Leone. Nov. 19: Dr. R. W.R. Rutland : Chile. There were three Field Meetings as follows : May 2: Buckover: leader Dr. M. L. K. Curtis. June 21: Purton, Swindon and Langton Burrell; leaders Messrs. A. Ei Prismall and F. S. Ross. July 25: Portishead : leader Mr. S. C. Matthews. All lectures were held in the Geology Department of the University, and once more we would like to record our thanks to Professor Whittard for making the premises freely available for these activities. MARGARET A. SMITH, Hon. Secretary. HON. LIBRARIAN’S REPORT 1964 HE room in the City Museum in which the library is housed has been cleaned and redecorated. The Society is indebted to the Director of the Museum, Mr. A. Warhurst, who arranged for this to be done, and to embers of his staff who rendered assistance. Thanks are due also to members f the Society who helped with the dusting and transporting of books. A major reorganization of the library has been initiated and it is hoped that hen this is finished more members of the Society will visit the library to make se of the fairly extensive facilities available. Several new books were purchased during the year. 9g books and periodicals ere borrowed by 30 members. R. BRADSHAW, Hon. Librarian. 22 ORT (Oe GI L SECELON T the 4oth Annual Business Meeting in January, Mr. Hugh Boyd was re-elected President and Mr. S. M. Taylor Hon. Secretary. Mr. M. Kendall and Mr. G. Sweet were elected to the Committee in place of Miss R. C. Lee and Mr. R. M. Curber, who retired by seniority. During 1964, the Section held seven indoor meet- ings, at which the attendance averaged 86, the maximum being 110 and the minimum (as usual, for the Fieldwork “THE WREN THE KING OF Meeting) 43. The speakers and their subjects were : THE WREN fe ALL BIRDS ...° Jan. 17: Annual Business Meeting. Mr. C. J. Sellick—In search of Geese. 2: Mr. Tony Cook—Borough Fen Decoy and its Birds. Mar. 6: Annual Fieldwork Meeting. Mar.25: Mr. E. L. Roberts—Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. Oct. 14: Mr. H. Boyd—Recent work on Ducks in the Bristol District. Nov. 20: Joint meeting with the British Trust for Ornithology ; Mr. Peter Davis—Recent Research on Bird Migration. Dec. 11: Mr. John Burton—Recording Birdsong in Holland, 1963. Afternoon or evening field walks were held in the Spring to Newton Park, Bath ; Leigh Woods; Kenn Moor; and Frampton-on-Severn Gravel Pits. ‘The leaders were Messrs. B. King, P. J. Chadwick, H. R. Hammacott and A. E. Billett respectively. The programme of co-operative fieldwork was probably more extensive than ever before. It included a continuation of the breeding-season survey of Shelduck on the coast between Bristol and Weston, which revealed a continuation of the decline in numbers of adults and of ducklings observed in 1963. An aerial survey of the estuary by Mr. Boyd confirmed these findings, which are in contrast to experience in other parts of the country. A pilot scheme for studying roosts reported by members was started under the care of Mr. Thearle, and a study of the distribution of birds of prey was organized by Mr. Sweet. This latter was exceptionally well supported, and has given for the first time some quantitative information to back up the subjective judgment which was all that was available hitherto. The results were used as part of the national enquiry on Small Pre- dators being run by the B.T.O. and the Nature Conservancy. A breeding-season survey of waters for Great Crested Grebes was organized by Mr. B. King. This was a pilot operation for a national survey to be made by the B.T.O. in 1965. Other B.T.O. enquiries supported by members were the Nest Record and Ringing Schemes, and the Common Bird Census. We are indebted to all who participated in this work, and especially to those junior members who contributed regularly. The level of support for the whole programme promises well for the future. S. M. TAYLOR, Hon. Secretary. 23 tion having been given to the need for larger accommodation. The rorst Annual General Meeting was held on 23 January, the Officers and Members of Council for 1964 then being elected with Dr. R. J. G. Savage as president. Mr. H. H. Davis was made an honorary member. The President thanked the retiring Secretary, Mr. A. C. Leach, for his patient and devoted services to the Society for many years as a member and the past five as secretary. Dr. Savage then gave an address on ““Whence our pets? Some re- flections on the origins of domestication.’’ This most enlightening talk traced the evolution of domestic animals from prehistoric times to the present and was illustrated by slides of cave paintings and of living animals. On 6 Feb. Dr. G. V. T. Matthews spoke on ‘Sense and Nonsense in Bird Orientation.”’ He concluded that birds were influenced by the sun by day and the constellation patterns at night as aids to navigation. On 5 Mar. Dr. H. P. Whiting gave a talk on “‘ Lampreys”’. He differentiated the three types : brook, river and sea lampreys ; and described their varied lives. Besides illustrating his lecture with slides, Dr. Whiting showed live specimens. On 1 Oct. the winter session was opened by the return visit of Dr. E. G. Neal who brought us up to date with information and thought on the “‘ Breeding Cycle in Badgers and associated behaviour’’. On 5 Nov. Prof. F. H. T. Rhodes from University College, Swansea, gave a lively and full talk on ‘* Australia—the Isolated Continent’? and with maps of geological times showed the isolation to have been so complete so long ago as to be the cause of the unique evolution of the life now indigenous. On 3 Dec. Mr. B. W. Cunliffe of Bristol University lectured on ‘‘ Modern Techniques in Archaeology ”’ and the place of natural sciences in archaeology. A comparatively young science having its roots in the 18th century, scientific archaeology has advanced to the point where today we are in the midst of scientific revolution. Use is now made of such diverse procedures as aerial photography, proton magnetometry, radiometric dating techniques with Cl and potassium / argon ratios, and pollen analysis. Study of bone fragments may throw some light on the food sources of Iron-age man. T meetings have been very well attended even to the point of considera- GWYNNETH STERNE, Hon. Secretary. GENERAL FIELD MEETINGS walks and were generally weil attended. On the whole the attendance was greater at the winter meetings than the summer ones. The Social Evening was as usual very successful. A list of the meetings, with dates, places visited, and leaders is given below; a more complete account is kept in the records of the Field Committee. Fr wats field meetings were held during the year as well as two informal Jan. 12: Brean Down. Numbers of duck and stonechat were seen, also two black redstarts and an avocet. Mr. H. G. Hockey. 24 Nov. 15: II: 29: ACCOUNT OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS Frampton Ponds (flooded gravel pits), near Frampton-on- Severn; Hock Cliff (on the Severn Bank). Mr. J. D. R. Vernon and Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. Social Evening. An illustrated talk, Wanderings in Wales, by Mr. J. A. Eatough. Malvern. The British Camp, the reservoir, and Worcestershire Beacon were visited. Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Hockey. Walton Hill (near Street) to Nythe. Loxley woods. Mr. H. F. Flook. Bank of the Avon near Portbury. Miss C. Groves. Hengistbury Head, Christchurch. Here waders, including a whimbrel, terns, old iron ore workings, and an Iron Age Fort were seen. Mr. H. G. Hockey and Mr. B. King. Woods near Hanham and River Avon. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. Mendip ; the Forestry Commission Nurseries. Mrs. V. J. Pitt. Forest of Dean. Tidenham Chase, Nagshead enclosure, Cannop ponds, and Speech House. Amongst the birds seen were a nightjar and pied flycatchers. Euphorbia stricta was plentiful at one spot. Mr. C. Ellis and Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. Sand Bay and Sand Point near Weston-super-Mare. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Hambledon Hill (near Sturminster Newton): an Iron Age Hill Fort and Neolithic Camp. Wingreen Hill (near Shaftesbury). Chalk flora seen at both sites. Mrs. G. H. Dudden and Dr. A. F. Devonshire. Wrington Hill. An informal walk. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Wavering Down. An informal walk. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Avebury, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, and Wood- henge. Mr. A. C. K. Fear. Barry docks, by steamer. Birds seen included cormorants, common terns, and a kingfisher. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Quantocks. Lilstock to Kilve along the beach, for ducks and waders. Holford Combe for fungi. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Tke Huntspill river, where a black redstart was seen. Tealham Moor. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, Hon. Field Secretary. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thanks are due to the British Broadcasting Corporation for a grant towards the cost of publication of original papers in this issue of the PROCEEDINGs. 25 perstOL BOTANY IN 1964 By THE LATE N. Y. SANDWITH HE winter months of 1964 were quite mild and dry. They were succeeded in March by an early and bitterly cold Easter, but an unusually fine May was followed by the best summer we have enjoyed for several years, and the good weather continued, on the whole, until the storms of early December and the cold and snow of the Christmas season. The botanical notes this year include a large number of aliens and garden escapes found in a more or less naturalized state, and some of them seem hardly worth putting on record, especially when they are so close to human habitations. Meanwhile, the deterioration, or even the destruction, of natural habitats such as marshes and bogs grows apace. In particular, our Somerset peat moors are gravely threatened. They have been gradually drying up for a number of years, but now they are suffering from rapid ex- ploitation for horticultural peat by means of modern machinery. Small-holders are tempted to sell their land or to cut it themselves; or else they allow some areas to revert to impenetrable carr. Some of us, with the active help of the Nature Conservancy and the newly inaugurated Somerset County Trust for Nature Conserva- tion, are trying to save three or four of the best remaining sites but, even so, the influence of adjacent cutting will present a further problem. Names of contributors of more than one record are abbreviated, thus :-— I.W.E., I. W. Evans P.J.M.N., P. J. M. Nethercott G.W.G., G. W. Garlick D.M.S., Dr. D. Munro Smith R.M.H., Dr. R. M. Harley A.J.W., Dr. A. J. Willis I.F.G., Miss I. F. Gravestock N.Y.S., N. Y. Sandwith S.C.H., Mrs. S. C. Holland G.S.W., Mrs. G. S. Wakefield R.G.B.R., Capt. R.G.B. Roe, I.M.R., Miss I. M. Roper R.N. (decd.) Ranunculus bulbosus L. Several male-sterile plants with very narrow leaf-segments and bases of petioles blotched purplish black, Durdham Down (Downleaze), G., R.M.H. Aquilegia vulgaris L. Rose Wood, Axbridge, S., P.F7.M.N. 26 N. Y. SANDWITH Papaver Lecoqiit Lamotte. Car park, University Road, Bristol, G., R.M.H. Fumaria muralis Sonder, ssp. Boraet (Jord.) Pugsl. Leap Bridge, Downend, G., 1956, G.W.G., and in waste ground at Downend (some with white flowers), 1959-1964, D.M.S. By the Ridge School, Yate, G., 1956, G.W.G. F. densiflora DC. Waste ground by a new road running from Down- end towards Moorend; and an allotment ground near Oldbury Court, G., D.M.S., who sent me material for verification. This is a most welcome reappearance of a species hitherto recorded only from a hedge at Downend in June, 1855, Herb. 7. H. Cundall, and as a casual at Bedminster, S., in 1922, see Adventive Flora of Port of Bristol. Sagina ciliata Fr. Sea-wall between Sheperdine and Oldbury-on- Severn G., S.C... Helianthemum Chamaecistus Mill. A few plants with pale cream- coloured flowers on Wavering Down, S., P.7.M.N. With ‘‘white’’ flowers, Callow Rocks, S., 1913, /.14.R., ms. in her interleaved copy of White’s Flora. Geranium purpureum Vill. A vigorous clump at Sea Walls, Durdham Down, G., R.M.H., conft. A.7.W. Rosa pimpinellifolia L. A number of bushes on high cliffs on the S.E. side of Cheddar Gorge, S., 1963-1964, P.7.M.N. and A.F.W. R. arvensis Huds. x canina L. Roadside, Mangotsfield, G., D.M.S., det. R. Melville. R. agrestis Savi xX stylosa Desv. The sweet briar roses growing on part of Sand Point, S., were examined on August 18th 1954. | They would be classified in Wolley-Dod’s scheme as forms of | R. agrestis and most of the bushes would be assigned to his var. belnensis (Ozan.) Rouy [see “Bristol Botany in 1926’, where | var. belnensis is recorded from Sand Point, the Cadbury Ridge | and Uphill, S.]. These plants have rather long peduncles, up to | 2.5 cm., with globular or subglobular hips. The styles are long- — exserted and often agglutinated. Many of the leaflets are — BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1964 27 rounded at the base instead of cuneate, as in typical R. agrestis, and they are also broader and more or less elliptic. They are pubescent beneath and have scattered glands which are often smaller than in R. agrestis. The marginal serrature is somewhat blunter and generally less complex, there being mostly 2 or 3 secondary gland-tipped teeth on each major tooth, instead of 3 to 4 or more, and the marginal glands also are smaller than in typical R. agrestis. These characters are consistent with the plants being hybrids between R. agrestis and R. stylosa Desv. which, as var. systyla (Bast.) Baker, is a common and widespread rose in Somerset.—R. Melville. Sorbus torminalis (L.) Cr. Rose Wood, Axbridge, S., P.F.M.N. Sedum album L. A small quantity in a quarry, Leigh Woods, &., probably of recent introduction, P.7.M.N. Myriophyllum spicatum L. Pond in deserted sandstone quarry, Kingswood, Bristol, G., D.M.S. Cnanthe pimpinelloides L. In abundance, Stockwood Vale, S., /.W.E. Heracleum Sphondylium L. var. angustifolium Huds. By the By Brook, Bathford, S., Miss Fanet Robinson. A striking variety, or rather form, as it usually occurs as an isolated individual, for which I have no less than 8 ms. records apart from those given in White, Fi. Valerianella carinata Lois. Wall, Downleaze, G., R.M.H.; and in College Fields, Clifton, G., V.Y.S. Artemisia Absinthium L. Waste ground, Bovey Hill, Moorend, G., D.M.S. Senecio Facobaea L. A sport with all the heads entirely converted into green, bract-like organs, without any normal florets, occurred on a grassy wayside at Downend, G., D.M.S. Cichorium Intybus L. Hill above Monkton Combe, S., in quantity, LF.G. 28 N. Y. SANDWITH Campanula latifolia L. One plant with white flowers in Oldbury Court Woods, Stapleton, G., D.M.S., who also reports this species from Cleeve Wood, Frenchay, G. Gentianella Amarella (L.) H. Sm. On high scree of Goblin Combe, S., Mrs. C. H. Cummins. Echium vulgare L. Cadbury Camp, Clevedon, S., /.M.R., ms., and still there, D. 7. Hewitt (comm. P. F. Bird). Chaenorrhinum minus (L.) Lge. Old railway track, Monkton Combe, Sele. Mentha xX piperita L. Clandown Bottom, Paulton, S., R.G.B.R., who also records the forma hirsuta (Fraser) R. A. Graham from Tucking Mill, Compton Dando, S. This hairy form is the plant formerly referred to M. pubescens (M. aquatica x longi- folia) from the bank of the Chew at Compton Dando, see ‘Bristol Botany in 1923”. M. x Smithiana R. A. Graham. (M. rubra Sm.). By the Weir, Moorend, G., 1959, D.M.S., an example with hairy calyces and exserted stamens. This hairy form is unique in the experi- ence of Dr. Harley, who named or confirmed all the Mints mentioned in these notes. Clandown Bottom, Paulton, S., R.G.B.R. M. x cordifolia Opiz. (M. rotundifolia (L.) Huds. x spicata L.). Waste ground, Downend, G., D.M.S. A first record for the Gloucestershire side of the district. Stachys x ambigua Sm. Soil heap at Easton-in-Gordano, S., R.M.H. Chenopodium polyspermum L. In quantity, introduced in the building of the Oldbury Atomic Power Station, G., S.C.H. C. ficifolium Sm. Soil heap at Easton-in-Gordano, S., R.M.H. Neottia nidus-avis L. A single plant in Leigh Woods, S., P.7.M.N. Mr. White apparently never saw it here, citing only the old records of T. B. Flower and Swete’s Flora, 1840 and 18409, and I have no more recent note. BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1964 29 Orchis ericetorum (E. F. Linton) E. S. Marshall. Railway embank- ment, Coalpit Heath, G., D.M.S. A rather strange habitat for this species, but the specimen was correctly named. Scirpus caespitosus L. Mr. White (Flora, p. 619) regarded this species as “well distributed on the drier parts of the peat moors’, S. I doubt if this was so, even 50 years ago, and to-day S. caespitosus is so rare on the peat moors that I know of only a few tufts in boggy ground on Westhay Moor. Carex sirigosa Huds. Cleeve Wood, Frenchay,G., D.M.S. C. humilis Leyss. South-west slope of Crook Peak, S., in an area of about 15 by 20 yards, partly in Festuca turf and partly on the edges of limestone outcrops. Discovered in April, after a deliberate search, by P.7.M.N. C. digitata L. Two good tufts bordering Clifton Down, G. (appar- ently a new station), and a fifth locality in Leigh Woods, S., FM. Koeleria vallesiana (Honck.) Bertol. A fair quantity on Axbridge Hill, and a very little on Fry’s Hill, S., P.7.M.N., who failed to find it on Callow Hill and thinks that Fry’s Hill may mark the easternmost limit of this species. Polystichum setiferum (Forsk.) Woynar. (P. angulare Presl). Clifton Down, G., 2 roots, P.7.M.N. Not noted from the Downs by White, but there is a record, ‘‘ Durdham Down, Hb. Cicr. Coll.’’, in Fl. Glos., p. 597. | ALIENS. Sisymbrium septulatum DC. Some fine plants in Avonmouth | | | Dock, G., NV.Y.S. This was the only species of interest noted | in the sadly cleaned-up Dock area. _ Pachyphragma macrophyllum (Hoffm.) N. Busch. (Thlaspi latifolium | M.B.). A well-established colony at edge of a wood, Belmont, near Flax Bourton, S., Dr. 7. H. Davie, det. A.F7.W. This is a native of the Caucasus and N.E. Asia Minor, remarkable for its large round leaves heart-shaped at the base, and its large white flowers and fruits. It is frequently grown in gardens. pe 30 N. Y. SANDWITH Erodium Manescavii Coss. A few well-established plants on a road- side verge far from houses N.E. of Wookey, S., E. Miulne- Redhead. This large-flowered species with rich magenta petals, well known in gardens, is endemic in the Pyrenees. x Crataegomespilus grandiflorus (Sm.) Bean. A tree of this bigeneric hybrid in Goblin Combe, Cleeve, S., Dr. 7. E. Fraymouth and Dr. L. E. Hawker. A presumed natural hybrid of the Medlar and Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), found wild in France and long known in cultivation in Britain, see B.E.C. 1946-47 Rep., vol. 13 (3), p. 260 (1948). Saxifraga hirsuta L. Xx spathularis Brot. Earthy ledge by roadside, Stapleton, G., W. Norgate, det. A.FJ.W. and R.M.H. S. Cymbalaria L. var. Huetiana (Boiss.) Engl. Bank of R. Trym near a cottage, Combe Dingle, G., G.S.W., conft. A.7.W. Enigeron philadelphicus L. In quantity by pavement, Almondsbury Hill, Gi, LW.E., det. Af. Artemisia biennis Willd. Still at Bath, S., 1963, by the river about a mile below the Gasworks (cf. ‘ Bristol Botany in 1925’’), R.G.B.R. Centaurea montana L. Roadside, Binegar, S., 1.W.E., det. A.7.W. EMieracium brunneocroceum Pugsl. Waste ground, Stapleton, G., D.M.S. Anagallis foemina Mill. Queen Square, Bristol, G., with other weeds, Dr. A. F. Devonshire. Buddleja Davidi Franch. Five bushes established on the lower slopes of Crook Peak, S., P.7.M.N. Hyoscyamus niger L. Many plants on site of plane trees uprooted in gale, Queen Square, Bristol, G., Miss A. M. Sampson. Verbascum Blatiaria L. Waste ground, Downend, G., D.M.S. BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1964 31 Amaranthus hybridus L. X_ retroflexus L. (A. xX Ozanoni Thell.). Avonmouth Dock, G., Oct. 1959, W.Y.S. no. 5738 in Kew Herb., det. P. Aellen. New to the adventive list. Mr. J. P. M. Brenan tells me that he has, so far, seen only 4 British gatherings of this hybrid. A. albus L. Waste ground by the Avon below Bath, S., 1963, R.G.B.R. Rumex scutatus L. The record from Winterbourne Down, G. (see ‘Bristol Botany in 1963’’) must be deleted. D.M/.S. writes that the plant was only an unusual form of R. Acetosella L. Ruscus Hypoglossum L. Penpole Point, G., G.S.W., conft. A.7.W. Allium paradoxum (M.B.) G. Don. Roadside verge, Bitton, G., R.M.H. Panicum miliaceum L. Along Portway under the Downs, G., P..7.M.N. BRYOPHYTES. Grimmia Doniana Sm. On slag of old lead-work- ings, Charterhouse-on-Mendip, S., R.M.H., conft. FE. F. Warburg. Eucladium verticillatum B. et S. On sandstone rocks in Glen Frome, Stapleton, G., D.M.S., det. F. A. Sowter. Dicranum strictum Schleich. ex Schwaegr. On decaying stump, Leigh Woods, D.M.S., det. R. D. Fitzgerald, conft. E. F. Warburg. New to v.c. 6, N. Somerset. Cololejeunea minutissima (Sm.) Schiffn. On Willow (Salix cinerea ssp. atrocinerea) with Frullania dilatata (L.) Dum., in an enclosure on Catcott Heath, S., A.7.W., conft. E. W. Jones. New to ec. G. FUNGI. Peronospora parasitica (Fr.) Tul. This downy Mildew was first observed in Britain on Hornungia petraea (L.) Rchb. on 29 February, 1964, by G. R. Stewart in Black Rock Gully, 32 N. Y. SANDWITH Avon Gorge, G., conft. Miss G. M. Waterhouse. Sporangio- phores, observed by Miss E. Chittenden, were mostly confined to the rosette leaves, and some old leaves were found to contain oospores. After mid-March no plants showed signs of infection. Puccina Terrieriana Mayor. A conspicuous Rust of Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) noted in gardens at Thornbury, G., Dr. R. W. G. Dennis, at Dundry, S., Dr. M. F. Madelin, and at Easton-in-Gordano, S., R.M.H., the last two records det. Dr. L. E. Hawker. This Rust was first discovered in France in 1961, and was described as a new species, but it is apparently similar to a species from Tasmania. First recorded in Britain in the same year, at Dungeness, Kent, by Dr. Dennis, it is spreading rapidly, especially to the south and west of England and Wales. As before, Dr. Willis has most kindly assembled a number of the above records, and has identified or confirmed the specimens. 33 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 1964 COMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE B.N.S. ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION P. J. CHADWICK G. SWEET H. H. Davis M. A. WRIGHT HE year’s most encouraging development is the increase in the number of record cards to nearly 2,000, some containing many observations. This augurs well. In the past the limited records available have precluded any quantitative treatment of population density and distribution except for Heron, wildfowl, Buzzard, Rook and gulls. The more extensive data permit reports of greater precision. This is true especially of the study of raptors which is in progress and will form the subject of future papers; meanwhile the information relating to Kestrel and Sparrowhawk in the breeding season is a useful contribution to the B.T.O. Birds of Prey Enquiry. Amongst published records of special interest is the report of a Pied-billed Grebe at Blagdon reservoir in December 1963—the first known occurrence of this North American species in Europe. Noteworthy records for the reservoirs in 1964 include those of a Black-throated Diver at Barrow Gurney in April; a Goshawk at Chew Valley in December and, at the same place, a Temminck’s Stint and a Roseate Tern in July and a Pratincole in September, while in the same month a Pectoral Sandpiper was seen at Blagdon. Reports from other localities include Green-winged Teal, Red- breasted Goose and Gyr Falcon at the New Grounds; a Shore Lark at Sand Point and Great Grey Shrikes at Charterhouse on Mendip and Ubley. _ Contributors to this report should give details of identification as a matter of course for all except the most obvious species. Records not only of rare birds but also of those which can easily be confused ‘with closely allied forms, as well as unusual occurrences of common ‘species, need the support of original notes taken in the field. It should be possible for those making use of the reports in the future to have \complete confidence that the original data are available and that ‘records have been accepted on this evidence. It is clearly un- ‘scientific to publish a record solely on the strength of an observer’s ‘reputation for reliability and skill, although such qualities are most ia Cc 34 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT important. To assist contributors we follow the practice of the London N.H.S. in appending a list of species for which descriptions should be supplied: Divers Swans (except Mute) Little Gull Grebes (except Great Birds of Prey (except Buz- unusual Terns Crested and Little) zard, Sparrowhawk and Auks Petrels and Shearwaters Kestrel) Wryneck Shag Crakes Golden Oriole Herons & Egrets (except Little Ringed Plover Willow Tit Common Heron) Kentish Plover unusual Warblers Bittern Sandpipers (except Green Firecrest Red-crested Pochard and Common) unusual Pipits and Scaup Stints Wagtails Ferruginous Duck Phalaropes Waxwing Long-tailed Duck Stone Curlew Shrikes Scoters and Eiders Pratincole Twite Red-breasted Merganser Skuas Redpolls (except Les- Geese (except White- Glaucous Gull ser) fronted) Iceland Gull unusual Buntings and any other rare or uncommon species and out of season migrants. Contributors:—Miss J. E. Adam, L. P. Alder, R. Angles, D. K. Ballance, T. Bennett, R. L. Bland, L. Biggs, J. Boswall, H. J. Boyd, G. L. Boyle, Col. G. A. Bridge, Miss M. E. Bridge, Miss J. E. Britton, R. Brock, A. Brown, J. F. Burton, G. C. Buxton, Mrs. S. I. Buxton, M. J. Bywater, A. A. Carpenter, Mrs. R. Cavill, P. J. Chadwick, S. E. Chapman, E. Clay, Miss G. G. Clement, G. E. Clothier, A. Coker, D. Cox, B. Crabb, D. A. C. Cullen, R. V. Culverwell, R. M. Curber, A.H. Davis, H. H. Davis, A. Dawson, R. Dobson, Miss P. Farmer, G. A. Forrest, K. L. Fox, R. Frankum, P. L. Garvey, Miss B. Gillam, Miss C. Graham, Miss V. Graham, D.R. Hamblett, G. H. Hamilton, R. G. Hamilton, H. R. Hammacott, R. S. Harkness, T. Harrison, K. Hawkins, P. G. Hawkins, F. Hawtin, A. Hicks, Mrs. H. Highway, R. E. Hitchcock, H. G. Hockey, R. Hollister, E. G. Holt, W. J. H. Hopkins, Miss E. Hurrell, Miss J. M. Hyman, J. Jayne, S. T. Johnstone, T. R. Joy, M. Kendall, Mrs. E. Kendall, B. King, P. D. Knowlson, C. Lachlan, D. E. Ladhams, M. Latham, T. Lawrence, A. C. Leach, Miss S. M. Lee, R. J. Lewis, J. Lovell, Mrs. R. Lovell, Mrs. L. C. Luckwill, J. A. McGeoch, H. W. Neal, E. G. M. Niblett, R. D. Oades, M. A. Ogilvie, Mrs. J. Ormond, Miss H. Ormond, Mrs. B. C. Palmer, Miss E. M. Palmer, the late T. H. Payne, W. Pell-Walpole, R. Perkham, Mrs. M. B. Perry, R. H. Poulding, R. J. Prytherch, B. Rabbitts, Dr. | A. P. Radford, Miss B. A. Rake, C. Ridsdale, A. B. Ritchie, Miss J. Robinson, J. F. Rowe, W. L. Roseveare, P. Scott, M. W. Seaford, C. Selway, R. J. Senior, D. Shepherd, T. B. Silcocks, Mrs. M. A. Silcocks, P. T. Sims, B. E. Slade, Dr. D. Munro-Smith, J. Squire, W. J. Stone, P. Stott (P.St.), G. Sweet, S. M. Taylor, Mrs. M. V. Taylor, R. F. Thearle, H. A. Thornhill, A. J. Tigwell, W. Upton, J. D. R. Vernon, F. Volans, M. A. Wagner, S. A. Wagner, D. Warden, Miss C. Wareham, Miss F. Wareham, N. R. Webb, G. L. Webber, Miss M. Welshman, Mrs. E. M. Williams, T. R. J. Williams, H. R. Williamson, Miss | A. Willis, M. G. Wilson, M. A. Wright, K. B. Young, M. J. Young. The abbreviation Res. Stn. refers to the Steep Holm Gull Station and the initials M.R.G. and W.T. denote Mendip Ringing Group and Wildfowl Trust. Headings G. and S. refer to South Gloucestershire and North | Somerset and cover the areas as outlined in previous Reports (cf. | Proc: B.N.S., 1060, p.1 14). | BLACK-THROATED DIVER Gavia arctica S. One seen at close range, Barrow Gurney resrs., Apr. 6—16) BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 35 (R.M.C., C.L., T.B.S. e¢ al.). Sixth record for Bristol area—last noted in 1955 and 1954. GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus S. Two nests already half-built, Chew Valley res., on early date of Feb. 23 (P.J.C., M.A.W.). Pilot survey of breeding pairs gave total of at least 33 broods—28(-+-), Chew Valley res.; one, Blagdon res.; one, Litton res.; and two, Orchardleigh Lake; nil returns from 24 other sites (per B.K.). SLAVONIAN GREBE Podiceps auritus S. One, Chew Valley res., Mar. 1 (P.J.C., M.A.W.) and two, most probably this species, Blagdon res., on 25th (W.L.R..). BLACK-NECKED GREBE Podiceps nigricollis S. Single bird, Blagdon res., July 12, Aug. 23, 26 (R.J.P.) and two. Sept. 27 Oct. 11 (R.A., R.M.C., K.L.F., R.J.S.). PIED-BILLED GREBE Podilymbus podiceps S. One seen and filmed in colour, Blagdon res., Dec. 22, 1963 by H.A.T.: seen later in day by R.J.P. who has supplied detailed notes which stress the heavy, stubby bill and larger size than Little Grebe—c. two-thirds size of accompanying Coot—and _ these features are confirmed by the film. Record, first for Europe, accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Committee. STORM PetREL AHydrobates pelagicus G. One flying over Estuary, New Grounds, Nov. 22 (L.P.A.). Manx SHEARWATER Procellaria puffinus S. ‘Twenty flying N.E. off south side, Steep Holm, May 4. Also noted in channel, end June: six moving S., 4 m. off Brean Down, on 27th, and 32 off Steep Holm on 28th flying W. from Sand Bay area where others still feeding—total probably not less than 100 (Res. Stn.). Futmar Fulmarus glacialis S. Single birds off Brean Down, Apr. 19 (R.F., T.R.J.W.) and Steep Holm, Sept. 2 (Res. Stn.). One dead, Sand Bay, Dec. 6 (R.A.). SHAG Phalacrocorax aristotelis S. One dead on rocks, Brean Down, Nov. 15 (R.A.); another found dying, same place, Dec. 21 (E.G.H.). 36 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT HERON Ardea cinerca S. Slight increase in number of breeding pairs from 26 to 30 —3, Brockley Combe; 16, Cleeve Hill; 9, Uphill Grange; 2, Newton St. Loe (per B.K.). Fairly numerous at reservoirs in autumn: max. counts—13, Blagdon, Aug. 22; 20, Cheddar, Oct. 18; and 14, Chew Valley, same date; 36, Chew Valley, Dec. 28. BITTERN Botaurus stellaris S. One shot, Englishcombe, nr. Bath, Jan. 29 (per R.J.L.). One, Chew Valley res., Feb. 8 (R.A.), 13 (C.W., F.W.)—cf. Proc. B.N.S., 1963, p. 387. Ma.xiarp Anas platyrhynchos G. and S. Total of c. 2,500 in area, mid-January, but peak occurred as usual in autumn—counts of c. 2,700, mid-October and ¢. 3,350, mid-November. Breeding reported from Chew Valley, Blagdon and Litton reservoirs, Midford nr. Bath and Steep Holm. TEAL Anas crecca crecca G. Counts, New Grounds, markedly lower than usual—260, Feb. 18; 300, Oct. 19, and 200, Nov. 18 (M.A.O.). S. Winter counts continued at low level of late 1963, not reaching 500 in total, but autumn numbers increased from 450, Sept. 13 to 1,600, Dec. 13 (B.K., R.J.L., B.R. e¢ al.). GREEN-WINGED TEAL Anas crecca carolinensis G. Male seen feeding with Teal, New Grounds, May 3, 4 by L.P.A. and M.A.O. who have supplied conclusive details. Record, second for Bristol area, accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Committee (cf. Proc. B.N.S. 1949, Pp. 33). GARGANEY Anas querquedula G. Pair, W.T. enclosures, New Grounds, Mar. 28 (M.A.O.). S. Male, Cheddar res., Mar. 21 (T.B.S.). Max. of three pairs, Chew Valley res., Apr. 11 (R.J.P.), 12 (M.K.) and two pairs, end May (A.H.D., B.R. e al.) one of which bred—female with nine ducklings, July 9 (A.P.R.). Single birds, Blagdon res., July 25- Sept. 6 (R.M.C.) and three, Aug. 16 (P.J.C., C.L.). GADWALL Anas strepera S. Small numbers were reported early in year and these were mainly at Chew Valley res. where six broods noted (R.J.P., BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 37 W.L.R. et al.). Post-breeding population at reservoirs lower than in recent years—28, Sept. 13, and 22, Oct. 18 (W.U., A.W., K.B.Y. et al.); 35, Cheddar res., Nov. 7 (B.K., R.J.P.). Party of four, Weston Bay, Oct. 18 (R.A.). WicEoN Anas penelope G. and §. Counts, New Grounds, reservoirs and coast indicate total of c. 2,000 present, mid-Jan. to mid-Feb. and c. 1,450, mid- March. Autumn counts: 700, mid-Oct., increasing to 1,000, mid- Nov.; no count, New Grounds, mid-Dec. but 800 at reservoirs. PInTAIL Anas acuta G.and S. No large winter totals apart from 150, New Grounds, Jan. 12 (M.A.O.) and less than 65 in area, Feb. 16 (B.K., M.A.W. et al.) but larger numbers in autumn with 250 counted, mid-Nov. (K.H., J.A.McG., A.W. e¢ al.)—170 of these at New Grounds (M.A.O.). SHOVELER Spatula clypeata G. New Grounds records: 60, Jan. 12; 43, Feb. 16; 21, Nov. 18, and 46, Dec. 14 (M.A.O.). S. Only fifteen, all waters, Jan. 12 but increase to 100, mid- March due to influx at Chew Valley res., where 60 present mid- to end month (R.M.C., C.L., T.B.S. ef al.). Breeding population, same res., of c. 12 pairs (R.A., B.R. e¢ al.). Autumn numbers declined from 75, mid-Sept. to 60, Nov. 15, Dec. 13 (B.K., D.E.L., J.A.McG. eé al.). RED-CRESTED PocHarD WNetia rufina S. Female or immature, Cheddar res., Oct. 26 (B.R.), Nov. 7 eeVLC., B.K., R.J.P.). Scaup Aythya marila G. and S. Female in W.T. enclosures, New Grounds, end February—early March (L.P.A.). Male, occasionally two, Cheddar res., Jan. 18-Mar. 15; two males, Oct. 8 and one, Nov. 1 to end year (J.A.McG., R.D.O. ¢¢ al.). Also one or two males, Chew Valley res., Mar. 14 to Apr. 26 (A.H.D., C.S., M.A.W. ef al.) and single males, Blagdon res., July 15 (R.J.P.) and Barrow Gurney wests., Dec. 26 (P.J.C.). 38 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Turtep Duck Apythya fuligula G. Over 100 frequently flighting into W.T. enclosures, New Grounds, from Frampton gravel pits, Jan. to mid-March and again, Oct.—Dec. (W.T.). S. Winter counts, all waters, suggest fall from 500, Jan. 12 to 420, mid-March (R.J.L., J.F.R., W.J.S. e¢ al.) but 400, Chew Valley res., Mar. 27 (B.K.). Breeding data less comprehensive than for some years but at least 8 broods, Blagdon res. (P.J.C., C.L., R.J.P., T.B.S.), 16-+-, Chew Valley res. (R.A., W.L.R. e¢ al.) and one, Orchardleigh Lake (R.M.C.). Max. autumn count, all waters— 450, Oct. 18 (J.A.McG., N.R.W., K.B.Y. e¢ al.). PocHARD Aythya ferina S. Less than 400, all waters, Jan. 12, but 670, Feb. 16, total decreasing again to 340, Mar. 15 (C.L., B.R., W.U. e al.). A few present, Blagdon and Chew Valley resrs., during summer but no evidence of breeding. Autumn totals again fairly small—due to very low water levels, especially at Cheddar which regularly supports over 60% of population. Immigrants started arriving mid- Sept. onwards, reaching peak of 1,200, Cheddar, Nov. 1 (R.D.O.); 850 there on 5th but only 42 on 15th (J.A.McG.) when total, all waters, of 320; 430 in area, Dec. 13 (K.H., B.K., R.J.L. e al.). GOLDENEYE Bucephala clangula G. Male on decoy pool, New Grounds, Mar. 9 (M.A.O.). S. Approx. 30, all waters, Jan. 26—Feb. 16, increasing to 40, early March (P.J.C., S.E.C., K.L.F., M.K. e¢ al.). Max. individual counts from Chew Valley res. where 36-39 noted, Mar. 24—Apr. 5 (R.J.P., K.B.Y.). No large autumn numbers—max. being 15 (13, Blagdon; 2, Cheddar), Dec. 6 (R.D.O., R.J.S.). LONG-TAILED Duck Clangula hyemalis S. Female or imm., Marine Lake, Weston-s-Mare, Feb. 22 to Mar. 21 (R.A.) and off Brean Down, Mar. 26 to Apr. 26 (M.K., ABs: TR. W.. et.al.) VELVET SCOTER Melanitta fusca S. Adult male, Chew Valley res., Oct. 15 (B.C., A.H., R.J.S.). CoMMON ScOTER Melanitia nigra G. Single males on Estuary, New Grounds, Mar. 26 (L.P.A.) and New Passage, July 23 (M.J.B., R.H.P.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 39 S. Four (3¢¢), Weston Bay, Mar. 13 (R.H.P.); six (5¢¢) on agrd (E.G.H.), and seven (393), Apr. 25 (B.E.S.); pair, May 30 (T.R.J.W.). Four off Sand Point, Mar. 30 (K.B.Y.). Five, Chew Valley res., Mar. 15 (P.J.C., M.W.S., M.A.W.) and fifteen—equals largest inland count for Bristol area, cf. Proc. B.N.S., 1958, p. 440 —Mar. 21 (B.K., R.J.P.). Autumn records: one, Weston Bay, Oct. 24 (R.M.C.); single males, Blagdon res., Dec. 5 (R.J.P.), 6 (D.E.L.) and Weston Bay, Dec. 6 (T.R.J.W.)—found dead on 13th (H.G.H., R.J.S.); and female or imm., same place, on 30th (D.K.B.). RED-BREASTED MERGANSER Mergus serrator G. Female on Estuary, New Grounds, Apr. 27 (L.P.A.). GOOSANDER Mergus merganser G. Female, New Grounds, Mar. 8 (L.P.A.). S. Records include: two males, Chew Valley res., Jan 4 (R.M.C., B.E.S.) and three pairs on 26th (J.A.McG.); four females, Feb. 22 (B.K.) and pair, Mar. 29, 30 (G.L.B., B.K.). One, Barrow Gurney resrs., Jan. 12 (W.J.S.). Pair, Blagdon res., Feb. 2 (M.K., C.S.) and male on 22nd (T.B.S.). Autumn records: single birds, Blagdon res., Oct. 18 (A.W., K.B.Y.); Chew Valley res., Oct. 27, Dec. 23 (R.J.S.), and on 28th (R.J.P. et al.); and Cheddar res., Dec. 26 (J.A.McG., B.R.). SMEw Mergus albellus S. Counts, Chew Valley res. include: five (19), Jan. 26 and seven (359), Feb. 16 (P.J.C.); six (1g) on 22nd (B.K.); six (238), Feb. 29 (R.S.H.), Mar. 1 (P.J.C., M.A.W.); three (14), Mar. 6-10 (G.L.B. e al.) and two females on 22nd (R.J.P.); four (2g), Dec. 21-30 (A.H.D., R.J.S. e¢ al.). One, Blagdon res., Jan. 12 (C.L.); pair, Mar. 8 (R.S.H.); two males, same place, Dec. 19, and one on 20th (R.A., M.K.). SHELDUCK Tadorna tadorna S. Coastal breeding survey continued, Avonmouth to Weston-s- Mare, but accurate counting impossible owing to disturbance. Evidence, however, of further decline in number of young:— 1961 1962 1963 1964 Full-grown 340 396 205 200 /300 Juveniles 240 240 150 125 40 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT WHITE-FRONTED GoosE Anser albifrons albifrons G. New Grounds: numbers rose from 2,000, end Dec. 1963, to 3,000, Jan. 6, reaching peak 4,500, Feb. 23; departure began early March, total falling to 2,100 by roth and only 29 on 24th, when last seen. First autumn arrivals—eight, Oct. 1; slow increase to 101, Nov. 20, and 165, Dec. 9; influx, Dec. 20/21 with 735 on 21st and 1,430 on 31st (W.T.). S. Few records, max.—53, Batheaston, Jan. 3 (R.J.L.) and skeins flying north totalling 21, Blagdon res., Feb. 8 (R.A.) and 60, Portbury, same date (K.B.Y.). The only autumn records are— single birds, Blagdon res., Dec. 20 (M.K.), Chew Valley res., Dec. 21 (A.H.D., R.S.H., R.J.S.); 23 flying north-east, Sand Bay, Dec. 20, and 27 on 28th (R.A.). GREENLAND WHITE-FRONTED GoosE Anser albifrons flavirostris S. One, with single Anser a. albifrons, Chew Valley res., Dec. 21 (R.S.H.). LrEssER WHITE-FRONTED GOOsE Anser erythropus G. Single adult, New Grounds, Feb. 2, 4 (L.P.A.). BEAN GoosE Anser fabalis G. One, New Grounds, Jan. 26, and another, Feb. 8. Adult ¢ paired to 2 White-front, with second-winter Bean x White-front hybrid, arrived, same place, Oct. 5, and stayed to end of year (i j,.B: NEA Oe e7al:)., PINK-FOOTED Goose Anser brachyrhynchus G. Up to three, New Grounds, Jan.—early Feb.; seven, same place, Sept. 21 (W.T.). DARK-BELLIED BRENT GoosE Branta bernicla bernicla G. ‘Two, New Grounds, during January and one, Feb. 20 (W.T.). S. Party of nine, Axe Estuary, Jan. 18, 19 (R.A.). BARNACLE GoosE Branta leucopsis G. Eight, New Grounds, Jan. 1-10, with ninth bird on 11th; these, the most recorded at the Trust, present to 19th but only five thereafter which were joined by another, Feb. 6, and stayed to mid- March. One, same place, Dec. 31 (W.T.). S. One, Chew Valley res., Sept. 26-Oct. 20 (B.E.S., E.M.W. et al.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 4] CANADA GoosE Branta canadensis G. Flock from Frampton gravel pits visited W.T. enclosures daily in winter. In mid-summer immatures removed and total reduced to 56 birds, all ringed. Party of 28 (only 2 ringed) arrived on Dumbles, early Dec., and often fed.in W.T. enclosures but did not mix with Frampton birds (W.T.). RED-BREASTED GoosE Branta ruficollis G. Adult male reported, New Grounds, Dec. 31, 1963, stayed to Mar. 8 (H.J.B., M.A.O., P.S. e¢ al.). Record, fifth for Bristol area, accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Committee. Last occurrence, 1959—cf. Proc. B.N.S., 1959, p. 29. WHOOPER SWAN Cygnus cygnus G. The only records are of three,W.T. enclosures, New Grounds, Jan. 28, Feb. 9, and one, Mar. 15 (W.T.). BEwIck’s Swan) Cygnus columbianus bewickii G. New Grounds: 20-25 throughout Jan.—Feb. with 32, Jan. 31, birds departing early March but single imm. to Apr. 22; up to 25 throughout Dec. (W.T.). S. Party of 14 (10 ads.), Yeo Estuary, Jan. 1 (M.K.). Chew Valley res.: three ads., Jan. 1 (B.R.) and two to Feb. 8 (K.L.F. e¢ al.); nine (5 ads.), Mar. 15 (P.J.C.) and 13 on 28th (C.W., F.W.); 12 (5 ads.), Mar. 30—Apr. 5, and 11 on 15th (C.L., E.M.P., D.W. et al.). Heard in fog, Cheddar res., Jan. 5 (J.A.McG., M.G.W.) and two seen, Jan. 18, Feb. 8 (G.G.C. e¢ al.). Blagdon res.: six (2 ads.), wen. 26 (R.J.P.); 23 (14.ads.), Feb. 2 (M.K., C.S.) and up to 19, | Feb. 9-22 (W.L.R., M.A.W. et al.); 14 (9 ads.), Mar. 7 (M.K.); four (3 ads.), Mar. 15-20 and three on arst (R.A., R.M.C. eé¢ al.). Apart from two Blagdon records—five, Dec. 20 and seven on 24th —all end of year reports from Chew Valley res. where 16 (9 ads.), Dec. 21 (A.H.D., R.J.S.); only 10 on 22nd (S.E.C.) but 31 (20 ads.) on 28th (B.K., R.J.P.) and 36 (31 ads.) on gist. (C.L.). Buzzarp Buteo buteo G. Single birds, New Grounds, Upton Cheyney and Southmead, Bristol, Mar. 27, Apr. 10, May 19; two, nr. Wickwar, Apr. 1 and one, sometimes two, nr. Marshfield, throughout year (A.A.C., Fau:G., P.T.S.). S. Reported all months (180 sightings) with breeding season 42 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT records from Mendip area (may have bred), reservoirs, Wells and Bath. Eight records of four to six together. One juv., nr. Wrington, July 26 (M.K.). The distribution of sightings suggests a breeding season population of six to ten pairs in area. SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus G. Records for all months, except Feb. and Nov., include New Grounds, Wick, Filton, Shirehampton and Clifton. Pair reared three young, Almondsbury (H.W.N., J.F.R., G.S.). S. Reports (194) from over 30 distinct localities, coastal and inland, all months. Juv. identified, two localities, Aug.; pairs noted six localities, in breeding season. GosHAWK Accipiter gentilis S. One, overhead, Chew Valley res., Dec. 6, seen by B.K. who, in a long and detailed description, stresses the large size, thickset body, bullet-shaped head and rounded wings. MarsH HARRIER Circus aeruginosus S. Female, or imm., quartering reeds, Chew Valley res., May 27 ( li Bios). HEN HarriER Circus cyaneus S. A harrier, St. Catherine’s Valley, nr. Bath, Oct. 19, seen by R.J.L. who considered it to be a male of this species. Hossy Falco subbuteo G. One, Filton, June 20 (R.V.C.). Single birds, New Grounds © and Wick Court, three dates, last week Aug., early Sept. (L.P.A., DARE): S. Single birds, Uphill, May 22 (R.A.); Blagdon, ¢ stooped at soaring 9 Sparrowhawk, May 9 (G.S.), July 25 (P.J.Cc., C.L.); Chew Valley res., Aug. 3 (K.B.Y.), Sept. 7 (H.H.D., E.M.P.), two, possibly three, Sept. 11 (H.W.N., G.S.). One flying N.E., Twerton | nr. Bath, Aug. 22 (R.M.C.). PEREGRINE Falco peregrinus G. Ad. g, New Grounds, Jan._Mar.; another, Apr. 5 and ad. | | first seen Sept. 19, until end of year aL, P.A., R.M.C., M.A.O.). J One flew N.E., Sea Walls, Bristol, Jan. 28 (P. G. H.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 43 S. Single birds, Blagdon res., Feb. 8 and Dec. 6 (R.A., D.E.L.); Weston Bay, Mar. 22 (R.F., T.R.J.W.); Steep Holm, Oct. 6, 9 (Res. Stn.) and Sand Point, Oct. 31 (H.G.H.). Gyr Fatcon§ Falco rusticolus G. One, New Grounds, Jan. 26—Mar. 11; first seen by R.E.H. and later by P. St., G.L.W., H.R.W. and M.A.O. who noted pale grey plumage without strong markings except outer half of primaries which were darker. Record accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Com- mittee. Merun. Falco columbarius G. and S. Two gg, New Grounds, Jan. 19 (B.K.) and one, Mar. 5 (L.P.A.). Single birds, Chew Veliey res. mes 12, Mar. a1, mec. 21 (R.S.H., B.K., K.B.Y.); Brean Dourn Mars 1,-Oct. 21 (R.A.); Foxhill, Bath, Oct. 26 (R.M.C.); Cheddar res., Dec. 26 (J.A.McG.) and Blagdon res., Dec. 29 (B.K., R.J.P.). KestreL Falco tinnunculus G.andS. A total of 593 records shows the species to be generally distributed over the area. The best available estimate of population density, based on data from N. Somerset only, covering an area of ¢. 470 sq. miles, is one pair per 13 sq. miles. RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE Alectoris rufa S. Pair, Brean Down, at intervals throughout year (R.A.,, T.R.J.W.). One, nr. Midsomer Norton, Feb. 19 (G.G.C.); three, Wrington Warren, Sept. 19, and six, Goblin Combe, Nov. 29 QuaiL Coturnix coturnix G. and 8. Two calling, Marshfield, June 24; one, July 23, and one seen on 24th (R.M.C.). One, Clapton Moor, May 17 (R.D.); several, Freshford, June 8-18 (S.M.L.). Water Ratt Rallus aquaticus _ §. Single birds, Sand Bay, Feb. 2, Oct. 25, Nov. 1, and two on 22nd; one, Yeo Estuary, Oct. 18 (M.K., T.B.S.). Present through- out year, Chew Valley res. (max. of anes Oct.) where juv. seen, July 28, and two juvs., Sept. 8 (P.G.H., R. j.S., K.B.Y.). Other in- Jand records—single birds, Yatton, Sone 26, ane Congresbury, Oct. 44 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 18—both found dead (J.M.H., A.B.R.); Velvet Bottom, nr. Charter- house, Nov. 29 (R.M.C.) and three, Blagdon res., Dec. 19 (R.A.). SPOTTED CRAKE Porzana porzana G. One ringed, New Grounds, Oct. 21—seen until 24th (S.1.J.>MLA.©)): S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., Aug. 3, 9 (D.W.) and Dec. 31 (J.R.)—field notes supplied. CORNCRAKE Crex crex S. One, calling repeatedly, Middle Hope, Sand Point, May 10 OYSTERCATCHER Haematopus ostralegus G. and S. New Grounds: single birds frequently to end Sept., but sixteen, July 23 (L.P.A.).One, R. Avon, Pill, Mar. 1 (J.F.Bo5 one overhead (calling), Wrington, July 31 (M.K.). Reservoir records for March, May, Aug. and Sept., with max. of five, Chew Valley, Aug. 5 (K.L.F., R.J.P., K.B.Y. eé al.). Highest coastal count—100, Weston Bay, Nov. 21 (R.A.). Ad. recovered, Sand Bay, Dec. 12, had been ringed, Flint, 135 m. N., 15/11/63 (R.A.). Lapwinc Vanellus vanellus S. Few breeding season records but pairs reported from Nailsea, Clevedon, Kenn Moor, Gordano Valley and Woodspring. Southerly movements totalling c. 1,000 birds, in hard weather over Whitchurch, Dec. 28 (K.L.F.); c. 800 on similar course, Nailsea, on 29th (M.V.T., S.M.T.). 2,000-3,000, Emborough, Dec. 21 (R.S.H.); 1,000-+, Chew Valley res., on 27th and 28th (D.K.B., B.K.). LitTLeE RINGED PLOVER Charadrius dubius S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., Apr. 30 (R.S.H.); July 18- Aug. & (R.A., R.M.C., B.E.S., K.B.Y. eb.) GrEeY PLovER Charadrius squatarola G. and §. New Grounds: max.—up to eleven, Jan. 5—-May 25; twenty, Oct. 2-8 (L.P.A.). 42, Yeo Estuary area, Jan. 4; ten, Apr. 12 (M.K.); and up to fifteen, Oct. 3-Nov. 1 (M.K., T.B.S., K.B.Y.). Two, Blagdon res., Sept. 27 (R.J.P.) and one, Oct. 25—-Nov. 7 (R.M.C., M.K., K.B.Y.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 45 GOLDEN PLOVER Charadrius apricarius G. New Grounds: one of northern form, C. a. altifrons, in full breeding plumage, May 26 (L.P.A.). S. 130, Charmy Down, Bath, Feb. 29 (R.J.L.); 100, Saltford, various dates, Feb._Mar., Nov.—Dec. (P.T.S.); 40, Marksbury, mid- Apr., including one of northern form (R.M.C., B.K., K.B.Y.). Up to 80, Chew Valley res., Sept. 23-Nov. 29 (various observers); at least 300, same place, Dec. 13 (K.B.Y.). 400, Weston Bay, Nov. 22 (R.A.). 170, Nailsea Moor, Dec. 22 (E.C.). TURNSTONE Arenaria interpres G. One, New Grounds, May 23-25, and up to six, July 24- Aug. 19 (L.P.A.). Eleven, Sheperdine, Sept. 19 (J.D.R.V.); 125, Chittening, on 22nd (R.J.P.). S. Yeo Estuary: nineteen, Feb. 16; four, Sept. 27 (R.J.P.), and 25, Oct. 3 (M.K.). Weston Bay area: one, Apr. 19 (J.M.H.), May 31 (R.A.), July 26 (T.B.S.); two, Dec. 6 (R.A.) and one on 13th (R.J.S.). Chew Valley res.: one, Aug. 1 (R.A.); five, Aug. 19 (R.J.S.) and one on 2oth (R.A.). Jack Snipe Limnocryptes minimus G. and S. One, New Grounds, Sept. 27, Dec. 12 (L.P.A., M.A.O.). One, Corston, Mar. 15 (P.T.S.). Chew Valley res.: two, Feb. 16 (R.J.P.); four, Apr. 12 (R.J.P., K.B.Y.); up to four, Nov. 8 to end of year (various observers). T'wo, Blagdon res., Apr. 5 (M.K.). One, Cheddar res., Oct. 18 (J.A.McG.). Woopncock Scolopax rusticola S. Single birds, nr. Bath, Feb. 1 (R.J.L.) and Mar. 15 (P.T-.S.); Long Ashton, May 4 (J.E.A.); St. Catherine’s Valley, July 5 (R.M.C.); Dolebury Warren, Nov. 3 (S.I.B.) and Brean Down, Oct. 18-Nov. 8 (R.A., E.G.H., T.R.J.W.). CurLeEw Numenius arquata S. Breeding season records from Gordano Valley, Hinton Blewitt and Charterhouse (Mendip). WHIMBREL Numenius phaeopus G. and 8. Regular migrant, both passages, Severn Estuary and inland. Maximum counts: inland, 37, Stoke Moor, nr. Cheddar, May 2 (T.B.S.); coastal, 20, Yeo Estuary, May 2 (M.K.). 46 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT BLACK-TAILED Gopwit Limosa limosa G. and §. New Grounds: sixteen, July 16; 28, Aug. 7; 33, Sept. 3; ten, Oct. 8; one, Nov. 21 (L.P.A.). Chew Valley res.: one, May 9, 10 (R.S.H., R.J.S.); ten, Aug. 16 (R.J.S.); six, Sept. 20 (R.S.H.); twelve, Oct. 3 (T.B.S.); two, Dec. 31 (C.L.). Up to ten, Blagdon res., Aug. 15-Sept. 20 (many observers). Single birds, Cheddar res., Aug. 19 (A.D.) and R. Avon, Pill, Nov. 29, Dec. 23 (K.B.Y.). Five, Sand Bay, May 27, and four, Oct. 11 (R.A.). Two, St. George’s Wharf, Sept. 7 (J.D.R.V.). BAR-TAILED Gopwit Limosa lapponica G. and §. New Grounds: fifteen, Apr. 26; one, Aug. 16; up to seven, Sept.; two, Nov. 1 (L.P.A.). Seven, New Passage, Aug. 13 (R.H.P.). Chew Valley res.: one, Mar. 15 (P.J.C., M.A.W.); seven on 28th (B.E.S.); one, Sept. 12, 13 (various observers) and two, Nov. 25 (S.M.L.). Three, Blagdon res., Aug. 31 (K.L.F.); one, Sept. 2 (E.M.P.). Coastal records include: eleven, Sand Bay, Apr. 5 (1T.B.8.); six, mouth of Avon, Apr. 12 (K.B.Y.); 35-40, Weston Bay, Nov. 1 (P.J.C., M.A.W.), Dec. 13 (H.G.H., R.J.S:8 30, Clevedon, Nov. 8 (R.J.S.). GREEN SANDPIPER Tringa ochropus G. and 8. New Grounds: up to four, June 24 to end July; single bird frequently, Aug.—Nov. (L.P.A.). One on stream, Hinton, nr. Dyrham, Nov. 21 (P.L.G.). Chew Valley res.: one, Mar. 1-29 (G.L.B., R.M.C., R.J.S.); six, June 28° and over 30, July “2am (R.S.H.); up to max. of fourteen, Aug.—late Oct. (R.S.H., J.A.McG.). Blagdon res.: up to three, Aug. to mid-Oct. (P.J.C., M.K. ¢é al.). Single birds, Portbury, July 22 (K.B.Y.) and Litton MOS ss AUG les) Woop SANDPIPER Tringa glareola S. Reservoirs: single birds, Cheddar, Aug. 19-22 (J.A.McG., B.R.); Chew Valley, Aug. 22 (R.M.C.), Sept. 13 (J.E.A.); and Blagdon, Sept. 11 (P.J.C.). REDSHANK Tringa totanus S. No breeding records. Coastal flocks again smaller than usual: max. 60, mouth R. Avon, Mar. 1 (J.F.B.); 50+, near Clevedon, Aug. 21 (A.J.T.); 75, Sand Bay, Oct. 11 (R.A.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 47 SPOTTED REDSHANK Tringa erythropus G. and §. New Grounds: one, June 17, July 8; up to eighteen, Aug. 30-Oct. 2, and one, Nov. 1, 8 (L.P.A.). Chew Valley res.: one, sometimes two, Mar. 27—Apr. 30 (K.L.F., R.S.H., B.K.); two, in summer plumage, June 17 (R.J.P.); three, July 18 (R.A.); up to eighteen, Aug.—early Oct. (many observers); three, Nov. 8 (R.S.H.). Blagdon res.: max. fifteen, Sept. 19 (P.J.C.); one, Oct. 11, 17 (K.L.F., M.K.). Cheddar res.: one, Oct. 3 (R.M.C.). Single birds, Sand Bay, Aug. 12 (R.A.), 26 (T.B.S.) and Brean Down, Nov. 21 (Re JW.) GREENSHANK Tringa nebularia G. and §. New Grounds records include: one, Apr. 25; four, May 19; five, Aug. 16, Sept. 12-14, and one, Oct. 1-3 (L.P.A.). One calling over Clifton, Aug. 9 (G.S.). Chew Valley res.: one, Apr. 12 (B.R.); up to twelve, Aug. to early Oct. (many observers) ; one, Nov. 29 (D.W.). Blagdon res.: three, July 18 (C.L.); 23, Aug. 23 (R.J.P.); nine, Sept. 13 (J.A.McG.) and two on aist (B.R.). Cheddar res.: three, Aug. 20, and two on 27th (A.D., J.A.McG.). Yeo Estuary: one, May 2; at least sixteen, Aug. 22; max. of twelve, same place, Sept.—Oct.; one, Nov. 1 (M.K.). One calling, Saltford, Aug. 31 (B.K.). Knot Calidris canuius G. and §. New Grounds: four, May 26; autumn max. 22, Sept. 27 (L.P.A.). Reservoirs: one, Cheddar, Jan. 18, 19 (G.G.C., T.L. et al.); one, sometimes two, Chew Valley, Feb., Apr., Aug. (G.L.B., B.K., M.K., K.B.Y.), and one, Blagdon, Aug. 23~30 (many observers). Coastal max.: c. 3,500, Weston Bay, Dec. 19 (R.A.). PURPLE SANDPIPER Calidris maritima G. and §. Two or three, with Turnstones and Dunlin, Severn Beach, Dec. 28 (A.H.D.). One on rocks, Brean Down, Jan. I (T.R.J.W.). LittLe Stint Calzdris minuta G. and S. New Grounds: two, Sept. 17, and four on 18th and 20th; two, Oct. 6 (L.P.A.). One, sometimes two, Chew Valley res., Aug. 15-Sept. 26 (R.A., J.A.McG., B.E.S., N.R.W.). Single birds, Cheddar res., Sept. 24 (J.A.McG.), and Woodspring Bay, Oct. 11 (ChB; 48 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT ‘TEMMINCK’sS STINT Calidris temmincki S.. One, Chew Valley res., July 26, 27) (Rex Rees oP): field notes supplied. PECTORAL SANDPIPER Calidris melanotos S. One, Blagdon res., Aug. 30-Sept. 8, was first identified and fully described by R.M.C. and R.P.; bird subsequently seen (in company with Greenshanks, Ruffs and a Dunlin) by S.E.C., M.K., T.B.S. and others. Dunuin_) Calidris alpina G. and 8S. New Grounds max.: 1,700, Apr. 23; 1,500, July 21 (L.P.A.). Reservoir records include: 76, Chew Valley, April 15 (R.J.P.) and 430 (a high figure), Dec. 13 (B.K.); at least 120, Cheddar, Nov. 29 (J.A.McG., B.R.); 80, Blagdon, Dec. 6 (A.H.D.). CURLEW SANDPIPER Calidris testacea G. and §. Up to four, New Grounds, Sept. 17—Oct. 1 (L.P.A.). Single birds, Blagdon res., Aug. 22 (M.K.), Sept. 9 (G.L.B.); Sand Bay area, Sept. 7 (R.A.), Oct. 11 (T.B.S.) and nr. Clevedon, Oct. 31 (K.B.Y.). SANDERLING Crocethia alba G. and S. New Grounds records include: thirteen, May 8, June 7; six, Sept. 3, 4 (L.P.A.). Few coastal records: two, Steep Holm, May 3 (Res. Stn.); three, Weston Bay—Sand Bay, May 9, Aug. 30 (R.A.). One, Cheddar res., Aug. 18 (T.B.S.). Rurr Plhilomachus pugnax G.and 8. Upto three, New Grounds, July 24—Nov. 22 (L.P.A). Chew Valley res.: one, various dates, mid-Jan. to mid-Apr.; two, July 12; up to six, Aug.—Sept.; one, Oct. 31 (R.M.C., B.E.S. ¢ al). Blagdon res.: up to eleven, Aug.; three, Sept. 2, 5; one, Oct. 11 (S.M.L., N.R.W., K.B.Y. e¢ al.). Cheddar res.: two, Aug. 7; four Sept. 6; one, sometimes two, Oct.—Dec. (B.K., R.J.P., B.R. ef al.). PRATINCOLE Glareola pratincola S. One, showing characters of the black-winged phase (with dark underwing), Chew Valley res., Sept. 6-8; first seen and identi- fied by M.L. and J.S. and later by R.M.C., H.H.D., G.S. eé¢ al. Record, first for Bristol area, accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Committee. BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 49 Arctic SkuaA_ Stercorarius parasiticus G. One, imm., dark phase, New Grounds, June 27 and one, light phase, July 21 (L.P.A.). Common GuLL Larus canus S. At least 1,000, Chew Valley res., Feb. 1 (R.S.H.) and 400, Herriott’s Bridge, Mar. 6 (W.L.R.). Coastal records include 1,000, Weston Bay, Dec. 25 (R.A.). LirTL—E GuLtL Larus minutus G. and S. One, imm., New Grounds, June g (L.P.A.). First- winter bird, Chew Valley res., Apr. 19-26 (B.K., B.R. e¢ al.); one, ad., Aug. 22 (R.M.C., B.E.S.) and one, imm., Sept. 22 (K.B.Y.). Single juvs., Cheddar res., Aug. 19-22 (A.D., J.A.McG., B.R.) and Blagdon res. on 29th (M.K.). KirtiwAkE Rissa tridactyla S. One imm., Chew Valley res., Apr. 21, 26 (K.L.F., T.B.S.) and one found dead, same place, Apr. 26 (J.A.McG.). Single imm., Sand Bay, Sept. 9, and one, found dead, Dec. 20 (R.A.). Brack TERN Chlidonias niger G. and S. Spring passage: up to 14, New Grounds, May 17- June 3 (L.P.A.); one, Blagdon res., Apr. 19 (H.H.). Autumn passage: Chew Valley res., July 6—Oct. 11, with max. 30, Aug. 17 (G.L.B., P.J.C., T.B.S.); Blagdon res., July 18-Sept. 20, max. 11, Aug. 27 (D.K.B., G.C.B., S.I.B.); Cheddar res., Aug. 17—Oct. 8, max. 10, Aug. 22 (A.D., B.R., N.R.W.) and up to three, New Passage, Sept. 17 (R.H.P.). Common TERN Sterna hirundo Arctic TERN Sterna macrura G. and §S. Spring passage showed max. 29, New Grounds, May 17, and up to four, Chew Valley res., Apr. 15-30 (L.P.A., T.B.S., K.B.Y.). Recorded on return passage, Estuary and resrs., June 8—-Oct. 8; max. 30, Chew Valley, Sept. 2 (B.C.P., E.M.P., N.R.W. et al.). RosEATE TERN Sterna dougallii S. One, Chew Valley res., flying W., July 18 (R.A.); long tail streamers, pale grey upper parts and very white underparts noted. D 50 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT LitTLeE TERN Sterna albifrons | S. One, Chew Valley res., Oct. 31 (K.L.F.), a late date. SANDWICH TERN Sterna sandvicensis S. Single birds, Cheddar res., Apr. 18, Aug. 17, and two, Sept. 17 (R.M.C., T.B.S. e al.). One, Chew Valley res., Sept. 17 (G.L.B.). RazorBiLL Alca torda G. One, ad., harried by gulls, close inshore, New Passage, sept. 17 (RP. S. Adult, Steep Holm, June 27, 29 (Res. Stn.) and one, dead in tide-wrack, Uphill, Axe Estuary, July 11 (R.A.). GuILLEMoT Uria aalge S. One, long dead, Sand Bay, Dec. 6 (R.A., T.B.S.). Stock Dove Columba oenas G. Reports from six localities, Feb.—June (R.A., C.L., R.J.P.). S. Recorded in breeding season from eight widely separated areas (P.J.C., M.K. e¢ al.). Two, Steep Holm, June 27, and one, July 1 (Res. Stn.). COLLARED Dove _ Streptopelia decaocio G. Now well established in Bristol where 35-40 pairs located— many breeding—mainly in Shirehampton (18 pairs), Sneyd Park— Stoke Bishop (at least 5 pairs) and Clifton (8 pairs). Flocks of 175- 200, Avonmouth Docks and fifteen, Clifton Zoo (30 in January), Sept._Nov., suggest total of c. 250 in City of Bristol (per P.J.C., C.L.). ‘Two pairs, Downend (D.M.S., R.H.P.) and pair, Mangots- field (J.D.R.V.). Also resident and breeding around Slimbridge —ten pairs early in year; three nests, March—April; up to 30, early November (M.A.O.). S. Only two records within Somerset part of Bristol—one, Brislington (M.W.) and pair, Bedminster (M.K.). Bred, Pill (J.F.B.) and probably at Clevedon (P.F.). Present throughout year, Weston-s-Mare, where up to eight seen, August (R.A.). Also reported from Portishead (at least 4 birds, possibly 3 pairs), Mar.— Aug. (C.G. e al.), Sand Point (R.H.P.), Blagdon (G.H.), Bishop Sutton (5 on May 10, A.P.R.) and Cheddar (J.A.McG.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 51 Cuckoo Cuculus canorus G. and S. Reports from 16 localities include one flying S.E., Broadmead, Bristol, July 27 (C.L.); juv. in nest of Reed Warbler, Chew Valley res., July 26 (D.W.); another juv., Brean Down, Aug. 16 (R.A.) and three, Winterbourne, early Sept. (J. J.). In view of a suspected decline in numbers elsewhere, all future records will be of value. Barn Ow. Tyito alba S. The only records are of single birds, Chew Valley res., Jan. 20, Oct. 21, 29, Dec. 20 (K.L.F., D.W.); Blagdon res., Sept. 8 (C.L.); Kingston Seymour, Oct. 21, 24 (M.K.). Not seen on Yatton Moor, where often noted previously (H.H.D.). LirtLE Owt Athene noctua G. Records of twelve birds (10 in breeding season), all from coastal plain, R. Avon to Thornbury (P.G.H., C.L., J.D.R.V. et al.). S. Reported all months (49 sightings) from 18 localities extend- ing from coast to Bath area (P.J.C., R.M.C., C.L. e¢ al.). Tawny Ow. Strix aluco G. and §. Reported from all well-observed localities, all months—77 records. Breeding proved, New Grounds, Clifton, Leigh Woods, Clapton Moor and Oakford, nr. Bath (P.J.C., R.M.C., A.P.R. e¢ al.). SHORT-EARED OwL Aszio flammeus S. Single birds, Cadbury Camp, Clevedon and Clevedon Moor, Sept. (H.H.D., F.V.); at least one, North Hill, nr. Priddy, Dec. 11 (BUR:):. KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis G. and S. Increase in records (48) from rivers Frome, Avon, Kenn, Yeo and reservoirs in breeding season suggests some recovery. Bred nr. Chew Stoke (the late T. H. Payne per S.M.T.). One found dead, Chew Stoke, Apr. 19 (D.W.). Hooport Upupa epops G. Single birds, King’s Weston Down, April, 1963, and Westbury-on-Trym, June (M.B.P.). S. One, Blagdon Hill, May 17 (A.C.). 52 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT GREEN WOooDPECKER Picus viridis S. Sixty records (only nine, 1963), all months, indicate some recovery. Successful breeding reported, Clapton Wick and Goblin Combe (M.K., A.J.T.). GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER JDendrocopos major S. Unusually low nest-site, four feet from ground in Cherry, Saltford, May-June (P.T.S.). LrEssER SPOTTED WOODPECKER Dendrocopos minor G. Noted, nr. Wick, November (D.R.H.). S. Single birds, Ubley and Blagdon res., May—Oct. (R.A., M.K., G.S.). Ad. feeding young in Alder, nr. Claverton, June 11 (R.M.C.). WRYNECK JFynx torquilla G. Ad. found dead, Wick, Aug. 1963 (D.R.H.). S. Single birds, Flax Bourton, Apr. 28, and Backwell, Sept. 5 (G.E.C.). Woop.LarRK Lullula arborea S. One on Mendip, May 16 (K.L.F.); three, Brean Down, Oct. 18, and one on 27th (T.R.J.W.)—the only records. SHORE Lark Evemophila alpestris S. Good views of one (considered to be ad. 3), Sand Point, Oct. 18 (G.C.B., S.I.B.). House Martin Delichon urbica S. Early date: one, Cheddar res., Mar. 19 (J.A.McG.). Three pairs, Wrington, reared young from nests under eaves of unfinished houses despite scaffolding activities throughout (M.K.). SanpD Martin Riparia riparia S. About 120 at reed-bed roost, Chew Valley res., Apr. 12 (M.K.). Colony of ¢. ten pairs in wall drains, Parson Street Station, Bedminster, May 8 (J.F.B.). One, Saltford, on late date of Oct. 24 (B.K.). RAVEN Corvus corax S. Brean Down: breeding again reported; up to four noted, various dates, Jan._May (R.A. ef al.). One, Cheddar, Feb. 2 (J.A.McG.), and birds frequently seen, July—Dec., in other Mendip BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 53 localities including Blagdon, Charterhouse, Stock Hill, Wavering Down and Burrington, with max. of six flying towards coast, July 15 (S.1.B., R.J.P., D.S., T.B.S. e¢ al.). One, sometimes two, over Cadbury Camp ridge and adjoining moors, several dates, Mar.— Apr., Oct.-Nov. (H.H.D., H.R.H., P.G.H.). Steep Holm: one or two, Oct., but no sign earlier of breeding (Res. Stn.). CARRION CROW Corvus corone corone S. Pair bred, Steep Holm; nest with egg, May 1 (Res. Stn.). 140 feeding on stranded Swan Mussels, Blagdon res., Oct. 31— many rising with mussels in their bills and dropping them; 200+, same place, Apr. 14, and several dates, Nov.—Dec. (M.K., R.J.P.). HoopEep Crow Corvus corone cornix S. One, with Jackdaws, in arable field, top of West Hill, Wraxall, Mar. 29-31 (H.H.D., M.A.W.). One nr. Ubley, Apr. 19 (K.B.Y.). Rook Corvus frugilegus G. A 50% sample count at Rookeries in Severn Vale census area by H.J.B., M.A.O. and S.M.T. showed an estimated nest density of 19.1 per sq. mile compared with 21.0 in 1963; 22.8 in 1962, and 24.6 in 1961—a steady decline of 9° per ann. compared with a 2% per ann. increase from 1933 to 1956. WitLtow Tir Parus montanus S. One (a solitary bird) seen and heard, Holcombe Woods, Mec.-26 (R.S.H.). LoNG-TAILED Tir Aegithalos caudatus G. and S. Reported widely, breeding season and in autumn parties, with numbers apparently back to normal. Records from Marshfield, Tortworth, Clevedon, Chew Stoke, Stanton Drew, Blagdon and elsewhere (A.A.C., G.S., A.J.T., D.W. ef al.). TREECREEPER Certhia familiaris S. Of nineteen Wellingtonias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) examined, Ashton Park, in March, twelve were found with roost cavities; four roosting birds seen (A.B., J.B.). One caught, Steep Holm, Oct. 9 (Res. Stn.). 54 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Wren_~ Troglodytes troglodytes G. and S. Numbers not everywhere back to normal but in many localities is apparently making a good recovery. Dierper Ciunclus cinclus G. One, R. Boyd, Wick, Jan. 17 (D.R.H.). S. Single birds on stream, Cheddar village, Jan. 26, Feb. 16 (P.J.C., M.A.W.) and on stream, Stratton Moor, Feb. 11 (R.S.H.). Midford (Bath): one, carrying food, May 10, and one, imm., July 20, and one or two, various dates, Nov.—Dec. (R.M.C.). One, Shockerwick, same area, Nov. 7 (R.M.C.). FIELDFARE Turdus pilaris REDwinc Turdus musicus S. Up to 600 Fieldfares and 2,000 Redwings roosting, Goblin Combe, Cleeve, Nov.—-early Dec., and up to 15,000 Redwings (a few Fieldfares), Rowberrow Warren, in same period; latter roost much reduced (1,800 or less) by mid—Dec. (M.K., R.J.P., D.S., T.B.S.). S. and G. Large cold weather movement of Redwings, mostly S. to S.E., noted, Sand Bay and Clevedon, Dec. 27 (R.A., A.J.T.), and in Downend (Bristol) area on same day and during night to dawn of 28th (R.H.P.). Rinc OuzeL Turdus torquatus G.andS. Pair, Filton golf course, Mar. 25 (R.A.); one, Rodway Common, Mangotsfield, Mar. 28 (P.L.G.). Two, Brean Down, Mar. 31 (M.A.S., T.B.S.); seen also Clevedon, same day, and Apr. 6 (A.J.T.). One, Brean Down, Sept. 2, and one Sand Point, on 12th (R.H.P.). STONECHAT Saxicola torquata G. and S. One or two, Rodway Common, Mangotsfield, early Nov. (P.L.G.). Frequently noted, up to six or more, Brean Down, and up to nine, Sand Point, Jan._Mar. and Sept.—Dec.; autumn / winter records also from Black Down and Charterhouse, Blagdon and Chew Valley resrs. (many observers). Breeding, or breeding season, records from Brean Down, Sand Point and Dolebury Warren (R.A., 5. B:) PRij2W: eal.) WHINCHAT Saxicola rubetra G. and §. Coastal and inland passage records from widely scattered localities. Breeding season reports from Shipham, Chew Valley res. and Weston-in-Gordano (J.F.B., $.1.B., A.H.D. eé¢ al.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 55 Brack Repstart Phoenicurus ochruros S. Single birds on sea-wall, Kingston Seymour, Jan. 1, and on building site, Wrington, Apr. 26 (M.K.). Brean Down: one, some- times two or three, various dates, Jan.—Mar. (K.L.F., B.R., B.E.S. et al.); one, May 16, “‘singing vigorously on buildings, West tip, as if marking out territory. Not seen subsequently.” (T.R.J.W.). One trapped, Steep Holm, Oct. 9 (Res. Stn.). NIGHTINGALE Luscinia megarhynchos G. and S. Six in song, Michael Wood, nr. ‘Tortworth, Apr. 26 (A.P.R.). Singing birds reported from Leigh Woods, Claverton, Walton-in-Gordano, Chew Valley and Axbridge (J.F.B., P.G.H., K.B.Y. et al.). One, Brean Down, July 25 (T.R.J.W.). GRASSHOPPER WARBLER Locustella naevia G. Up to four singing, Oakford, nr. Marshfield, from mid—Apr. (A.A.C., R.M.C.). Eight singing, Inglestone Common (Hawkes- bury Upton), Apr. 30, and twelve singing, Michael Wood (Tort- worth), May 17 (A.P.R.). S. Singing birds noted in many localities—coastal and inland. Nestling ringed (AK6g9028), Leigh Woods, 7 /6 /63, recovered 400 m. S. by lighthouse, Pointe de la Coubre, France, 4/9 /64 (P.J.C.)— only the second foreign recovery of a British-ringed specimen. REED WARBLER Acrocephalus scirpaceus G. and S. Breeding season records from Littleton-on-Severn, Blagdon, Weston-in-Gordano, Chew Valley and Bleadon (J.F.B., A.H.D., C.L. e al.). Juv. ringed (AB28129), Littleton-on-Severn, 19/8/61, retrapped Sharpness, 21 /7 /64 (P.J.C.). BiackcaP Sylvia atricapilla S. Wintering female, Saltford, various dates, Jan.—Feb. (R.J.P., P.T.S.); two males, same place, Feb. 28 (P.T-S.). CHIFFCHAFF Phylloscopus collybita G. One ringed (AK69183), Littleton-on-Severn, Sept. 12, recovered c. g00 m. 8., Vizcaya, N. Spain, Nov. 24 (P.J.C.). Woop WarBLER_ Pahylloscopus sibilatrix Singing birds—G. Hallen and nr. Marshfield, and §S. Leigh Woods, Cleeve, Combe Down (Bath), Shipham, Ebbor, Emborough, Weston-s-Mare and nr. Wells (many observers). 56 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Gotpcrest Regulus regulus S. About fifteen (8 trapped), Steep Holm, Oct. 8 (Res. Stn.). Prep FLycaTcHER Muscicapa hypoleuca G. and §. Male, Hambrook, Apr. 19 (J.J.). Three in oak trees, Filton golf course, Sept. 17 (R.A.). Single males, Leigh Woods, Apr. 17 (R.C.) and Weston Woods on 23rd (R.A.). Aug. /Sept. records (single birds) from Clevedon, Brean Down and Weston Woods RH Ps Ale ls i Rae) Tree Prieir Anthus trivialis G. and S. Reported widely in breeding season from Cotswold, Mendip and lowland localities. Rock Piprr Anthus spinoletta petrosus S. Inland records: single birds, Cheddar res., Feb. 1 (W.L.R.) and three occasions, Oct.—Dec. (R.M.C., B.K., J.A.McG.). WATER Piprr Anthus spinoletia spinoletta S. Chew Valley res.: four, Jan. 18 (R.M.C.); one, Feb. 16 (B.K.); one or two, various dates, late Mar. (R.J.P., B.E.S. e¢ al.) and one, Dec. 19 (R.M.C.). One or two, Cheddar res., early Nov. to mid-Dec. (B.K., T.B.S. e¢ al.). GREAT GREY SHRIKE Lanius excubitor S. One, usually on overhead wires or isolated trees, Charter- house, Mendip, frequent occasions, Nov. 21—Dec. 8 (R.A., G.C.B., M.K., T.B.S. et al.); a second, and brighter looking, bird seen, Ubley, Nov. 28, by M.K. who has supplied a full description. RED-BACKED SHRIKE Lanius cristatus S. One report only—a male on Mendip, May 14 (E.M.W.). Hawrincu- Coccothraustes coccothraustes S. Ad. on nest, Leigh Woods, May 18 (P.J.C.). One, Chil- compton, Oct. 21 (R.S.H.). SISKIN Carduelis spinus G. One, Slimbridge, Sept. 17 (L.P.A.)—early date. One or two, Filton, several dates, Oct.—Dec. (R.A.). S. Records include: 20, Chew Valley res., Jan. 19 (K.L.F.) and ten, Feb. 16, Dec. 28 (B.K., R.J.P.); 35, Blagdon, Mar. 22, 30 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT D7 (P.J.C., M.K.) and 25, Nov. 21 (R.J.P., D.S.); 20, Goblin Combe, Cleeve, Mar. 28 (M.K.). Small parties (usually less than 6 birds) also noted: Shipham, Sand Point, Brean Down, Steep Holm and elsewhere. LessER REDPOLL Carduelis flammea cabaret G. One nr. Marshfield, Mar. 1 and parties of eight and eleven, same locality, Oct. 25, Nov. 22 (A.A.C.). One, Slimbridge, July 17 and four (usually in W.T. enclosures), Oct. 7—Nov. 22 (L.P.A.). S. Autumn /winter records, usually of singles or small parties, from Ashton Park, Blagdon, Chew Valley, Litton, Yeo Estuary, Wick St. Lawrence, Emborough, Chilcompton and elsewhere. CrossBiLL Loxia curvirostra G. and S. Up to fifteen in larches, Filton, Jan.—early Mar. (R.A.). Parties of six to twenty or more, Blagdon res., frequent intervals, Jan._early Apr. (many observers). Eighteen in plantation, Failand (where a pair may subsequently have bred), Jan. 19 (R.H.P.). Twelve, Wrington, Mar. 28 (M.K.), and fourteen, Clapton-in-Gordano, on 29th (H.H.D.). Smaller parties, Jan.—_May, at Tickenham, Litton, Shipham and Holcombe Woods (J.B., T.B.S. et al.). BRAMBLING Fringilla montifringilla G. and S. Reported in small numbers from many widely scattered localities, but 50 in kale field, nr. Marshfield, Feb. 16 (A.A.C.) and 100 on stubble, with 500 Chaffinches, Priddy, Mendip, Dec. 6 (J.A.McG.). Corn Buntinc Emberiza calandra G. ‘Two on open farmland nr. Mangotsfield, May 20 (P.L.G.). Several in song, Tormarton, June 6 (J.D.R.V.). One seen and heard nr. Marshfield, Nov. 22 (A.A.C.). S. One on sea-wall, Kingston Seymour, Jan. 18 (M.K.). Single birds, Charterhouse (J.D.R.V.), and in Bath district at Charmy Down, Midford and Corston, Apr.—June (R.J.L.). Two or three, Saltford, mid-Apr. (B.K.) and on Lansdown, June—July (R.M.C., R.J.L.). Single birds, Felton Common, July 6, 9 (D.W.) and Yoxter on 30th (P.G.H.). One, Chew Valley, Nov. 7 (R.J.L.). Cirt Buntinc Emberiza cirlus Breeding season records from G@.—Shirehampton (P.G.H.) and S.—Kewstoke, Worlebury, Cleeve, Wrington, Shipham, Axbridge and Cheddar (various observers). 58 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Snow Buntinc Plectrophenax nivalis S. Coastal localities: single birds, Brean Down, Mar. 31 (M.A.S., T.B.S.), Oct. 24 (R.M.C.), Nov. 11 (F.V.); and Clevedon—one, Nov. 8 (R.J.S., M.J.Y.) but two seen, same date (F.V.). TREE SPARROW Passer montanus Reported throughout year from many parts. Breeding season records from G@.—Kingsweston, Northwick, Dodington and Puckle- church, and §.—Chew Valley, Cleeve, nr. Bath and Midsomer Norton. Tree Sparrows (4) and House Sparrows (12) seen as migrants, tip of Brean Down, Oct. 18 (R.H.P.). SPECIES REPORTED BUT NOT INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEMATIC LisT:— Residents : Little Grebe, Cormorant, North American Ruddy Duck, Mute Swan, Partridge, Moorhen, Coot, Common Snipe, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Skylark, Jackdaw, Magpie, Jay, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Hedge Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Starling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Yellow Bunting, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow. Summer or Winter Visitors and Passage Migrants: Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Turtle Dove, Swift, Swallow, Wheatear, Redstart, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, White Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail. PEPIDOPRPTERA NOTES Bros TOL DISTRICT, 1964 BUTTERFLIES By J. F. Burton N encouraging number of records were again sent in by local naturalists: 24 contributed compared with 18 in 1963. I hope that this total may be further increased next year; all records are welcome even for the commonest species. The area covered by this report consists roughly of Gloucestershire south of a line from Slim- bridge to Tetbury, and Somerset north of the Parrett Estuary and the Polden Hills; a very few records for localities just outside these boundaries are also given. 1964, was a good year for butterflies over most of Britain, especially in the south, and this was reflected in our area. Several species showed signs of recovery and migrants were much more in evidence. Better weather conditions were presumably largely responsible, but a general recovery may be occurring, as happened several times in the past 200 years after lean periods. Such fluctua- tions have been correlated with significant climatic changes and since, apparently, we are now returning to the climate which pre- vailed in Britain prior to 1850 it is particularly important to study insect population changes. The continued destruction of habitat is, however, a real threat to the recovery of those local species with specialized requirements such as the Adonis Blue. All records received for 1964 are given, except for commoner species where information is summarized. Contributors were: R. Angles BA), GC. S. H. Blathwayt (C.S.H.B.), J. F. Burton (J.F.B.), Mr. & Mrs. G. Buxton (G. & S.B.), E. Clay (E.C.), Miss A. M. Clough (A.M.C.), J. E. Cooper (J.E.C.), J. Cowley (J.C.), H. H. Davis (H.H.D.), R. Dobson (R.D.), A. Drake (A.D.), R. A. England (R.A.E.), M. Kendall (M.K.), Miss Marjorie Knight myEKt.), HH. W. Neal (H.W.N.), Mrs. B. J. Pitt (B.J.P.), K. H. Poole (K.H.P.), M. A. Silcocks (M.A.S.), T. B. Silcocks (T.B.S.), Dr. D. A. Stopher (D.A.S.), Dr. & Mrs. R. Warin (R.W.) and T. R. J. Williams (T.R.J.W.). G. refers to Gloucestershire, S. to Somerset. All notes are of adult insects unless otherwise stated. Pararge aegeria Linn. (Speckled Wood) This species enjoyed a much better year than in 1963 and reports indicate that it was generally common in most suitable localities around Bristol and 60 jJ- F. BURTON AND K. H. POOLE indeed within the city boundaries themselves : e.g., on Clifton and Durdham Downs. The earliest report was of one at Goblin Combe, S., on April 30 (J.C.). The first part of the first generation evidently appeared in good numbers at the end of April and early May, while a second peak of emer- gences about mid-June presumably represented the second part of the first generation. ‘The first part of the second generation appeared in force in early August and the species remained abundant until mid-September ; a peak at the end of August probably indicated the main emergence of the second part of the brood. Numbers steadily decreased from mid-September, but stragglers occurred in early October, the last one being recorded at Blagdon Lake, S., on the 17th by M.K. G. Apart from Clifton and Durdham Downs, Bristol, where it was numerous in July and August, reports were received from Charfield and Filton. S. Common in its usual haunts throughout north Somerset ; reports from Leigh Woods, Abbots Leigh, Ham Green, Pill, Portishead, Clapton- in-Gordano (Westpark Wood), Cadbury Camp, Kenn, Nailsea, Con- gresbury (Urchin Wood), Goblin Combe, Blagdon, Ubley, Weston Woods, Worlebury Hill, Brean Down, Banwell Wood, Lox Yeo River valley, Axbridge Hill, Shute Shelve, Dolebury Camp, Cheddar, Shipham, Ivythorn Hill, Catcott and Meare Heaths. Pararge megera Linn. (Wall Brown) Quite numerous in 1964, although the first brood was less plentiful than the second. G. Durdham Down, Bristol : one, July 1 (J.F.B.) ; Charfield : one, Sept. 4 (M.Kt.). S. Cadbury Camp: one, Aug. 2 and 27, 4 on Aug. 28 (E.C.) ; Broadfield Farm Combe: 2-3, Aug. 23; Burrington Combe: one, Aug. 23 (J.F.B.); Axbridge Hill: one, Aug. 25 (K.H.P.); Crook Peak: a few, May 17 (D.A.S.), one, Aug. 26 (J.C.); Yeo estuary: one, Aug. 25 (E.C.); Sand Point: one, Aug. 30 (R.A.); Worle: plentiful, July 4; Worlebury Hill: one, July 13 (K.H.P.); Weston-s-Mare: one male, May 20 and Aug. 30 (K.H.P.); Brean Down: one in early June, several on Aug. 12 and 16, one on Aug. 20, quite common on Aug. 22, 3 on Aug. 29 (R.A., J.C., T.R.J.W.); Hythe Moor, nr. Cheddar: one, Aug. 21; Meare Heath: one male, Aug. 21 (J.F.B.); Huntspill: 2, Aug. 22 (R.A.). Melanargia galathea Linn. (Marbled White) Apparently continuing to maintain its numbers where its favoured haunts remain unspoilt. Records of this species would be particularly welcomed in future years, so that its true status may be ascertained. G. Kingsweston Down, Bristol: a few, July 27 (D.A.S.); Boxwell: common, Aug. 3; Michael Wood, nr. Stone: 2, July 7 (M.Kt.). S. West Hill, nr. Wraxall: 2-3, July 19; nr. Cadbury Camp: 5, July 27, 2 on July 28, one on July 30 and Aug. 2 (E.C.); Clapton-in-Gordano: one by Westpark Wood, July 24 (H.H.D.); nr. Clevedon: common, July 12 (D.A.S.); Sand Point: noted, July 3 and 12 (R.A.); Worlebury Hill: reported by schoolboys (K.H.P.); Brean Down: common in early July (T.R.J.W.), noted, July 26 (R.A.); Shipham: 2, July 5 (G. & S.B.); Blagdon Lake: 4, Aug. 1 (M.K.); Walton Heath: a few, July 19 (D.A.S.). Eumenis semele Linn. (Grayling) S. Cadbury Camp: one, Aug. 27 (E.C.); Sand Point: 6+, July 26, noted, Aug. 9 (R.A.); Brean Down: very common in July, smaller numbers LEPIDOPTERA NOTES 61 throughout August, one on Sept. 1 (T.R.J.W.), one, July 26, 6+-, Aug. 16 (R.A.), c. 6, Aug. 20 (J.C.); Crook Peak: 2, Aug. 26 (J.C.); Dolebury Warren: 6, Aug. 22 (E.C.); Charterhouse: fairly common, Aug. 15 (D.A.S.); Velvet Bottom, nr. Charterhouse: common, Aug. 22 (D.A.S.), several, Aug. 23 (J.F.B.); Draycott: fairly common, July 26 (D.A.S.). Maniola tithonus Linn. (Hedge Brown) G. S. Fairly common in suitable habitats around Bristol. Kingsweston Down, Bristol: fairly common, July 25 (D.A.S.); Clifton Down, Bristol: one female, Aug. 4 (J.F.B.). Ashton Park, nr. Bristol: plentiful, July (J.E.C.); Leigh Woods: plentiful, July (J.E.C.), 2, Aug. 23 (J.F.B.); Abbots Leigh: one male, Aug. 6; Ham Green: one, Aug. 22; Pill, one, Aug. 3 (J.F.B.); Portishead: many around the power station, July 31 (H.H.D.); Cadbury Camp: very common in July and August, one, Sept. 12 (E.C.); Blagdon Lake: abundant in one area on N.W. shore, Aug. 1, 2 at Water Mint, Aug. 23 and another, Aug. 29 (M.K.); Sand Point: one, Aug. 9 (R.A.); Brean Down: several, July 18, Aug. 12 and 22, one, Aug. 30 (T.R.J.W.); Walton Heath: fairly common, July 19 (D.A.S.). Maniola jurtina Linn. (Meadow Brown) G. and S. Records indicated that jurtina was generally common around Bristol from mid-June to mid-September. The earliest reported was one on Worlebury Hill, S., on June 12 (K.H.P.) and the latest, two on Green Down, Charlton Mackrell, S., on Sept. 29 (J.C.). Coenonympha pamphilus Linn. (Small Heath) G. Ss. Although locally plentiful, several reports suggest that pamphilus is surprisingly scarce in some districts. All records are given below: Filton: 2, Aug. 20, one, Aug. 28 (R.A.). Leigh Woods: one, June 28—only one seen in 1964 (J.E.C.); Cadbury Camp: fairly common in a limited area (E.C.); Weston Moor: one, May 17 (J.F.B.); Sand Point: 12, Aug. 30 (R.A.); Worlebury Hill: 3 on the golf-links, June 12; Weston-s-Mare: noted, Sept. 7 (K.H.P.); Brean Down: very common in July, small numbers present throughout August and a few on Sept. 12 and 26 (T.R.J.W.), one, Aug. 16 (R.A.), several, Aug. 20 (J.C.); Crook Peak: several, Aug. 26 (J.C.); Axbridge Hill: noted, Aug. 25 (K.H.P.); Dolebury Warren: one, Aug. 21 (E.C.); Velvet Bottom, nr. Charterhouse: a few on Aug. 22 (D.A.S.) and 23 (J.F.B.); Huntspill: 2, Aug. 22 (R.A.); Walton Hill, nr. Street: several, Aug. 21 (J.F.B.); Windmill Hill, nr. Street: fairly common (G. & S.B.); Charlton Mackrell: 3 on Green Down, Sept. 27 (J.C.). Aphantopus hyperanthus Linn. (Ringlet) The small numbers of reports received suggest that the Ringlet was plenti- ful in many places in north Somerset. Again no records from G. S. Clapton-in-Gordano: “‘usually noted in Westpark Wood, but scarce or absent in 1964” (H.H.D.); Cadbury Camp: common (E.C.); nr. Clevedon: fairly common, July 12 (D.A.S.); Wrington: 2, July 31 (M.K.); Weston Woods: noted July 15 and Aug. g (R.A.); Worlebury Hill: 10 seen in an hour in the woods, July 13 (K.H.P.); Walton Heath: fairly common, July 19 (D.A.S.); Meare Heath: 6 fresh imagines, July 4; Shapwick Heath: several, July 18 (J.F.B., M.K.). 62 jJ- F. BURTON AND K. H. POOLE Argynnis euphrosyne Linn. (Pearl-bordered Fritillary) S. Cadbury Camp: one in June (E.C.); Walton Heath: fairly common, May 16 (D.A.S.). Argynniy aglaia Linn. (Dark-green Fritillary) S. Nr. Cadbury Camp: one, July 27 and go (E.C.); nr. Clevedon: common, July 12—at least 20 seen in the afternoon (D.A.S.); Brean Down: 8, July 5, 13 on July 13, 7 on di 19, plentiful on July 25, one, July 26 and 2, Aug. 4 (R.A., T.R.J.W.). Argynnis paphia Linn. (Silver-washed Fritillary) G. Kingsweston Down, Bristol: one, July 25 (D.A.S.). S. Cadbury Camp: common in July and one, apparently freshly emerged, on Sept. 12 (E.C.); Clapton-in-Gordano: one, Aug. 3 (H.H.D.). Euphydryas aurinia Rott. (Marsh Fritillary) S. Nr. Charterhouse: larvae fairly common, March 27 (D.A.S.). Vanessa atalanta Linn. (Red Admiral) G. and S._ 1964 was a good year for migrant Lepidoptera generally and, in common with the rest of England, atalanta became widespread and numerous in the Bristol area in late summer and autumn. Apart from two reported ‘‘in the spring’ at Cadbury Camp, S., (E.C.), the first report of a wave of immigrants was of about 50 each of atalanta and Vanessa cardut massed on the summit of Crook Peak, near Compton Bishop, S., on June 18 (R.W.). Many of these butterflies were seen chasing each other. A rather worn and tattered imago seen at Pill, S., on June 27 (J.F.B.) was also presumed to be an immigrant. The offspring of these immigrants began to emerge in the latter half of July, and in August and September were seen even in Bristol itself. Numbers dwindled by mid-October and the last ones were seen at Brean Down, on Oct. 25 (T.B.S.) and Cad- bury Camp, S., on Nov. 1 (E.C.). Vanessa cardui Linn. (Painted Lady) G. and S. This immigrant species was commoner in 1964 than it has been for several years. The first immigrants apparently reached north Somer- set at the end of May as one was seen at Brean Down on the 26th (R.A.) and another at Yatton on the 27th (H.H.D.); the main wave, however, did not arrive until mid-June when Dr. & Mrs. Warin saw about 50 on Crook Peak (see under atalanta) and H. H. Davis saw several in the moors near Yatton. Their offspring began to appear at the end of July and became fairly common in August and September; the last one seen was at Blagdon on Oct. 17 (M.K.). Reports were received from the following localities: G. Bristol, Charfield and Chalford. : S. Cadbury Camp, Walton-in-Gordano, Nailsea, Yatton, Weston-s-Mare, Brean Down, Uphill, Crook Peak, Blagdon Lake, Chew Valley lake, Shipham, Ebbor, Steart Point, Westhay (one larva on Cirsium arvense Aug. 21), Catcott Heath and Creech St. Michael. Aglais urticae Linn. (Small Tortoiseshell) G. and S. Much commoner than in 1963. After hibernation, it was fairly plentiful, the first imagines being seen at Filton (G.) on March 13 (R.A.) and at Weston-s-Mare (S.) on March 25 (K.H.P.). The first generation, LEPIDOPTERA NOTES 63 which appeared in late June and early July, was common and gave rise to a large second generation; this began to appear in mid-August, reaching a peak in the second and third weeks of September. On Sept. 12, for example, M.K. counted 150 visiting the flowers of Water Mint on the N.E. shore of Blagdon Lake (S.) and found it abundant on visits around this date. Other observers reported between 20 and 40 in quite small areas (e.g., gardens) at this time. Many larvae were seen as late as Aug. 22 at Cadbury Camp (S.) by J.F.B. and this suggests that the September peak numbers of imagines may have been due to the emer- gence of a third generation. Numbers declined rapidly during the second week of October and almost none were left by the end of the month, although R.A. saw one on Nov. 1 at Sand Point (S.). Nymphalis 10 Linn. (Peacock) G. and S. Commoner than last year. The first imagines out of hibernation were seen at Westpark Wood, Clapton-in-Gordano (S.), on March 13 and 27 (H.H.D.), and throughout April and May small numbers were on the wing. Larvae were reported in plenty from Abbots Leigh (S.) on June 28 (J.E.C.), the Avon Gorge on July 2 (K.H.P.), Stoke Moor, Draycott (S.), on July 4 (T.B.S.) and Meare Heath (S.) on the same date (J.F.B.). The first butterflies of the summer generation appeared in the first week of August and the species became fairly common until the latter half of September when numbers declined. Stragglers not yet in hibernation were seen nevertheless during early October; the last record was of one at Chew Valley Lake (S.) on Oct. 31 (R.A.). Polygonia c-album Linn. (Comma) G. and S. The first Comma seen in the spring after hibernation was at Weston-s-Mare on April 5 (R.A.) and a few others were recorded during the rest of April and the first half of May. The first generation began to emerge in early July—the earliest reported being one in the Avon Gorge on July 2 (K.H.P.)—and remained on the wing until early August. In mid August the second generation appeared and was reported, usually in ones and twos, from several localities up to early October. The last one was seen at Cadbury Camp on Nov. 1 (E.C.). In 1964 the Comma seems to have been widespread and fairly plentiful in the Bristol district. Reports were received from the following localities: Filton, Henleaze (Bristol), Sea Mills (Bristol), and Charfield. Avon Gorge, Pill (including 3 on Sept. 27), Clapton-in-Gordano, Cadbury Camp (including 3-6 on several dates between Sept. 13 and Oct. 3), Goblin Combe (including 5, Sept. 19), Wrington, Chew Valley Lake, Blagdon Lake (including 3, Sept. 20), Velvet Bottom, nr. Charterhouse, Shipham, Weston-s-Mare and Weston Wood. Hamearis lucina Linn. (Duke of Burgundy Fritillary) Ss. Goblin Combe: c. 8, May 18 (R.D., M.K.). Cupido minimus Fuessl. (Small Blue) S. Worlebury Hill, nr. Weston-s-Mare: one, June 12 (K.H.P.). Aricia agestis Schiff (Brown Argus) S. Cadbury Camp: c. 2 between July 22 and 30 (E.C.), 2 males on Aug. 22 (J.F.B.), 1-7 on several dates between Aug. 27 and Sept. 12 (E.C.); Shipham: one on Sept. 1 (M.A.S.); Axbridge Hill: noted, Aug. 25 (K.H.P.); Crook Peak: fairly common, May 17 (D.A.S.). 64 jJ- F. BURTON AND K. H. POOLE Polyommatus icarus Rott. (Common Blue) G. and S. Reports indicated that icarus was again widely distributed in small numbers. The first brood was apparently on the wing from early May to early July, and the second from early August to mid-September. Most reports referred to late August. Lysandra coridon Poda. (Chalkhill Blue) S. Cadbury Camp: one worn male on Aug. 22 (J.F.B.); Worlebury Hill: reported from its usual locality by schoolboy collectors (K.H.P.); Brean Down: a few, Aug. 3, one, Aug. 4 and 16 (R.A.), c. 10 males, Aug. 20 (J.C.); Draycott: common, July 26 (D.A.S.); Windmill Hill, nr. Street: fairly common (G. & S.B.). Stated (C.S.H.B.) as common in its localities in north Somerset, but owing to the hot summer was on the wing for a very short time only. Lysandra bellargus Rott. (Adonis Blue) S. Cadbury Camp: 5 females, Aug. 28, one male, Sept. 1, one, Sept. 8, 11 and 12, 2 (male and female), Sept. 13 (E.C.). Celastrina argiolus Linn. (Holly Blue) Still very scarce. G. Old Down, Tockington: one, May g (D.A:S.). S. Cadbury Camp: 2, July 23 and 27, one, Aug. 27 and 30 (E.C.); Weston- s-Mare: one, April 26 (K.H.P.) and Aug. 19 (J.C.). Lycaena phlaeas Linn. (Small Copper) S. Apparently widely distributed in small numbers in north Somerset in 1964, but no records from G. Reported from the following localities: Cadbury Camp, Sand Point, Wick St. Lawrence, Brean Down, Uphill, Axbridge Hill, Shipham, Velvet Bottom, nr. Charterhouse, Westhay, Catcott and Meare Heaths, Charlton Mackrell and Windmill Hill, nr. Street. All reports refer to Aug., Sept. and Oct., the last being of one at Shipham on Oct. 17. Callophrys rubi Linn. (Green Hairstreak) S. Goblin Combe: noted, April 30 (J.C. c. 20, May 18 (R.D., M.K.); Dolebury Warren: one, May 10 (G. & S. B.). Thecla quercus Linn. (Purple Hairstreak) S. Brockley Combe: one larva on oak, May 15; Worlebury Hill: one imago in the woods, July 13 (K.H.P.). Strymonidia w-album Knoch (White-letter Hairstreak) G. Kingsweston Down, Bristol: several, July 25 (D.A.S.). S. Avon Gorge: groups of 3-4 at a time flying about a Wych Elm on July 2; Worlebury Hill, Weston-s-Mare: ‘‘Wych Elm beaten for larvae on May 29, but none found although a known locality” (K.H.P.). LEPIDOPTERA NOTES 65 Pieris brassicae Linn. (Large White) G. and S. Both broods were common in 1964. The advance guard of the first brood was seen on April 16, although the main emergence occurred in early May; the second brood appeared at the end of July and was last seen on Oct. 17. K.H.P. reported one in his light-trap at Weston-s-Mare on the night of Aug. 5. Pieris rapae Linn. (Small White) G. and S. First seen April 10 (Weston-s-Mare); last record, Oct. 1 (Filton). This species was generally common, and often abundant, from late April to late September. Pieris napi Linn. (Green-veined White) G. and §S. Both broods were locally common, being recorded from Clifton, Bristol (G.), Abbots Leigh, Ham Green, Pill, Cadbury Camp, Clapton- in-Gordano, Walton and Weston Moors (especially common), Nailsea, Goblin Combe, Blagdon Lake, Weston-s-Mare (Ashcombe Park and Worlebury Hill), Brean Down, Crook Peak, Westhay, Meare Heath “.. (very common) and Wookey (S.). The first brood lasted from mid-April - (first date: April 16, Wookey) until mid-June (late date: July 4, Meare ~ Heath) and the second brood from early August (first date: Aug. 1, Blagdon) until mid-September (last date: Sept. 20, Blagdon). _ Anthocharis cardamines Linn. (Orange-tip) Apparently fairly common generally, although no reports from G. First date, April 16 (Wookey, S.). S. Pill: one male, May 17, 2 (male & female), May 30 (J.F.B.); Cadbury Camp: “only a few” (E.C.); Wraxall: 2 males, April 29 (H.H.D.); Brockley Combe: 3, May 15 (K.H.P.); Goblin Combe: noted April 30 (J.C.), 2 females, May 20; Blagdon Lake: 4 males and 2 females, May 17; Ubley: one male, May g (M.K.); Cheddar Wood: noted, May ro (J.C.); Shipham: 2, May 10, one, May 16 (G. & S.B.); Crook Peak: common, May 17 (D.A.S.); Ashcombe Park, Weston-s-Mare: one, May 16 (K.H.P.); Wookey: one male, April 16 (J.F.B.). Colias croceus Fourc. (Clouded Yellow) S. Brean Down: one, Aug. 16 & 29, Sept. 19 & 26 (T.R.J.W.), one, Sept. 20 and two, Sept. 27 (R.A.); Weston-s-Mare district: c. 6 seen alto- gether during August and September (C.S.H.B.); near Weston: one, Aug. 16 (T.R.J.W.); Worlebury Hill: reported by a schoolboy about Aug. 26 (K.H.P.); Chew Magna: one, Sept. 17 (B.J.P.); near Cheddar: one, Aug. 22; Walton Heath: one, May 16 (D.A.S.); Green Down, Charlton Mackrell: 3, Sept. 27 (J.C.). Gonepteryx rhamni Linn. (Brimstone) -G. and S. Much commoner than in 1962 and 1963. The earliest report was of one on April 6. The summer brood appeared at the end of July; the last one was seen on Sept. 28. G. Bristol: one female at Clifton, Sept. 29 (J.F.B.), one in August, Sea Mills (D.A.S.) and one, Sept. 23, Durdham Down (T.B.S.); Filton: 2, April 8 and one, Aug. 20 (R.A.). S. Leigh Woods: several males and females, Aug. 25; Pill: 2 males, April 27 (J.F.B.); Cadbury Camp: fairly common in spring; common in late 66 J. F. BURTON AND K. H. POOLE summer (E.C.); Tickenham: 2 in May (T.R.J.W.); Wraxall: one at West Hill, April 17 (H.H.D.); Blagdon Lake: one male, April 18 and 23 (M.K.); Cheddar Wood: noted, May ro (J.C.); Stoke Moor, Dray- cott: one, July 25; Shipham: one, April 11 (T.B.S.); Banwell Wood: noted, May 12 (J.C.); Sand Bay: one, April 6 (H.W.N.); Brean Down: one, Aug. 8 (A.D.), one, Aug. 16 and 22 (T.R.J.W.); Steep. Holm: 2, May 5 (M.K.); Wookey; several males and one female, April 16 (J.F.B.); Walton Heath: fairly common, May 16 (D.A:S.). Erynnis tages Linn. (Dingy Skipper) S. Walton Heath: a few, May 16 (D.A.S.). Pyrgus malvae Linn. (Grizzled Skipper) S. Weston Moor: 2, May 17 (J.F.B.); Brockley Combe: 6+, May 15 (K.H. P.); Goblin Combe: noted, April 30 (J.C.), one, May 18 (R.D., : Crook Peak: fairly common, May 17 (D.A.S.). Thymelicus sylvestris Poda. (Small Skipper) G. Michael Wood, nr. Stone: common, July 18 (M.Kt.). S. Ashton Park: one, July 21 (H.H.D.); Pill: a few, Aug. 2 (J.F.B.); Portishead: one, July 31 (H.H.D.); Cadbury Camp: very common in July (E.C.); Blagdon Lake: 2, Aug. 1 (M.K.). Ochlodes venata Br. & Grey (Large Skipper) G. Durdham Down, Bristol: 2, July 1 (J.F.B.); Michael Wood, nr. Stone: common, July 18 (M.Kt.). S. Avon Gorge: 3 on Somerset side, July 2 (K.H.P.); Pill: 9, June 21, one, June 24, ¢c. 3, July 5 (J.F.B.); Cadbury Camp: one in July (E.C.); Goblin Combe: one, May 18 (R.D., M.K.); Meare Heath: several, July 4 (J.F.B., M.K.). MOTHS By K. H. PooLe HE year was better than recent ones for moths, though records of migrant species have been rather few. The following notes have been taken from records supplied by C. 8S. H. Blathwayt (C.S.H.B.), J. F. Burton (J.F.B.), E.-Clay (E.C.), J. E. Cooper (J.E.C.), D. G. Gibb (D.G.G.), R. Henderson (R.H.), K.H. Poole (K.H.P.), and Dr. R. Warin (R.W.). A few contributors are indicated by name, and unless otherwise shown single specimens have been recorded. Specimens taken at light are indicated by an asterisk. Acherontia atropos Linn. (Death’s-head Hawk). Shirehampton, Sept. 10 (Master Paul Briggs, per P. F. Bird); Weston-s-Mare, Sept. 12 (Master N. Taylor, per KOHGE.)e LEPIDOPTERA . NOTES 67 Macroglossum stellatarum Linn. (Hummingbird Hawk). Clifton, Pepe 27 (RW )5 Steart Point, June 27 (R. Angles); Tickenham, Sept. 13 (E.C.). Stauropus fagi Linn. (Lobster Moth). Almondsbury, June 23* (D. G.G.); Milton, ‘Weston-s-Mare, June 13 and 29* (K.H.P.). Clostera curtula Linn. (Chocolate Tip). Clifton, May 14* (R.H.). Trichiura crataegi Linn. (Pale Oak Eggar). Wickwar, common on Aug. 20 and Sept. 5* (R.H.). Bena prasinana Linn. (Green Silver Lines). Clifton, June 4, 14 & 30* (R.H.). Cybosia mesomella Linn. (Four-dotted Footman). Cadbury Camp, Clevedon, August (E.C.); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, June 9* (K.H.P.). Lithosia quadra Linn. (Four-spotted Footman). Bristol, July 17 (R. Hayward); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, July 15* (K.H.P.). Eilema caniola Hb. (Hoary Footman). Clifton, July 23* (R.H.). Apatele alni Linn. (Alder Moth). Almondsbury, 2, May 27* (D.G.G.); Clifton, June 4* (J.E.C.); Wickwar, June 9* (R.H.). Craniophora ligustri Schiff. (Coronet). Leigh Woods, 2, July 4* (R.H.). Actebia praecox Linn. (Portland Moth). Weston-s-Mare, Aug. 14 (C.S.H.B.). Amathes glareosa Esp. (Autumnal Moth). Leigh Woods, Sept. 12* (R.H.). Amathes ditrapezium Schiff. (Triple-spotted Clay). Weston-s-Mare, July 12 and 13* (C.S.H.B.). Anaplectoides prasina Schiff. (Green Arches). Almondsbury, June 26* (D.G.G.); Weston-s-Mare, July 12 and 13* (C.S.H.B.). Polia tincta Brahm. (Silvery Arches). Michael Wood, Damery, June 27; Almonds- bury, 2, June 29* (D.G.G.). Ceramica pisi Linn. (Broom Moth). Clifton, June 28* (R.H.); Milton, Weston-s- Mare, June 29 and July 2* (K.H.P.). Dasypolia templi Thunb. (Brindled Ochre). Weston-s-Mare, Sept. 28* (C.S.H.B.). Antitype chi Linn. (Grey Chi). Almondsbury, Aug. 21* (D.G.G.); Milton, Weston- s-Mare, Aug. 26* (K.H.P.). Apamea ophiogramma Esp. (Double Lobed). Clifton, July 17* (R.H.). Miana literosa Haw. (Rosy Minor). Clifton, Aug. 13* (R.H.). Hydraecia paludis Tutt. (Saltern Ear). Clifton, Aug. 18* (R.H.). Leucania conigera Schiff. (Brown-line Bright-eye). Clifton, July 20* (R.H.). Cosmia_ pyralina Schiff. (Lunar-spotted Pinion). Weston-s-Mare, July 23* (C.S.H.B.); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, July 15* (K.H.P.). Enargia palacea Esp. (Angle-striped Sallow). Almondsbury, Aug. 14* (D.G.G.). Kenobia subtusa Schiff. (The Olive). Almondsbury, Aug. 3* (D.G.G.); Clifton, july 3, and’ Aug. \4* (R.H.). Anchocelis litura (Brown-spot Pinion). Clifton, Sept. 11 and 12*; Iron Acton, Sept. 28*; Flax Bourton, Oct. 2* (R.H.). Aylomyges conspicillaris Linn. (Silver Cloud). Almondsbury, May 27 (D.G.G.). Pyrrhia umbra Hufn. (Bordered Sallow). Clifton, Aug. 11* (R.H.); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, June 25 and July 7* (K.H.P.). Heliothis peltigera Schiff. (Bordered Straw). Weston-s-Mare, Aug. 15* (C.S.H.B.). Catocala fraxint Linn. (Clifden Nonpareil). Burnham-on-Sea, Aug. 7* (John Heslop). There is only one previous record, 1880, for Somerset. 68 jJ- F. BURTON AND K. H. POOLE Tholomiges turfosalis Wocke. (Marsh Oblique Barred). Shapwick, July 18* (R.H.). Acasis viretata Hb. (Yellow-barred Brindle). Clifton, Aug. 15* (R.H.). Thera firmata Hb. (Pine Carpet). Weston-s-Mare, July 3* (C.S.H.B.); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, June 18* (K.H.P.). Discoloxia blomeri Curt. (Blomer’s Rivulet). Clifton, 4, May 30—June 6* (J.E.C.). Eupithecia pimpinellata Hb. (Pimpinel Pug). Tickenham, Sept 13* (E.C.). Eupithecia tripunctaria H.-S. (White-spotted Pug.) Tickenham, Sept 14* (E.C.). Eupithecia succenturiata Linn. (Bordered Pug). Milton, Weston-s-Mare, July 17* (K.H.P.). Nycterosea obstipata Fab. (The Gem). Weston-s-Mare, Sept. 10 and 23* (C.S.H.B.); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, Sept. 28* (K.H.P.). Ellopia fasciaria Schiff. (Barred Red). Clifton, July 20* (R.H.). Semiothisa liturata Cl. (Tawny-barred Angle) ab. nigrofulvata. Clifton, July 17* R.H.). Chiasmia clathrata Linn. (Latticed Heath). Weston Moor, May 17 (J.F.B.); Milton, Weston-s-Mare, July 12* (K.H.P.). Erannis leucophaearia Schiff. (Spring Usher) ab. marmorinaria. Inglestone, Mar. 8 (D.G.G.). Phigalia pedaria Fab. (Pale Brindled Beauty) ab. monacharia. Almondsbury, Mar. 21 D.G.G.). Cleora ribeata Cl. (Satin Carpet). Weston-s-Mare, July 15 and 20* (C.S.H.B.). Hepialus fusconebulosa Deg. (Map-winged Swift). Goblin Combe, May 24 (J.F.B.). 69 SEDIMENTARY, TECTONIC AND SUPERFICIAL STRUCTURES, AND IRON MINERALIZATION IN THE DEVONIAN ROCKS OF THE BRENDON HILLS, WEST SOMERSET By B. D. WeEsBy* (Department of Geology, University of Bristol) UMEROUS examples of small-scale sedimentary, tectonic and superficial structures have been recorded during geo- logical mapping in the Brendon Hills. In the present paper several of the more important structures are described and figured in order to amplify the generalized account of the stratigraphy and structure of the Brendon Hills (Webby, 1965), and a brief description of the iron mineralization, with an interpretation of the origin of the ores, is also presented. I. SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES IN THE BRENDON HILL BEDS The Brendon Hill Beds, the middle subdivision of the Morte Slates (Webby, 1962), are a thick, rather monotonous succession of greenish-grey, grey and brownish-grey cleaved siltstones, sub- ordinate sandstones and slates of possible Frasnian age, occupying most of the higher ground of the Brendon Hills, and reaching a thickness of about 1,500 feet. Fossils are lacking, apart from vague plant material and worm burrowings at two localities. Cross- laminated and laminated siltstone is the predominant lithology. The beds are frequently composed of interbedded sandstone and _ siltstone, occasionally with a siltstone unit in abrupt contact with an overlying sandstone, as seen, for example, in the disused quarry near Lumey Farm (Fig. 1). Three main types of sedimentary structures have been observed in the Brendon Hill Beds: (1) ripple marks, (2) lamination and cross lamination, and (3) flute marks. Ripple marks occur at several localities, including a disused pit on Langham Hill, where * Now at Dept. of Geology & Geophysics, University of Sydney, Australia. WEBBY B. D. 70 : Z, 410915 V3"! “sapop uo4n ay) pun spjof asvanazo ay) uaacnjag qiysuoyojas ay} pun Spag IH uopuerg ay) fo uoyngiysip ayy Sumoys syury uopuarg ayy fo qvu jvns0j0a *1 “Oy 2po7 uoudDe) jo aul] bt orig 24D/S yyOdaj;x9NS Spjoj s0UIW JW aulsuUy YOpUuetg fof 2 2uijauAS uopu2ig ~*~ $2301$ 20W saddn sp2q II'H Yopudig z, mh eh ee we . oe ee Nhe CMA ee teat. NWHSINNSY DEVONIAN ROCKS OF THE BRENDON HILLS 71 a steeply-inclined bedding surface is seen to be covered with current ripple marks (Plate 1,c), varying in form from symmetrical to slightly asymmetrical and occasionally intersecting one another. They have been slightly modified by tectonic deformation causing the amplitude to be heightened. A lineation produced by inter- section of cleavage planes and bedding is oblique—at approxi- mately 10°—to the ripples. Spry (1963) has described a similar example as “distorted ripple marks”’ ‘Fic. 2. A: Light brown laminated and cross-laminated siltstone. Drawn from a hand specimen collected on the slopes of the hill between Raleigh’s Cross and Timwood Farm. B: Laminated siltstone enclosing a scour-and-fill lens of fine sandstone. Patches of disturbance of lamination are mainly of tectonic origin, having been produced by intersection of cleavage planes with lamination. However, one trace of ““worm”’ action can be seen affecting the uppermost lamina- tion. Drawn from a hand specimen collected from a pit near Eastcott Farm. 7s B. D. WEBBY Laminated and cross-laminated structures are the most common sedimentary features, being usually present in every exposure of siltstone. Some fine specimens of laminated and cross-laminated siltstones have been collected from loose material between ‘Timwood Farm and Raleigh’s Cross, and near Eastcott Farm. A specimen from the slopes between ‘Timwood Farm and Raleigh’s Cross shows cross lamination, probably of the ripple-drift type (Fig. 24). In the specimen the cross-laminated siltstone alternates with bands of laminated siltstone. Another specimen from the Brendons exhibits light green laminated siltstone enclosing a scour-and-fill lens of fine sandstone (Fig. 28). : A third type of sedimentary structure was observed on the under-surface of a sandstone in a disused quarry at the eastern end of Pond Wood. These structures are considered to be flute marks (Plate 1,a); they are aligned ESE-WNW, and suggest a westerly-directed current flow. This particular massive sand- stone may have been deposited by a turbidity current, though it must be stressed that flute marks can no longer be regarded as strictly confined to turbidites (Dineley & Allen, 1960, p. 509; Pick, 196045) p./2n7). The sedimentary conditions during which the Brendon Hill Beds were laid down present something of an enigma. The thick, un- fossiliferous complex consists of irregularly interbedded laminated and cross-laminated siltstones with occasional packets of slate and sandstone, and alternating, moderately evenly-bedded sand- stone and siltstone. The underlying Sticklepath Slate and the EXPLANATION OF PLATE I (a) Sole markings, probably flute marks, on a sandstone in an old quarry at the eastern end of Pond Wood. A lineation (bedding /cleavage intersection) is developed on the bedding surface subparallel to the sole markings, and prominent knick zones almost at right angles. (b) Small-scale plications in laminated siltstones and silty slates (within the Roadwater Limestone) from a disused quarry south of Stowey Farm (SSg49390). Two synclines and an anticline are replaced upwards by a single syncline. The laminae tend to be somewhat disrupted in the apices, and axial-plane cleavage is poorly developed. X0.5. E. W. Seavill, photo. (c) Distorted ripple marks on the base of a steeply-inclined fine sandstone in a small pit at Langham Hill. They appear to have been intensified by the deformation associated with the cleavage folding. Bedding /cleavage lineation is slightly oblique to the ripples. (d) Tectonic “ripple’’ marks on a bedding surface in the apex of a partly-exposed anticline at the old mine entrance below Honeywell Plantation. (e) Lineations on the base of a steeply-dipping, overturned sandstone in a pit beside the Trigonometrical Point (1,127 feet) east-north-east of Couple Cross. Note also the well-developed ac-joints. Won. XXXII, Pr. I PLATE I [ facing page 72 DEVONIAN ROCKS OF THE BRENDON HILLS 73 overlying Upper Morte Slates contain a few fossils which at least indicate deposition under marine conditions, but evidence for such conditions in the Brendon Hill Beds themselves is lacking. The sedimentary features give the clearest indication of the prob- able depositional environment. The abundance of laminated and cross-laminated siltstones and the comparative lack of disturbance of the lamination by worm burrowers suggest rather rapid sedi- mentation, possibly mainly by traction currents. The lack of faunas and the great thickness of beds are satisfactorily accounted for by rapid sedimentation in shallow-water conditions, possibly in a delta (Webby, 1965). The similarities between these beds and modern delta-front deposits support the existence of rather similar depositional conditions. Il. TECTONIC STRUCTURES Cleavage folds exhibit many associated minor structures, in- cluding axial-plane cleavage, lineations and ac-joints (Webby, 1963; 1965). Linear structures simulating ripple marks are ex- posed on the flexed bedding surfaces in the apex of a minor anticline beside the cave at Oaktrow quarries (SS939401), and another occurrence of these pseudo-ripple marks is to be found in the apex of a minor anticline at the old mine entrance below Honeywell Plantation (Plate 1,d). These pseudo-ripples parallel the fold axis, plunging 30° east, and the accompanying cleavage dips 55° south. Fine linear structures frequently occur at the intersection of cleavage and lamination, being commonly preserved in the lamina- ted and cross-laminated siltstones of the Brendon Hill Beds, and at the intersection of cleavage and bedding in certain fine sand- stones, as shown, e.g., north-east of Couple Cross (SS955388) )Plate 1,e). The pseudo-ripple marks may be considered to be weakly- developed fold-mullions, less intensely deformed than the small- scale plications found in two limestone occurrences in the Brendon Hills (Plate I,b), and known on the north Devon coastal section as “‘crinkled”’ or “‘wriggly”’ bands (Evans, 1922). IiI. IRON MINERALIZATION The iron mines of the Brendon Hills were worked intermittently from Roman times until the end of the nineteenth century. The greatest activity was between 1851 and 1883 during which period the Ebbw Vale Company raised over three quarters of a million 74 B. D. WEBBY tons of ore. Descriptions of the mines and of the nature of the iron mineralization have been given by Smyth (1859), Morgans (1868-9; 1869a; 1869b), Cantrill, Sherlock & Dewey (1919), Groves (1952), Dines (1956) and Sellick (1962). The aim of this account is to integrate these earlier observations on the iron mines with the recent geological studies in the Brendon Hills. The lodes run approximately east-west, they are oxidized in their upper parts, and they pass down at moderate depth into siderite. Morgans (1869a; 1869b) reported that the veins of spathic ore are lenticular, mostly following the direction of the cleavage planes. The greater part of each vein is barren, and the productive pockets vary from a few yards to 200 yards long, and from a few inches to nearly 30 feet thick, but they may be more than a mile apart in the same vein. In all cases the pockets are connected by a vein-track composed of rather soft clayey-slate and quartz, occa- sionally with a little iron ore. The ore pockets do not descend vertically down the dip, but rake to the west or, in one or two examples, to the east. Morgans (1868-9, p. 95) advocated structural control for the origin of the ore bodies, and suggested that “‘the veins were formed by segregation in fissures previously existing in the clay slate rock’’. The Eisen (Ison) Hill and Quarme valley lodes appear to be closely associated with the series of minor cleavage folds recognized at Honeywell Plantation (Webby, 1965). They have a similar east-west trend (Fig. 1) and the same dip as the cleavage, suggest- ing structural control of the mineralization. At Raleigh’s Cross, according to Smyth (1859, p. 107), the dip of the lode decreases from west to east, from 65° to 45° south. In the Colton pit the lodes dip less steeply, at 30° south-west and exhibit a south-easterly trend. Groves (1952, p. 108) thought they were branch lodes, but this seems to be erroneous. The lodes are associated with the Brendon Syncline and its accompanying minor folds, which have an E.N.E. trend and an E.S.E. plunge near Colton pit. The lodes actually trend in the same direction as the plunge of the folds, and dip in the direction of the cleavage /ac- joint intersection, which appears to be the same relationship as that exhibited by the lodes farther west, namely at Raleigh’s Cross, Carnarvon, Barrow Farm, Langham Hill and Kennisham Hill. Groves (1952, p. 108) indicated that the lode system from Carnarvon and Raleigh’s Cross is traceable towards Yeanon. But this would require that the lodes cut obliquely across the cleavage. A more acceptable proposal would be for the Yeanon lode to trend E.N.E. in conformity with the cleavage, and then it would have a DEVONIAN ROCKS OF THE BRENDON HILLS 75 more limited lateral extent, probably westwards across Tripp Farm and north of Stolford, where two old adits have been observed. - In the mines of Kennisham Hill, Langham Hill, Gupworthy and Raleigh’s Cross, the lodes rake to the west (Morgans, 1868-9, p- 91). The ore pockets have a flattened cylindrical form lying with their long axes steeply inclined to the south-west and in the plane of cleavage (Fig. 3). The lodes are clearly associated with the folds, at least the Kennisham and Langham Hill mines to the Brendon Syncline, and the Eisen Hill and Colton mines to minor folds. The long axes of the ore pockets seem to coincide with the intersections of cleavage and ac-joints, which may have been the most favourable sites for localization of the ore bodies in the vicinity of the hinges of cleavage folds. trace of ac joints on Cleavage plane Fic. 3. Block diagram showing the inferred relationship between the ore body and other structural features. Although the iron mineralization is apparently restricted to the Brendon Hill Beds, it does not seem to have formed as sedi- mentary ores by ferrous solutions acting on limestone bands, because none of the beds is calcareous. Ores may have been formed by ferrous solutions replacing limestones at lower structural levels, perhaps in the Ilfracombe Beds, and the mineralizing solutions then passing upwards along the apices of the folds and crystallizing out at higher levels still more or less in association with the cleavage folds. 76 B. D. WEBBY On structural grounds it would appear that the age of the iron mineralization in the Brendon Hills immediately succeeded the cleavage folding, and pre-dated flexure folding, faulting and the deposition of the New Red Sandstone, possibly in Carboniferous- Permian times. It is certainly younger than the lead-silver minerali- zation at Gombe Martin which has been dated by Moorbath (1962, p- 321) at 370 + 50 million years (mean of three analyses), a late Devonian age. The mineralization at Combe Martin affects beds of the Lester Series, whose correlatives in west Somerset are considered Middle Givetian in age (Webby, 1964). The Combe Martin lead-silver mineralization seems to be confined to the north Devon area. A third mineralization is represented in the northern part of west Somerset by a copper-barytes association in New Red Sand- stone and Devonian limestones at Dodington, in the northern part of the Quantocks (Dines, 1956, pp. 770-1), in the Carboni- ferous Limestone at Cannington Park (Wallis, 1924) and possibly also by mineralized New Red Sandstone near Stogumber and Luccombe. This mineralization is probably Jurassic in age. IV. SUPERFICIAL STRUCTURES Superficial deposits mantle the valley sides and floors in the Brendon Hills and the Quantock Hills to a depth of many feet, sometimes as much as 30 feet. The deposits are mainly coarse, poorly sorted, angular, locally-derived material, which seem to have accumulated as “‘head’’ (solifluction debris) during Pleisto- cene periglacial conditions. The shaved bedrock surfaces so characteristic of many solifluction deposits (Cotton & Te Punga, 1955) are seldom seen: more often there is an upward gradation from undisturbed bedrock into poorly-sorted, angular, locally- derived debris. Both Brendons and Quantocks exhibit a landscape of subdued aspect characterized by slopes that are convex near the top and concave near the bottom, a landscape which—as Te Punga (1957, p. 410) has indicated—is the result of the rapid wasting of the land surface and the transportation of the enormous quantities of material to lower levels during periglaciation. Cotton (1958, p. 133) has indicated that such smooth, coarse-textured, whale- backed relief was developed where the land surface presumably escaped dissection in the interglacial intervals, and the broad slopes became progressively smoother until eventually, in the last periglacial phase, a smooth sheet of ‘‘head’’ mantled the surface, instead of a corrugated surface resulting from confluent coulées. DEVONIAN ROCKS OF THE BRENDON HILLS on Superficial structures have been observed at many localities in the hills, being especially common on valley slopes. They usually take the form of arched and bent slates, or crumpled, folded and broken slates, and they represent the intermediate stage between the undisturbed bedrock, and the completely com- minuted superficial material. Mackintosh (1867) described several examples of arched and bent slates from west Somerset, and he introduced the name “terminal curvature’ for them. In a quarry near Wiveliscombe (possibly the Oakhampton quarry; ST085301), Mackintosh recorded southerly-dipping slates which curve back towards the surface to assume a northerly dip, and are overlain by a uniform superficial deposit of reddish-loam about 2 feet thick. He referred to bent and curved slates in the railway cuttings near Raleigh’s Cross on level ground at the top of the Brendon Hills which suggested that the bending took place over extensive areas on perfectly flat ground; also mentioned were large blocks of quartz, which had been transported some distance from their veins. At Gupworthy, Mackintosh recorded a very large terminal curva- ture exposed in a horizontal adit, affecting slates to a depth of at least 20 feet (actually nearer 15 feet). This structure was certainly correctly interpreted as a superficial fold. Another variety of a terminal curvature has been observed in slates and silty slates in a lane section at Luxborough (SS974379). The cleavage in the slates dips 40° south at the northern (up- hill) end of this sloping section, it increases in dip and swings over to 60—85° north, and then gradually back to 40° south at the southern end of the section. The bent slates in the middle of the section are affected to a depth of more than g feet below the surface. Zig-zag folded and crumpled superficial structures are also frequently observed in the slaty strata. For example, in a small exposure behind farm buildings at North Quarme, folded and crumpled silty slates can be seen to a depth of more than 6 feet below the surface (Fig. 4a). The superficial folds are of a dis- tinctive type, having sharply bent and broken apices, and straight, unbroken limbs. A distinctive superficial structure was recorded by Ussher (1908, p. 80, fig. 15) from a lane cutting north-west of Shearston (ST- 278312). Slates are overlain unconformably by a stream gravel of slate and siltstone fragments, and an interbedded irregular band of brown loam. On the uphill side, contorted slates abut against the gravels, and are even bent back over them. Unfortu- ately, only the crumpled and broken slates are now exposed in this section. In the lane section north of Kingsbridge (SSg86380) an unusual 78 B. D. WEBBY superficial structure was exposed until recently when bulldozing operations virtually destroyed it. An unbroken sequence of mauve silty slates lies on angular sandstone boulders and smaller, angular, slaty fragments, the sandstone boulders being mainly situated on the contact with the overlying slates (Fig. 4b). The unbroken CG AA t/t) aS SS . SS WrA\ x \\Y - Mat = —\ UIQ . \\\\ \\ eA == SEW SN SN A\\ a AS ys /, & & Ey Bla ry AA Fic. 1. Steep Holm. (a) Distribution of bush scrub in the 1930s. (b) Distribution of bush scrub 1964. (c) Distribution of Dunnock territories 1964. | ) | STATUS OF THE DUNNOCK ON STEEP HOLM 85 the south-west edge to a little over 250 ft. O.D. towards the north- east. This area, bounded roughly by the 150 ft. contour and approximately 22 acres in extent, is relatively smooth (apart from occasional artificial mounds or cuttings), unlike the cliffs and slopes which are intersected by boulder-covered screes and ravines. Present Vegetation A list of plants recorded in 1962-3 together with a distribution map of the dominant species are given by Graham (1964). The following description of the chief types of vegetation affecting the density of the Dunnock is based on this survey, and supplemented by observations made in 1964. The classification used is that suggested by Yapp (1955). Bush Scrub Privet, varying from 2 to 6 ft. high depending on exposure to wind, dominates the extensive low scrub zone covering approxi- mately 15 acres or 32% of the area (Fig. 1b). It extends along the south and east sides from the cliff edge to the shoulder of the slope, over a large area of plateau adjacent to these slopes and in isolated patches at the west and north edges. At the advancing edge of this zone and along borders with paths, ravines and rock projections the privet (Ligustrum vulgare) is mixed with bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.) forming a dense privet-bramble complex characteristic of scrub on limestone (Skene, 1939). Mature privet in the more sheltered areas of the plateau facing south consists of long, entwined branches up to 12 ft. long growing obliquely or in part horizontally with leaves only on the terminal portion to produce a thick canopy. ‘The soil or rock beneath is frequently bare and largely free from herbaceous vegetation although wild Arum (Arum maculatum) is often abundant beneath gaps in the canopy. Elder (Sambucus nigra) is common throughout this zone but most shrubs are stunted by wind action and poor soil conditions. Woodland Scrub On the east slopes sheltered from the prevailing wind is the only woodland vegetation on the island, and is composed chiefly of stunted sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) up to 25 ft. high mixed with elder, privet and some blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). The field layer beneath the thin canopy is a carpet of wild Arum and nettles. Apart from the taller sycamores the general appearance is of bush scrub and it is included in this zone for convenience. Field Vegetation The area of plateau not covered with privet scrub is thickly 86 R. H. POULDING carpeted with Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) and Hemlock (Contum maculatum), with lesser amounts of Annual Nettle (Uriica urens) and Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). Hemlock was dominant to the north and east of the plateau in 1964 while Alexanders was more prevalent to the south and west with a narrow intermediate zone where they were co-dominant. Flowering stalks of these Umbellifers may reach 6 ft. high in places by early summer, especially after a warm wet spring. Immature non-flowering plants provide a lush herbage up to 2 ft. During periods of drought with prolonged sun the Smyrnium zone is drastically reduced leaving the dried seed-bearing stems standing in bare soil which, after rain, is soon carpeted with a sparse ground vegetation including nettles. Alexanders also grows profusely on the cliffs wherever a foothold can be obtained. On the slopes it survives even amongst privet and bramble where these are sufficiently stunted to enable the Smyrnium leaves to reach adequate light. PAST CHANGES IN THE VEGETATION There is little precise information on the distribution of the main types of vegetation covering the island in the past despite frequent visits by botanists. The earliest reference occurs in The Account Book of the Norton Beauchamp, c. 1625, where an entry notes the absence of grass, and the abundance of privet and elder, from which Skene (1939) deduces that “‘the whole top of the island was under scrub’’. The plateau was similarly carpeted with privet when Banks and Lightfoot visited it in 1773 (Riddelsdell, 1905) although at this time Alexanders was probably extending into the scrub from the cliffs. In his Journal for 26 July, 1832, the Rev. John Skinner noted that an old man had been clearing for seven months “the Privet and wild carrot which now almost wholly occupy the surface’’. The commencement of farming, and the garrisoning of the island by the military in 1867 almost certainly completed the removal of the scrub from the plateau for Thomas (1884) refers to the “cap of grey-green turf’? and Murray (1891) recorded privet as plentiful on rocks and cliffs. The plateau was under culture until about 1923, and in 1925 the Alexanders in association with bramble and privet was still confined to the upper part of the south side (Skene, 1939). When a survey of Steep Holm was carried out by naturalists in 1938 privet-bramble scrub covered the slopes and ravines of the south side and extended to the edge of the plateau where there was a transition to a pure stand of Alexanders. Turf appeared to be limited to an area on the north side. ‘The occupation of the island by the army, 1940-6, probably temporarily halted the advance of the privet scrub as many hutments were erected around the plateau STATUS OF THE DUNNOCK ON STEEP HOLM 87 perimeter, but since 1946 spread of scrub on the plateau has con- tinued especially from the south and east sides. The important facts, relevant to density changes in the Dunnock population, emerging from this historical account is that prior to 1830 the island was covered in a natural vegetation of privet scrub. Between 1867 and 1923 when the plateau was in cultivation or under pasture this scrub was confined to the southern slopes where it was probably kept in check by goats. Since cultivation ceased about 1923 the privet has increased almost without interruption over the south and east sides and on to the plateau replacing the field layer of Alexanders as it advanced. STATUS OF THE DUNNOCK PRIOR TO 1962 Although Skinner recorded ‘“‘Lark’’, “Thrush”? and a Wheatear on his visit in July, 1832, he made no reference to the Dunnock. Knight (1902) did not include it in his list of birds “lately seen on the Holm in the early summer and believed to breed”’, and also the Rev. F. L. Blathwayt did not see this species in 1907 but both Blackbird and Robin were noted (his diary 18 April, 1907). Ina manuscript (in the archives of the Steep Holm Trust) dated 8 Feb., 1916, and titled “Birds of Steep Holm Island’? by John Sleeman the Dunnock is described as “‘very numerous throughout the year’’. The Sleeman family held the lease of the island for over twenty years and were perhaps in a better position to assess the birdlife than casual visitors. Nevertheless so many species are described as “numerous” or “‘many”’ that no reliance can be placed on the quantitative aspect of this reference to the Dunnock. Col. Lascelles reported it as nesting in 1922 (Rep. Somerset Birds for that year) but the first indication of the size of the breeding population was not made until 1935 when, after a two-day visit in June, Tetley estimated that there were possibly four pairs (Rep. Somerset Birds, 1935). This assessment is partially confirmed by Lewis (1936) who recorded a few pairs resident, and also by Blathwayt in 1936 when he noted “several pairs about’? during a visit in May. Tetley (1939) in his survey of the vertebrata lists the Dunnock under occasional visitors—birds that “Shave bred, but doubtfully now”. This was almost certainly an oversight for they were doubtless still resident when the army took over the island in 1940 for on the last visit by the Ornithological Section of this Society in May, 1939, they were seen or heard in several areas (Davis, 1939). In the summer of 1946 when the military were still in partial occupation several pairs were observed during a single day visit by ornithologists but the first post-war survey was not made until 1949. Based on the number of singing males, Poulding (1949) 88 R. H. POULDING recorded eleven pairs, and in the following year P. J. Chadwick © estimated at least eight pairs resident (fers. comm.). Although no further complete census of the population was made until 1962 breeding was confirmed in most of the intervening years. BREEDING POPULATION 1962-4 The gullery extending to every part of the island from March until early August makes the location of Dunnock pairs difficult for not only are their call notes and song drowned by the con- tinuous cacophony of the gulls but the territorial males also tend to remain concealed even when in full song. Persistent movement of large gulls in the limited air space in and above the domiciles of the © Dunnocks appears to be a deterrent to simultaneous visual adver- tisement during territorial song. In the autumn when the island is free from nesting gulls this concealment during territorial behaviour does not occur. The detection of nests as an indication of the size of the breeding population proved impracticable on a sample area because of the extent and density of the scrub zone. Therefore the method finally adopted to determine exactly the number of breeding pairs was to locate every male occupying a domicile (contested area within which the breeding territory and nest is sited) by visiting repeatedly all suitable areas of the island and mapping the position of each singing bird. The approximate extent of each domicile was determined by the various song ‘posts’ of the male and also by the behaviour of adjacent pairs. As the census was carried out in late April or early May in each of the years 1962-64, each singing male was presumed to have a mate and the number of occupied domiciles to represent the number of breeding pairs. In 1963 a tape of a Dunnock’s song played on a field tape recorder was used to stimulate males into song which enabled all areas to be checked for isolated pairs that may have been overlooked in the absence of territorial song. The results of the three spring censuses 1962-4 are given in Table I and the dis- tribution of the territories in relation to the bush scrub zone in 1964 is shown in Fig. tc. The 1962 census did not include an area of the south slopes difficult of access and thickly populated with breeding gulls. In 1963 and 1964 it was found possible to survey this area with a minimum of disturbance and in both years four occupied domiciles were found. The 1962 total of 29 pairs is an amended figure to allow for this omission. The evidence of occupation of an isolated domicile on the north edge of the plateau in 1964 is based on a sight record and not on the location of a singing male. This particular area of bramble is frequented each year by a pair of Dunnocks and — STATUS OF THE DUNNOCK ON STEEP HOLM 89 TABLE I RESULTS OF CENSUS OF BREEDING POPULATION, 1962-64 Year Period of survey Number of pairs 1962 Apr. 28-29 29 1963 Apr. 26-28 32 1964 May 1-6 338 although territorial behaviour was not detected at the time of the survey the domicile was certainly occupied in 1964. DISCUSSION During the 1930s, when Alexanders had become established on the previously cultivated plateau but before the privet-bramble scrub had extended beyond the shoulder of the slopes, the Dunnock breeding population on the evidence available did not exceed five pairs. A similar number of pairs was probably resident in the pre- vious twenty years but precise information is lacking. Between c. 1939 and 1949 the population rose to 11 pairs and by 1964 to 33 pairs. ‘This increase is directly related to the gradual extension of the scrub as the habitat reverted to its natural stable climax vegetation of privet and stunted elder. . The exact area covered by the scrub in the 1930s when the population was about five pairs is uncertain but from photographs and descriptions it appears to have covered some 5-6 acres (Fig. 1a) compared with the 1964 estimate of 15 acres. This increased acreage of scrub has not only provided additional cover for Dunnocks but a habitat more favourable than the original scrub zone confined to the south and east sides. The plateau supports a more luxuriant growth of privet and elder, and the more level surface dictates an almost horizontal dense shrub layer unlike the terraced and stunted growth on the slopes. Privet in association with bramble is a favourite habitat for the Dunnock because it provides protective nest and roost sites whilst the scanty ground vegetation enables it, as mainly a ground feeder on insects and seeds, to obtain food in all extremes of weather. On such an exposed locality as Steep Holm, shelter in the dense scrub zone is a major factor in the successful colonisation by this species. The fact that the breeding stock was not depleted by the exceptional severe winter of 1962-3 (see Table I) confirms that the present structure of the habitat is particularly favourable for Dunnock survival. The virtual absence of predators may be another contributory 90 R. H. POULDING factor towards the success of this species and may diminish the chances of wide fluctuations in the breeding stock from year to year. Hawks occur only on passage and predatory rodents and cats are absent. The resident pair of Carrion Crows (Corvus corone) almost certainly prefer the eggs of gulls to the contents of Dunnocks’ nests and cannot be considered serious predators of this species. Unless the island comes under cultivation again, which is very unlikely, the Dunnock population will probably continue to in- crease as more of the habitat reverts to bush scrub suitable for the establishment of domiciles. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank Mr. E. J. Mason, Secretary of the Steep Holm Trust, and Mr. H. H. Davis for the loan of photographs; Miss V. Graham for much botanical information, and the Steep Holm Gull Research Station Committee for permission to carry out the surveys. REFERENCES Davis, H. H. 1939. Minute Book, Orn. Sect., Bristol Nat. Soc. 6 May 1939. Graham, V. 1964. The plants of Steep Holm. Rep. Steep Holm Gull Res. Sin. 1, 2-9. Knight, F. A. 1902. The Seaboard of Mendip. London. Lewis, S. 1936. Birds of the island of Steep Holm. Brit. Birds, 30, 219-23. | Murray, R. P. 1891. The flora of Steep Holmes. 7. Bot. 29, 269-70. | Poulding, R. H. 1949. Bird Observations on Steep Holm, 1949. | 3 Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 28, 139-44. | Riddelsdell, H. J. 1905. Lightfoot’s visit to Wales in 1773. jf. Bot. | 43, 290-307. | Skene, M. 1939. A survey of Steep Holm. Botany. Proc. Bristol | Nat. Soc. 8, 452-9. Skinner, J. 1832. The Skinner Journals. Brit. Museum Add. 33728. Smith, S. 1939. A survey of Steep Holm. Physiography and geology. | Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 8, 451. Tetley, H. 1939. A survey of Steep Holm. Vertebrata. Ibid. 8, 464-7. Thomas, T. H. 1884. Excursion to Steep Holm. Rep. G Trans. | Cardiff Nat. Soc. 15, 89-93. Yapp, W. B. 1955. A classification of the habitats of British birds. | Bird Study, 2, 111-21. -_ + ” W BS PraTE III VoL. XXXI, Pr. I ‘(961 IIqUIZAON) palvouNns a1¥ Sam 9} O} S9UO Jap[O JTIYM (VAIWIvI jsaIvIU) Pua UJa}sea ay} ie dn ying oq 0) snuNUOOS so8plt Man ‘UMOYS o1e J9}¥[ podojaAsp pue xo[duroo sty Jo yed WIOJ YSIYM sasplt a[SsuTYS ‘9194 UOISOIO JO ssnvIeq IINq AT[eUISIIO seM ][eAA “ISOM SUTYOOT [TeM veg ANUNOD jo pus “| Woy Mora :Avg JO}eMSplg facing page 91 | 91 SOAsSTAL CHANGES AT BRIDGWATER BAY: 1956-64 By A. P. Carr HE coast of Bridgwater Bay extends from Lilstock in the west to Stert Point and Stert Island in the east. Figure 1 shows the location of all the places mentioned in this paper. In the west the coast consists of cliffs which form ill-defined headlands and bays of Liassic limestone and shale. There, cliffs reach some 80 feet in height. In front of them is a continuous but variably-dipping lime- stone abrasion surface, reminiscent of an uneven pavement. To the east the coast is lower and the deposits of geologically recent age. The change is comparatively abrupt so that at Hinkley the lime- stone pavement and the cliffs, which by this point are only five or six feet high, both cease. ‘There is, however, one limestone rock out- crop at Stolford. Apart from that outcrop, the area to the east of Hinkley Point is generally composed of a simple shingle storm beach fronted by extensive areas of mud flats. At Low Water Spring Tides up to three miles of these mud flats are exposed. Only in the stretch between Stolford and Wall Common are the shingle structures more complicated. This area includes the so-called ‘shingle com- plexes’ (Kidson, 1960). These are a series of ridges piled one against another (Fig. 1 shows the site of these while Fig. 2 gives a detailed example). Those ridges farthest inland are almost completely vegetated and are loosely termed ‘fossil’; the remainder are bare shingle and more recent in origin. The beach shingle, whether in the ill-defined bays of the west or in the eastern part, is derived from either the Liassic limestone cliffs and pavements or from Devonian sandstones. Likely sources of the latter occur in solifluction gravels such as those at Stolford. Throughout at least the last 150 years the whole coastline has been subject to erosion with the single exception of the zone of complexes (Kidson, 1960). More recently, erosion has been shown (Ranwell, 1964) to have given way to accretion in the Spartina sward between Wall Common and Fenning Island (Fig. 1). The tidal range at Hinkley Point reaches a maximum of 43 feet. While the base of the shingle at Lilstock is covered even at neap tides for appreciable periods, the length of time in which the shingle is subject to wave attack tends to become progressively less towards the east as far as Steart Village (Kidson, 1960). The vestiges of the shingle storm beach behind the Spartina sward in that area are now CARR Jee Bde 92 “p9-9CG6L ‘SAQAINS Adueasasuoy BINJeN Wot JUIOd Aaj uly JO ySeQ 9ulj}jseoD :JLON 000S¢ 0000¢ 000S1 00001 000S 0 a 000S uaweAed 9uo}Sow! : wou SS }99} ajeos €96L epi} Huluds awasjxa - yiewW Ja}eM MO] piems euljieds anoqieH 420}S1!7 a 40 4INOZ NOWWOD T1VM T1vM Vas at AYLNNOD = iny ‘wit — NOWWOD aS Finmptine® }ulod Area! 2 eee QHYOJISLVO z Aayyuly : : aaa aan LNIOd Sei}. pnw GNV ISI ——= one weuyuing [ 24nsl] COASTAL CHANGES AT BRIDGWATER BAY 93 rarely reached. Wave attack increases again near Stert Point at the mouth of the River Parrett where Spartina is absent. A recent paper in this Journal (Kidson & Carr, 1961) described experiments on the coast of Bridgwater Bay into the movement of marked beach material. It was shown that travel of this material was both slow and erratic, although the net movement was towards the east. In the western part of the area near Lilstock Harbour (Fig. 1) over a period of six years labelled markers virtually failed to escape from the bay in which they had been originally laid down. Further east, where the cliffs and limestone pavements give way to the shingle complexes, material travelled only towards, or to the distal (eastern) end of the shingle structure and was then thrown up above high water mark or buried. Again, in the six years during which the experiment took place only one instance of marked material travelling beyond a shingle complex was recorded. It was pointed out in the 1961 paper that a single storm coinciding with High Water Spring Tides could produce movements of the order of half-a-mile at certain sites such as Hinkley Point, and yet the maximum net travel of any marker in six years was only 7,140 feet. In the remaining sites net movement was far less. ‘The sequence of longshore transport and subsequent removal from circulation by burial or by being thrown above high water mark was characteristic. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the results of repetitive topographic surveys using a telescopic alidade and plane-table. ‘These have been carried out by the Physiographical Section of the Nature Conservancy along parts of Bridgwater Bay. The changes recorded are considered in their relation to the development of the coastline, especially in the area of the shingle complexes. ‘This series of shingle structures extends from Stolford in the west to Wall Common in the east (Fig. 1). As can be seen in Fig. 1 there are two other shingle structures, one at Stert Point and one at Stert Island. These are essentially different in their form and sequence of development and will be referred to later. CHANGES IN THE ZONE OF COMPLEXES As already mentioned, the main area of complexes, that which extends eastwards from Stolford, is the only part of this stretch of coast where accretion has been the dominant feature, rather than erosion, during the past 150 years (Kidson, 1960). Fig. 1 shows the position of the various complexes. High Water Springs is at about 18 feet O.D. The junction of the base of ‘mobile’ shingle which forms the ridges, and the ‘dead’ shingle and mud flats below it is at between g feet O.D. and 18 feet O.D., being lowest in the west of zone of complexes, and also at the western end of each individual CARR A. P. 94 P¥Ye (perp) Usvpooe Sys FU ryve pee Me emerge ete Egy ee wr ee St tee pee we ge ope eee eooes i a oY} JO Jey} s}usse1d91 UOIsO19 SY], ‘USATS SI SIVOA SUTUDAIOJUT DY} UT BBURYD Jo UOTVOIpUT UY ‘UMOYs oe FO61 pue LG61 so} yor" 9AEM 0} JOalqns sasplu yoveq s[Ssurys sy], “bg61-LG61 :aspry yoeog ut sasueyH ‘gz “LG61 samnjonyg aspry *v% "‘xajquor) psofsyo) *& ‘Ol p961 e961 190>69 - 4B L961 0961 6S61 8S61 LS6L — (parjpidwis) afpiy yoeraq L5 m Chl ere seats p96 - LS6L NOISOY3 GZ aang ly julod Aarins o ajHuiys ajiqow jo jiu piemeas sefpis |iSsop, sefpiy sour oo sefpii jofew ~~ 1294 aje9S 00S O00b 008 002 001 0 NOWWOD dyOdSLVD jsez psoysye9 IsaM psojs}e9 DE ANB 1 COASTAL CHANGES AT BRIDGWATER BAY 95 complex where erosion is at a maximum. ‘The ridge crests vary between 19 feet and 28 feet O.D. in height. Plate III shows the complex at the eastern end of Country Sea Wall. The relationship of protective sea wall, subsequent shingle accretion as the complex migrated down coast, and finally present day erosion, is apparent. Fig. 2a gives an indication of the ridge structure of the Catsford complex and 2b shows the amount of movement of that complex towards the east between 1957 and 1964. Since the net drift of material is easterly, and since the supply of new beach material from the west is very limited, it follows that the bodily movement towards the east which is a feature of these structures is achieved only by the erosion of material at the western end, the end which is subject to attack from the direction of dominant wave approach. Table I gives a list of the various complexes and their easterly erowth between successive surveys. ‘The figures show that between 1957 and 1964 there was a progressive decline in the total of easterly movement from 618 feet at Catsford East (Fig. 2b) to only 60 feet at Wall Common. This is a reflection of the reduction in wave energy, and of the change in the direction of wave approach as the foreshore becomes higher towards the east. Thus the most westerly shingle structures now progress down the coast at a faster rate than the almost stationary structure at Wall Common. For comparative purposes Table I also shows yearly growth of the North Weir Point shingle spit at Orford, Suffolk. There, annual extension of the spit varies but reached a maximum of 265 feet in a 12 month period between 1962 and 1963. This is an example of the rate of develop- “ment where more normal hydraulic conditions prevail and some part of the beach shingle is subject to wave attack through the whole tidal cycle. During the period of surveys at Bridgwater Bay no completely new complex has begun to develop. It would seem most probable that this would occur at the Stolford or western end of the area. This part has been disturbed by coastal defence operations which have produced an artificial beach ridge and it may be this fact which explains the lack of any new structures to be formed. STERT POINT The shortage of beach material, accentuated by the develop- ment of Spartina grass, has meant that at Stert Point there is at present no new supply of beach shingle at all. Re-sorting and re- alignment is the only process (Fig. 3). This is a response to the changing direction of wave approach as the foreshore has become higher immediately to the west. The lack of shingle has meant that the development of new recurves has become less marked even CARR IX 126 96 2 ee *suotjerodo ourjserp Aq oUeqaANysIp Aq poyeotjduior) | *JsomM 0} AjO}eIpowUT dn-pymq puy yUUWIUSITe-31 JO yO § *pUd UI9}SOM 7 S¥ [JOM SB DORI PIVMvBOS SUOTS Papots Sulog xo[duwod jo jOaTo uOTssa00I yUOIeddyY x, Oe Sige ee en ee eee bo-LG61 ofé Lg Ge — — — — Vo-9S61 } IeyO.L OI 61 O 10 QG 9G 6S Fo—-S961 SI ¢ O to GE OIl x4l— | S9-z961 §f 9 G 10) {iii OgI 4GOI— | sg—-1961 oS O O BS ¥6 ZOI GG | 19-0961 1é fe) Lz ov SPs— QII 6 =| =~og-6S61 O 6 fe) 61- fo) VE Gol 6S—9S61 96 ZG BS 96 Gor gf &P 9S-LG61 o£ (o (Sz) LS—9G61 9S—SG61 (hy oury ur) UOISSI09I yids Jo yyMOIH) | preMpuUR] ‘xePY | seq JUOMIIAOTY pel ASIN soe eek 5 & + = 5 > os 5 : : zs ow 5 <——_-——-— soxo,dwion ajsuryg jo su07Z =~ —-—_—_-_> ‘Pg—9561 SV ay) SpAvMo} asnjonaps gyaurys fo yurod pojsyp fo yaaf ur quawanopy ?+XVA WALVMOAIYA ‘I ATAVL COASTAL CHANGES AT BRIDGWATER BAY 97 STERT POINT : SHINGLE RIDGES Figure 3 1956 1959 (beach ridge only shown ) 1964 present 1956 - 1964 Fic. 3. Changes at Stert Point, Fenning Island: 1956-1964. during the comparatively short period over which repetitive surveys have taken place. Because the Point is at the mouth of the River Parrett and because the Spartina sward does not extend as far east as there, wave attack is more effective than in the area just to the west. It has been possible to record erosion of up to 70 feet on the seaward face of the distal point as the result of one storm. The negligible growth of the spit towards the east and the appreci- able recession landwards is indicated in Table I. Fenning Island, of which Stert Point is a part, was shown as a low area of saltings separate from the mainland in the Ordnance Survey of 1885. By 1902, the Ordnance Survey revision showed the Island joined to the mainland, and a shingle beach extending along the side exposed to the Bristol Channel. With the development of Spartina from about 1928 and the subsequent cessation of erosion of the foreshore at Steart Village, together with the halting of the longshore transport of material, no new shingle could reach Stert Point. Thus a gale at high tide from the northwest, for example, now pushes back the remaining shingle and exposes ‘mud terraces’ of the former saltings G 98 A. P. CARR Figure 4a oie SS eo Yih tae KY Gi t @ nm = : OF Se OF we 1 i SSS net ‘ \ 7 Si le i i he i H ' 114 ! \ |/ September 1957 27, —' ~~ October 1964 ‘sot/ ‘ Y 16 18-7 VEGETATION STERT . ISEAND SHINGLE bare or sparse major ridges “~~ dense marram (AMMOPHILA) on sand minor ridges .»~—— fine grasses (PUCCINELLIA, FESTUCA) vegetated ridges »***~ \ mud and salt marsh lower limit of ‘live’ shingle ----~~ o reference points -16 Spot heights in feet O.D. ~~” =mud ‘terraces’ 500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Scale - feet. Fic. 4. Changes at Stert Island between 1957 and 1964. COASTAL CHANGES AT BRIDGWATER BAY 99 on the seaward face. It is only at the distal point where consider- able change is occurring. There is little or no erosion of the shingle storm beach of Fenning Island behind the Spartina sward, nor sur- prisingly is there any appreciable amount on the Island’s eastern or southern sides where the unprotected mud cliffs are exposed to the River Parrett, and where it appears that the rate might be considerable. STERT ISLAND The mechanism by which Stert Island has been separated from the mainland has been shown elsewhere (Kidson, 1963). Kendall (1936, 1938) gave an indication of the changes on Stert Island just before World War II. Since 1957 annual surveys have been carried out by the Nature Conservancy. These have shown that while the Island has narrowed in width (Fig. 4) and indeed at High Water Spring Tides has been breached into two, and virtually three parts, it appears to have ceased its extension towards the north and south which was so marked a feature between 1938 and 1957. The picture is complicated to some extent by the growth of extensive areas of Spartina both to the west, north-west and north-east of the Island. While less vigorous than the main area near Steart Village the fore- shore has risen in height to some extent here also, though most of it remains below high water mark. However, at the north end of the Island parts of the continuous area of Spartina are now being replaced by other plants and grasses such as Puccinellia maritima. These parts are now just at or above High Water Spring Tides. Further complication is produced by the over-whelming of parts of the Spartina sward by shingle spreads. ‘Thus areas as much as 200 feet wide by 60 feet long have been submerged by the movement of shingle between annual surveys. Many of the last identifiable features once present on the Island have disappeared. In the central area alone the remnants of an old brick built shelter, sand dunes above 30 feet O.D. and the last remaining extent of Festuca grassland have vanished. Figure 4a shows the Island in 1957 and the various major features then present, including the vegetation. Figure 4b indicates the Island in 1964. It demonstrates the narrowing of its width, the re-orientation of its central part, the comparative stability of both north and south ends, the loss of the varied types of vegetation originally present and finally the erosion and re-deposition of much of the shingle structure on the eastern side of the Island during the intervening period. It is a striking feature that most of the erosion is on the steeper eastern or landward side and not the more exposed western side, which faces the main expanse of the Bristol Channel. This is probably the 100 A. P. CARR result of wave refraction. Although the dominant waves approach from a westerly direction, even at high tide most of them break before reaching the shingle, sand or mud beach of the Island. This would be particularly true of the bigger storm waves. In any case while destructive waves from this direction may comb down material they are unable to transport it laterally since they break at right angles to the shore of the Island. This is not true of waves refracted round the Island’s ends, which approach obliquely to the shore and work in concert with tidal flow. CONCLUSION In spite of the slow movement of material and the comparatively short time that waves may attack the coastline, there are, neverthe- less, considerable changes on the stretch of coast extending from Stolford to Stert Island. Figure 2b has shown that between 1957 and 1964 the whole of one complex has been displaced by its own length towards the east. Because of the lack of new material and its susceptibility to wave attack landward recession of some 70 feet has been recorded at Stert Point during one gale and the whole spit there has been re-aligned. Even Stert Island itself has been reduced in width to a fraction of its size since 1957, and at times become virtually three islands. In coasts of deposition it is change, rather than its lack, which is the characteristic feature. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Much of the research on which this paper is based was carried out with the assistance of other members of the Physiographical Section of the Nature Conservancy and while Dr. (now Prof.) C. Kidson was its head. REFERENCES Kendall, O. D. 1936. The coast of Somerset (1). Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 8(2), 186-208. Kendall, O. D. 1938. The coast of Somerset (II). Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 8(4.), 497-506. Kidson, C. 1960. The shingle complexes of Bridgwater Bay. Trans. Inst. Brit. Geogr., 28, 75-87. Kidson, C. 1963. The growth of sand and shingle spits across estuaries. Zeit. Geomorph., 7(1), N.S., 1-22. Kidson, C. & Carr, A. P. 1961. Beach drift experiments at Bridg- water Bay, Somerset. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 30(2), 163-80. Ranwell, D. S. 1964. Spartina salt marshes in Southern England. II. Rate and seasonal pattern of sediment accretion. 7. Ecol., 52(1), 79-94. 101 SUBMERGED PEAT LAYERS IN THE SEVERN CHANNEL NEAR AVONMOUTH By BRIAN SEDDON (Department of Botany, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff) N October, 1958, during the course of work on a site for the new Bristol Sewerage Treatment Plant, borings made in the alluvium bordering the Severn Estuary about one mile east of Avonmouth penetrated two layers of black peaty material. This was brought to my notice by a member of the City Engineer’s Department under whose direction the programme of borings was carried out. Samples were kindly provided of both the upper and the lower peat layers from a three-inch diameter core from a ten-inch borehole made by percussion drill at a point 486 yards west of Katherine Farm. This will be referred to as Borehole 9 (National Grid Ref. ST /531796). An almost complete core of two-inch diameter was taken by rotary drill from another borehole situated 1,115. yards south-east of Borehole 9, z.c. further away from the present channel of the River Severn. This will be referred to as Borehole C (Grid Ref. ST /538788). STRATIGRAPHY The stratification recorded by the City Engineer’s Department and the levels in the two boreholes are given in Table 1. The detailed examination of cores from the Lower Peat in Borehole C shows that only very thin bands of black organic material can be accurately described as peat. The greater part of the material consists of grey clay deposited under estuarine or freshwater conditions (as in- dicated by the presence of remains of Phragmites communis) and dark grey finely-bedded silt. The black organic material is composed almost entirely of frag- ments of plant cuticle impregnated with a black substance, prob- ably metallic sulphide precipitated by the hydrogen sulphide liberated in anaerobic decomposition under salt-marsh conditions. Samples 1-5 taken in the black organic material and in the sandy clay contained insufficient pollen to provide a representative count, the most frequent pollen type observed being that of the family Chenopodiaceae. In contrast, samples from the silt (Nos. 6, 7, 8) had a high pollen content in which the abundant grains of members of the Chenopodiaceae indicate the proximity of salt marsh and those of Gramineae, Cyperaceae and the genera Sparganium and 102. BRIAN SEDDON TABLE I, STRATIGRAPHY Borehole 9 Depth below surface o ft. 16 ft. 16 ft. to 51 ft. 51 ft. Borehole C oO ft. o ft. to 16 ft. 16 ft. 16 ft. to 33 ft. 33 ft. to 38 ft. 38 ft. Height O.D. Material 20 ft. Surface 4 ft. Upper Peat 4 ft. to —31 ft. Marine sand — 31 ft. Lower Peat 20 ft. Surface 20 ft. to 4 ft. grey clay 4 ft. Upper Peat about 1 ft. in thickness 4 ft. to —13 ft. grey clayey sand — 13 ft. to — 18 ft. Lower Peat —18 ft. red marl (solid) Detailed description of cores from Lower Peat (Borehole C) and position of pollen samples Depths below O.D. 13 ft. 4 in. 8 inch core from between 15-17 ft., exact level not known 17 ft. 6 in. Description of core Compact grey clay with frequent shells Dark grey laminated silt with oc- casional shells. Pollen samples Nos. 6, 7, 8 at 3-4 cm., 5-6 cm., 7-8 cm. Sand CORE MISSING Compact grey clay with abundant Phragmites Black organic material Pollen sample No. 5 CONTINUITY UNCERTAIN Black organic material. Pollen sample No. 1 Grey sandy clay becoming less sandy, with Phragmites leaves Pollen samples Nos. 2, 3, 4 at I-2 cm., 4-5 cm., 6—7 cm. Dark grey-brown sandy clay with pebbles of red marl Length of core } 6 cm. Xe) ro) ie) 5 I cm. OQ oe) © =) SS SS HN) SUBMERGED PEAT LAYERS IN SEVERN CHANNEL 103 Potamogeton suggest a freshwater flora similar to that of the “‘rhines”’ (ditches) in the vicinity at the present day. The sample of the Lower Peat from Borehole 9 also consisted of silt and contained these pollen types in approximately the same proportions. The sample of the Upper Peat from Borehole 9 consisted of black organic material similar to that comprising samples 1 and 5 in Borehole C but with a greater pollen content which permitted a normal pollen count to be made. The sand separating the Upper from the Lower Peat has been identified as marine in origin. POLLEN ANALYSIS The results of pollen analysis are presented in Table 2 and in the following account they are compared with the more complete sequences available from the Somerset Levels. The sample from the Lower Peat of Borehole 9 has an overall predominance of the thermophilous genera, Ulmus, Quercus, Hedera and Corylus, only a trace of Alnus and no Fraxinus or Tilia. These are all features characteristic of Zone VI. The percentage of Ulmus pollen exceeds that of all other trees including Quercus, a rather uncommon occurrence in British pollen diagrams. The possibility of differential preservation favouring the more robust pollen grains of elm cannot be altogether discounted. Samples 6, 7, and 8 from the Lower Peat of Borehole C form a homogeneous group which differs from the sample already con- sidered in its greater proportion of Alnus, in the reduced contribu- tion of Ulmus, in the predominance of Quercus and in the additional presence of Fraxinus and Tilia. These features place samples 6, 7, 8 later in the post-glacial vegetation sequence than the sample from the Lower Peat in Borehole 9 and prove that this layer is not every- where of the same age. In western Britain the proportion of alder pollen rises gradually from about the commencement of Zone VII (a) and values of 15-20% may persist throughout the Atlantic period as in the diagram D.B.3 from Shapwick Heath, Somerset (Godwin, 1956, p. 41) or, more usually, only during the earlier part of this period as at Toll Gate House, Somerset (Godwin, 1960). The pollen spectrum of samples 6, 7, 8, therefore, may be most closely equated with the early part of Zone VII(a). The sample of the Upper Peat from Borehole 9 exhibits a greatly diminished proportion of Ulmus pollen which characterizes this spectrum as Zone VII(b) or later. The still high percentage of Tilia cordata pollen makes it likely that the sample precedes the horizon marked by the sudden reduction of Tilia pollen, well shown in the diagram from Vipers Trackway, Somerset (Godwin, 1960) and this would place the sample early in Zone VII(b). 104 BRIAN SEDDON TABLE 2. TABLE OF POLLEN ANALYSES co) ~ eo) aR 6 © fo) 3 ee DAs seamen se fs 26 fn Se 25 pe Fe ge ge ts AH An AN AN AY Betula 8%. 5 5 7 2 Pinus 6 2 5 5 8 Ulmus 45 27 26 26 6 Quercus .. 33. 53) AS ganna 54 Alnus 2 II 10 13 15 Tilia cordata — — 3 2 14 Fraxinus == 3 ® 3 — Corylus .. ise a 2) ORM A oy 87 145 22 Hedera .. ee sie a i I I 2 — Salix) aia: 3 ied oo 3 I 5 I Gramineae oe: oe es 21 25 17 46 Cyperaceae a: MS -- 6 3 3 5 Chenopodiaceae a OS i Wh PG) 22 1@ea 250 Compositae ne fe a — — - 21 Sparganium 3 3 5 I Althaea officinalis — — —: 7 Potamogeton .. ae oo — _ = — Polypodium vulgare 2 I I I 10 Pteridium I — . Q I Ophioglossum — — — * —- Filicales .. 4. — i 3 9 The figures in the above table are percentages of total tree pollen, based on a sum of 150 grains in each sample. This sum includes grains of the tree genera listed in the first section of the table. * indicates values less than 1%. Substantial representation of Tzlza pollen followed by a sudden reduction was recorded also at East Moors, Cardiff (Hyde, 1936) at 6 ft. above O.D. The possibility that selective preservation may operate in favour of Tilia pollen (Godwin, 1956, p. 97) should be kept in mind especially when, as at East Moors, percentages are extremely high, but there is no need to infer the operation of this factor in the present case. The flora of non-woody plants represented in this sample consists mainly of the families Chenopodiaceae, SUBMERGED PEAT LAYERS IN SEVERN CHANNEL 105 Gramineae and Compositae whose presence in salt marsh com- munities is to be expected. Genera characteristic of early agri- cultural activity, such as Artemisia, Plantago, Rumex, are lacking and although this might indicate nothing more than the absence of farming settlements in the vicinity of the site, it might be regarded alternatively as supporting evidence for placing this sample early in Zone VII(b). Althaea officinalis was recorded to the extent of 7% of the tree pollen total in the sample from the Upper Peat of Bore- hole 9. Previous pollen records of this plant exist for sites at Burn- ham-on-Sea, Somerset, and Moss Lake, Liverpool, both of which refer to Zone VII(a) (Godwin, 1959). DISCUSSION The levels of the bedrock (Triassic red marl) underlying the Lower Peat in the two boreholes shows that the floor of the estuary slopes from — 18 ft. O.D. at Borehole C to —31 ft. O.D. at Borehole Q, 1.e. towards the present channel of the River Severn. The Lower Peat of Zone VI age which rests on this substratum at —31 ft. O.D. was covered by marine sand representing a trans- gression of the sea. At —13 ft. 6 ins. (the level of the pollen samples 6, 7, 8) the peat covered by the transgression is dated as Zone VII(a), indicating that by some time early in the Atlantic period the sea level had been restored by eustatic rise to within 13 ft. 6 ins. of its present position (or more by about half the tidal range if the peat was formed at contemporary high tide level). This is closely in accordance with observations from boreholes made in the vicinity of Swansea Docks (Godwin, 1940). The Upper Peat, recorded at 4 ft. O.D. in all the borings made by the Bristol City Engineer’s Department, is dated from its pollen spectrum to early Zone VII(b) and demonstrates that by this time (if not somewhat before this) the main eustatic rise had effectively ceased. It is covered by estuarine clay related to a later marine transgression which may perhaps be correlated with that recorded in Borth Bog, Cardiganshire, the Somerset Levels and the Fenland where it is known to be contemporary with the Romano-British period (Godwin, 1956, p. 26). The pollen-analytical evidence provides a means of relating the peat layers at Avonmouth to the chronology established by radiocarbon dating elsewhere, which has shown that the eustatic rise “‘was actively in progress during the Boreal period, Zones V and VI, and was fully accomplished during the Atlantic period, Zone VII(a)”’ (Godwin, Suggate & Willis, 1958). The Lower Peat from Borehole 9 at —31 ft. O.D., considered here to belong within ] / 106 BRIAN SEDDON Zone VI, may be compared with a sample from Poole Harbour, Dorset (Q-181) at —42 ft. O.D. belonging to Zone VI(b) and dated at 7,340 +110 B.C. (Godwin & Willis, 1959). It is to be noted that Poole Harbour will have been subject to a smaller tidal range than Avonmouth. The depth of the Lower Peat in Borehole G (—13 ft. to —18 ft. O.D.) approximates closely to that of a sample from Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset (Q-134) at —15 ft. O.D., like- wise belonging within Zone VII(a) and dated at 4,300 +130 B.C., which records the concluding phase of the rise in sea-level. The termination of the main eustatic rise is dated by samples (Q--120, Q-126) from Tealham Moor, Somerset, also within Zone VII (a), at about 3,500 B.C. (Godwin & Willis, 1959, 1961) which suggests that an interval unrecorded by separate deposits passed before the forma- tion of the Upper Peat at Avonmouth which is here assigned to early in ZoneVII(b). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank Mr. Tom Harrison for providing the samples and for every assistance on the site and Dr. R. L. Jefferies for help in the field-work and subsequently. I am also indebted to Professor E. W. Yemm for allowing me facilities for pollen analysis, to Dr. A. J. Willis and Professor H. Godwin for helpful comment during the preparation of this account and to Miss R. Andrew for identi- fication of Althaea pollen. REFERENCES Godwin H. 1940. A Boreal transgression of the sea in Swansea Bay. New Phytol. 39, 308-21. Godwin, H. 1956. The History of the British Flora. Cambridge University Press. Godwin, H. 1959. Studies of the post-glacial history of British vegetation. XIV. Late-glacial deposits at Moss Lake, Liver- pool. Philos. Trans. B 242, 127-49. Godwin, H. 1960. Prehistoric trackways of the Somerset Levels. Proc. Prehistoric Soc. 26, 1-36. Godwin, H., Suggate, R. P. & Willis, E. H. 1958. Radiocarbon | dating of the eustatic rise in ocean-level. Nature 181, 1518-9. | Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. 1959. Cambridge University Natural | Radiocarbon Measurements I. Amer. 7. Sci. Radiocarbon Suppl. | 1, 63-75. | Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. 1961. Cambridge University Natural | Radiocarbon Measurements III. Radiocarbon 3, 60—76. Hyde, H. A. 1936. On a peat bed at the East Moors, Cardiff. | Trans. Cardiff Nat. Soc. 69, 39. 107 OBSERVATIONS ON THE STEPPE LEMMING (Lagurus lagurus) DN GAPTIVITY By J. E. GooreRr (School of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol) HE grey or steppe lemming (Lagurus lagurus Pall.) is an inhabi- tant of Central Asia, Eastern Europe and North America, notably of the dry steppe and desert lands of these regions. A member of the family Microtinae, the species has been placed in the tribe Lemmini (Simpson, 1945). The adult is small and pre- dominantly grey (but frequently of various shades, with brownish markings in older individuals) with a dark stripe down the back and a short tail. My adult specimens measured about 7.5 cm. from head to tip of tail, the tail being only 1.2 cm. long. The fur is soft and the eyes are dark. The head is rounded (as in Microtus agrestis). _ Most of the work on this species in Britain has been done at the -M.R.C. Laboratory Animals Centre in Surrey, and my specimens from this source were bred from the original stock brought from Russia by Dr. Lane-Petter. I kept twelve lemmings, mainly in ‘successive pairs, from February 1962 to December 1964, and these notes illustrate some observations on the species, its behaviour in captivity, and its life cycle. ACCOMMODATION The lemmings were housed, generally as a monogamous pair, in an aquarium (2 x 1 x 1 ft.) in a cool place indoors. A smaller aquarium (15 x 9 x Q in.) also proved successful. Sawdust was used on the floor (sometimes over newspaper). Tissue paper and soft hay supplied for bedding were soon thoroughly chewed up by the lemmings to form a soft airy mound of material. Perforated zinc gauze served as a cover for the aquarium and is probably more suitable than a more solid structure. (Work at the Surrey Centre showed a lower mortality when adequate ventilation was supplied.) Sometimes the top of the aquarium was left uncovered; the species is very limited in climbing and jumping ability. FEEDING _ Numerous foods were tried apart from the basic oats, carrot and raw beetroot suggested for my first pair. According to Ognyev (1950) Lagurus feeds on various wild plants including lichens | 108 J. E. COOPER (Parmelia spp.), henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and various grasses. Freye (1961) also fed dandelion, clover, apple and tomato. My lemmings took the following foods fairly readily:— Raw carrot* Biscuit Lettuce Mixed budgerigar seed Banana Grasses (various) Raw apple* Crushed oats* Cornflakes Sunflower “‘seeds’’* Wheat _ Sprouts and cabbage Dry bran* Raw beetroot * Most regularly offered foods In common with previous experimenters I gave no water but one female lemming supplied with water for three months drank regularly and without mishap. A supply of carrot, beetroot or some other fresh food was available to each individual and none was restricted to dry bran or crushed oats. Mealworms were taken but usually without enthusiasm, the lemmings often leaving the wriggl- ing insects and taking vegetable food instead (one female took up to six mealworms a day for several weeks, however). Other insects (e.g. Lepidopterous larvae, earwigs) were also tried but apparently never eaten. I also gave honeysuckle and apple twigs (cf. the dor- mouse) but again with no results. ‘The food was placed in circular plastic dishes, with a rim to prevent the escape of mealworms. Several dishes were used to compare food preferences. ‘The food was usually eaten whole but certain foods (e.g. sunflower ‘‘seeds’’) were invariably carried away to the nest, where their remains (fruit coats) were later found. If pieces of carrot, beetroot, etc., were small enough they too were sometimes carried elsewhere; otherwise they were eaten on the spot. Bird seed and bran were rarely carried away, the lemmings holding them in their front paws, like squirrels. Another interesting item of food was pine wood, small pieces of which the animals found amongst the sawdust. Any food left in the aquarium was removed before it went bad, especially apple. A difficulty arose here, however, since the lemmings appeared, at times, to store food. ‘The main foods stored were apple, carrot and sunflower ‘“‘seeds’’, small piles of these foods being found in tunnels beneath the nest box. Since storage frequently coincided with | damp, oppressive weather, I wondered whether, in their natural state, they store food when conditions are unfavourable for much | activity. They continued to sleep in the nest box, however, and not in the tunnels. BEHAVIOUR AND REPRODUCTION L. lagurus is a very active mammal but apparently solely terres- | trial. Individuals will climb a piece of perforated zinc for a few | OBSERVATIONS ON THE STEPPE LEMMING 109 inches but are incapable of jumping or climbing a smooth surface to any height. While some specimens became very tame, others remained nervous and intractable, and all continued to bolt for their nest if suddenly disturbed. The animal is a competent burrower and extensive tunnels were dug if suitable conditions were provided. My lemmings were mostly very sociable and each pair invariably slept together in the nest, often packed tightly as in a ball. Introduc- tion of a strange individual to the cage would provoke a considerable response, however, a chase and frequently a fierce fight ensuing. Bites were inflicted and urination seemed a regular method of defence. The animal appeared not to be strictly diurnal, often being awake and active late at night. No day-to-day routine could be detected, the times and degree of activity appearing to depend upon, e.g., temperature, times of feeding. The voice is a sharp squeak but use was restricted unless excited or disturbed in some way. Youngsters gave regular “‘cheeps’’ from the nest box. Mating is frequent and in one pair the female too attempted to mount. ‘The male will persist in his efforts despite reluctance on the part of his mate to accept him. The recorded 20-21 days’ gestation (Freye, 1961) was confirmed. The approach of term in the female is accompanied by intensive nest building and repair. In each case of successful breeding a nest box of wood or aluminium was used. All nesting material was soon transferred to the nest box and here the young were born. The male was left in with the gravid female and indeed appeared a good father, taking food to the nest. In several cases the young were destroyed by the mother however, although daily introduction of food was the sole source of human interference. The average size of a litter was three and in no case did more than this number survive to maturity. At 10-12 days of age the young may appear outside the nest (the eyes are open by 10 days) and may attempt to eat solid food. Such stray youngsters are frequently pulled back by the mother but occasionally she her- self would rush quickly out from the nest, a suckling youngster being pulled out with her, on the teat. Each mother would defend the nest vigorously. The young are weaned at 17-22 days, 17 days being the earliest attempted with any of these specimens. By this age the youngster can fend for itself and feeds readily on carrot, oats and other foods. Onset of sexual activity seems to appear early—at 27 days in the case of one individual male. An interesting litter of four was born on 24 December 1963. On 3 January, when only ten days old, they lost their mother (sudden death). I attempted to rear the young using warm cow’s milk (diluted x 3) with glucose added. I also fed cod liver oil and 110 J. E. COOPER vitamin mixtures in small doses. Despite these precautions, only one — youngster survived more than a few hours, and this one for only 115 hours. HEALTH AND DISEASE The animal is not long lived but one specimen has survived for 19 months. The majority of the others died within a year, however. The commonest cause of death was a condition I term “lemming disease”, characterized by wasting (particularly in the lumbar region) and progressive weakness. It seems not restricted to any age group and death may occur within a few hours or the lemming may survive for up to two weeks. No pathological structures were found in post mortems which were carried out whenever lemmings died. One interesting individual was an old female with an abscess on the underside, just caudal to the xiphisternum. The abscess first appeared in February 1964 and was treated with penicillin in June. It reappeared in October and on death, in November, a swab from the abscess resulted in the isolation of a Group D Sirepto- coccus, a coliform and Pasteurella-like organism. All were susceptible to streptomycin, chloramphenicol and neomycin but all were resistant to penicillin. SUMMARY These notes on the Steppe Lemming provide a preliminary report on some aspects of the rodent in captivity. The small size and relative ease of handling this animal may well make it a useful newcomer to the field of medical research. Reports show that it has been used in cancer research in Russia but not in Britain. The animal appears very lively, entertaining and well worthy of the interest of the naturalist, if not the research worker. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks are due to the Laboratory Animals Centre, Carshalton, and also to Major Maxwell Knight, for their help and encourage- _ ment. I am indebted to Mrs. V. Lucke for two post-mortem e€x | aminations. REFERENCES Freye, H.-A. 1961. Zur Gefangenschaftsbiologie des Steppen- lemmings (Lagurus lagurus Pallas 1773). o MONMOUTH é . Q COLEFaRD a : ul ~~ (\ 4 > PAINSWICH | S Se aay le alte. | iS : 9 ST. QRIAVELS « | ea | : ‘ aos: . CiMENCESTER® “ o 2 : es J R OURSLEY i a ' , . Ze , A ETBURY C) \ @ “WOTTON- UNcER ® ASHTON KEYNES -£oce oO 4 WESTONBIRT MALMESS8uURY Be ‘ DIDMARTSN . 5 e ®@ a if CHIPPENHAM | a) Sy \ ee ( / \ ape | Gaen / Fic. 1. Flight lines of the Common Gull (Larus canus) traced to and from the Oldbury and Frampton roosts. 176 J. D. R. VERNON AND T. P. WALSH (5) southwards, following the Cotswold ridge to Hawkesbury- Upton, and thence to feeding areas on top of the south Cots- wolds around Tormarton, Marshfield and to Colerne (Wilt- shire) ; (6) southwards to the Dursley valley, and from there to the Cotswolds up to Didmarton and probably as far south as Chippenham (Wilts.); (7) southwards across the Cotswold ridge to Westonbirt and the Tetbury area, and as far south as Malmesbury (Wilts.). When the river Avon is in flood the flight line continues as far south as Seagry (Wilts.) where the gulls are attracted to the flood meadows; (8) eastwards up the Stroud valley, and thence along the north ridge of the valley to an area around Cirencester; os eastwards, following the ridge to Birdlip, and thence inland over the ridge to feeding areas on the Cotswolds as far west as Bibury. (9 The Oldbury-on-Severn roost, as noted, is used only by a com- paratively small number of Common Gulls. The numbers in mid- winter vary a great deal from year to year ranging from a maximum of 1,000 to 350. The roost is shared with Black-headed Gulls which may constitute up to 50% of gulls present. As at Frampton, few Common Gulls remain on the estuary during the day, but fly inland from the roost along four or five well marked flight lines to the lower slopes of the south Cotswolds around Wickwar and Chipping Sodbury, though there is little or no movement on to the | top of the wold. Some gull flocks feeding in upland areas to the west of the Forest of Dean may also use this roost. The roost at the estuary of the Avon is primarily used by Black- headed and Herring Gulls but up to 1,000 Common Gulls (approxi- mately 10% of total) occur during the autumn and winter, maximum | numbers being reached in December—January. This roost has been studied in some detail by Chadwick and Poulding (1956). Since 1954, when an inland roost at Chew Valley lake 12 miles to the south-east of the Avon roost in Somerset came into existence, | numbers have considerably decreased and now rarely more than 300 Common Gulls use the roost. During the day these flight out | to feeding areas on the extreme southern slopes of the Cotswolds, and the upland limestone areas around Failand, Tickenham and the Backwell and Dundry Hill areas, all to the south of Bristol, in Somerset. A few are found with the Black-headed Gull flocks: feeding on the Avon as far up as Bristol, though larger groups of up’ THE COMMON GULL IN THE SEVERN ESTUARY 177 to 200 Common Gulls have been noted on the Avon at the end of March and in April; these are probably migrant birds (Tetley, 1935). Small groups of Common Gulls are also seen resting and feeding within the city of Bristol on some of the larger and more upland recreational grounds. CHOICE OF HABITAT Along each flight line from each of these roosts certain fields or groups of fields are used by Common Gulls as feeding areas and for preening and resting. The fields chosen are generally well grazed short-term leys or permanent pastures, usually flat and of some IO-15 acres in size, and many are used regularly year after year. Recreation grounds are also much frequented, and stubble fields may occasionally be used as resting places. By contrast, Hickling (1957), in his study of wintering gulls, found that small fields were used in preference to large ones. The population he was studying comprised mainly Black-headed Gulls which may be the reason for the difference. During the autumn and later in the early spring, when grassland and cereal stubbles are ploughed, large flocks of up to 1,000 Common Gulls congregate and follow the plough, feeding on exposed insect larvae and earthworms. They rarely remain, however, for more than one or two days after ploughing. Other feeding areas are used regularly, in most cases, throughout the late summer to early spring, and there is a gradual move from one field to another away from the roosting site from early morning until about mid-day when the return movement towards the roost begins. This means that on most days some feeding flocks are present on the majority of the feeding areas along a particular flight line, though the ones nearest the roost may be empty of birds around noon. Generally, flocks consist almost entirely of Common Gulls with occasionally a few Black-headed Gulls, though this rarely exceeds 5% of the total. When flooding occurs in winter, mixed flocks of the two species are frequently found on flood meadows where an abundant supply of food is available in the form of earthworms _which have been washed out of their burrows. Apart from such instances, the two species occur in separate flocks. Occasionally _ Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) are also to be seen with the _ flock, their numbers being highest in July and August, indicating | passage of birds from nesting areas. _ It is of interest to compare the feeding habitats of the Common Gull in the Severn Estuary area with those of the Black-headed Gull _ which uses the same roosts. In contrast to the Common Gull, few | Black-headed Gulls venture high up on to the upland areas of the E 178 J. D. R. VERNON AND T. P. WALSH Cotswolds save for the birds within the Common Gull flocks. By far the majority of Black-headed Gulls feed on the lowland areas of the Severn vale, either on the mud flats of the river, or, as with Cominon Gulls, on grass and ploughed fields. Comparatively few Common Gulls use these lowland areas and the few present on the river during the day are generally on the sand-banks rather than on the mud flats. These differences in habitat, which have been noted in some other parts of the country, and have been remarked upon by Hickling (1954, 1957), may possibly be correlated with a difference in food or range of food taken. PROPORTION OF FIRST YEAR BIRDS IN WINTER FLOCKS In mid-winter the number of first year birds within the Common Gull flocks feeding inland rarely exceeds, on average, 6%. In late July, and in August, when the first birds return to the estuary the flocks frequently consist entirely of adults, but the proportion of first year birds within flocks gradually increases to an average of 5°6% in January (Table 1). In March the proportion rises per- ceptibly due either to the movement out of adult birds to the continent or to a movement in of first year birds from other areas or a combination of both factors. By May, the few remaining flocks consist almost entirely of first year birds. A more extensive series of counts will be needed to substantiate these results. TABLE 1 Immatures as approx. Month No. of records % of total August ES bye 16 0°3 September i» . a 4 0°5 October ite 7” 10 0-7 November... a 1g 2°9 December)! pe 16 a2 January $6 a 18 56 February st ie 9 2°9 March bs x 7 9°4 April a: ee I 86-0 May .. bs ce 3 96-5 THE COMMON GULL IN THE SEVERN. ESTUARY 179 BEHAVIOUR OF FEEDING FLOCKS As a result of detailed observations made throughout the day at a number of sites, the behaviour of feeding flocks is found to follow a well defined pattern. Flocks arriving in the very early morning at the nearest feeding areas to the roost vary in numbers from 100-200 to as many as 3,000. The birds sometimes descend without hesitation but usually circle the area cautiously, gradually losing height until one bird alights, to be followed instantly by most of the flock, while others fly steadily on overhead to feeding grounds further inland. Other birds arriving from the roost join the feeding flock without hesitation. Circling and landing is accompanied by much calling. There is considerable ‘mewing’ and ‘kee-ah, kee-ah’, utterance coming apparently more from immature birds, if these are present, than from adults. Calling largely ceases once the gulls have landed, and voracious feeding immediately commences. The flock moves as a single unit in one direction over the field, walking almost at a trot—with frequent short ‘leap frogging’ flights, presumably to reach unexplored ground a few feet ahead. Earthworms are dragged out of the ground, and other forms of food are apparently taken from the surface. Probing of the ground in the first hour of feeding has been roughly timed on a number of occasions, and averages, in the first ten minutes, five times per minute. After about 30 minutes the rate of probing decreases noticeably to about once a minute. The movement of the flock gradually slows down to a sedate walk, and later still to a desultory stroll. Small parties take wing from time to time and fly to adjoining fields or go further inland. Of those that _ remain, most, after some 45-60 minutes, settle down to a period of resting and preening, re-congregating in small flocks of 20-30. _ During these periods they sit quietly, preen, stretch, or turn the head _ back and tuck the bill under the scapulars. Individual resting birds _ are sometimes seen to execute a gaping or yawning motion. After a _ period of from half to one hour restlessness develops and the resting _ flock breaks up, some birds resuming a rather idle ground search for _ food, others flying backwards and forwards over the ground, occasionally touching down for an instant to pick up a food trifle, _ and then resuming their searching flight. At this period also, should _ there be others on adjoining fields, there appears to be some visiting _ between the flocks, with consequent fluctuations in the numbers on | different fields. This alternation between spells of resting and _ preening, rather idle foraging on the ground or from the air, and _ visiting or resettling on adjacent fields, forms the usual pattern for _ the rest of the morning and early afternoon. __ Weather conditions may affect the general daily pattern to some 180 J. D. R. VERNON AND T. P. WALSH degree. Heavy driving rain curtails the feeding periods, even im- mediately after arrival from the roost. In these conditions the birds soon huddle together in a very tightly packed flock, facing the rain with heads tucked back over the shoulders, remaining motionless until conditions improve. In fine weather, but when winds are strong, more time is spent searching over feeding grounds on the wing. RETURN TO THE ROOST Apart from small groups moving about in the vicinity of the feeding ground, there is little movement during the day from each feeding area until the light intensity begins to decrease. This may be as early as 13.00 hours in December, becoming gradually later as the days lengthen with the turn of the year and varying from day to day with weather conditions. At this point the first small groups take to the wing and fly off in the direction of the roost, though frequently returning to the feeding flock. They give the appearance of being divided between the impulse to be gone and the impulse to remain with the majority. Eventually, at about two hours before sunset, small parties definitely depart in the direction of the roost, to be followed by a continuous stream of returning birds until the passage ceases as daylight fades. At any point on a flight line, numbers returning to the roost will, at first, be small—two, three or four birds flying over in a leisurely fashion. ‘These are followed by gradually increasing numbers which reach a peak about one hour after sunset, and tail away until perhaps two birds, or even a solitary one, is seen ‘wending its homeward way’ long after the main body of gulls has passed. This slow build up and then gradual decrease in numbers on the evening flight is in marked contrast to the early morning pattern when passage is much more concentrated, both in time and numbers. The return flight lines taken in the late afternoon appear to be the same as those followed outwards from the roost in the morning. The contours of the Cotswold valleys, especially well wooded slopes, are again followed closely, parti- | cularly when these run in a general direction towards the roost. It is | possible that this is done to make use of rising air currents for gaining | height, as well as for guidance. The formation in which the birds | fly varies from day to day, apparently influenced by wind and the | weather as Crook (1953) has described in some detail with reference — to gulls in Southampton Water. If there is little wind, the birds fly | generally in V or echelon formation, at other times roughly in line © abreast over a front of 50 or 100 yards. In high winds such forma- | tions are not maintained and much use is then made of the wind for | gaining height and gliding. : THE COMMON GULL IN THE SEVERN ESTUARY 181 At both morning and evening flights the ability of the gulls to orientate is remarkable. Ground mist frequently obscures the feeding areas in the early morning, yet the gulls have been seen to come down through the mist on to the favoured field in the usual way. Distant haze, mist, or low, driving rain clouds may almost obliterate the surroundings in the evening. The gulls, however, pursue a steady, undeviating course towards the distant roost although, below the 700 foot contour line, the whole of the Severn vale may be shrouded in mist. On reaching the roost in the evening, incoming birds gradually lose height as they approach the river, and finally plane down to the surface of the water or to flat exposed sand-spits. A large proportion land in shallow water to bathe, before walking on to the sand-spits to join others already settled. Pre- sumably, on ebb tides, they remain on the sand-banks in the centre of the estuary for much of the night. The turn of the tide in the estuary occurs very rapidly and with considerable force, rushing up deep channels and flooding over lower sand and mud banks, causing turbulent surface conditions. The gulls accordingly retreat from lower to slightly higher sand-banks and become more and more concentrated on the last uncovered spit. There may then be, at a conservative estimate, something in the region of 5,000—6,000 gulls on a narrow spit a few hundred yards long. When such a spit is finally covered, the gulls take to wing and scatter, but soon re-alight on the now smooth surface of the water over their original resting place. There is then much ‘shuffle’ flighting (Crook, 1953), followed by a gradual re-congregation on the smoothest part of the surface. The daily cycle may then be said to be complete. SOME ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOUR WITHIN THE FLOCK Within winter flocks, whether feeding or resting, there seems to be little aggressive behaviour, as Hickling (1957) found in his study of wintering gulls. Aggression is confined almost entirely to that period when the flock first alights on the feeding area. At this time a bird which has found food may, occasionally, be forced to move away from it, or with it, by other birds of the flock. Complete tolerance is shown to other species feeding on the same area, such as Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Rook (Corvus frugilegus), Carrion Crow (Corvus corone), Magpie (Pica pica), and Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) as well as other gull species. Quite often, however, a gull on the ground will adopt, first a hunched attitude, and will then lift the head and neck right up until almost vertical, and with bill wide open will utter, usually, two long ‘keee’ notes, followed by four or five staccato ‘ka-ka-ka-ka’ ones, 182 J. D. R. VERNON AND T. P. WALSH the latter being given with the head thrust forward horizontally. This may be taken up and repeated by a bird or two near at hand for a moment or so. Though this behaviour pattern is one of display, it would appear to be part of the social behaviour in winter, as Darling (1938) has shown. Apart from these, instances of individual aggression or mutual display are exceptional, only three having been observed during the study period. In the first of these (February 1958) four birds were flying over and occasionally alighting on a feeding ground. One of the four persistently ran towards any other which alighted near it, once adopted a threat pose, and also chased the others in the air. This perhaps suggests incipient territorial behaviour. In the second (August 1959) two out of three birds present were observed to walk side by side in the hunched attitude, and then with necks stretched vertically to call loudly in the manner described above. ‘This appears to correspond closely with the ‘hunched’ posture and ‘long’ call described by Weidmann (1955) in his study of breeding season activities of the Common Gull. He further notes that the ‘long’ call is not confined to territory or breeding ground, since, even in the breeding season, its use was observed on feeding grounds some way away. The third instance also occurred in the month of August (1963). Two adult birds among a very scattered flock of about 20 on a ten- acre recreation field drew attention by their loud and persistent calling. They were observed to walk about together at a fairly brisk pace, not feeding as the others were, and seldom moving more than 5 or 6 feet apart. The paths taken by these two birds sometimes described a rough circle of fairly wide radius, at others a kind of ‘sentry-beat’ for 10 or 15 yards. If one outdistanced the other, the rear bird increased its pace until the distance between them was again reduced to a foot or two. In the course of these parallel perambulations one bird frequently uttered a quiet “khow-khow- khow’ note, interspersed with an occasional thin, long ‘wheeze’, which may correspond to Wiedmann’s ‘choking’ calls (op. cit.). The same bird, at frequent intervals walked close to the other, sometimes inclining its beak towards the ground and then walking with head and neck in a hunched, horizontal posture (cf. line drawings of female proposing to male, Tinbergen, 1953, pp. 106-107). Both birds then usually came to a stop, thrusting their necks forward, uttering a long ‘keee’ note, then throwing the neck and head up vertically and uttering, very loudly, several ‘kee-ah, kee-ah, kee-ah’ calls, usually ‘accelerando’, with the accent on the first syllable, and usually in time with each other, or nearly so. After one such bout THE COMMON GULL IN THE SEVERN ESTUARY 183 of calling, one bird suddenly arched its neck in the ‘upright threat’ posture (Weidmann, of. cit., p. 54), then lunged at the other, taking hold of feathers at the rear base of the neck. A considerable tussle ensued, with much buffeting of wings, to be broken off by one bird flying away, chased by the other. On alighting, the tussle was re- sumed. This flight chase and tussle were repeated three times in all. On one occasion, when fighting had momentarily ceased, a third bird alighted close by and walked between the two contestants. Otherwise the rest of the flock took no observable notice; indeed, before the encounter ended, they had all flown to an adjoining field, where they were shortly joined by these two birds. Seven hours later calling was again heard from this field, and two birds (possibly the same) were observed to go through the same pattern of parading, head lowering, horizontal and vertical head and neck movements, with calling, as before. This was continued for one hour, but without any fighting supervening, and on this occasion there were no other gulls present on the field. Boase (1952) records several instances of courtship display in the Herring Gull outside the breeding season and the editor’s footnote to this paper quotes a record by C. F. Tebbutt of a ‘wild flight’ display by a Common Gull at Eltisley, Cambs. on 11 January, 1950. SUMMARY Between 1956-1963 a study was made of the distribution and behaviour of the Common Gull flocks wintering on the Severn Estuary. Few roost on the estuary during the summer, but from September onwards numbers increase rapidly and generally reach a peak in November—December—with a second peak in February— _ March. The gulls year by year use the same roosting sites on the _ river sand-banks and fly out to inland feeding areas in the early _ morning along predetermined flight lines, returning to the roost in the late afternoon along the same routes. The daily routine appears _ to be a regular one. The feeding areas used are mostly well grazed _ pasture land and playing fields; upland areas are much preferred. The number of immature birds in mid-winter rarely exceeds an _ average of 6%. The behaviour of the feeding flocks is described both _to and from the roosts. It shows a pattern of alternate resting and _ feeding throughout the day, with little aggressive behaviour within | the flock. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We should like to thank Dr. Bruce Campbell and R. A. O. | Hickling for reading through an early draft of this paper and for | | 184 Je D. R. VERNON AND T. P. WALSH much helpful criticism; also to the following for much help in supplying many records of their own: Mrs. E. Barnes, J. Buxton, P. J. Chadwick, P. Dymott, R. H. Poulding, 8. J. Sealey, A. J. Smith and C. M. Swaine. REFERENCES Boase, H. 1952. Notes on the courtship of gulls. Brit. Birds, 45, 320-3. Chadwick, P. J. & Poulding, R. H. 1956. Gull roosts in Somerset. Rep. Somerset Birds, 1955, 36-40. Crook, J. H. 1953. An observational study of the gulls of South- ampton Water. Brit. Birds, 46, 385-97. Darling, F. F. 1938. Burd flocks and the breeding cycle. Univ. Press, Cambridge. Hickling, R. A. O. 1954. The wintering of gulls in Britain. Bird Study, 1, 129-48. Hickling, R. A. O. 1957. ‘The social behaviour of Gulls wintering inland. Bird Study, 4, 181-92. Hickling, R. A. O. 1960. The coastal roosting of gulls in England and Wales 1955-56. Bird Study, 7, 32-52. Radford, M. C. 1960. Common Gull movements shown by ringing returns. Bird Study, 7, 81-93. Tetley, H. 1935. Gulls in the Bristol District. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 8, 99-103. Tinbergen, N. 1953. A Herring Gull’s World. Collins. Weidmann, U. 1955. Some reproductive activities of the Common Gull Larus canus L. Ardea, 43, 85-132. 185 OTIGORTPACS FROM HOLWELL QUARRY, SOMERSET By R. J. G. SavacE AND M. WALDMAN* (Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol) INTRODUCTION HE faunas of terrestrial vertebrates from Mesozoic fissure fillings in the Carboniferous Limestone of the Bristol Channel area are well known (e.g. Kiihne 1947, 1949; Parrington 1947; Robinson 1957). One of the outstanding features of these faunas is the almost monospecific character of the fauna in each fissure system. Haramiyids (formerly microlestids) have been found only at Holwell Quarry; the mammal-like reptile Oligokyphus has been found only at Windsor Hill, near Shepton Mallet. The present discovery of Oligokyphus with haramiyids at Holwell is therefore of considerable interest. GEOLOGY The village of Holwell (Nat. Grid Ref. ST /727452) has two large, working quarries, one to the north (Qn) and one to the south (Qs) of the main Shepton Mallet—Frome road (A361). These quarries are in the Seminula (S1) zone of the Carboniferous Lime- stone, and are situated at the south-eastern edge of the Mendip Hills, lying on the southern margin of the east-west trending Beacon Hill pericline (Sibley 1906). The limestone is exposed to maximum depths of about 40 feet in Qs, and about 70 feet in Qn. It dips to the south, steepening from 12° in Qn to 25° in Qs. The northern wall of Qn exposes a southerly plunging anticline, its limbs dipping east-west at 12°. The fossili- ferous limestone in Qn contains plentiful brachiopods, corals, crinoids, and bryozoa; recently good silicified trilobite remains have been recovered. Qs is relatively unfossiliferous. The top of the limestone is peneplaned, and lying on this surface are the Lias and Inferior Oolite. Reynolds (1912) gives the following description for the Marston Road Section of Moore (1867), which lies on the north side of the A361 about } mile east of Holwell village. * Present address Dept. of Zoology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. R. J. G. SAVAGE AND M. WALDMAN 186 S961 S3I4sVNO V1SM10H S3JNSSIj -::-emm ° eve a}04Jawo)6u0) sassDW SN petupnbuf peyAey PS sBulpling Bees 931430 = # @ \ : : y ae Ys cc y Auuj 100g — of y “i dé S Zl QS SESS N eae \ WSs | WR RERERMMMA_M is OLIGOKYPHUS FROM HOLWELL QUARRY 187 “The line of junction between the Carboniferous Limestone and the Rhaetic is not always easy to see. Above the Rhaetic comes a crystalline representative of the Lias, a dense unstratified deposit several feet thick, and containing a fair number of fossils. The top bed of the Lias has been bored by Inferior Oolite Lithodomi, which may still be found occupying holes in its surface. At the top of the section are some two feet of rubbly Inferior Oolite, in which such charac- teristic fossils as Rhynchonella (Acanthothyris) spinosa may be found.” A detailed diagram and account of the succession are given by Richardson (1911). Reynolds’ description applies fairly closely to the succession exposed at the north-western corner of Qn, except that the Rhaetic is not here present. FISSURES Fissures penetrate vertically into the limestone, and in the depth exposed by quarrying, their base is not seen. The accompanying map (Fig. 1) shows the fissures trending in a generally W.N.W. — E.S.E. direction. They vary in width quite considerably, and may even “‘wedge-out’”’ in places, although this cannot be ascertained definitely. Where they become narrow they are thickly lined with calcite which grew inwards from the fissure walls in radiating clusters, often in the form of beef (sparry calcite), or the dog-tooth spar variety. In one fissure-geode an interesting form of dog-tooth spar was found, the top face of each horizontal scalenohedron being deeply excavated—probably a solution phenomenon. Most fissures contain a mixture of a consolidated and uncon- ‘solidated infilling, generally grey-green when fresh, and yellow- green to brown when weathered. In these are many vertebrate remains, especially fish teeth. Overlying the limestone in Qs is a conglomerate of varying thick- ness (8 — 40 ft.) consisting of well-rounded boulders of Carboniferous Limestone of various sizes, in a grey to yellow-green matrix. ‘This conglomerate may be traced from point a (see Fig. 1) to point e, where it is in contact with the limestone, the angle being about 80°. Between a and 3b, the conglomerate is about 25 ft. thick, but at c only 6-8 ft. with evidence of stratification, tending to follow the bedding plane of the underlying limestone. Between d and e the conglomerate coarsens considerably. The conglomerate is not present in the east wall of Qs, but recurs in the north wall between points f and g; the lowest 12 ft. is of the coarse conglomerate, but overlying this is a band of thinly bedded | strata about 3 ft. thick, which consists of gravelly and sandy marls, “often with shaly partings and containing quartz grains and many mica flakes in a calcareous matrix. The colour varies from red-brown | to green and the band yields some fragments of bone. Above this } 188 R. J. G. SAVAGE AND M. WALDMAN there is about 8 ft. of conglomerate, much finer than the lowest 12 ft. of the fissure. This is capped by 15 ft. of the typical coarse conglomerate seen in the south wall of Qs, and the bedding plane between these two conglomerates is clearly visible. The west wall of the fissure is inclined at 75° — 80° and shows signs of slight movement, while the east wall is almost vertical. It should be noted that no trace of the thinly bedded layer is found in the southern face of Qs, nor is the bedding plane between the conglomerates visible. When the exposures of conglomerate are extrapolated on to the map, they form a roughly triangular outline, although the extent of the conglomerate to the south is not known.The conglomerate does not appear anywhere in Qn, and it seems reasonable to close the northern angle of the triangle. It is very likely that this desposit was laid down during flash-flooding in a wadi, which would account for the well-rounded boulders, the definite north-south axis, and the lack of sorting. ‘The variation in depth may be due to a variety of factors, but probably results from irregularity in the wadi floor. The thinly-bedded band seems to be confined to the northern end, and must be due to the trapping of a pocket of finer sediment: this is comparable with parts of the fissure at Slickstone Quarry, near Cromhall, Glos. (Robinson 1957). ANATOMICAL DESCRIPTION The right maxilla of Oligokyphus was found in 1961 in the hard conglomeratic matrix of a fissure in Qn (25 yd. east of 18° dip on map). The matrix was removed with formic acid; the bone and four teeth are stained black. Only that part of the maxilla surrounding the teeth is preserved, with alveoli of first, sixth and seventh maxil- lary teeth; the second to fifth maxillary teeth are present and display © moderate wear. The length of third to fifth teeth inclusive is — 12.0 mm., which is close to the type of Kihne’s Oligokyphus major. _ The cusp pattern, illustrated in Plate V, follows precisely the | detailed description in Kithne (1956). Three rows of cusps are | present on each tooth, the fifth (last preserved) tooth has four cusps | in the middle row as in Kihne’s O. major and not three as usually | found in O. minor. The crowns have a marked transverse asymmetry | which confirms that the specimen is a right maxilla. The alveolus of the first tooth contains two transverse rows of roots, anteriorly a | circular and L-shaped cavity and posteriorly three cavities, the | middle being the smallest. Only the internal wall of the alveoli of | the sixth and seventh teeth remains. | The specimen is now in the collections of the Geology Museum, | University of Bristol (registered number 19046). | PLATE V Occlusal aspect of right maxilla of Oligokyphus major, U.B. 19046. Holwell Quarry, Frome. x 6. facing page 188 | OLIGOKYPHUS FROM HOLWELL QUARRY 189 COMPARISONS (i) Windsor Hill. From Windsor Hill quarry near Shepton Mallet, Somerset (ST /615452) Kiihne (1956) processed 15 tons of fissure filling to obtain about 2,000 specimens of Oligokyphus; this is the only higher vertebrate present in the fauna and from a count of the dentaries, the most plentiful bone, a minimum of 44 indi- viduals is represented. On the basis of dental measurements, Kiihne recognised two well defined groups to which he gave the names O. major and O. minor. The anatomical details of the Holwell Oligokyphus are identical to those of specimens of O. major from Windsor Hill, the sites being only 74 miles apart. ‘The lower vertebrates at Windsor Hill include Acrodus, Hybodus and Birgeria teeth as at Holwell. Kiihne dates the fissure filling on the presumed contemporaneous invertebrate fauna as Lower Lias. Kiihne (1956) and Robinson (1957) regard both the Windsor Hill and Holwell fissures as neptunian dykes, infilled under the sea but close to the land. (ii) Wurttemberg. The bone beds of Wiirttemberg are known to range from Upper Keuper to Lower Lias and yielded a therapsid fauna in the last century, the detailed localities, and thus precise horizon, of each being unrecorded. ‘The fauna comprises lamelli- branchs, fish, amphibia and reptiles. The therapsids present (details in Simpson 1928) are: Tritylodon fraast Lydekker .. I upper molar (lost) Chalepotherium plieningert (Ameghino) .. 1 broken molar Thomasia antiqua (Plieningeri) .. I molar Oligokyphus trisertalis Hennig .. I upper molar iF bisertalis Hennig .. I lower molar Chalepotherium appears to be close to Tritylodon and Thomasia close to Haramiya. Thus the Wirttemberg fauna contains both Oligo- kyphus and a haramiyid, though it is not known whether both genera occur at the same horizon or in the same locality. _ (ui) Earlier discoveries at Holwell. At the September meeting of the British Association in 1858 Mr. Charles Moore described how he found teeth of Acrodus, Hybodus and Saurichthys in a slab of rock picked up from a roadside heap of Carboniferous Limestone near Frome, Somerset. He concluded the slab must be of Triassic age, though no such beds outcropped in the vicinity but the nearby quarry in Holwell has fissures with similar remains. Then in a foot- note added after the paper had been delivered, he wrote ‘three 190 R. J. G. SAVAGE AND M. WALDMAN mammalian teeth, identical to Microlestes antiquus of the Upper Trias of Wirtemberg, have been found’ (Moore 1859). This is the first British record of Haramiya. Moore continued diligently to search the fissures of Holwell, removed about three tons of the matrix, washed and sieved it and examined the residue for microfossils. Over the next decade this yielded him about 70,000 Acrodus and many other fish teeth, together with 27 of the precious Haramiya teeth. The current position on these teeth is as follows: Haramiya mooret 7 molars Bath Museum 1 molar Peabody Museum, Yale Haramiya fissurae 3 molars British Museum (Nat. Hist.) Thomasia anglica 2 molars Bath Museum 1 molar Peabody Museum, Yale Haramiya sp. 5 canine / Bath Museum. incisors This accounts for 19 of the teeth. In a letter to Professor Marsh, dated 27th Sept. 1881, Moore stated that he had sent ‘a little box with nine molar [and] other teeth, seven at least belonging to Microlestes.’ Of these only two can now be located at Yale, which implies seven missing. One of the teeth in the Moore Collection in Bath (M 215) is, as pointed out by Parrington (1947), certainly a Sargodon tooth. Simpson (1928) commented that it did not match Owen’s illustration (Owen 1871, Pl. 1, Fig. 1-iv). The tooth was mounted crown down on cardboard and Simpson and Parrington do not appear to have had the opportunity of removing it for closer examination. The disappearance of Moore’s original is a mystery. Moore (1865) made the statement that he had ‘exhibited twenty- nine teeth of the oldest mammals. Winwood (1892, p. 14), who was curator of the Bath Museum when the Moore Collection was purchased, stated in his biographical account of Charles Moore that he had ‘discovered twenty-seven Muicrolestes teeth’. Since the 1865 note to the British Association is the only one to mention 29 teeth and all other papers by Moore and his contemporaries report a maximum of 27 teeth, and in the absence of any other evidence for a higher number, we may surmise a typographical error. In 1939 Dr. W. G. Kithne worked at Holwell and his washing and sieving of 2+ tons of matrix yielded him 2 triconodont teeth, 13 Haramiya molar teeth and 5 canines or incisors: of the 13 molars, II are in the Zoology Museum, Cambridge, 1 in the Geology Museum, University of Bristol, and one deposited in the Bristol City Museum was destroyed during the war. The site of Moore’s finds of Haramiya is an east-west fissure on the OLIGOKYPHUS FROM HOLWELL QUARRY 19] south side of the road (Qs). All but one of Kiihne’s teeth came from a similar position and possibly from the same fissure. Moore (1867) noted a four-foot wide fissure in the quarry on the north side of the road, filled with vertical layers of Liassic limestone and with core of sediment yielding Liassic fossils. Kithne’s single black Haramiya tooth was found in dark grey sediment with pyrites in Qn. This probably came from the same fissure which yielded the Oligokyphus described above. Some five years ago, with the encouragement and help of Dr. C. R. Burch of the University of Bristol, 34 cwt. of the soft fissure infilling in Qn was elutriated and the concentrate sorted on a mechanical separator; the yield was 49 Birgeria teeth, 232 Acrodus teeth, 227 Gyrolepis scales, 18 fish vertebrae and 397 bone fragments, together with brachiopods, belemnites, bradyodont tooth and pyritized rods, spheres, gastropods and lamellibranchs. The concentration was very much less than that recorded by Moore and Kiihne and hence the chances of finding further haramiyid teeth was regarded as negligible. Kithne (1947) detailed the arguments for the ages of the fissure infilling, concluding that the range of time during which the fissures at Holwell were filled probably extended from Upper Rhaetic to Lower Inferior Oolite. The find of Oligokyphus does not conflict with this, nor does it help directly to reduce the time span. The relative diversity of the Holwell fauna as compared to those of neighbouring fossiliferous fissures may be a consequence of this longer time interval during which they received material, primary and derived. SUMMARY The find of Oligokyphus is recorded from a Mesozoic fissure- filling at Holwell Quarry, Frome, Somerset. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are grateful to Messrs. George Coleman & Co. Ltd. for unlimited access to the Holwell Quarries, to Mr. I. H. Ford for discussion and comment, to Mrs. M. Dearden for the drawing and to Mr. R. Godwin for the photograph. REFERENCES | Kithne, W. G. 1947. The Geology of the Fissure-filling ‘‘Holwell 2.” | Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 116, 729-733. 192 R. J. G. SAVAGE AND M. WALDMAN Kihne, W. G. 1949. Exhibition of specimens from localities of Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrates in the Bristol Channel area. Proc. geol. Soc. No. 1148, vi-vil. — 1956. The Liassic therapsid Oligokyphus. x, 149 pp., 66 Figs., 12 Pls. London: Trustees of the British Museum. Moore, C. 1859. On Triassic Beds near Frome and their organic remains. Rep. Br. Ass. Aduvmt Sci.: for 1858, p. 93-94. — 1865. On the geology of the South-west of England. Rep. Br. Ass. Adumt Sci.: for 1864, p. 59. — 1867. On abnormal conditions of secondary deposits when connected with the Somersetshire and South Wales coal-basin; and on the age of the Sutton and Southerndown Series. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 23, 449-568, 6 Figs., 4 Pls. Owen, R. 1871. Monograph on the fossil mammalia of the Mesozoic formations. Palaeontogr. Soc. [Monogr.] 24, 1-115, 26 Figs., 4 Pls. Parrington, F. R. 1947. On a collection of Rhaetic mammalian teeth. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 116, 707-728, 8 Figs., 1 Pl. Reynolds, S. R. 1912. A geological excursion handbook for the Bristol | district. 224 pp. Bristol: Arrowsmith. Richardson, L. 1911. The Rhaetic and contiguous deposits of West, Mid and part of East Somerset. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 67, 1-74, 4 Figs., 4 Pls. ! Robinson, P. L. 1957. The Mesozoic fissures of the Bristol Channel | area and their vertebrate faunas. 7. Linn. Soc. (Xool.) 43, | 260-282, 6 Figs., 4 Pls. Sibley, T. F. 1906. The Carboniferous Limestone (Avonian) of the | Mendip area. Q. fl geol. Soc. Lond. 62, 324-380, 2 Figs., 5 Pls. | Simpson, G. G. 1928. A catalogue of the Mesozoic mammalia in the | Geological Department of the British Museum. x, 215 pp., | 56 Figs., 12 Pls. London: Trustees of the British Museum. | Winwood, H. H. 1892. Charles Moore and his work, with a list of the | fossil types and described specimens in the Bath Museum by Edward | Wilson. 64 pp., 1 Pl. Bath: Bath Nat. Hist. & Antiq. Field Club. | 193 SOME MOSSES OF THE FROME VALLEY By D. Munro SmirH HE river Frome, formerly more important than it is today, flows from Winterbourne Down to the outskirts of Bristol at Stapleton and Eastville through a valley composed of Red Sand- stone (Pennant). The acidic soil here contrasts sharply with the calcareous soil of the Avon Gorge and the mosses of these two areas are in many respects distinct, as comparison of the Bryophyte floras of these localities shows (for a list relating to the Somerset side of the Avon Gorge see Willis, these Proceedings for 1963). In the Frome valley occur some mosses which are definitely calcifuge, restricted to acid substrata, but there are also many which are to some extent indifferent, occurring on a range of soils from mildly basic to mildly acidic. A few of the mosses of Glen Frome are calcicolous, at least to a certain extent. Among them are Anomodon viticulosus, Barbula fallax, B. recurvirostra, B. tophacea, Camptothecium sericeum, Cratoneuron filiconum, Eurhynchium striatum and Trichostomum sinuosum. A number of these occur mostly on walls or weirs (e.g. Fissidens crassipes) which doubtless contain some calcareous matter, and others at the edges of paths and in fields where lime may have been added. Also found on dry walls is Dicranowetsta cirrata, especially on. Bury Hill, Winterbourne, a moss apparently indifferent to soil reaction; it grows on sandstone rocks in the vicinity, as well as epiphytically on trees. Other epiphytes’are Cryphaea heteromalla, Tortula laevipila and, on willow, Orthotrichum lyellit, the last recorded by H. H. Knight (The Mosses of Gloucestershire, Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Field Club, 1914) as common, but most of his records refer to the Cotswolds. The genera Ulota and Orthotrichum are not well represented close to Bristol, although O. diaphanum seems fairly common, occurring on dead wood, stones and walls. Aulacomnium androgynum, usually on rotten wood, grows in one locality on sand- stone rocks; also on wood and along paths is Leptobryum pyriforme. Heterocladium heteropterum is found on siliceous rocks, but has also been recorded as occurring sparingly in the Avon Gorge (Knight, of. cit.); further information on this point is desirable. Eucladium verticillatum, reported originally as growing on sandstone, is on a calcareous substratum in Glen Frome. F 194 D. MUNRO SMITH Mosses of the Frome Valley which are calcifuges include: Bartramia pomiformis Campylopus flexuosus Dicranella heteromalla Ditrichum heteromallum Isopterygium elegans Mnium hornum Pleuridium acuminatum Pleurozium schreberi Pohlia nutans Polytrichum aloides P. formosum P. juniperinum P. nanum P. piliferum Rhacomitrium heterostichum Tetraphis pellucida Trichostomum tenuirostre Mosses more or less indifferent to soil reaction are: Acrocladium cuspidatum Amblystegium juratzkanum A. serpens Atrichum undulatum Barbula unguiculata B. vinealis Brachythecium albicans B. populeum B. rutabulum Bryum caespiticium B. capillare B. rubens Dicranella schreberana Dicranum scoparium Eurhynchium confertum E. praelongum Fissidens adianthoides F. bryoides F. taxifolius Funaria fascicularis Grimmia pulvinata Hypnum cupressiforme Mosses in running water or subjected to periodic inundation include: Brachythecium rivulare Cinclidotus fontinaloides C. mucronatus Eurhynchium riparioides H. cupressiforme var. resupinatum Isothectum myosuroides Mnium affine M. longirostrum M. punctatum M. stellare Omalia trichomanoides Plagiothecium denticulatum P. sylvaticum Pottia bryoides P. intermedia P. truncata Pseudephemerum nitidum Rhynchostegiella pumila Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus Thamnium alopecurum Thuidium tamariscinum Tortula muralis T. subulata Weissia controversa Fontinalis antipyretica Leptodictyum riparium Leskea polycarpa Tortula latifolia The lists are not exhaustive, but simply give results of observations made in the valley over several years. Referees of the British Bryological Society have in many cases determined and confirmed specimens, and special thanks are due to Mrs. J. Appleyard for assistance. 195 THE GEOLOGY OF THE KEYNSHAM BYPASS By A. B. HAwkins I. INTRODUCTION HE building of a road to bypass Keynsham has been under discussion since at least 1910, although it was not until 1964 that a start was made on the construction. This paper records the geology exposed along the route of the bypass which extends from Hick’s Gate in the west to Broadmead Lane in the east (Fig. 1A). The stratigraphy of the area is shown in the section (Fig. 1B). The western end of the road is cut through the Pennant Series of the Coal Measures, which here is unconformably overlain by Keuper Marl. The Pennant ends abruptly near Durley Lane due to the Durley Hill Fault, which has a downthrow of about 8o ft. to the east. Across Keynsham Hams the solid geology is concealed by about 29 ft. of alluvial deposits. Then eastwards follows an excellent exposure of the Blue Lias. The Lias section is divided by the valley of the River Chew, to the east of which the upper part of the Blue Lias and the clays of the Lower Lias are exposed until the end of the bypass. II. THE PENNANT SERIES The Pennant rocks are visible between Hick’s Gate roundabout and Durley Lane. In the east of this exposure the excavations form an almost strike section, showing a dip of about 18° S.W. The total visible thickness of the Pennant is about 360 ft., a maximum of 24 ft. being exposed at any one point. The Pennant is dominantly arenaceous but shale horizons are seen at the bottom and top of the visible section. The lowest beds exposed are near the railway bridge over Durley Lane, where there are old workings marked on the Ordnance Map. The workings are associated with the mining of the Salridge Thin Coal Seam which took place many years ago; the fauna of this horizon is recorded by Moore and Trueman (1937). Above this seam is a band of shaly material. These bluish-black shales exist on both sides of the excavation although, because of the strike direction, only six feet is exposed on the south side. _ Above this shale horizon is a considerable thickness of sandstone with subsidiary shaly bands. The sandstones are of two main types. B. HAWKINS A. 196 ‘anol ssvgq ayy Suopo uo1j9as 7091801094) | “TI ‘ssodtq woysuday ayy fo anos ayf, “VWI “Old GEOLOGY OF THE KEYNSHAM BYPASS 197 One, rather massive and greenish-grey, sometimes forms bands up to 18 inches thick which show no current bedding. The other, by far the most common, is made up of a series of current-bedded sandstones with beds of }—4 inches. The general dip of the current bedding is about 25—40° S.W. Carbonaceous material is scattered throughout the arenaceous deposits and even found within the massive sandstones in the form of small pellets. Sometimes where carbonaceous material existed in the sandstones it has been washed out leaving the rock with a maze of hollows. One of the lower carbonaceous bands which is 5 inches thick is split in the west by a tongue of arenaceous material, probably a rolled slump deposit. Where the Pennant is overlain by the Keuper Marl, ferruginous deposits exist along the stratification planes, and in the joints. ‘There is a main trend of joint direction, N.-S., but a subsidiary trend E.-W. A sample of the deposit from the thickest vein was examined by I. H. Ford who identified the dark mineral as goethite and the light or white one as barite. In this particular joint goethite—a hydrous iron oxide—forms an almost massive vein 5 inches thick. Its position is significant as it lies just above the lower shale horizon which may have formed a barrier to percolating ferruginous solu- tions. Towards the middle of the vein is a band of barite with fine acicular crystals showing an unusual radiating habit. In many of the other veins the ferruginous deposit is massive; however in some of the smaller veins it is fibrous and many of the intermediate sized ones exhibit botryoidal surfaces wherever the iron formed freely in the void of a joint. This sandstone horizon also showed several slight flexures and faults. One such fault, with a downthrow of 18 inches to the W.N.W., had a hade of 12° and showed by the slickensiding that there has been movement both vertically and horizontally. At the western end of the section is exposed about 40 ft. of the higher shale horizon. Again the colour is bluish-black and some of the surfaces have ferruginous staining. The upper surface of the Pennant Series is clearly a pre-Triassic plane of erosion, transgressing both sandstone and shale alike. This erosion surface is within 2° of the horizontal and as the Pennant has a dip of 18° it proves that the Pennant assumed this dip as a result of Armorican folding. Further, the fact that the fault already referred to does not affect the Keuper Marl or displace the erosion surface indicates that the faulting was also Armorican in age. Although most major faults in the area, e.g. the Bitton and Durley Hill Faults, are post-Jurassic, there is no evidence that this latter tectonic period caused any important structural features in the Pennant, unless it was to increase the jointing. 198 A. B. HAWKINS III. THE KEUPER MARL Above the erosion surface at the top of the Pennant lies up to 8 ft. of red Keuper Marl. This agrees with the Geological Survey mapping except that the boundary shown (marked ‘indefinite’) is slightly too restrictive. ‘The new field evidence indicates that the boundary has a similar shape to that given by the Survey, but its position is about 400 ft. north of the suggested line. IV. THE LIAS A. Section west of the River Chew Although the johnstont and laqueus subzones are nowhere exposed by the excavations, their presence is suggested by a borehole at Station Road which showed 13 ft. of dominantly shale deposit below the level of road excavations. Further, there is a west-facing feature overlooking Keynsham Hams below the exposed Angulata Zone. This feature indicates the probable outcrop of the shales (Saltford Shales) which is confirmed by Tutcher (1923) who records the laqueus subzone in the railway section at the Keynsham Hams end. The Angulata Zone has been extensively exposed and shows a slight dip to the east, about 2°. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the general lithology is interbedded limestones and shales, but the limestone bands are sometimes non-persistent and in the lower part nodular, e.g. Bands 3 and 5. Donovan (1956) divided the zone lithologically by the thickest band of shale (Band 13) which in this exposure 1s 11 inches thick. In the lower section the limestones are frequently very argillaceous. ‘The whole zone yielded fossils, particularly Calcirhynchia calcaria, Pleuromya galathea and Gryphea obliquata, but the ammonites were found only in the lower section of the zone. Dono- van (1956) suggests that Schlotheimia similis is typical of the lower part of the zone, and this ammonite was recorded here from Bands 4 and 5 as well as S. lymense from Band 3. Besides crinoid stems, a species of Cidaris was found in Band 1, but Donovan (1965), unlike Vaughan and Tutcher (1903), points out that this fossil does extend into the Angulata Zone and thus Band 1 is considered part of this horizon. The conybeari subzone is dominated by the thick persistent calcaria bed (Band 30). This massive limestone, here 16 inches thick, frequently shows hollows about 5 inches above the base of the bed. | Sometimes these cavities in the limestone are infilled with a red- | stained argillaceous deposit, while in others they are partially | infilled with calcite exhibiting dog-tooth habit. It is suggested that | during the deposition of this limestone band there was a small influx | 257 it seipionianum subzone 46 Coroniceras sp. reynesi 43 Gryphea obliquata (J.Sow.) subzone 42 Ichthyosaur 120 & Coroniceras reynesi (Spath) 41 Metophioceras rougemonti (Reynes); Arnioceras sp. 40 Arnioceras sp.; Metophioceras sp.3; Nautiloids 39 Acrodus sp. tooth 38 Arietites bucklandi (J.Sow.); Chondrites 1 bucklandi | subzone 36 Pleurotomaria anglica (J.Sow.); Piarorhynchia sp. ‘ 435 Pentacrinus stem rotiforme subzone (Coroniceras hyatti (Donovan); Metophioceras sp. == 31 (Pleurotomaria sp.; Cryptaenia sp. (Cryptaenia expansa (J.Sow.); Charmasseiceras sp. 5 ft conybeari | subzone 390 (Calcirhynchia calcaria (S.Buckman) (Coroniceras (Metophioceras) cf. conybeari (J.Sow.) 29 (Pleurotomaria anglica (J.Sow.); Ostrea sp. eae wa ke 28 Calcirhynchia calcaria (S.Buckman) | 27 ~Gryphea obliquata (J.Sow.) 26 Calcirhynchia calearia (S.Buckman) 53 Calcirhynchia calcaria (S.Buckman) 21 Pleuromya galathea (Agassiz) Se] 20 4 2 Gryphea obliquata (J. Sow.) C116 Calcirhynchia calearia (S.Buckman) il 13. Pleuromya galathea (Agassiz) i | iil I ll Calcirhynchia calcaria (S.Buckman) 9 Plagiostoma gigantea (J.Sow.) | l ; Schlotheimia similis (Spath) 5 Pleuromya galathea (Agassiz) Mactromya cardioides (Phillips) Pleurotomaria sp. S ft : i I | i | | I 4 Schlotheimia similis (Spath) i | 3. Schlotheimia lymense (Spath) h | I } 1 Ostrea irregularis (Munster); Cidaris sp. i Fic. 2. Generalised section of the Blue Lias exposed in the Keynsham bypass. 200 A. B. HAWKINS of argillaceous material which on compaction segregated into small lenses. Later, where these were cut by joints, the original argillaceous material was washed out and subsequently the hollows infilled by calcite from percolating waters. This band yielded abundant Calcirhynchia calcaria (calcaria band) as well as Coroniceras conybeari, Charmasseiceras sp., Pleurotomaria anglica and Pentacrinus stems. If the top of the calcaria bed is regarded as the top of the conybeari subzone—the view held by Donovan (1956)—the rotiforme subzone then begins with Band 31, 6—8 inches of shale. As the first Arzetztes was found in Band 98 it is suggested that Bands 31 to 37 belong to this subzone (cf. Donovan 1956). The lithology is characteristically interbedded limestones and shales, as seen from the profile (Fig. 2). One of the features of the limestones is their irregularity, especially of the basal surface. In band 36 the amplitude of the under surface relief reached 44 inches. The fauna of the rotiforme subzone is found almost exclusively in Band 31, which contains many ammonites generally about 2 to 3 inches above the base of the band. The presence of abundant Coronceras hyatit at one level suggests a condensed faunal sequence. However, apart from Metophioceras sp. and an abundance of other phyla at the top of the calcaria bed there is no proof here of the existence of the remanié bed, although Donovan (1956), using faunal evidence given by Tutcher (1923), has suggested its presence in the railway cutting. The ammonites found in the limestones of this subzone are not normally mature, suggestive possibly of very disturbed conditions, probably due to wave action during rotiforme subzone times. Bone fragments from the base of Band 32 add further evidence of shaJlow water. The buckland: subzone begins with Band 38 and it is suggested that — Bands 38 to 41 are included within the subzone. As well as the subzonal fossil Arietites bucklandi, Metophioceras rougemonti, Arnioceras, bone fragments and the tooth of Acrodus sp. have been found. | The reynesi subzone is recorded by Donovan (1956) as being 3 ft. — thick at Keeling’s Quarry (ST /659681) and therefore it is suggested _ that Bands 42 to 46 belong to this subzone. The limestones, which in | this subzone become subordinate to the shales, lose their massive | character and become more fissile. This is seen in Band 42 where the | upper part is more stratified and in Band 44 which consists of thin | lenses of fissile limestone. Arnioceras has been found, but perhaps the | most notable fossil was an Ichthyosaur at the top of Band 42. Bone | fragments are not infrequent in this horizon and Wright (1878, p. 36) | records an Ichthyosaur from the same band in the Saltford Railway Cutting. | Although no fossils have been found to confirm it, the scipionianum | | GEOLOGY OF THE KEYNSHAM BYPASS 201 subzone is probably represented by Bands 47 to 49, as Donovan records that the lower part of the subzone is chiefly argillaceous in lithology. B. Section east of the River Chew The Lias east of the River Chew was never so prominently exposed as the main section just described. Satisfactory ammonites are few and only Coroniceras sp. has been found definitely in sztu. For this reason no satisfactory palaeontological correlation is possible. Lithologically and structurally however, there is no evidence to suggest that the beds do not correspond to those west of the river. The presence of the Blue Lias limestones can be seen in the field and their effect on the shape of the Chew Valley, causing it to be steep and narrow, continues southwards to Chewton Place. East of Avon Road, the bypass descends down the dipslope of the Lias with little excavation necessary. Where excavation has been undertaken it has exposed the typical Lower Lias clays with occasional limestone fragments. This was confirmed by a borehole where the bypass crosses Unity Road. 3a) slop soil etc; 7 oft. 6 in. 2. Firm to stiff greenish- can poor nianted silty clay 8 fe) 1. Stiff blue-grey shaly clay with Sayer of hard grey sandy limestone 7 6 It is possible that the lowest er (a shock is part of the sauzeanum subzone as it has similar lithology to that recorded from Keeling’s Quarry (Donovan 1956) and would be at about the correct stratigraphical height. C. Structure In the Lias one small anticline was seen 70 yards west of Station Road. With a strike E.N.E.—W.S.W. it has an amplitude of only 2 ft., although it is probably the one shown in the photograph in the paper by Tutcher (1923) in connection with the description of the section near the Water Tower (ST /657692). No evidence of any faulting was seen in the Lias section, despite the two faults suggested by Tutcher when describing the geology of the area of Fry’s Factory. It is possible, however, that some of the larger joints trending N.N.W., and which often transgress ten or more bands, may have resulted from tectonic stress. V. THE ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS There was very little excavation in the alluvial deposits during the building of the bypass. Despite a few extra boreholes no informa- tion has been added to that recorded by Donovan (1960) who notes 202 A. B. HAWKINS that in the Keynsham Hams area there is about 4 to 10 ft. of brown silty clay overlying gravel, the base of which is not reached. The position of the alluvial deposits and the relief of the Keynsham Hams indicate however that in the past the River Avon existed half a mile south of its present position and flowed in fact near the route of the A4. During this time the river would have eroded on its concave bank and in this way caused the recession of the Pennant outcrop to its present position 200 ft. west of the fault as shown on the Geo- logical Survey map. VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer thanks the many who have helped with this work: the engineers of the Somerset County Council and Farrs for permission to examine the section and their records freely; Mr. I. H. Ford for many discussions and encouragement and the examination of the ferruginous specimens; Mr. 'T. R. Fry for his great help with fossil identification and Prof. D. T. Donovan for helpful criticism of the Script. VII. REFERENCES Donovan, D. T. 1956. The zonal stratigraphy of the Blue Lias around Keynsham, Somerset. Proc. Geol. Ass., 66, 182-211. Donovan, D. T. 1960. Gravels below the Flood Plain of the Bristol Avon at Keynsham. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 30(1), 55-66. Moore, L. R. & Trueman, A. E. 1937. The Coal Measures of Bristol and Somerset. Q. Jl Geol. Soc. Lond., 93, 195-240. Tutcher, J. W. 1923. Some Recent Exposures of the Lias (Sinemurian and Hettangian) and Rhaetic about Keynsham. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., Ser. 4, 5(5), 268-278. Vaughan, A. & Tutcher, J. W. 1903. The Lower Lias of Keynsham. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., (New Ser.), 10 (1), 2-55. Wright, T. 1878. Monograph on the Lias Ammonites of the British Isles. Palaeontogr. Soc. [Monogr.], Part 1. —_ Vor. XXX) Pr. Tl PLATE VY facing page 203 | 203 THE AVON GORGE By R. BRADSHAW (Department of Geology, University of Bristol) INTRODUCTION IGHTY years ago in a Presidential Address to the Geological Section of this Society, Lloyd Morgan (1885) discussed the problem of “‘Sub-aerial denudation and the Avon Gorge.’ It is the purpose of the present paper* not only to bring his review up to date but also to reconsider the earlier work and to set it against the history of the study of landforms. Recent correspondence on the subject in the local press suggests that this further account is opportune. Deep valleys on the earth’s surface have been variously ascribed to the action of supernatural agencies, the Deluge, natural catas- trophes, marine and sub-aerial denudation. These explanations have at some time or other been applied to the gorge of the Avon at Clifton (Plate VI). Since it is now generally recognized that the valley has been carved by the river itself it is necessary to consider first the Avon drainage system as a whole, including the general geology of the basin, and thus to set the development of the gorge at Clifton in a wider evolutionary scheme. Several rivers of eastern England have their source on the Cots- wold dip-slope and flow in a south-easterly direction, but only the Bristol Avon breaks through the escarpment and flows westwards into the Severn system. It rises in the vicinity of Badminton and flows obliquely down the dip-slope of the Great Oolite as far as Malmesbury where it turns southwards along the Oxford Clay vale to Bradford-on-Avon and then runs contrary to the dip in a gorge through the Cotswolds to Bath. Thence it flows through the Keynsham basin, the Hanham Gorge, the Bristol basin, the Clifton Gorge and the Severn flats before reaching the Severn at Avonmouth. There are, as Crookall et al. (1930) have stated, several puzzling features about this course: the breaching of the Cotswolds, the apparent disregard of the hill ranges in its path and the failure to flow out through the low gap at Flax Bourton. Several other streams in the district, the Trym, the Gloucestershire Frome, and the Little Avon share this characteristic of disregard of present structure. A study of the geological map of the Bristol district (Fig. 1) and of the section (Fig. 2) shows that, while the younger, Mesozoic, rocks *Substance of an address to the Geological Section, January 1965. 204 R. BRADSHAW have a gentle and more or less even dip east, the Palaeozoic rocks across which the river flows have a complex structure. Since their complexities bear on the development of the river system, a brief review of the geological history of the region is given. The Lower Palaeozoic rocks are poorly represented but a thick series of sediments was laid down in Upper Palaeozoic times. These comprise perhaps 3—4,000 feet of Old Red Sandstone, 3,000 feet of Carboniferous Limestone and Millstone Grit, and 8,000 feet of Coal Measures (including the Pennant Sandstone). This great thickness of strata was folded on both east-west and north-south axes during i T= Bradtord= sae on-Avon — Palaeozoic E = Cornbrash-Portlandian Gorges (mat nies: and iiias ==] Cretaceous A Wye (-.-"J inferior and Great Alluvium B Trym Oolite C Clifton —»> Dip +» Gentle Dip D Hanham E Bradford Fic. 1. Simplified geological map of the Avon Basin. THE AVON GORGE 205 and at the end of Carboniferous times and the mountains produced suffered intense erosion during the late Carboniferous, Permian and early ‘Triassic periods when in places perhaps 12-14,000 feet of strata were removed. Kingsweston Durdham Bristol Lansdown Hill Down Oalites O.R.S. Carboniferous Fic. 2. Diagrammatic section from Avonmouth to Bath. The Trias is shown in black. Former extensions of the Lias and Oolites are given by pecked lines. The remnants of these Armorican mountains began to be covered in late ‘Triassic times and in many places in the Bristol Channel area, coarse screes, preserved as the Dolomitic Conglomerate, can be seen resting against the Carboniferous and Old Red Sandstone rocks giving the impression of a series of ‘islands.’ This Triassic continent was then flooded by the Rhaetic seas and in the early Jurassic the islands became progressively inundated until the Mendip area was covered over, perhaps in Liassic times and certainly by Inferior Oolite times. Throughout most of the Mesozoic this marine transgression continued until, in the Cretaceous, not only all the Bristol district but probably the whole of Wales too was covered by a sea in which the Chalk was being deposited. The result of this inundation was to fill in the irregularities in the Armorican mountain ranges and when, at the end of the Cretaceous, the sea retreated, it left the original rough landscape heavily blanketed by younger rocks. The Bristol Channel region has remained above sea level for much of the time since the end of the Cretaceous but there have been several marine incursions which are discussed later. CATASTROPHIC AND OTHER PROCESSES One of the earliest attempts to explain the origin of the gorge at Clifton is to be found in the local legend of the giants Vincent and Goram (Warne 1948). These two brothers wanted to leave some permanent memorial of themselves to the local inhabitants so decided to divert the course of the Avon by each digging a ravine, Vincent at Clifton and Goram at Henbury. The project ended in 206 R. BRADSHAW catastrophe for Goram was killed by a pick thrown by his brother and Vincent fell into his own ravine when stepping back to admire his handiwork. This appeal to the supernatural is to be found in the earliest writ- ings of the Greeks, but soon more natural explanations were put for- ward and the ability of rivers to carve out their valleys was recognized. At the same time however there were those who believed that deep valleys were produced by sudden and violent catastrophes and these two sets of views—the fluvial and the catastrophic—continued to be set forth simultaneously up to the nineteenth century. In 1833 de la Beche discussed the gorges of the Meuse and Avon and felt that rivers would have had to flow uphill if they were to cut the gorges. ‘Gorges or ravines would seem due to the cutting power of running waters or to rifts in the rocks produced by violent convulsions!’ In the course of Buckland’s first Presidential Address to the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society (1849) he ascribed the formation of the Mendips to the uplifting and explosive force of vapours generated in the earth by subterranean fires. ‘Fractures and dislocations which attended the elevation of these strata from the bottom of the sea may be seen in the rocks at Cheddar ...and in the gorge through which the Avon passes at Clifton.’ In 1865 Murchison strongly denied that valleys and gorges in fairly flat country could be cut by rivers. He believed that the valley at Bath was produced by a convulsion and that the hot waters there came from a deep-seated fissure along which there had been movement. The lazy-flowing, mud-collecting Avon could not have scooped out the channel at Bath while at Clifton the river had only accumulated mud and had never worn away any portion of the hard rock. ‘We are also compelled to admit that the convulsive dislocations of former periods produced many of those gorges in which our present streams flow.’ In a discussion of the gorge in 1870, Ravis stated that the chasm was probably initiated by a violent rupture of the rocks but was then widened by marine agencies, while Stoddart (1870) suggested that it was due to ‘the great volcanic outburst at the close of the Triassic period or the commencement of the Liassic’ this being the last natural convulsion that the region suffered. It should be noted that no such volcanic outburst took place in Britain at this period. As late as 1902 the author of a general textbook, Avebury, found it necessary to contradict the popular idea that Cheddar had been formed by violent disruptions and to state that both it and the Avon Gorge were water worn. In this he was only following the example THE AVON GORGE 207 of Ramsay (1878) who wrote “The vulgar notion respecting the Avon and its gorge is that before that ravine was formed all the low ground through which the river and it tributaries flow was a large lake, that ‘‘a convulsion of nature’’ suddenly rent the rocks asunder and formed the gorge through which the river afterwards flowed, and so drained the hypothetical lake.’ In the second century A.D. Noah’s Deluge was established as a fundamental geological agent as gradually the Genesis account of Creation and subsequent happenings was accepted as scientific fact. The Diluvialists, as they were later called, assembled a vast body of data testifying to the efficacy of the Deluge, and deep valleys often without streams flowing in them were held to be due to this cause. Sutcliffe (1822), after discussing and rejecting catastrophist explana- tions, invoked equinoctial tides during the latter part of the Flood which forced powerful currents through the rocks of the Avon Gorge leaving steep precipices and ‘desolating rocks formed early in the Deluge.’ In North Yorkshire Kendall (1902) and others recognized the existence of old glacial lakes and related to them a series of deep gorge-like valleys which seemed to bear no relation to the general drainage pattern. ‘These valleys were held to be meltwater channels cut by water escaping from one ice-dammed lake to the next either between the icefront and the spur or over a col from one valley to the next. To Harmer (1907) this ‘suggested a new method of physio- graphical research’ and in central England he sought for possible lake basins and their meltwater channels. He located one in the Bristol district and called it Lake Trowbridge (Fig. 3), a body of water perhaps 30 miles long and 5-12 miles broad dammed by sedentary ice in the Frome Gap and perhaps also to the north near Swindon. Gradually the lake filled up with meltwater from the ice- covered hills and eventually it overflowed at the lowest point in the encircling hill barrier, at Bradford-on-Avon, and the escaping water cut a deep gorge there and filled up the Keynsham and Bristol basins. The latter was plugged with floe-ice at Flax Bourton so that the Bristol basin filled up and eventually the water found its way over Clifton Down thus cutting another deep meltwater channel and releasing the water to the Severn Estuary. He thought it likely that the Henbury Gorge is also a glacial overflow channel. So far no strand lines associated with Lake Trowbridge have been found, nor are there the vast spreads of gravel near Bath and Sea Mills which one would expect. Recently, however, Mitchell (1960) has resusci- tated an idea of Maw (1864) that there was a glacial lake over the Bristol Channel, dammed up by the Irish Sea and Welsh ice to the west and Leese and Vernon (1961) have discovered gravels at the 208 R. BRADSHAW (Gn) 0=200 feet 200-400 feet Over 400 feet Fic. 3. The site of glacial Lake Trowbridge. Br — Bristol, FB ~ Flax Bourton, Ba — Bath, Bd — Bradford, F — Frome, T — Trowbridge, S — Swindon. I.C.I. site on Severnside which they consider might be delta deposits of the Wye in such a lake. The lack of features referred to above and the fact that several other streams in the vicinity behave very much the same as the Avon, and flow nearly parallel to it, suggest that a more regional explanation of the gorges is necessary. FLUVIATILE EROSION AND THE MESOZOIC SURFACE | During the nineteenth century there was a long and often bitter debate about the relative merits of the erosive power of the sea and — rivers. Some geologists like Lyell and Mackintosh believed in marine erosion; others, like Greenwood, were fluvialists, while others | THE AVON GORGE 209 supported Ramsay in his theory of marine planation (see for example Chorley et al. 1964, pp. 301-418). The topography of the Cotswold area was discussed from the standpoint of marine erosion by Hull (1855), Ravis (1868) and Lucy (1869) among others, but only Mackintosh (1869) mentioned the Avon Gorge specifically. He stated that the Bradford Gorge shows traces of the action of the sea and can easily be explained by the excavating power of marine currents and echoes Murchison in querying the power of the lazy-flowing and mud-collecting Avon. Cheddar and other gorges in Mendip were also said to be marine straits. Jukes was one of the leaders of the fluvialist revival in Britain and in 1867 wrote an account to show ‘that the hypothesis of atmospheric erosion is applicable to the Clifton Gorge as to all similar places.’ He suggested that if an observer were to stand on Clifton Down and look towards Dundry (Fig. 1) he would see that the Oolites of Dundry, if extrapolated, would pass between 200 and 300 feet over his head and that the Lias would be underneath and resting on the Carboniferous Limestone surface. The Avon at one time flowed over, and cut valleys into, this surface formed by the Oolites which had been tilted to the west towards the Severn and not to the east towards the Thames. In time this down-cutting breached the Mesozoic cover, theriver continued to cut into the Palaeozoic rocks irrespective of their structure and maintained its original course (Fig. 4). ‘This is a clear statement of the principle of superposition which had already been enunciated by Maw (1866) who made no direct reference to the gorge but did mention the Bristol district. As noted previously there were other views on the origin of the gorge after this work of Jukes but from 1867 onwards it was gradu- ally established that the drainage of the lower Bristol Avon was certainly superimposed; important questions such as the nature and orientation of the new surface and the date of the superimposition still remained however. Lloyd Morgan (1885) gave strong support to the sub-aerial superimposition hypothesis. He developed the thesis that there are _ two sorts of denudation, the special with an action localized like that of a file, e.g. by rivers and glaciers, and the general acting like a | piece of sandpaper, e.g. normal weathering such as freeze-thaw. The volume of general weathering is, he said, more impressive than that of special denudation. Perhaps his most important conclusion was | that the present-day denudation process has ‘revealed to us the | effects of pre-Mesozoic denudation equally vast’. In other words the present topography of high limestone and sandstone ridges with _ soft rocks banked up against them is an exhumed landscape which G 210 R. BRADSHAW had been buried by the sediments deposited during the Mesozoic. The theme of superimposition on a Cretaceous surface had already been taken up by Ramsay (1878) and he too followed Jukes in suggesting that post-Miocene movements had tilted the Mesozoic cover at low angles to the north-west. The rivers thus flowed westwards on this surface, the Severn taking a south- westerly course between the hills of Wales and Hereford and the Fic. 4. Superimposed drainage. (a) A river system initiated on a surface of Mesozoic rocks which rest unconformably on folded Upper Palaeozoic strata. (b) At a later stage the rivers are flowing over the older rocks while still maintaining the directions developed on the newer surface. slope of the Chalk and beginning to carve out the Chalk escarp- ment. After the Severn was well established, however, further earth movements tilted the Chalk to the east and the easterly flowing | streams collected to form the Thames. | Most people considered, however, that the Chalk surface was | tilted to the east by movements along a north-east /south-west axis | perhaps in the Miocene, a fact suggested by the general strike of the | Mesozoic rocks of central England, their dip to the east and the | presence of similar rocks in the Irish Sea basin on the north-western | side of the anticline. It was on this surface domed up about a point | somewhere in Snowdonia that a south-easterly trending drainage — system was established (Davis 1895; Buckman 1900; Strahan 1902). | In Buckman’s reconstruction (Fig. 5) of the drainage lines, the - | | | THE AVON GORGE 211 Fic. 5. Drainage development according to Buckman. (a) Original consequent streams shown by dotted lines with present day rivers included for reference. (b) A later stage than (a) with the consequents beheaded by subsequent streams shown by pecked lines. Other streams are obsequents. headwaters of the south-easterly flowing consequents were be- headed by subsequent strike streams cutting back towards the north- east along the less resistant rocks such as the clays of the Jurassic, and perhaps the red marls of the Trias, laid bare by the removal of the Chalk above. This capture led to a reversal of drainage of those streams which were originally to the south-east of the Severn so that the Avon, for example, which at first flowed south-easterly as a consequent now flowed towards the north-west, i.e. towards the Severn, as an obsequent stream. This reversal was supported by Sanders (1918). She noted that the north-south gorges of the Wye, ‘Trym and Avon are fairly well in line and postulated that they were cut in the Oligocene by a river flowing from Wales over the Mesozoic surface, supporting evidence for this being the deposit of gravels containing Welsh pebbles at a height of about 600 feet at Freshford, south-east of Bath. To rein- force her arguments about a south-easterly flow she pointed to the fact that the meanders of the Avon become bigger eastwards (meanders usually increase in size downstream) and to the angle of junction of the tributary rivers. Again the headwaters of this river were captured by the Severn as it cut back north-eastwards so that an obsequent stream flowed through the gorge of the Trym towards the north and finally this was in turn captured by an obsequent from the Severn cutting back along an old pre-Triassic valley 212 R. BRADSHAW previously filled in by soft marls (Fig. 6). In other words the Clifton Gorge was initiated by rivers flowing towards the south-east and the part upstream from Clifton was formed before the hills were etched out, the downstream part being formed later. Fic. 6. Sanders’ reconstruction of the drainage pattern. (a) The early stage with the present day Bristol Channel shown dotted. Gorges: W — Wye, T — Trym, C — Clifton, B — Bradford. (b) A later stage showing capture by the subsequent river Severn and later by a smaller obsequent (pecked line). Varney (1921) also used the presence of gravels containing Welsh pebbles at a height of 5-600 ft. on Farleigh and Bathampton Downs in his reconstruction of the ‘Old Southampton River’ (Fig. 7). Capture of the south-easterly flowing consequent rivers by the vigorous, subsequent Severn caused an obsequent to flow north- westwards still on a Mesozoic surface but as it cut down to keep pace with the Severn it eventually reached the Palaeozoic rocks and became superimposed on them. The gorge at its present level was therefore eroded by a westerly-flowing obsequent which, as it cut further back, pushed out post-obsequents along the clay vale towards Chippenham and Malmesbury and beheaded the head- waters of the Kennet and Upper Thames. If the gravels are pre— Pleistocene, perhaps Pliocene, then the Bristel Avon, and hence also the gorge, were developed in Pleistocene times. Thus, according to Davis, Buckman, Sanders, Varney, and others, the reversal of drainage of the Avon was effected by river capture associated with the headward erosion of the Severn, which became a vigorous, subsequent river pushing north-eastwards along the soft rocks of the Vale of Severn. | | THE AVON GORGE 213 Fic. 7. (a-d). Varney’s reconstruction of the river development. Present day coast line dotted. W — Wye, S — Severn, T — Thames, A — Avon, K — Kennet, B — Salisbury Avon. This rapid extension of the lower Severn may well have been due to the establishment of the Bristol Channel in Miocene times by the folding of the Mesozoic rocks on east-west and perhaps north-east / south-west axes, thus forming a new trough on an old line. This area was certainly the site of an east-west depression during Permian and Triassic times which was filled in by debris derived from both north and south. By drawing contours for the Rhaetic-Lias junction, either actual or estimated, Jones (1930) was able to show that in both the 214 R. BRADSHAW Vale of Glamorgan and in the Mendip region there has been considerable folding of this surface so that, e.g., it reaches 850 ft. above O.D. on Mendip, declines to 500 ft. around Wells, and to 200 ft. below O.D. at Glastonbury (Fig. 8). More recent work BRISTOL CHANNEL Fic. 8. Post-Mesozoic folding shown by the base of the Lias (after Jones). (Green and Welch 1965) confirms this tectonic activity but shows that the base of the Rhaetic reaches more than 1,000 ft. below O.D. in the central Somerset Basin, giving a fold amplitude of nearly 2,500 ft. In spite of criticism of this method of determining the _ warping of the surface because of doubts about its original hori- zontality, it does seem to be well established that the Miocene folds _ clearly seen in the south-east of England can be traced into the Bristol Channel region and that they led to the development of this embayment opening out westwards to the sea. This down-folding together with rapid erosion by the Severn thus initiated an arm of the sea, the Bristol Channel, with low-lying land at its head. The exact date of these events is uncertain but there seems little doubt that by the beginning of the Pliocene and perhaps earlier there were no rivers flowing across the Bristol Channel-Severn estuary and the south-easterly flowing Welsh rivers and obsequent rivers from the Cotswolds were flowing into the Severn. | : : : } | | | THE AVON GORGE 215 PLEISTOCENE SURFACES When the Pliocene Sea transgressed over the British Isles, this gulf was flooded and the sea encroached on the ground on either side. Trueman (1938) demonstrated the existence in the Bristol district of a series of erosion levels at about 750-850 ft., 550-600 ft., 440-450 ft. and 200-300 ft. and Driscoll (1958) found similar levels at the other side of the channel in the Vale of Glamorgan. These flattish areas, now much dissected by the current cycle of erosion, can be seen in the following places: the 750-850 ft. level on the Men- dip and Cotswold high summits, the 550-600 ft. on Broadfield Down and the northern Mendips, the 400-450 ft. at Chew Magna, Nibley, Farrington Gurney-Nunney, the 200-300 ft. in the Knowle-Barrow Gurney district, Durdham Downs—Patchway, Leigh Woods— Queen Charlton. The last level is by far the most widespread. He considered these to have been wave-cut platforms eroded by the sea during Pliocene and Pleistocene times at periods when sea level was much higher than it is now though the higher levels may have been produced by sub-aerial agencies. One of the big problems here is to what extent these surfaces are of comparatively recent marine and sub-aerial origin and to what extent they are exhumed Mesozoic surfaces etched out when the Jurassic seas were encroach- ing on the Armorican lands. There are certainly large areas of almost horizontal Liassic rocks but if the Miocene folding is accepted as proven, the marine erosion surfaces of the Jurassic should be warped. Wooldridge (1950) claimed that the planation potential of the Tertiary has been underestimated and suggested that perhaps surfaces up to 600 ft. are marine. According to ‘Trueman, at the 300 ft. stage the mouth of the Aeon was not far below Bath and as the sea retreated the river flowed out towards the Severn across an uplifted sea-floor which perhaps had no covering of sediments or at best only a thin layer. This, according to Trueman, is the stage at which the gorge was cut, i.e. post the 300 ft. platform, and as the sea level fell further so the valley was deepened and the river perhaps began to cut its way across another platform. This process is graphically described by George (1942) in his account of rivers in South Wales—‘The rivers therefore grew in length by downstream advancement across the newly-emerged coastal shelf with each successive uplift and marine regression . [in] directions largely controlled by the nature and degree of regularity of the exposed marine beach . .. . generally they tended to lie more or less normal to the contemporary shore-line.’ This seems to be a reasonable explanation for the westerly flow of the Avon and for the Clifton Gorge but it still does not account 216 R. BRADSHAW for the breaching of the Cotswolds by the river. A possible mechan- ism however can be deduced from an account by Wooldridge (1961) of the Radstock Plateau in which he draws comparisons between the denudation chronology of south-eastern England and that of the Bristol area. Most important in the present context is his suggestion that the Pliocene sea (in recent work this has become Plio- Pleistocene, Calabrian, in age) transgressed from the south-east through the Wylie Valley in Wiltshire and flooded into Somerset and the valley of the Bristol Avon, thus perhaps establishing a link with the sea already flooding the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary from the west. The 600 ft. marine platform cut during this transgression can be seen in the Wylie Valley and it is just possible that a shoreline to this sea can be traced near Lansdown, Bath. Further evidence is provided by a number of more or less con- cordant summit levels at about 600 ft. in north-east Somerset, two of which are at Farleigh and Bathampton Downs. The gravels there could well, therefore, be marine and of local origin, not fluviatile and derived from South Wales as suggested by Varney and others, though Wooldridge suggests that a glacial origin cannot be ruled out. In this latter case the gravels may be early Pleistocene as on the 600 ft. platform farther to the east. Fig. 9 shows the coastline during the Pliocene (Calabrian), when Miles USES Land ===) Fic. 9. The shoreline of the Calabrian (650 ft.) sea based on Wooldridge (1961). Present day coast line shown. The arrows indicate the direction of the marine regression. M — Melksham, W — Warminster. | THE AVON GORGE 217 sea level was roughly 600 ft. higher than at present, as reconstructed by Wooldridge with additions by the writer. Rivers flowed down the dip-slope of the Cotswolds into the gulf over what is now the low ground round Melksham. As its level fell the sea retreated down what are now the Wylie and Avon valleys leaving a ridge of higher ground separating the two gulfs near Warminster and marine cut platforms gently shelving both to west and south-east. The drainage of the Melksham vale followed a westerly course towards the sea over the Calabrian platform cut across the Cotswolds near Bradford. It is difficult, however, to fit the north-easterly flow of the Cam and Wellow brooks, the latter flowing through Radstock, into this simplified pattern. During still-stands of sea level at perhaps 400-— 450 ft. and again at about 300 ft. further wave-cut platforms were formed and with each regression the sea moved further to the west over the Bristol area exposing successive platforms as it did so. The Avon, cutting down to keep pace with the falling sea level, thus eroded through the various platforms and gave rise to gorges whose depths vary according to the age of the platform into which they are cut—at least 450 ft. near Bath and about 300 ft. at Bristol. Since the 300 ft. platform is clearly much younger than the Calabrian 600 ft. platform, Wooldridge suggested that it was cut by the sea during the first interglacial period and that the gorge at Clifton was initiated on this surface in response to the falling sea level of the Second or Antepenultimate glaciation. Thus, the most recent account ascribes the youngest age to the beginning of the cutting of the gorge and is the latest ina line ranging from ‘perhaps not before Tertiary’ (Callaway 1go1) to Pliocene (Greenly 1947; Varney 1921). A Pleistocene age for the cutting of the gorge depends on the dating of the various levels and Wooldridge does not follow up the implications of his suggestions for local Pleistocene chronology. Mitchell (1960), adapted by Kidson (1964), puts the highest sea level in the Pleistocene as 200 ft. above O.D. and Wills’ work (1938) on the Severn during the Glacial period suggests something similar. The later Pleistocene history of the lower parts of the Avon can be deduced from the patchy spreads of river gravels found below Bath (Davies and Fry 1928; Fry 1956; Palmer 1931). Terraces found at about 270 ft. at Leigh Woods, too ft. at Bath, Brislington and Ham Green, 50 ft. at Saltford, all mark progressive downcutting of the Avon to keep pace with falling sea level and during these times much of the softer rock in the Bristol district was removed by erosion to give the broad basins around, for example Keynsham, Bristol and Flax Bourton. In the Forest Period, the sea retreated to a level at least 100 ft. below O.D. so that the coast line in the Bristol Channel 218 R. BRADSHAW was west of a line from Minehead to Bridgend (see North 1955). To keep pace with this regression the Avon cut a deep channel, the bed of which is at 19 ft. and 45 ft. below O.D. at Bristol and at Avon- mouth respectively. The final episode was the raising of sea level, the so-called Flandrian transgression, which flooded the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary and once again brought tides up the Bristol Avon and through the gorge. CONCLUSION The gorges of the Avon at Clifton, Hanham, and Bath have been cut by the river since the beginning of the Pleistocene. The drainage is superimposed, that at Bath being on an early Pleistocene or Calabrian marine erosion surface (the 600 ft. platform), and at Hanham and Clifton on the 300 ft. surface possibly cut during the first interglacial period. In response to variations in sea level, the river has in later Pleistocene times considerably modified these flat marine platforms, removing considerable quantities of the softer rocks to produce, for example, the basin in which much of Bristol now stands and leaving only remnants of the original flat surfaces. While the Severn played a part in the capture of the original south-easterly flowing consequents on the Chalk and probably later surfaces, it is unlikely that the Avon is an obsequent stream related to this process. The erosion effected by the Severn system, however, was of considerable importance in establishing low ground which was flooded by late-Pliocene and Pleistocene transgressions, thus enabling the sea to produce wave-cut platforms on which the drainage was superimposed. It seems unlikely that any major part of the present drainage system was superimposed on a Mesozoic surface or on Mesozoic rocks. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks are due to Mr. A. Frey who very kindly read the manu- script and made a number of useful suggestions, and to Mr. T. R. Fry for many helpful discussions. REFERENCES Avebury, Lord 1902. The Scenery of England. London. Beche, H. T. de la 1833. A Geological Manual, 3rd Ed. London. Buckland, W. 1849. Inaugural Address. Proc. Somerset. archaeo. nat. Hist. Soc. 1, 9-20. THE AVON GORGE 219 Buckman, S.S. 1900. Excursion Notes: Chiefly on River Features. Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Fld Club, 13, 175-192. Callaway, C. 1901. The Pre-Rhaetic Denudation of the Bristol Area. Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Fld Club, 14, 47-57. Chorley, R. J., Dunn, A. J. and Beckinsale, R.P. 1964. The History of the Study of Landforms. London. Crookall, R., et al. 1930. The Geology of the Bristol District with some account of the Physiography. Br. Ass. Adumt Sci. (special publ.) Davies, J. A. and Fry, T. R. 1928. Notes on the Gravel Terraces of the Bristol Avon. Proc. Univ. Bristol speleol. Soc. 3, 162-172. Davis, W. M. 1895. The Development of Certain English Rivers. Geogrl F. 5, 127-146. Driscoll, E. M. 1958. The Denudation Chronology of the Vale of Glamorgan. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 25, 45-57. Fry, T. R. 1956. Further notes on the Gravel Terraces of the Bristol Avon and their Palaeoliths. Proc. Univ. Bristol speleol. Soc. 7, 121-129. George, T. N. 1942. The Development of the ‘Towy and Upper Usk Drainage Pattern. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 98, 89-137. Green, G. W. and Welch, F.B.A. 1965. Geology of the Country around Wells and Cheddar. H.M.S.O., London. Mem. geol. Surv. U.K. Greenly, E. 1947. The Age of the Clifton Gorge, Bristol. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 27, 283-284. Harmer, F. W. 1907. On the Origin of Certain Cafion-like Valleys associated with Lake-Like Areas of Depression. Q. 7 geol. Soc. Lond. 63, 470-514. Hull, E. 1855. On the Physical Geography and Pleistocene Pheno- mena of the Cotteswold Hills. Q. Fl geol. Soc. Lond. 11, 477-494. Jones, O. 'T. 1930. Some Episodes in the Geological History of the Bristol Channel Region. Adumt Sct., Lond. 57-82. Jukes, J. B., 1867. On the Gorge of the Avon, at Clifton. Geol. Mag. 4, 444-447. Kendall, P. F. 1902. A system of Glacier-Lakes in the Cleveland Hills. Q.. Fl geol. Soc. Lond. 58, 471-571. Kidson, C. 1964. The Physiographic Evolution of the Severn Estuary. 4th Int. Harbour Conf., Antwerp. 1-11. Leese, C. E. and Vernon, W. F. 1961. Basal Gravel in the Alluvium near Severn Beach. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 30, 139-143. Lloyd Morgan, C. 1885. Sub-aerial Denudation and the Avon Gorge. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 4, (N.S.), 171-197. Lucy, W. C. 1869. The Gravels of the Severn, Avon and Evenlode and their extension over the Cotteswold Hills. Proc. Cotieswold Nat. Fld Club, 5, 71-125. 220 R. BRADSHAW Mackintosh, D. 1869. The Scenery of England and Wales. London. Maw, G. 1864. On a supposed Deposit of Boulder Clay in North Devon. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 20, 445-451. Maw, G. 1866. Notes on the Comparative Structure of Surfaces produced by subaerial and marine denudation. Geol. Mag. 3, 439-451. Mitchell, G. F. 1960. The Pleistocene History of the Irish Sea. Adumt Sci., Lond. 17, 313-325. Murchison, R. I. 1865. Presidential Address to Section C of the British Association. Rep. Br. Ass. Adumt Sci., Notices and Ab- stracis. 41-48. North, F. J. 1955. The Evolution of the Bristol Channel. Cardiff. Palmer, L. S. 1931. The Pleistocene Succession of the Bristol District. Proc. Geol. Ass. 42, 345-361. Ramsay, A. C. 1878. Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain. London. Ravis, C. F. 1868. Denudation in the Bristol District. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 3, 18-19. Ravis, C. F. 1870. On Denudation. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 5, 47-51. Sanders, E. M. 1918. La Région de Bristol. Théses presentées a la Faculté des Sciences de Paris. Stoddart, W. W. 1870. The Quaternary Deposits of the Bristol Neighbourhood. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 5, 37-43. Strahan, A. 1902. On the Origin of the River System of South Wales and its connection with the Severn and the Thames. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 58, 207-225. Sutcliffe, J. 1822. The Geology of the Avon. Bristol. Trueman, A. E. 1938. Erosion Levels in the Bristol District. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 8, (4th Ser.), 402-428. Varney, W. D. 1921. The Geological History of the Pewsey Vale. Proc. Geol. Ass. 32, 189-205. Warne, F. G. 1948. Warne’s Guide. Bristol. Wills, L. J. 1938. The Pleistocene Development of the Severn from Bridgnorth to the Sea. Q. Fl geol. Soc. Lond. 94, 161-242. Wooldridge, S. W. 1950. The Upland Plains of Britain: their Origin and Geographical Significance. Advmt Sct., Lond. 7, 162-175. Wooldridge, S. W. 1961. The Radstock Plateau—A Note on the Physiography of the Bristol District. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 30, 151-162. DISSEMINATED GALENA IN RHAETIC SHALES AT ALMONDSBURY, NEAR BRISTOL By D. HAMILTON (Department of Geology, University of Bristol) URING the construction of the London—South Wales Motorway (M4), Rhaetic shales containing galena were collected from a cutting (Grid Ref. ST /61408457) four hundred yards east of the overhead bridge carrying the A38, about a mile north of Almondsbury, which lies to the north-west of Bristol (see map, Whittard 1949). These shales contain scattered cubes of galena but the sediment, in hand-specimen, appears to differ little from other Rhaetic dark shales in the area. The interest in this occurrence centres round the possible modes of origin of isolated galena cubes disseminated through the lower part of the Rhaetic Westbury Beds. Galena is commonly associated with the Carboniferous Limestone in the Bristol and Mendip area (Green 1958), the mineralization following fissures, faults and joints. The typical mineral association is galena, sphalerite and pyrite with calcite and barite. Galena is also present in the Dolomitic Conglomerate (Kingsbury 1941; Stoddart 1877; Whittard 1948, p. 328) and in the Keuper Marl, though no previous records of galena occurring in Rhaetic sediments of the Bristol area are known. Dr. M. L. K. Curtis, Bristol Museum, has collected galena cubes in Westbury Beds from a borehole in Southmead, Bristol (Specimen Da 5600, Bristol Museum). Galena is recorded in Rhaetic, Lias and Lower Oolite rocks in the Mendips (Dewey 1921). Possible modes of origin for the lead vein deposits in the Mendips are discussed by Dewey (1921), Dunham (1952) and Green (1958). The occurrence of scattered galena cubes in the Westbury Beds in the M4 road cutting is sufficiently different to suggest alternative modes of origin. These could include: (1) a detrital origin, (2) a syngenetic origin by bacterial activity, (3) an authigenic origin, (4) impregnation by ore-bearing fluid. (1) Detrital Mode of Origin. The galena cubes are confined in the outcrop to a band three inches thick, two feet three inches above the base of the Westbury Beds. The band was traced laterally 222 D. HAMILTON about twenty feet. The cubes occur singly, are simple and entire, and range in size from 2 mm. to 0.2 mm. In all cases the edges and corners are sharp and unrounded. The enclosing sediment is a fissile silty shale. The obvious source of detrital grains of galena is from the erosion of Carboniferous Limestone. This presupposes that mineralization of the pre-Rhaetic strata had already taken place. A specimen of Rhaetic Bone Bed collected by the writer from Aust Cliff has a pebble of ‘Tea Green Marl containing galena, but none is present in other pebbles or the matrix. From a study of lead isotope abundance in galena, Moorbath (1962) concluded that the main mineralization in the Mendips was of ‘Triassic age. Erosion at the beginning of the Rhaetic is indicated by the locally derived conglomeratic Bone Bed underlying the galena-bearing shales at the M4 outcrop. No fragments of galena have been found in these coarse sediments. There is no detrital component in the galena-bearing shale that could be the hydraulic equivalent of the heavy lead sulphide. (2) Syngenetic Origin. The shales have abundant minute carbonaceous fragments studded with micro-granules of pyrite, and dark waxy brown sapropel, usually forming flakes or sheets lying more or less parallel to the laminations in the sediment. Under high magnification abundant cylindrical and coccoid structures, possibly bacteria, sometimes arranged in strings, are present in a translucent brownish and structureless groundmass. The presence of this organic material raises the possibility that lead sulphide could have been deposited in a reducing environment within the sediment through the action of bacteria, whilst inter- change between the Rhaetic sea and the sediment persisted. Since the occurrence of galena in the shales is limited both vertically and laterally, there could have been a purely local enrichment in lead from the weathering of nearby lodes. Bass Becking and Moore (1961) have precipitated experimentally the sulphides of most of the common metals, including lead, using cultures of the sulphate- reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. (3) Authigenic Growth. Lead can be concentrated by adsorption on organic material, which could give rise to well developed cubes of galena but insufficient analytical data on the specimens are available at present to draw any conclusions. Authigenic growth is a possible mechanism by which such cubes of galena could form. (4) Impregnation Mineralization. The other occurrences of galena in the area can be grouped readily into fissure and replace- ment deposits, and impregnation deposits with accompanying bleaching of argillaceous sediments. Field evidence at the outcrop DISSEMINATED GALENA IN RHAETIC SHALES 223 failed to reveal any veins, fissures or paths of impregnation, nor other minerals in the shale such as calcite, barite and pyrite, which commonly accompany galena. On the opposite side of the road a fault (Whittard 1949) with a down-throw of about 12 feet to the east brings Westbury Beds into contact with Carboniferous Limestone series, but no galena was found in the shales adjacent to the fault. The Tea Green Marls below the Westbury Beds are unusually hard as secondary silica has permeated the rock by following crystal and grain boundaries. The detrital quartz grains are slightly corroded when adjacent to calcite but no instances of authigenic quartz overgrowths were seen. Late stage vugs are lined with pyrite and drusy calcite, suggesting alteration by mineralizing fluids. In order to determine if there are any major differences in the chemical composition of the shale enclosing the galena cubes, a partial chemical analysis was made using a Philips X-ray fluores- cence spectrometer of the galena-bearing shale (DH 670) and also of a lithologically similar Rhaetic shale from Aust Cliff, Glos. (DH 677). SiO, Al.O; TiO, Fee MgO CaO Na.O K.0 MnO P.O; S DH 670 55.65 20.21 0.76 5.76 2.02 0.52 0.26 5.06 0.05 0.06 2.63 DH 677 54.39 19.92 0.77 6.78 2.21 0.48 0.20 5.64 0.07 0.05 3.66 Fe.O,/FeO content not determinable due to high organic content. Total loss on ignition: DH 670 17.43%; DH 677 13.50%. No significant differences are apparent. Trace element compositions in p.p.m. are as follows: Cl Sc Cs Ba Ce DH 670 180.7 17.9 36.3 441.0 The] DH 677 149.5 16.1 32.0 414.4 68.8 The barium content is not abnormally high compared with that of other sediments in the area, but sufficiently high to suggest local enrichment by mineralizing fluids for barite frequently accompanies galena in fissure deposits. The minor element composition of the galena cubes from the Westbury shales and from undoubted mineralized zones in the Carboniferous Limestone and Dolomitic Conglomerate was com- pared by spectrographic analysis. This revealed the presence of both antimony and silver in the Rhaetic galena as well as the fissure deposits (cf. Carlton 1959). This points strongly to deposition of galena from mineralizing fluids for it is improbable that a minor element composition similar to the fissure deposits could occur if the galena was of syngenetic or authigenic origin. Even if the 224 D. HAMILTON origin is by impregnation, the absence of any bleaching or alteration of the organic material in the shale, the absence of the usual mineral suite accompanying galena and the cause of scattered nucleation of the crystals in the shale still pose interesting problems. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should like to acknowledge the work of Messrs. G. L. Hendry, A. G. Plant, P. K. Harvey, R. J. Howarth and J. W. Aucott in calibrating and programming the X-ray spectrometer in the Geology Department, Bristol University, and also Mr. I. H. Ford for much enthusiastic assistance and discussion. REFERENCES Bass Becking, L. G. M. & Moore, D. 1961. Biogenic Sulfides. Econ. Geol. 536, 259-72. Carlton, L. 1959. An Occurrence of Galena at Flax Bourton. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 29, 491-2. Dewey, H. 1921. Lead, silver-lead, and zinc ores of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Mem. geol. Surv., Miner. Resour. Gt Br, 21. Dunham, K. C. 1952. Age-Relations of the Epigenetic Mineral Deposits of Britain. Trans. geol. Soc. Glasg. 21, 395-4209. Green, G. W. 1958. The Central Mendip Lead-Zinc Orefield. Bull. geol. Surv. Gt Br. 14, 70-90. Kingsbury, A. W. G. 1941. Mineral Localities on the Mendip Hills, Somerset. Mineralog. Mag. 26, 67-80. Moorbath, S. 1962. Lead isotope abundance studies on mineral occurrences in the British Isles and their geological significance. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 254A, 295-360. Stoddart, W. W. 1877. Notes on the Metals found near Bristol. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 2 (N.S.), 68-76. Whittard, W. F. 1948. Temporary Exposures and Borehole Records in the Bristol Area. I. Records of Boreholes sunk for the New Severn and Wye Bridges. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 27, 311-28. Whittard, W. F. 1949. Temporary Exposures and Borehole Records in the Bristol Area. III. Records of Boreholes sunk for the ‘Tunnel under the Bristol—-Gloucester Road. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 27, 471-8. PRESIDENTS a BPIEAAREGANDERS § .2- oe ak ee ae 862 HENRY E. FRIPP .._.. Be erg ah y ae Te 76 EORGE FORSTER BURDER . SN Bir Asa ae 80 REPO a we ae 83 Professor WILLIAM RAMSAY .. .... «ee 84 Mer THOMAS HINCKS ..°© 2/0 6. uw Cue 87 rofessor C. LLOYD MORGAN .. _... oe fs ne go Professor ADOLPH LEIPNER ..... sw — ws ss 93 Professor SYDNEY YOUNG zis oy oo nt NA 94 S.H. SWAYNE... : ur ata ne 97 Professor C. LLOYD MORGAN . Sa ie ne 99 ete B PROWSE §: 0 2. uk ue ee ee QO es ee a ee ame 04 SUN a ee Rea 07 G. MUNRO SMITH Pome Van ktaedgey aman ENE Us 10 MRE a a G. C. GRIFFITHS . me Uigetens, le thet PN Ng 17 ERNEST (later Sir Ernest) H. COOK ee bs os ae 19 . WOMERSLEY . 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Price 5/-, postage extra. — A Centenary History of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society 18€ 1962, being Part IIIA of Proc., 1961. Price 5/-, postage e: JME XXXI, PART III PRICE TEN SHILLINGS 1966 PROCEEDINGS OF THE sristol Naturalists’ Society Epirep By A. J. WILLIS ASSISTED BY A COMMITTEE er chiar, Pea Zant THs SONIA “Rerum cognoscere causas’—Virgi LIBRARVES A ee On f a PRINTED FOR THE SOCIE _--—sAT:«* THE BURLEIGH PRESS, BRISTOL™ Issued 18th August, 1967 | Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. | 31,(3) | pp.225—336 All matter for inclusion in the next issue of the Proceedings should be sent to :— | Hey te Dr. A. J. WILLIs, DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY, Tue UNIVERSITY, BRISTOL 8 NOT LATER THAN FEB. 28. Other instructions for authors appear on Contents page. All Books, Pamphlets, Reports of Proceedings sent by way o exchange, gift or otherwise, and all correspondence relating thereto — and to purchases of the Society’s publications should be addresse LO 4 Hon. LIBRARIAN, BristoL Nat. Soc., | Tue Ciry Museum, BrisToL 8 Applications for membership of the aes should ae addresse to the Hon. ‘Treasurer :— Po. Me NETHERCOTT, Esq., 6 HazELwoop, HazELwoop Roan, BRISTOL 9 Enquiries concerning Field Meetings should be oes of th 4 Hon. Secretary, Field Committee :— * aa! me Dr. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, 59 FALCONDALE Roan, WESTBURY-ON-TRYM, BRISTOL All other communications should be addressed to the He Secretary :— Mrs. F. R. Scene’ B.Sc., Q CHARLCOMBE Way, BATH, SOMERSET p.m. on weekdays. Certain publications (chiefly American however, now kept in the University Library, Queen’s Buildit VOLUME XXXI, PART III, 1966 CON EENTS PAGE Council a ote a ae a i 20) New Members and Bienes of ‘Aatires Be we a ie ey Report of Council - ee nS sie om us = eat Report of Entomological Section a a8 a as Re 2) ROL Hon. Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts 2 aH ee as SOY: Report of Botanical Section .. is a ste ce i eos Hon. Librarian’s Report ste = ae ae ss: ae She eee Report of Geological Section .. 4 = Si af Bc oa 28H" Report of Ornithological Section - re ee Bie Ss Paty 235 Report of Mammal Section .. a i of LNs ms ee eS0 Report of Junior Meetings .. igs sf se ae os eo Account of the General Meetings ae as AE fs a eh ne eey7) Bristol Botany in 1966, by A. J. Willis aA a we os 280 Bristol Bird Report, 1966 ais : 249 Lepidoptera Notes, Bristol District, 1966, by D. J- poerell ed K. H, Bente 275 Distribution of Mammals in the Bristol Area, 1965-66, by Barbara E. Jones 285 Studies on the Birds of Prey of the Bristol District I. Introduction, by G. Sweet .. Jou | BQO II. Breeding Season Status of the Kestrel, by S. M. Taylor... #2. 203 The Vegetation of Catcott Heath, Somerset, by A. J. Willis i 297 Conjugate Gypsum Veins at Blue Anchor Point, Somerset, Ey R. Brana and D. Hamilton ‘ 305 Of Stones, from the Middascrint of joke Strachey’ s proposed cee Illustrated, by B. D. Webby igs a Shy Sad INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS 1. All matter offered for publication in the ‘‘PROcEEDINGS’ must be sent as directed on p. 2 of cover of current issue. 2. To ensure consideration for inclusion in the next issue, contributions must be received not later than February 28. 3. All copy must be type-written (preferably double-spaced) or in very clear manuscript and, in either case, with good margins. _ 4. Copy submitted is not returnable and authors are advised to keep a duplicate. 5. At the discretion of the Hon. Editor, contributors may be required to furnish short abstracts of their communications, for printing as summaries. | 6. Photos and drawings supplied for illustrations will be returned. 7 . The copyright of all published matter shall be the property of the Society, whose Council has power to permit reproduction. 8. Authors shall be entitled to 25 copies of their papers (without covers), free of charge. NV.B.—AUTHORS ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY OF THEIR ARTICLES. Tse Soctety Is A SIGNATORY TO THE Fair CopyiING DECLARATION, DETAILS OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ROYAL SOCIETY, BURLINGTON House, W.1. A 225 226 COUNCIL 1966 OFFICERS: PRESIDENT: F. R. STERNE PAST PRESIDENTS: F. S. WALLIS, Ph.D., D.Sc. Miss M. H. ROGERS, M.A. Prof. M. SKENE, D.Sc., F.L.S. Prof. F. COLES PHILLIPS, F. W. EVENS M.A., Ph.D. H. H. DAVIS, M.B.O.U. R. J. G. SAVAGE, R. BASSINDALE, M.Sc. B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. VICE-PRESIDENTS: D. A. C. CULLEN G. SWEET HON. TREASURER: HON. AUDITOR: P. J. M. NETHERCOTT A. E. BILLETT HON. SECRETARY: MRS. F. R. STERNE, B.Sc. HON. CIRCULATION SECRETARY: MRS. G. RUDOWSKY HON. BULLETIN SECRETARY: D. W. B. FROST CHAIRMAN, FIELD COMMITTEE: H. G. HOCKEY HON. SECRETARY, FIELD COMMITTEE: A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. HON. LIBRARIAN: R. BRADSHAW, M.Sc. HON. ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN: MRS. M. J. ROGERS, M.A. HON. EDITOR: A. J. WILLIS, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.L.S. HON. SECRETARY, JUNIOR ACTIVITIES: MISS L. E. HURRELL OFFICERS OF SECTIONS: BOTANICAL: President—T. E. T. BOND, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.L.S. Hon. Secretary—Muiss I. F. GRAVESTOCK, B.A. ENTOMOLOGICAL: President—K. H. POOLE Hon. Secretary—P. F. BIRD, B.Sc. GEOLOGICAL: President—R. G. PAYNE, B.Sc. Hon. Secretary—M. D. KAMM, A.R.I.C.S. MAMMAL: President—R. J. G. SAVAGE, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. Hon. Secretary—Miss A. R. CHAPMAN, B.Sc. ORNITHOLOGICAL: President—R. H. POULDING Hon. Secretary—S. M. TAYLOR, B.Sc. OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL: R. W. ASHLEY G. A. FORREST, M.A. K. T. BATTY Mrs. A. J. HOLLOWELL, M.A. J. F. BURTON F.S. ROSS J. EATOUGH R. F. THEARLE D. G. VOWLES Ex-officio the Professors of Botany, GEOLOGY and Zoo.ocy at the UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL 227 NEW MEMBERS (other than Junior Members) From 10 May 1966 to 16 May 1967 A.—Associate Member. C'.—Corresponding Member. The addresses of Junior Members may be had from the Hon. Junior Membership Secretary. badock, Miss M.D. ........ 22 Woodbridge Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Baldwin, Mrs. D. F. ........ 17 Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Baldwin, S. A., M.P.S., F.G.S., 1 Rockhampton Road, South Croydon, F.R.A.I. Surrey CR2 7AQ Ballard, Miss. 2... 2... 336 Lodge Causeway, Fishponds, Bristol Banham, Bey 3. ......--.. 52 Highbury Road, Bedminster, Bristol 3 batten. Wirsv ALK. 3 .......-- Three Stones, Station Lane, Flax Bourton, nr. Bristol 125 UES oT ace | Ca a Cuckoo Paddock, Nempnett Thrubwell, Blagdon, nr. Bristol Brancher, NMrs°M.C: ...... 15A Cotham Park, Bristol 6 Bromell; Miss M. A......... Monks Park House, Southmead Hospital, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BSE VAM EI yp AE cosvelsi vis 6 oe sls 3 116 Doncaster Road, Southmead, Bristol Bryanmteelvinss Foi... . 6. Do. Cadogan, A., B.Sc., M.I. Biol. 27 Treefield Road, Clevedon, Somerset Clements,)Miss P.A.) ...-.. 29 Capgrave Crescent, Broomhill, Bristol 4 Colquhoun, Miss O. L., Rowton Cottage, Congresbury, nr. Bristol S.R.N., S.C.M. @ornish, Mrs. N. ...0..0... Rosemont, Church Road, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 Cosh, Mrs.) Ji. B.Ser% 25... 1 Radnor Road, Henleaze, Bristol Gox: Nissi Maw. e5s. 5 Sie 4 Beloe Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Crichton, Mass M. J......... g Osborne Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Cronin, Miss M., B.Sc....... 126 Ridgeway Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 Dalby, Col. K. A. P., Grange Fell, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 DS :O:;/O.B.E: Wayies, Miss A.M. ........ 13 Berkeley Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 Davies, Mrs. M. E. M....... 61 Long Ashton Road, Long Ashton, Bristol Wennis, Miss M.E. ........ 6 Saville Place, Clifton, Bristol 8 Drazin, Dr. P. G., M.A., Ph.D. 15 Nugent Hill, Bristol 6 Drazin, Mrs. P. G., B.A. Do. Eis, iiss ID. J., BA. ... 4... Garden Flat, 55 Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bthclston, Sh 6k ss 297 Down Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol wans, WMissiP;V. ........ Flat 1, Sneyd Park House, Sneyd Park, Bristol 9 Fear, Mrs. A. CTK......... 60 Clifton Park Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 SOS TS] ALR a 56 Egerton Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Frost, Miss W. M........... 10A Eastfield Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 (arden, Miss S; M......... 5 West Dene, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol = Gardiner, J. M.G. ........ Elmonger, Littleton-upon-Severn, nr. Bristol Gaytord, J..C., B.A. ........ Myrtle Cottage, Abbots Leigh, Bristol Gaytord,- Mis. J.C. ........ Do. 228 NEW MEMBERS Gee. MisssE: Bon jee Gibson, i. AY... 52.28 GreenvRe wR.) te chee all Kees eee. ee ee PralileMfiss ts Mic. ers casi TiarrisS Miss ISSA... Woche ee Hickmott, P. A., B.Sc., A.M.I.E.E., A.M.I.Mar.E. Hickmott, Mrs. P. A. z | 5 fo) 0) oS04 1) ve aes aie Hollingsworth, Miss J. ...... Hudson, Dr. M. A., Ph.D. .. Fudson Dr. 0G. Bow. <5 a. uehes, Mrs. J. Ma. 2... Mess Miss Ds BAS © at ec iarrett, Je NEe cree as ouine wjefteries:Miss' Ss Avia. cranes Mesa) ax Cg 8 ures ome a Re Ne@mesiiay ere. 5.98 tae 3 Kanig Missi, Mi). . aictohinrs amo hannah 5 7hclh.oe cree scans, NSSHicen aire science ee Lovell, Miss Js ME 5.2 22). Pavcas JA alee outas aca Mangan, Miss A., B.Sc. .... McCallum, W. C., B.A. .... Meade-King, Mrs. M. G..... ING EYS VED. oct, ai svallscacs ope seen Miners, IVirs- les feo eee Maitehelly Miss JiR. ec 3 sce IMIGEEIS I? ci) eerie te tas Nawton, Miss S. J., M.C.S.P. Pash, Miss ViiiS2t)i.4) ee te Barry irs: Mis ao 2c pia sade s Pennycuick, Mrs. M.F.R.L. Pinne gars Ely icin ioc are Pinnegar, Mirssib En i s.,205" Plater) Miss MS: EB. i252 oc | sigh eVeroal [an Com re, Chet er oe Prince, (Mins'G.i2 scva tet hos Quigley. Mrs:iMija.. 2 eats Quigley, Miss uPA VAN ears crete ete 18 Sion Hill, Clifton, Bristol 8 Burwalls, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 74 Chantry Gardens, Southwick, Trow- bridge, Wiltshire Badock Hall, Stoke Park Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 14. Henleaze Avenue, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 22 Westerleigh Road, Downend, Bristol Oakdene, Greyfield Road, Clutton, nr. Bristol Do. Westwards, Comrade Avenue, Shipham, Winscombe, Somerset 13 Hampton Park, Redland, Bristol 6 Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol 97 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bridge Cottage, Half Acre Close, Whit- church, Bristol 4 38 Wellington Walk, Henleaze, Bristol Loughrigg, 61 Providence Lane, Long Ash- ton, Bristol 4 The Colony, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset 18 Seventh Avenue, Northville, Bristol 7 14. Valley Road, Mangotsfield, nr. Bristol 11 Oakfield Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Rose Cottage, Lower Wick, Dursley, Glos. 8 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 2 Tibbott Road, Stockwood, Bristol 40 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 19 Trelawney Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 29 Claverton Road, Saltford, nr. Bristol 5 Worcester Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 4 Newcombe Drive, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Do. 10 Margaret’s Buildings, Brock Street, Bath, Somerset Churchill Hall, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 105 Hesters Way Road, Cheltenham, Glos. 34 Daniel Street, Bathwick, Bath, Somerset 127 Cromwell Road, Bristol 6 3 Upper Belgrave Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 31 Wildcroft Road, Henleaze, Bristol Do. 19 Fernbank Road, Redland, Bristol 6 53 Cheriton Place, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. 45 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 12 Arlington Villas, Clifton, Bristol 8 NEW MEMBERS 229 Reremares Ae Po... ee ee 22 West Broadway, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Robinson, Miss C. St. C. .... Colwyn, 295 Down Rd., Portishead, nr. Bristol Robison, Miss E. B. ...... Do. Robinson, Miss J. R.. ...... Do. Rose pitss 9. Mi. oa. . es os 12 Greenway Road, Bristol 6 Sainsbury, Dr. M., A.C.T., 34 Torridge Road, Keynsham, nr. Bristol Res.D.R.1.C., Ph.D., A.R.I.C. Saumspury, Mrs. M. .......-. Do. Smith, K. D., M.B.O.U. .... 4 All Saints Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 poutaward, BOD, :........: 151 Ambleside Avenue, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol SOC he Es Oe a 4 Prince’s Buildings, Clifton, Bristol 8 Boyer irs. BoA. os... 5s Do. Stepacnsen, Wirs.iJ......... 7 Gloucester Row, Clifton, Bristol 8 Stevenson, C. R., B.Sc., F.G.S. Geology Dept., Kingston College of Tech- nology, Penrhyn Rd., Kingston-upon- Thames, Surrey Stewares WirsiSs cls... as 4 Radford Hill, Timsbury, nr. Bath, Somerset Saviors Mrs s)) Oo oe... 5. 42 Alma Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 ‘M2 Akoya ines | Crh Oh ae 29 Birchall Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Thomas, Miss A; Mo)... 2... Little Orchard, Deerhurst Walton, Glou- cester AR okey qaye 4) eta) Inne oka eg ee Broadview, Cheddar, Somerset Hitonmas, (RG os tke 51 Wellington Hill West,Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Mhomas, Wirs. R.'G....:...- Do. Wrounson, Muss B.. ..20....- 5 Julian Close, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Vanderplank, Dr. F. L., B.Sc., 51 Cambridge Road, Clevedon, Somerset Ph.D. Ware WV PS i ete ee ee 7 Harding Place, Keynsham, nr. Bristol WVarine, WMirs, W.J.... 6... Do. Westwood, Miss M., B.Sc. .. 59 Devonshire Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 CILIA S (38) cad A eae 10 Blenheim Road, Redland, Bristol 6 GHANGES- OF ADDRESS JOISTS SO) 2) 5 39 Shelley Avenue, Paulsgrove, Portsmouth, Hants. Bebbington, A., B.Sc., 13 Red House Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, M.1.Biol. Bristol Beam, Mrs; Moo... . ke ees 15 Overhill, Pill, nr. Bristol Chapman, Miss A. R., B.Sc. 16 Osborne Villas, St. Michael’s Park, Bristol 2 Charlesworth, W. B......... 36 Albert Road, Clevedon, Somerset Wlarke, H. M., BA. .....:.. 41 Valley Road, Clevedon, Somerset 230 Si CHANGES OF ADDRESS Gourt: Jd 2 24 acc async 3 Grange End, Sprats Bridge, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol Dennison, V. D.; B.Se:... 2. a: Heathercrest, The Batch, Churchill, Som- erset Donovan, Prof. D. T., Ph.D., Dept. of Geology, University College D.Sc., F.L.S., F.G.S. London, Gower Street, London, W.C.1 Elliott, Mrs, W.E. 2...4.~.. 55 Effingham Road, Bristol 6 Cea AV Nice) neh a av esereesy es 10A Eastfield Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 Blawkanss PGi scleiein 6 etdetoe 5 The Mount, Studland, Dorset FlolmiessW. AS: 6.0 re ates thee Treworvas, 3 Graham Avenue, St. Austell, Cornwall taal Miss To Os: .c.c2.0eiee ed. 580 Wells Road, Bristol 4 HUGE iE rat pe ste esse ck hak ace 24 Montague Hill, Kingsdown, Bristol 2 Notte Mirss Bis ehetes Pes Se Do. Mathieson, A. M........... 11 Edward Road West, Clevedon, Somerset Matthews, Dr. L. Harrison, The Old Rectory, Stansfield, Sudbury, M.A.,. D.Sc., F.R:S., F.L.S: Suffolk Merrie, (PD oH: BA. 2.22 Airth Castle, by Falkirk, Stirlingshire Morgan, Miss D. C.,B.Pharm., Pharmacy Dept., Southmead Hospital, M.P.S. Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Morgams SEs) 2. cite ars < eis, ttys 2 Quarry Way, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Morgan, Mis... oso Do. Monegan.) 2Os.00:. 6 sibs Se 40 College Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Neville? Bei gine tiie os ruieileleos 4 Shirecliffe Close, Pitsmoor, Sheffield 3 Nicholls, W. T., A.M.I.Mech. 3 School Estate, Chew Stoke, nr. Bristol E., A.F.R.Ae.S. Nicholls, Mrs. W. T. ...... Do. Pickrell 2D 7G ey a Ae The Dunelm Hotel, Great George Street, Bristol 1 Poulding, RivH: eae saan: Barleycombe Lodge, Christon, nr. Axbridge, Somerset Poulding; Mrs: R. Hi. .....-. Do. Rucsley a) Bitis do esce cree Two Elms, The Close, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol Roberts; aj lew eee ee 11B Miles Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Sanders, J. D., B.D.S. ...... Quarme, 36 South View Way, Prestbury, Cheltenham, Glos. Whomas, We. he. oy acs ae Lindisfarne, Ubley, nr. Bristol Wances Mars: SB Micke: & 1 Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Webber, ;Miss) Ni DA. 2 5 42. Camlann, Millbourne Road, Cheddar, Somerset Winchester, Miss A. ........ 8 Priory Road, Portbury, nr. Bristol Withers: Miss D222". eons Middlegarth, Wellow Lane, Hinton Charter- house, Bath, Somerset 231 REPORT OF GOUNCIL 1966 HE membership at the end of the year was 740, including 64 juniors. There are 14 affiliated societies. At the Annual General Meeting F. R. Sterne was elected as President. The other Officers and Members of Council were also elected. The usual full and vigorous programme of lectures and expeditions has been maintained during the year and the Society again supported National Nature Week with a Nature Trail in Leigh Woods. Fewer people availed themselves of the brilliantly illustrated and directed walk, although about the same number of school-children attended. A successful Annual Dinner was held and attended by about 80 members and guests. The work of surveying special areas for conservation has continued throughout the past year to the position that most leaders report they are well on the way to submitting full reports. However, help is still required on mammals and, in some cases, the entomological side is also lacking. Manual conservation has not been undertaken as yet, but recommendations will arise from the reports. The con- servationists were greatly encouraged by the results of their efforts in preventing a funicular railway from being installed and operated in the Cheddar Gorge and they have now taken up the cause of trying to save Crook Peak from the quarrymen. We announce with regret the deaths of the following members: Mrs. E. I. G. Chadwick, Mrs. G. E. Williams, Mr. A. J. Mizen, and a former President, Professor W. F. Whittard, elected member in 1938, and President in 1952-3. GWYNNETH STERNE, Aon. Secretary. REPORT OF ENTOMOLOG L S$ I elected: President, Mr. K. H. Poole; Secretary, Mr. P. F. Bird; Committee, Mrs. A. J. Hollowell, Messrs. C. Blathwayt, J. F. Burton, D. J. Foxwell, D. G. Gibb, M. Kendall, N. A. Watkins. During 1966 the following meetings were held: Tete Annual Business Meeting was held on 15 March, when the following were Jan. 11: Viewing British Lepidoptera collections at the City Museum. Feb. 15: Tiger Beetles, by Mr. J. E. Cooper. Mar. 15: Annual Business Meeting. British Grasshoppers and Crickets, by Mr. J. F. Burton. May 28: Field meeting, Charterhouse-on-Mendip: Mr. D. J. Foxwell. June 11: Field meeting, light-trapping, Leigh Woods: Mr. D. J. Foxwell. June 15: Field meeting, Walton-in-Gordano: Mr. K. T. Batty. Sept. 10: Field meeting, light-trapping, Leigh Woods: Mr. D. J. Foxwell. Oct. ri: Films The Rainbow and the Forest and The World of Grasshoppers. Nov. 8: Annual Exhibition at the City Museum. P. F. BIRD, Hon. 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DSi Ds F :suOT}dIIosqns ,sIaquioy{ OL ps F G96T | G96I ‘49 9961 ‘YHANAOAUCG T€ GAGNA UVAA AHL YOA SLNAWAVd ANV SIdIGOAN “Aq Ajat00g S}sI[VIN}eNY [OSG 9Y} YIM JUNODW UI JoINsvIL], ‘UO 9UT, < 233 the University on 10 January, 1966, the following officers were elected: President, Dr. T. E. T. Bond; Secretary and Treasurer, Miss I. F. Grave- stock; Committee: Mrs. C. H. Cummins, Dr. A. F. Devonshire, Mr. J. A. Eatough, Dr. R. M. Harley, Mrs. I. C. I. Milton, Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott, Miss A. M. Sampson and Dr. C. E. D. Smith. The Wild Plant table at the Bristol Museum continued to be much appreciated; thanks are offered to Mr. A. Warhurst and Mr. P. F. Bird of the Museum and to Mrs. G. S. Wakefield, Mr. E. S. Smith and Mrs. C. H. Cummins as well as to all members who contributed specimens. At the Annual Business Meeting in the Small Geology Lecture Theatre of The following winter meetings were held during the year: lane err: Feb. 14: Mar. 14: Oct, 24: Nov. 21: Annual Business Meeting, followed by exhibits and short papers by Members. Films—Blagdon Trout and Chew Valley Inauguration by Bristol Water- works Company. Alpines in Cultivation, by Mr. E. B. Anderson. Members’ Evening, with transparencies. Some Aspects of Nature Conservation in South-West England, by Mr. W. O. Copland. The following field excursions took place, under the leadership of those shown: Apr. 30: Bath Botanical Garden. Dr. T. E. T. Bond. May 4: Avon Gorge and the Gully. Dr. A. F. Devonshire. May 21: Steep Holm. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. Paeonia mascula was seen. May 25: Humpy-Tumps, Keynsham. Dr. A. F. Devonshire. June 11: Cheddar Gorge and Charterhouse district. Mr. C. H. Cummins. A little known locality for Dianthus gratianopolitanus was explored, and Geranium phaeum seen at Charterhouse. June 15 Markham Valley. Dr. T. E. T. Bond. July 2: Brassey Nature Reserve and Hidcote. Mrs. S. C. Holland (North Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society and Chairman of the Reserve) and Miss I. F. Gravestock. Brassey comprises a stretch of fresh-water marsh and oolitic limestone grassland. Carex dioica, Astragalus danicus and Thestum humifusum are found here, with Thlaspi perfoliatum and the hybrid Dactylorhiza fuchsti x praetermissa. Hidcote is noted for the ‘stilt? hedges of Carpinus betulus, the red borders and many exotic trees and shrubs in a variety of habitats. July 30: Mynydd y Glew. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. Aug. 17: Sneyd Park to Sea Mills. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. Sept. 17: Dolebury Warren and Mendips. Mrs. N. Vaughan Davies. I. F. GRAVESTOCK, Hon. Secretary. BON bi BRARIAN’S REPORT D 1966 URING the year 145 books and periodicals were borrowed by 40 members. It should be emphasized that these figures take no account of volumes consulted in the library. 16 new books, listed in the monthly bulletin, were purchased. R. BRADSHAW, Aon. Librarian. 234 HE Annual Business Meeting of the Section was held on 13 January 1966 and the following officers were elected: President, Mr. R. G. Payne; Vice- President, Mr. R. Bradshaw; Hon. Secretary, Mr. M. D. Kamm; Hon. Field Secretary, Mr. D. Hamilton; Committee: (the late) Professor W. F. Whittard, Professor F. Coles Phillips, and the Student President of the Geological Society of the University (ex-officio), Mr. D. Addison, Mr. R. Ashley, Dr. J. W. Cowie, Mr. I. Ford, Mr. C. E. Leese, Mr. W. Stock, Mr. F. Stenhouse Ross, Mr. D. Vowles. The section notes with deep regret the death of Professor Whittard on 2 March; a full obituary appeared in the last volume of the PRocErEpincs. After the business of the meetings, the President showed the section two films. Other lecture meetings were: Feb. 17: Mr. D. Hamilton, University of Bristol: Geological Exploration of the Sea Floors. The speaker first described the general topography of the ocean beds, and then the economic and academic reasons for investigating their geology. He concluded by discussing, with the aid of a film, the work of the Bristol Geology Department in studying the bed of the Western Approaches to the English Channel. Oct. 27: Dr. D. Bassett, National Museum of Wales: Geology and Geologists in Wales and the Welsh Borders. Dr. Bassett described the history of the study of the geology of Wales, paying particular attention to the controversy between Sedgwick and Murchison over the classification of Ordovician rocks. He concluded by mourning how little of Wales had been resurveyed in the last hundred years. Nov. 24: (Joint Meeting with Mammal Section). Dr. R. J. G. Savage, Uni- versity of Bristol: the Evolution of Man. Dr. Savage discussed research of the past 20 years into the evolution of man, pointing out the gap in fossil evidence in the Oligocene and Pliocene. The following Field Meetings took place in the year: Apr. 23: Wells Museum and Wells Cathedral: leader, Dr. F. S. Wallis. May 21: Volcanic Rocks of Weston-super-Mare: leaders, Messrs. R. J. Howarth and G. L. Hendry. June 25: Celestine Workings and Chipping Sodbury: leader, Mr. D. Hamilton. July 24: Cretaceous Rocks at Chard and Beer: leader, Mr. R. Ashley. Oct. 2: Silurian Rocks and Fossils of the Woolhope Area: leader, Dr. J. W. Cowie. M. D. KAMM, Hon. Secretary. 235 REPORT OF OLOGICAL SECTION 966 I ORNITH T the 42nd Annual Business Meeting in January, Mr. R. H. Poulding and Mr. S. M. Taylor were re-elected as President and Hon. Secretary res- pectively. Mr. R. Prytherch and Mr. D. Shepherd were elected to the Committee in place of Mr. B. King and Mr. R. F. Thearle. The remaining members were Miss C. Graham and Messrs. K. Fox, M. Kendall, H. W. Neal and G. Sweet. Messrs. P. J. Chadwick and H. H. Davis were re- J tHE KING OF elected to the Section’s Editorial Committee and Messrs. pees ifr oe H. R. Hammacott and R. J. Prytherch were elected to it for the first time. Seven indoor meetings were held, with an average attendance of 73, the lowest (39) at the Annual Fieldwork Meeting and the highest (104) in December. The speakers and their subjects were: Jan. 14: Annual Business Meeting; Autumn Behaviour in the Dunnock, by Mr. R. H. Poulding. Feb. g: An Ornithological Frolic—Birds as Men and Men as Birds, by Mr. J. Boswall. Mar. 11: An Expedition to Morocco, Spring 1965, by Mr. J. D. R. Vernon. Mar. 23: Annual Fieldwork Meeting. Oct. 12: Bird Pathology, by Dr. J. V. Beer. Nov. 11: Bird Art and Bird Illustration, by Mr. R. Gillmor. Dec. 14: Joint Meeting with the British Trust for Ornithology; With the Migrants to Iberia, 1965, by Mr. C. J. Mead. The R.S.P.B. films, A Place for Birds and Birds of Strathspey, were shown at a public meeting on Sept. 23, and an informal meeting, with talks and exhibits by members, was held on Nov. 25. There were field meetings at Brean Down (Apr. 24), Leigh Woods (May 11), Chew Valley Lake (Sept. 3) and a migration watch at various points (Oct. 22); two other field meetings, Oakford, near Bath, and on Steep Holm, were cancelled for lack of support. An all-day visit was paid to Dawlish Warren on Sept. 25. We are grateful to all who acted as leaders and otherwise helped at these meetings. Small numbers of members again took part in the B.T.O.’s Common Birds Census and Nest Record Schemes (the latter being organized locally for us by Mr. H. R. Hammacott) and in the Section’s breeding-season census of Shelduck, Bird-of-Prey study, and a sample census of Rookeries. The Survey of Bristol Birds continued to flourish under the care of Miss C. Graham, and a full-page article on it appeared in the Bristol Evening Post. The Bristol Ringing Group completed its first full year of operation, and its first trainee qualified. Mr. J. F. Rowe actively represented the Section on the Committee which organized the Leigh Woods Nature Trail. Mr. Poulding resigned from the office of President at the end of June for personal reasons, and in late July ill-health forced the Secretary to relinquish his duties for three months, during which time the Assistant Secretary, Mr. K. Fox, acted for him. Mr. D. Shepherd acted as Chairman from September until the end of the year. S. M. TAYLOR, Hon. Secretary. 236 REPORT OF MAMMAL SECTION 1966 on 22 Feb. 1966. At an inaugural meeting on 6 May Dr. R. J. G. Savage was elected President, Miss A. R. Chapman Secretary and Treasurer, and Miss B. E. Jones kindly agreed to continue her work as Local Recorder for the National Mammal Survey. The Mammal Group met informally in 1965 to discuss participation in the National Mammal Survey. This is a very important activity of the Section and is supported by an enthusiastic, though small group of members. In connection with the Badger Survey Dr. Neal particularly requested that a detailed study should be made of the Mendips and he has been very encouraging about our efforts so far. During 1966 the following meetings were held: May 17: Construction of Small Mammal Live-traps (based on design by Mr. D. J. Hughes). June 8: Evening field meeting, including small mammal trapping and a badger watch. Leader: Mr. A. F. Jayne. June 9g: Indoor meeting to extend field observations and trapping results. July 9: Westbury Wildlife Park. Leader: Mr. D. Chaffe. Sept. 17: Badgers on Mendip. Leaders: Mr. McGregor and Miss A. R. Chapman. Nov. 24: The Evolution of Man, by Dr. R. J. G. Savage (Joint meeting with Geology Section). "Ton formation of the Mammal Section was officially sanctioned by Council ROSALIND CHAPMAN, Hon. Secretary. REPORT OF JUNIOR MEEDTINGS 1966 HERE were twelve Junior Field meetings and six Indoor meetings during 1966. On 23 Jan. Blagdon Lake was visited and on Feb. 19 Brockley Combe. On 6 Mar. members (23) set off for the Wildfowl Trust led by Mr. B. King and Mr. M. Kendall. Mr. R. H. Rawlings took a party through Failand on 20 Apr. and on 30 Apr. Mr. H. F. Flook led a party over the Tealham Moors. The meeting on 15 May started at 6 a.m. at Goblin Combe for the Dawn Chorus—bird songs being ably distinguished by Mr. M. Kendall. On 28 May an all night trip to Exmoor was organized by Mr. H. G. Hockey. Two Juniors led a walk on Spani- orum Hill on 25 June and on 23 July Mrs. Scawin led a party of seventeen members to Knole Hill, Almondsbury. Mr. R. M. Curber took members bird- watching from Highbridge on 24 Sept. and on 15 Oct. Dr. C. E. D. Smith leda | most successful Fungus Foray in Leigh Woods during which the ‘foraging’ of members was recorded by a T.V. cameraman. On 25/26 Nov. during the last | field meeting of the year members saw the flock of wintering avocets on the Tamar Estuary. The indoor meetings included three travel talks generously backed up by exciting slides and exhibits. The talks were given by Mr. J. Savory on “East African Wild Life,’ Mr. D. Hamilton on “‘Curiosities of Nature in New Zealand,” and Dr. B. Heine on “Borneo Journeys.’ On 25 Mar. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen spoke on conservation and on g December Mr. G. Moysey described his career in forestry. Our thanks are due to the many people who have contributed to the year’s meetings and we look forward to a steady growth in further activities. | ELAINE HURRELL, Hon. Secretary. — mec OuUNT © EON FE ROA L E I = C GEN 966 HE 1ogrd Annual General Meeting was held on 20 January, when the | Officers and Council Members for 1966 were elected with Mr. F. R. Sterne as President. Adverse weather conditions prevented many members—includ- ing the newly elected President—from attending. Nevertheless 60 members were present when Professor Macgregor Skene and Mr. T. R. Fry were made Honorary Members in recognition of their work for the Society. The retiring President gave an address entitled ‘““Yoad in the Hole and other items of Unnatural History.”’ On 3 Feb. Dr. G. B. Corbet addressed us on the distribution of mammals | throughout the world. Describing the badger in some detail, he also considered _many other smaller mammals showing how food and the presence of near relatives helped to limit distribution. On 3 Mar. Mr. D. Aldridge gave a most enlightening talk on all aspects of the Peak District National Park. It was amply illustrated with colour slides. On 6 Oct. the winter session opened with a full lecture theatre to hear Mr. | Peter Dawson give a talk on “‘Birds of the Seychelles’. One of a party of five from the University of Bristol who had gone to study the islands, he showed how the changing face of the islands affected the bird-life on them. | On 3 Nov. Dr. Ian Linn spoke on “‘A visit to St. Kilda’’, where he had studied the distribution and life of the indigenous long-tailed field mice. On 1 Dec. Mr. Ian Mercer described Field Study Centres in general and then detailed some of the work being carried out at his own Centre at Slapton Ley. All the general meetings were well supported and the varied subjects chosen for the meetings met with general approval. GWYNNETH STERNE, Hon. Secretary. GENERAL FIELD MEETINGS IGHTEEN field meetings were held during the year including a week-end meeting and a Social Evening. They were generally well supported. A list of the meetings with dates, places visited, leaders, and some indica- tion of the main objects of interest is given below. A more complete account is | kept in the records of the Field Committee. | Jan. 10: Abbotsbury. Chesil Beach and the Fleet, a shingle beach with a freshwater lake behind it; birds and shore life. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. Feb. 20: Penarth. A walk along the shore and the old dock area; waders, gulls, fossils in the cliffs, and snails. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Feb. 26: Social Evening. An illustrated talk on Wales and a film of red squirrels. Mr. J. Eatough. Mar. 27: Hawkridge reservoir (birds). A walk along the top of the Quantocks from Crowcombe Park Gate to Holford Combe (signs of deer and six stags). Mr. H. G. Hockey and Miss L. E. Hurrell. Apr. 8: Cleeve Hill and Cheltenham. An open Common with many barrows and earthworks. Mr. H. G. Hockey and Miss L. West. 238 May Aug. Sept. 8: 5 PE =20° ACCOUNT OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS New Forest. Highland Water; ornamental drive by Vinny Ridge; river at East Boldre; marsh and pool at Norley Wood; salt marsh at Beaulieu. Birds and plants of a variety of habitats. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. : Staverton to Bradford-on-Avon. A walk along the canal bank. Miss A. M. Sampson. : Porlock marsh; shingle beach; cliff path to Hurlstone Point; Hurl- stone wood (partly holm oak); Bossington. Birds, plants and moths. Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Lovell. Guiting Power Nature Reserve. Three fishponds and marsh (20 acres) along the Windrush, with a rich marsh and pond flora. Birds, insects, and a badger set were also observed. Miss R. C. Lee and Commander Dudley-Smith. A walk from Barton village over Crook Peak to Compton Bishop. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Cambrian to Ordovician), birds and plants. Dr. J. W. Cowie and Miss R. C. Lee. : Cadbury Camp near Tickenham. Plants and evidence of badgers. Miss R. C. Lee. : Exmoor. River Barle (marsh plants, birds, demoiselles); Anstey Common; Molland village, where a small zoo was visited; Tarr | steps (birds, including dippers and a kingfisher). Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Hockey. Miss C. Groves. : Forest of Dean. Lydney Park (an excavated Roman Temple in an Iron Age hill fort); walk from Mile End to Speech House through Wimberry Slade (one-man coal mines) and New Beechenhurst Enclosure; Forest Garden (specimen trees); Devil’s Chapel | (Roman iron workings). Dr. A. F. Devonshire. Lovell. Westonbirt Arboretum and Silk Wood. Miss R. C. Lee. Uphill and Sand Bay, Weston-super-Mare. A comparison of rocks | at Uphill formed on an ancient shore and sediments laid down on a modern shore at Sand Bay. Mr. D. Hamilton. redwings). Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, Hon. Field Secretary. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thanks are due to the Colston Research Fund Committee of the University of Bristol and to the British Broadcasting Corporation for financial assistance towards | the cost of production oj this issue of the PROCEEDINGS. : South Malverns, Chase End Hill and Hollybush. Geology (pre- | : A walk through Cirencester Park and visit to Cirencester Museum. | : Week-end in Barnstaple Bay area. Saunton Sands; Baggy Point; | Braunton Burrows. Sea birds and waders. Mr. and Mrs. R. J. | : Chew Valley Lake. A walk round the south side of Blagdon Lake | (waterfowl and woodland birds); Stock Wood (fieldfares and | 239 BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1966 By A. J. WILLIs N a year of undistinguished weather conditions plant records have continued to be made in a steady stream although the Bristol area is such a well worked one botanically. The year was close to the average as regards rainfall, temperature and sunshine, but January was cold and snowy and April dull, wet and cold, with an unusually heavy fall of snow towards the middle of the month. The cold April led to a check in growth after a fairly mild February and March, but the sunny conditions in May (the warmest day of the year was the early date of g May, with a maxi- mum of 80°F. at Long Ashton) resulted in average flowering times. Conditions during the summer were cool and rather dry, the year ending with mild weather in December which continued into 1967. Indicative of the very mild winter may be noted, for example, the thick reddish floating mat of the water fern Azolla filiculoides con- spicuous on the Canal at Claverton in early March 1967. Field observations made in recent years suggest that some plants which at the beginning of the century were plentiful may now be more restricted in their distribution. ‘The commentary in White’s Flora indicates, for example, a former greater abundance of the Broomrape Orvobanche minor and the grass Parapholis strigosa than present day studies show. On the other hand, the long continued existence of populations, some small, of certain species in restricted sites is noteworthy. In this connection may be cited Hornungia petraea and Thelypteris oreopteris listed in this report, Cyperus fuscus on Walton Moor, Geranium phaeum at Charterhouse and Dianthus gratianopolitanus at its locality some distance east of Cheddar. But this year’s notes also indicate extended distributions of some plants: _ Epipactis palustris and Hieracium strumosum are here recorded for the first time for the most southerly Botanical District (5) of Gloucester- shire, and Poa angustifolia for a station on Mendip. The continuing study of the bryophyte flora of N. Somerset by Mrs. J. Appleyard has led to further considerable advances in our knowledge of the local representation of this group. In particular, some half-dozen new vice-county records have been made by her during the year and about a dozen second and third records of bryophytes in v.c. 6; the list of bryophytes on Steep Holm has also _ been extended. Of special note is the excellent discovery in Glen _ Frome by Dr. Munro Smith of Pohlia lutescens, not previously known 240 A. J. WILLIS in Britain, and the subsequent finds of this moss in two N. Somerset localities by Mrs. Appleyard. During September a well attended conference of the Botanical — Society of the British Isles concerning critical groups of plants was — held in the Department of Botany, University of Bristol, for writers of local Floras. Notes on these papers and keys for use in determin- ing taxa of “‘difficult’? groups are published in the B.S.B.J. Pro- ceedings (Vol. 6, Pt. 4, 362-89, 1967). The paper-reading meetings were followed by a visit to the Avon Gorge, where Mr. Nethercott, who is now acting as the referee for Sorbus in Britain, pointed out several of the taxa for which the site is famous. Further tributes have been paid to the former author of this report, the late N. Y. Sandwith. His contribution to our knowledge of British plants is well covered in an Obituary in the Proceedings of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (Vol. 6, Pt. 4, 418-22, 1967) and his standing as a botanist of international repute in an apprecia- tive Obituary by J. P. M. Brenan in Taxon (Vol. XV, No. 7, 245-55, 1966). The latter article contains a life-like photograph. | Names of contributors of several records are abbreviated thus: J.A., Mrs. J. Appleyard R.M.H., Dr. R. M. Harley A.F.D., Dr. A. F. Devonshire P.J.M.N., P.J.M. Nethercott I.W.E., I. W. Evans R.G.B.R., Capt. R. G. B. Roe, G.W.G., G. W. Garlick R.N. I.F.G., Miss I. F. Gravestock D.M.S., Dr. D. Munro Smith A.J.W., Dr. A. J. Willis Ranunculus acris L. An abnormal form of Meadow Buttercup, bear- | ing a small flower produced from the centre of another, in a | field with proliferated specimens of Trifolium repens L., Bleadon | Hill, S., Miss A. Storey, conf. A.F.W. | R. ficaria L. The form, apparently of genetic origin, with dark blotches on the leaves, Downend, G., D.M.S. Raphanus raphanistrum L. A lilac-flowered Wild Radish in wooded | part, Cheddar, 8... 1.F.G., det. A.j-W. | Hornungia petraea (L.) Reichb. Leigh Woods, S., P.7.M.N., who | reports that although not seen since 1961 on one site where | strong vegetation has fully occupied the ground, in another site | nearby the Rock Hutchinsia maintains itself in small quantity. | Chenopodium ficifolium Sm. Derelict garden, Stoke Bishop, Bristol, G., | UG. | Rhamnus catharticus L. A single bush about eight feet high on a crag, | Goblin Combe, S., A.F.D. | ' : BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1966 241 Trifolium striatum L. By track on heathy ground, Goblin Combe, S., R.M.H. In the same locality was Cerastium atrovirens Bab. Vicia sepium L. var. ochroleuca Bast. The white form of the Bush Vetch, given in old records as subvar. alba Rouy, Nempnett ‘hrub- well, Miss C’. Parker, and Bleadon Hill, 8., Miss A. Storey, det. AW, Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz. Cheddar Wood, S., P.7.M4.N. Sedum forsteranum Sm. Several very robust clumps on old bridge of disused railway station, Uphill, S., L.F.G. Lythrum salicaria L. A white-flowered plant by a rhine, Duckhole, Morton, Thornbury, G., G.W.G. Callitriche platycarpa Kiitz. ‘Two good colonies of this Starwort in fruit, Kingston Seymour, S., Dr. 7. P. Savidge, as well as C. stagnalis Scop. and C. obtusangula Le Gall in several ditches. Calystegia pulchra Brummitt & Heywood x sepium (L.) R. Br. This pink-flowered hybrid occurred on waste ground, Kingswood, Bristol, G., D.M.S., det. R. K. Brummitt. Linaria repens (L.) Mill. In abundance on churchyard wall, Mells, S., D. EF. Ladhams, conf. P. F. Bird and A.7.W. Veronica scutellata L. In a rhine, with Achillea ptarmica L., Weston Moor, Gordano valley, S., Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Cummins. On adjoining waste ground was Saponaria officinalis L. Orobanche minor Sm. A quantity of plants in abandoned cultivated fields near Cheddar Wood, S., P.7.M.N. Salvia horminoides Pourr. Brean Down, S., P.7.M.N. Bellis perennis L. Specimens of “‘Hen and Chickens”’ daisy, in which small stalked capitula arise from the parent capitulum, in field above Charlcombe Bay, near Clevedon, S., Dr. T. S. Low- Beer, det. A. 7.W. Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. A form with flat, entire, setose-fringed leaves, waste ground, Moorend, G., D.M.S. Dr. W. A. Sledge reports that this form, C. arvense var. integrifolium Wimm. & Grab. or C. arvense var. setosum M. Bieb. f. integrifolium (Wimm. & Grab.), seems to be very uncommon in this country. Onopordum acanthium L. On made-up ground on road side, Mays Hill, Coalpit Heath, G., G.W.G. B 242 A. J. WILLIS Mieracium strumosum (W. R. Linton) A. Ley. Shortwood and Bury Hill, Winterbourne, G., D.M.S., det. C. E. Andrews. A first record for this part of Gloucestershire. Asparagus officinalis L. ssp. officinalis. A single plant, Brean Down, S., PING Epipactis palustris (L.) Crantz. About a dozen flowering spikes in open marshy ground, Shortwood, Pucklechurch, G., D.M.S., conf. A.7.W. The record of this freely fruiting orchid provides a substantial extension of its range in Gloucestershire. In the same locality were white-flowered very robust specimens of Dactylorchis fuchsu (Druce) Sod, D.M.S. Coeloglossum viride (L.) Hartm. Binegar Bottom, another locality for the Frog Orchid on Mendip, S., R.G.B.R. Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Sod X maculata (L.) Sod. Several plants of this putative hybrid, new to v.c.6, were found by Dr. J. T. H. Knight on the sand dunes at Berrow, S., in the vicinity of one of the probable parents, D. incarnata, and also D. prae- termissa (Druce) Sod, both with very dark red flowers. The other parent, D. maculata, is absent from the dunes which are everywhere calcareous, but it occurs in acidic sites not far inland. The leaves of the putative hybrid plants were narrow, slightly hooded and marked with small round spots. The flowers were pale pink, unlike those of any of the other orchids there, the broad lips having definitely recurved margins. Markings on the lip showed a predominance of spots, unlike the normal pattern of D. incarnata. The spurs, although variable in thickness, were intermediate between those of a spotted and a marsh orchid, and the bracts showed the angulation charac- teristic of D. incarnata. Also present on the Berrow dunes was a single fine plant of Dactylorhiza praetermissa (L.) Sood x D. JSuchsiu (Druce) Sod, Dr. J. T. H. Knight. Wolffia arrhiza (L.) Hork. ex Wimm. In ditches, with Lemna polyrhiza | L., Kingston Seymour, S., Dr. 7. P. Savidge. | Typha latifolia L. Pond in Stokeleigh Forest near Abbots Leigh, S., epee IN. Scirpus lacustris L. Two small patches, together with a well-developed colony of S. maritimus L., on the right bank of the Avon below | the Cook’s Folly area, G., P.F.M.N. | Carex pallescens LL. Long Wood, Cheddar, S., P.7.M.N. | BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1966 243 C. disticha Huds. Marshy field near R. Chew, Pensford, S., R.G.B.R. C. pulicaris L. Wavering Down, S., P.F.M.N. Poa angustifolia L. Edge of field adjoining Cheddar Wood, S., Miss B. E. Dixon, conf. D. M. Barling, R.M.H. and A.J7.W. The date, 27 April 1965, emphasizes the early panicle emergence, typical of this plant, whose known distribution is now extended to the carboniferous limestone of the Mendips. Bromus thominit Hardouin. Grassy area beneath trees, Clifton, Bristol, G., Miss B. E. Dixon, det. A.F.W., conf. R.M.H. Agropyron caninum (L.) Beauv. Cheddar Cliffs, 8., P.7.M.N. Parapholis strigosa (Dumort.) C. E. Hubbard. Sea Mills, G. P.F.M.N. Thelypteris oreopteris (Ehrh.) Slosson. This fern, also known as T. limbosperma (All.) H. P. Fuchs, is still in plenty at Ellick, near Blagdon, as recorded in White’s Flora, 8., P.F.M.N. Polypodium australe Fée. Leigh Woods, S., P.7.M.N., conf. A.7.W.; also near Clifton Suspension Bridge, G., Mrs. M. Briggs and Mrs. B. H. S. Russell, a first record for v.c. 34. ALIENS. Sisymbrium altissimum L. Growing with Agrostemma githago L., Old Market, Bristol, G., 1.W.E. Sagina subulata (Sw.) C. Presl. A garden escape at Downend, G., D.M.S. Named as subulata by the late Dr. F. R. Elliston Wright, but with decumbent rooting stems, almost glabrous leaves, short pedicels, and very few glandular hairs on the pedicel and calyx; although the plant is fertile, it may be procumbens xX subulata or a derivative of this hybrid in the opinion of Prof. A. R. Clapham. Impatiens glandulifera Royle. White-flowered plants, Frenchay, G., D.M.S. Rubus phoenicolasius Maxim. A single bush of the Japanese Wine- berry adjoining track, Kingsweston Down, G., and two bushes near a path, Goblin Combe, S., A.F.D. Coriandrum sativum L. In old quarry, Kingswood, G., now used for tipping; also present were Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn., Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz, Linum usitatissimum L. (abundant, some with white flowers), Amaranthus retroflexus L., Eruca sativa Mill. and Fagopyrum esculentum Moench, D.M.S. 244 A. J. WILLIS Bupleurum lancifolium Hornem. A large specimen of this Umbellifer (also known as B. subovatum and B. protractum) growing as a weed in rich garden soil at Tormarton, G@., was brought to the City Museum by C. H. Barnes, det. A.F.W. Sicyos angulata L. Growing as a weed, this Cucurbit from America, known as ‘Nimble Kate’ and ‘One-seeded Bur Cucumber’, covered a wide area in a garden, Wrington, S., W. G. Sims, det. Dr. T. E. T. Bond, comm. G. E. Clothier. Polygonum baldschuanicum Regel. Established, with Buddleja davidii Franch., at Sand Point, S., P.7.M.N.; also well established as a garden escape in Coombe Dingle, Bristol, G., A.7.W., together with P. cuspidaium Sieb. & Zucc. Buddleja davidii Franch. var. nanhoensis (Chitt.) Rehder. This narrow- leaved form was established on wall, University of Bristol, Geis det. As 7. Vinca major L. On railway embankment, Sea Mills, G., P.7.M.N. Borago officinalis L. Road side, Iron Acton, G., D.M.S. Datura stramonium L. In garden, Brislington, Bristol, 8., Rev. W. H. O. Moss. Lilium martagon L. Whatley Bottom, near Frome, S., R.G.B.R. Bromus tectorum L. Plentiful on wall, Weston-in-Gordano, S., R.M.H. BRYOPAYTES. Sphagnum cuspidatum Ehrh. Walton Heath (1966) and Westhay Moor (1967), S., 7.4. These records from the peat moors are the first for v.c.6 for which voucher specimens exist. S. fimbriatum Wils. Shapwick Heath and Westhay Moor, S., 7.A. The only other record is for Priddy. Polytrichum alpestre Hoppe. In 1959, in bog, Priddy Pool, S., 7.A., a second record for v.c.6. Fissidens minutulus Sull. var. tenuifolius (Boul.) Norkett. Chelynch Wood, near Shepton Mallet, S., 7.A4., conf. A. 7. E. Smith. This variety has been previously recorded only in Leigh Woods in v.c.6. Archidium alternifolium (Hedw.) Mitt. Bare ground at bottom of slope near stream, West Horrington, S., 7.A., an interesting confirmation of the occurrence of this moss in v.c.6. The first record was made by W. W. Stoddart in 1874, but W. Watson in The Mosses of Somerset, 1912, regarded confirmation desirable. BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1966 245 Dicranella rufescens (With.) Schimp. Hunstrete, Woollard and Black Rock Valley, Cheddar, S., 7.A., a first record for v.c. 6. Dicranum montanum Hedw. Abundant in Paradise Bottom, Leigh Woods, S., 7.4., P.J.M.N. and A.j.W. Campylopus introflecus (Hedw.) Brid. On cinders by disused railway line, Kilmersdon, S., 7.A., an extension of the range of this moss, known hitherto only on ‘heaths’. Tortula subulata Hedw. var. graeffii Warnst. Brean Down, S., 7.A. This locality is its most southerly British station. Pterygoneurum ovatum (Hedw.) Dix. Steep Holm and on cliff top, Charlcombe Bay, north of Clevedon, S., 7.A. Pottia hemi (Hedw.) Fiirnr. Walton Bay and Huntspill, S., 7.A. P. starkeana (Hedw.) C. Mill. Wall top, Rowberrow, and Worle- bury, S., 7.4.; bordering the scree in a south-facing locality in the Gully, Avon Gorge, G., D.M.S., conf. F. A. Sowter. The latter gathering, made in 1962, confirms its occurrence in the Avon Gorge, noted in H. H. Knight’s The Mosses of Gloucester- shire, 1914. Also in the Gully is Weissta crispata (Nees & Hornsch.) Jur., D.M.S., det. E. C. Wallace, and W. microstoma (Hedw.) C. Mill., D.AZ.S., det. F. A. Sowiter. P. bryoides (Dicks.) Mitt. On sandstone between Norton St. Philip and Hinton Charterhouse, S., 7.A. Barbula hornschuchiana Schultz. On wall of river bank, Oldbury Court, Glen Frome, G., D.M.S., det. F. A. Sowter. Gymnostomum aeruginosum Sm. In 1964, rocks near the lead mines, Charterhouse, S., 7.A. Tortella flavovirens (Bruch) Broth. On low cliffs near Clevedon, S., JA. Its only other N. Somerset station is Burnham. T. flavovirens (Bruch) Broth. var. glareicola (Christens.) Crundw. & Nyh. Raised bank by estuary of R. Parrett near Huntspill, S., 7.A., conf. A. C. Crundwell; new to v.c.6. Lepiodontium flexifolium (Sm.) Hampe. Wood near Compton Martin, and plentiful among heather, Priddy Pool, S., 7.4. This moss is known also in Brockley Combe. Grmmia trichophylla Grev. Quarry, Walton-in-Gordano; Dulcote Hill, Wells; and Downhead, Shepton Mallet, 8., 7.4. These are the first authenticated records for v.c.6. 246 A. J. WILLIS Pohlia annotina (Hedw.) Loeske. Pen Hill, near Wells, S., vee P. lutescens (Limpr.) MO6ll. This moss, new to Britain, was found by D.M.S. on 5 December 1963 on soil covering sandstone rock near the path by the R. Frome, Oldbury Park, Bristol, G., and will be the subject of a paper by Dr. E. V. Watson in the Transactions of the British Bryological Society. Publication of this record was not made previously in the hope that capsules might be produced, and the determination made more certain, but so far only female plants have been seen. The moss has been found on various occasions since 1963 in its Glen Frome locality by Mrs. 7. A. Paton, J.A., R.M.H. and A.J.W. In 1966, this moss was discovered in two Somerset | localities by 7.A.: during August in a muddy ride in a pine plantation near Priddy; and in October on a vertical almost bare bank near to a disused reservoir near Portbury. Bryum intermedium (Brid.) Bland. On wall by towpath, Avon Gorge, S., 7.A., the second record for the Bristol district. Mnium seligeri (Lindb.) Limpr. Margin of pool, Charterhouse, and | Eaker Hill Wood, near Chewton Mendip, S., Gia: | Bartramia pomiformis Hedw. Old quarries near Downend, Shepton : Mallet, S., 1959, 4.f.W., and also 1966, Wiehe Aulacomnium androgynum (Hedw.) Schwaegr. Stock Hill Plantation, | near Priddy; wood near Leigh-on-Mendip, S., 7.A. Previous | records are all for the peat heaths. Breutelia chrysocoma (Hedw.) Lindb. Adjoining short limestone heath | by Iron Age Fort, Dolebury Warren, S., Dr. M. H. Martin. | On lower ground in a shaded spot in the same locality was | Rhodobryum roseum (Hedw.) Limpr. Zygodon viridissimus (Dicks.) R. Br. var. vulgaris Malta. Mells Park, | S., 7.A., a second record for eney Thuidium philibertu Limpr. Stoke-St.-Michael, near Shepton Mallet; | Cleaves Wood, Wellow, S., 7.4. In the latter locality was also | Entodon concinnus (De Not.) Paris. Scorpidium scorpuotdes (Hedw.) Limpr. Boggy field east of Tyning’s | Farm, near Rowberrow, S&., 7.A., a second record for v.c.6. In the same locality was Drepanocladus exannulatus (B., S. & G.) | Warnst. var. exannulatus. | BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1966 247 Brachythecium salebrosum (Web. & Mohr.) B., S. & G. On fallen branches by Emborough Pool, S., 7.A. B. mildeanum (Schimp.) Milde. Clearing in wood, near Winford; also on edge of stone bridge over ditch, with fruit, Sharpham, S., J.A. The second and third records for the Bristol district. Eurhynchium swartzi (Turn.) Curn. var. rigidum (Boul.) Dix. Dulcote Full Wells, S., 7.A. Orthothecium intricatum (Hartm.) B., S. & G. The interesting record of Rev. C. H. Binstead, 1887, for near Wells (wood near Dinder), S., is confirmed by 7.A. and A. R. Perry who have examined a herbarium specimen at Oxford. Plagiothecium latebricola B., S. & G. On stumps of Chestnut, Paradise Bottom, Leigh Woods, S., 7.4., P.F7.M.N. and A.7.W. Anthoceros husnoti: Steph. Westhay Moor, S., 7.A., a second record for v.c.6. Pellia neestana (Gottsche) Limpr. Damp gully in wood, Bathford, S.A. Piilidium ciliare (L.) Hampe. On stones of viaduct, amongst mosses e.g. Ptychomitrium polyphyllum (Sw.) Firnr., Rhacomitrium lanug- tnosum (Hedw.) Brid., Winterbourne Down, G., D.M.S. Calypogeia muellerana (Schiffn.) K. Mull. Clevedon Court Wood, and Ashcott Heath, S., 7.A., the second and third records for v.c.6. Lophozia ventricosa (Dicks.) Dum. Bank in Clevedon Court Wood, Shaieeels Tnitomaria quinquedentata (Huds.) Buch. Amongst mosses and grasses on fairly rocky ground on north slope of Brean Down, S., 7.A. A second record for N. Somerset. Mylia anomala (Hook.) Gray. Westhay Moor, S., 7.4. The only previously recorded site in v.c.6 for this hepatic is Meare, not far from the present locality. Diplophyllum obtusifolium (Hook.) Dum. Loamy bank, eastern edge of Rowberrow Warren, S., 7.A. A first record for v.c.6. The following bryophytes were recorded (7.A.) on a B.N.S. visit to Steep Holm in May 1966 (nomenclature follows that of the 248 A. J. WILLIS British Bryological Society Census Catalogues of British Mosses, 1963, and of Hepatics, 1965): Amblystegium serpens* Grimmia apocarpa* Barbula convoluta Mnium affine* B. fallax* Orthotrichum diaphanum* B. unguiculata* Pterygoneurum ovatum* B. vinealis* Rhynchostegiella tenella Brachythecium rutabulum* Scorpiurium circinatum Bryum argenteum* Tortula intermedia B. bicolor* IT. muralis* B. capillare* B. donianum Lejeunea lamacerina var. azorica* Camptothecium sericeum Lophocolea heterophylla* Encalypta streptocarpa* Lunularia cruciata Funaria fascicularis* Metzgeria furcata F’, hygrometrica* Porella platyphylla Most of the bryophytes reported in A Survey of Steep Holm by M. Skene (these PRocEEpiINGs, Vol. VIII, Part IV, for 1938) were seen again, but a considerable extension to the list was made. The following fungi were also found on Steep Holm (Dr. C. £. D. Smith; determination of the first three listed was confirmed by Professor L. E. Hawker): Erysiphe polygoni* on Plantago coronopus y, LVS Plasmopara nivea* on Smyrnium olusatrum Peronospora dipsaci* on Dzupsacus fullonum Puccinia smyrnit on = =Smyrnium olusatrum Stigmatea robertian* on Geranium robertianum Auricularia auricula-judae* on Sambucus nigra New records are indicated by * I am grateful to Mr. G. E. Clothier for information concerning | the weather and to Mrs. J. Appleyard and Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott _ for help in compiling these records. | 249 Peis TOL BIRD REPORT 1966 CoMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE B.N.S. ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION P, J. CHADWICK H. H. Davis H. R. Hammacotr G. SWEET S. M. Taytor WING to the high cost of printing, most of the entries in the systematic list have to be summaries; but these are based on a careful analysis of all the records received and comparisons with previous years, so it is hoped that they are at least as useful as a list of the raw data. The record cards themselves are, as usual, filed; from. time to time they will be used in making detailed reviews of particular groups, and meanwhile can be made available to serious researchers. For many of the commonest species, so little information is re- ceived that definitive statements cannot be made; we prefer not to rely on subjective impressions, which can be misleading, and so these species are omitted from the body of the list. This problem faces all Bird Report editors; the solution may lie in the work of the British Trust for Ornithology’s Common Birds Census. The possi- bility of special local censuses in sample habitats is being actively considered, and meanwhile the best available statement of status for these species remains A Revised List of the Birds of the Bristol District (Proc. B.N.S., 1947, pp. 225-268). Some observers’ records were not available for the compilation of this report, so for certain species further details relating to the Bristol District may be found in the Somerset County Bird Report. A feature of 1966 was the very early first arrival of some summer migrants. Chiffchaffs were widely scattered over the area in the first few days of March, and a Wheatear was seen on the ninth. The first Swallows appeared in mid-March, but the first Ring Ouzel came two weeks later. After a lull during which there was a small wreck of Kittiwakes, the main migrant arrival began in early April. Somewhat surprisingly, a return of wintry conditions—cold E. winds with rain and snow—in the week ending on the 16th brought a heavy fall of migrants. Among them were Marsh Harrier, Osprey, 250 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Kentish Plover and Little Ringed Plover. The first Swifts were re- ported a few days later. There was a marked passage of Black Terns (part of a nation- wide movement) at the end of May, and during early June three continental species—Spoonbill, Hoopoe and Golden Oriole—were reported. Following the widespread irruption of Crossbills which started on June 12, the first birds reached this area on the 30th, and the species was afterwards widely reported up to the end of the year. The Pied-billed Grebe re-appeared towards the end of July at Chew Valley res., where an Aquatic Warbler and a Bee-eater were seen in mid-August and a White-winged Black Tern with Black ‘Terns towards the end of the month. Feeding flocks of Red- wings appeared to be smaller than usual in autumn, though no inference about total numbers can be made; they were apparently | plentiful in the east of the country, and possibly fewer moved west- wards owing to the mild winter. Information on breeding ducks is incomplete, but the Ruddy Duck at Chew seem not to have bred, while on the coast the Shel- | duck population continued to decline (in contrast to the pattern over the rest of the British Isles). A review of members’ work on | the breeding season status of the Kestrel, published in this issue, shows a satisfactory state of affairs. The Collared Dove steadily | multiplies and extends its range in the district. On the other hand, | the Barn Owl is extremely scarce. | The Song Thrush, Robin and Wren, severely depleted during the winters of 1961-2 and 1962-3, have now apparently regained | their former status. For many species, however, there is a striking | lack of data on breeding—data essential for assessing the effects of | environmental changes and also for making the case for conserva- | tion. Ideally, such information is best gathered through studies of | the kind for which the Common Bird Census is the model, and | through nest-recording. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a | decline of interest and skill in nest-finding, perhaps following the | great increase in bird-ringing brought about by the advent of the | mist-net. We urge members to do all they can to contribute to the | B.T.O.’s Nest Recording Scheme. , The problem of identifying races and subspecies in the field | requires comment. Several autumn records of White Wagtails | were received, without details. At this time of year, considerable | skill and favourable conditions are needed to distinguish them from Pied Wagtails, and full details should be given. The Scandinavian | race of the Lesser Black-backed Gull is a similar case. In our view, | strengthened by consultations with Dr. W. R. P. Bourne and Mr. | R. A. O. Hickling, distinction between the races of Larus fuscus calls | BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 251 for observations made under good conditions and preferably from more than one position. General visibility, the direction of the incident light and the nature of the background are all relevant and information about these, and also any comparisons with nearby birds of the other race, should be given. ‘The remarkable way in which the observing conditions can affect apparent colour- ing in this and other cases is often not appreciated, and is a subject well worth study. We thank all who have contributed their records; these are equally valuable and equally appreciated whether or not they are individually cited. Contributors: —Miss J. E. Adam, A. F. Airey, L. P. Alder, M. J. Allen, R. Angles, Miss A. Anscombe, G. Baggott, J. A. Bailey, N. Bar, S. H. G. Barnett, G. W. Beakes, C. E. Bennett, A. E. Billett, G. M. Blackman, R. L. Bland, T. Bomford, R. Boyd, G. L. Boyle, R. Bramwhite, Col. G. A. Bridge, Miss M. E. Bridge, J. F. Burton, Mrs. S. I. Buxton, G. Byford, Dr. A. M. G. Campbell, A. A. Carpenter, P. J. Chadwick, W. B. Charlesworth, T. Cleeves, Miss G. G. Clement, G. E. Clothier, N. J. Collar, D. A. Cullen, R. M. Curber, P. Curry, Cc. C. Davis, H. H. Davis, Mrs. R. H. Davis, Miss M. Dennison, M. L. Doble, P. Dolton, H. Dunni- cliff, G. A. Forrest, Miss E. Fox, K. L. Fox, Mrs. F. G. V. Garnier, P. L. Garvey, T. A. Gibson, P. Gotham, Mrs. J. Gotham, Miss C. Graham, Miss V. E. Graham, K. J. Hall, H. R. Hammacott, R. S. Harkness, K. A. Hawkins, R. Hemmings, D. J. Hewett, D. E. Hole, Mrs. M. Holloway, E. G. Holt, Mrs. CG. E. Hughes, D. Hughes, N. Humphris, Mrs. J. Humphris, J. Jayne, T. R. Joy, Mrs. E. Kendall, M. Ken- dall, B. King, C. Lachlan, N. T. Lacy, D. E. Ladhams, H.-R. H. Lance, A.2G: Leach, Miss R. C. Lee, R. J. Lewis, J. Lowther, C. Loynes, A. D. Lucas, Eine McGeoch, S. J. Moon, H. W. Neal, Mrs. F. Neal, R. D. Oades, M. A. Ogilvie, F. G. Ormond, Miss E. M. Palmer, C. A. Partridge, K. Pellow, 1D: His Ferrett, D. J. Perriman, D. E. Poole, M. Poulding, R. H. Poulding, R. J. Prytherch, B. Rabbitts, A. M. Rackham, Dr. A. P. Radford, Miss S. Richard, Miss M. H. Rogers, P. A. Roscoe, Miss S. M. Rose, W. L. Roseveare, J. F. Rowe, M. W. Seaford, C. S. Scott, P. Scott, D. Shepherd, T. B. Silcocks, K. E. L. Simmons, C. E. D. Smith, K. D. Smith, W. J. Stone, C. M. Swaine, G. Sweet, Mrs. A. M. Sweet, S. M. Taylor, Mrs. M. V. Taylor, R. F. Thearle, Mrs. P. Thearle, H.)J. Thomas, Mrs. H. J. Thomas, H. A. Thornhill, A. J. Tigwell, K. R. Todd, W. Upton, K. E. Vinnicombe, G. Walker, D. I. M. Wallace, D. Warden, G. L. Weyman, Mrs. E. M. Williams, T. R. J. Williams, M. A.Wright and K. B. Young. The abbreviation Res. Stn. refers to the Steep Holm Trust Gull Research Station and the initials B.R.G., C.V.R.S., D.B.W.P.S. and W.T. denote Bristol Ringing Group, Chew Valley Ringing Station, Dursley Bird-watching and Preservation Society and Wildfowl Trust. Headings G. and S. refer to South Gloucestershire and North Somerset and cover the areas as defined in Proc. B.N.S., 1960, p. 114. BLACK-THROATED DIvER Gavia arctica S. One, Blagdon res., Mar. 4 (W.L.R.)—seventh record for mrea, ci. Proc. B.N.S., 1964, pp- 34; 35- Great NorTHERN DIvER Gavia immer S. Two, Cheddar res., Nov. 22 to end of year (S.H.G.B., H.W.N. ef al.) with three, Dec. 14 (N.J.C.), 31 (R.J-P.). Single birds, Chew Valley res., Dec. 27 (T.R.J., S.J.M.), 30 (R.S.H.). 252 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT RED-THROATED DIvER Gavia stellata S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., Feb. 26 (B.R.); Cheddar res., Feb. 26, Mar. 1 (B.R. ef al.). GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus G. Pair reared two broods, ‘Tortworth Lake (J.H.). S. Max. winter res. counts: 64, Cheddar, Jan. 21 (B.R.) and 20, Chew Valley, Feb. 3 (E.M.P.). Breeding reported from Blagdon (g nests), Ghew Valley (51 young), Orchardleigh lake (2 nests) and Litton res. (pair with 3 young): nil returns from 12 other sites (C.B., R.M.C., B.K., D.E.L., K.E.L.S. e¢ al.). Exceptionally high numbers at resrs. in autumn—total of c. 250 (230, Chew Valley), end Sept., mid-Nov. (B.K., J.A.McG. e¢ al.). RED-NECKED GREBE_ Podiceps griseigena S. One, Chew Valley res., Mar 27 (A.P.R.). Only nine or ten previous records—Eds. | SLAVONIAN GREBE Podiceps auritus S. One, Cheddar res., Dec. 1965, stayed to Apr. 8 when joined — by second bird (R.A., G.G.C., R.M.C. et al.). One, Chew Valley res., Mar. 13-Apr. 3 (P.J.C., P.L.G. ef al.) and two, Apr>'13—m (P.C., W.J.S. e¢ al.). Single birds, Cheddar res., Nov. 5, 6 (S.J.M. et al.); Blagdon res., Nov. 12, Dec. 24 (R.A., R.M.C.); and Barrow Gurney resrs., Dec. 3-18 (H.R.H.L. et al.). BLACK-NECKED GREBE_ Podiceps nigricollis S. One, Cheddar res., Feb. 3 (W.L.R.). One, Chew Valley res., Aug. 24—Nov. 12 (T.A.G., R.H., A.M.R. e¢ al.); Blagdon res., Nov. 13 (S.I.B.) and two on roth (J.E.A.). PIED-BILLED GREBE Podilymbus podiceps S. One reported, Chew Valley res., mid-May but confirmatory details not received; present and seen by many observers, July 21- Nov. 2. LirTLE GrREBE Podiceps ruficollis S. Present, Blagdon and Chew Valley resrs., in breeding season but young seen only at latter where three pairs bred (R.J.P. e7 al.). Usual autumn counts of up to 50-60, Oct. (G.L.B., P.J.C. e¢ al.). STORM PEeTREL AHydrobates pelagicus S. One close inshore after gales, R. Kenn—Yeo Estuary coast, Wee. .o (GiB ok Els): MAnx SHEARWATER Procellaria puffinus G. Three found inland around Yate and Gloucester, taken to W.T. where released on river, mid-Sept. (M.A.O.). S. One attempting to roost on road, 8.30 p.m., Brean, Sept. 6 (T.RLW.): BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 253 Furmar Fulmarus glacialis S. One site-prospecting, Brean Down, Mar. 31 (R.A.). GaNnneET Sula bassana S. Adult female found dead, Clevedon, Mar. 1 (M.H.R.). Single ads., found dead, Sand Bay, Sept. 16, 18 (R.A.) and one in flight off Steep Holm on 28th (Res. Stn.). SHAG Phalacrocorax aristotelis S. Ailing juv., Cheddar res., 12.9.65, found dead on 13th, had been ringed, Annet, Scilly, 8.7.65; another juv., 18 and 27.9.65 (J-A.McG., B.R., B.E.S.). One flying W., Brean Down, Apr. 30 (T.R.J.W.). Juvenile, Cheddar res., Aug.23-Sept. 18 (R.M.C., weA.McG., B.R.). HERON Ardea cinerea S. Breeding reported, Cleeve Wood (23 nests), Newton Park (5 nests) and Uphill Grange, Weston-s-Mare (3 nests)—Brockley heronry now deserted (D.A.C., D.J.P., S.R.). Regular at reservoirs —max. counts: 34, Chew Valley, Feb. 3, and 30, Oct. 30 (E.M.P., D.W. et al.). BITTERN Botaurus stellaris S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., Jan. 8 (R.A.), 23 (K.J.H.) and Nov. 20 (D.W.). SPOONBILL Platalea leucorodia G. Adult present, W.T. enclosures, New Grounds, June 12-14 m.P.A.). MALLARD Anas platyrhynchos G. No winter counts, New Grounds, but autumn totals of feeoo, sept. 16; 1,850, Oct. 17; and 1,700, Dec. 19 (M.A.O.). Total of 70, Eastville and Stapleton Parks, Bristol, Jan. 7 (P.A.R.); 60+ at former, July 24, and brood of 7 ducklings (R.H.P.). _ §. Counts from resrs. and selected parts of coast indicate peaks mid-Jan. and mid-Sept., with numbers about 5°% lower in Nov. and Dec. Breeding reported from Blagdon, Chew Valley, Bath, Hunstrete, Stoke Moor, Kenn Moor, Wick St. Lawrence and Sand Bay. TEAL Anas crecca _ G. No winter counts. 250, New Grounds, Sept. 16; 600, Oct. 17; and 450, Dec. 19 (M.A.O.). S. Another poor year—max. of 550 in area, Jan. 16 and 620, Mec. 18 (B.K., J.A.McG., R.J.P. ef al.). 254 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT GARGANEY Anas querquedula G. Female, New Grounds, May 25 and male on 31st (M.A.O.). S. Present, Chew Valley res., Apr. 2-Oct. 1; one or two pairs bred (R.S.H., D.H.P. eé al.). One, Blagdon res., Sept. 11 (P.J.C.y 18) (OLR kal es) GADWALL_ Anas strepera G. Resident population of 20-30, W.T. enclosures, New Grounds; 38 there, Sept. 19 and 44, Oct. 19 (M.A.O.). S. Upto 14, Emborough Pond, Jan.—Feb. (B.R.). Pair, Blagdon res., Jan. 16, Apr. 3, May 27 (R.A. et al.). Gradual increase, Chew Valley res., to 23 pairs, Apr. 3 (B.R. ef al.); at least eight broods | seen (B.K., R.J.P., W.J.S. e¢ al.). Approx. 30-40 at resrs., end | Sept.—early Oct. (J.E.A., J.A.McG. ez al.). | WiGEON Anas penelope | G. and S. 2,150 in area, mid-Jan.—cf. 2,700, 1965; slow autumn rise from 350, mid-Oct., to 1,660, mid-Dec. and c. 1,800 by end of | year—cf. 2,200, 1965 (A.F.A., R.A., D.I.M.W. ei al.), | PINTAIL Anas acuta G. and §. Numbers lower than last year. Max. of 245, mid-Jan. | and 170, mid-Dec., majority as usual on estuary or in W.T. en- | closures, New Grounds (R.S.H., M.A.O., T.B.S., D.I.M.W. e¢ al.). | SHOVELER Spatula clypeata G. 115, New Grounds, Jan. 11 (D.I.M.W.). S. Majority, Chew Valley res.: c. 75, early Jan. (B.K.) and 60, | mid-Mar. (P.J.C.); 25, Oct.-Nov. (W.L.R. e¢ al.) increasing to 85, | mid-Dec. (B.K., W.U. e al.) and 130 on 30th—feeding in “‘re-| markably dense groups” (R.S.H.). Max. of 47, Blagdon res., Oct. | 16 (P.J.C.)—all other records of less than 25 birds (R.A., R.J.P. | Gb als): | ReED-CRESTED PocHARD WNetta rufina | S. Female, Chew Valley res., Mar. 3 and pair, Apr. 2 (A.P.R.}. | Imm. 3, Cheddar res., Nov. 19, 20 (P.L.G. e¢ al.). | Scaup Aythya maria | S. Single gg, occasionally two, Barrow Gurney, Blagdon, Ched- | dar and Chew Valley resrs., Jan.—Apr., Aug.—Dec. (H.W.N.., | D.J.P. et al.). Parties of 12 (4 3g, 1 imm. 3), Chew Valley, Mar. 13) (S.J.M., M.A.W. et al.), eight 29 or imms., Nov. 10 and seven on| 16th (B.R. et al.). [Full details are requested for all records of this) species; the pattern of colour on the bill should receive particular attention—cf. Wildfowl Trust Report, 1964-5, pp. 49-65—Eds. ]. | BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 255 Aythya hybrid S. One, Barrow Gurney resrs., Jan. 13 and another, Nov. 1, 12 (B.R.)—both with reddish-brown heads—and third with green sheen on head, Dec. 10 (R.J.P.). Bill colour pattern not described— cf. article mentioned above. TurTeD Duck Aythya fuligula S. Winter totals, all resrs.: 275, mid-Jan.; c. 250, mid-Feb.— mid-Mar. (R.A., P.J.C., R.J.P. e¢ al.). Spring passage again noted, Chew Valley res., end Apr.—early May with 300 present, May 1 (D.J.P.). Breeding reported, Blagdon (T.B.S.), Chew Valley (R.A., G.L.B.) and Orchardleigh Lake (R.M.C.). Autumn counts reached peak of 365, Nov. 12, 13 (K.A.H., B.K., J.F.R. e¢ al.). PocHARD Aythya ferina S. Considerable movements between resrs. due to disturbances but total population of c. 750, mid-Jan. and 315, mid-Feb. (C.C.D., D.E.L., W.J.S. e¢ al.). Autumn arrivals, end Aug.—early Sept. (P.L.G.); up to 1,250 or more, mid-Oct. (A.F.A.); 1,565, Nov. 12 (R.A., J.A.McG. e¢ al.) and possibly over 2,000, Dec. 18 when 1,270 present, Chew Valley res. (P.J.C.). At least three pairs nested (but two robbed), Chew Valley res. (A.E.B., B.K.). GoOLDENEYE Bucephala clangula G. Male on Estuary, New Grounds, Nov. 17 (L.P.A.). S. Reported from all resrs. except Litton, Jan. to end Apr. (5, Blagdon, Apr. 30—R.A.) with peak of 60, early Mar. (2, Barrow Gurney; 17, Blagdon; 3, Cheddar; 38, Chew Valley). Autumn arrivals from Oct. 15 and c. 20-25 in area to end of year (G.L.B., meot1., B.R., W.U. ef al.). Lonc-TAILED Duck Clangula hyemalis S. Female or imm. off Brean Down, Jan. 23 (R.A.), and another, Barrow Gurney resrs., Nov. 1 to end of year (G.W.B., T.C., fem. |. A.D.L., N.T.L. ¢ al.). Common ScoTER Melanitta nigra G. Male on Estuary, New Grounds, Aug. 19 (L.P.A.). S. Three (males), Weston Bay, Mar. 13 (R.A.) and one on 19th (R.D.O.); five, same place, Apr. 22 (T.R.J.W.) and two males on 24th (R.M.C.). Pair, Chew Valley res., Mar. 27 (B.R.) and single males, Cheddar res., Apr. 21 (N.J.C., J.A.McG.), 26 (N.J.C.). Single birds, Weston Bay, Nov. 12, and on coast, Clevedon—Yeo Estuary, Dec. 3 (K.J.H.). EER Somateria mollissima S. Imm. male, Weston Bay, Feb. 20—-Mar. 19 (R.A., A.C.L., 256 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT M.P. et al.) and two birds, Sand Bay, July 27 (W.L.R.) to Sept. 18 (RIA RAEI). GOOSANDER Mergus merganser S. Chew Valley res.: one or two, Jan. 2-Mar. 13,(C.C.D.,A.M.R. etal.); one, end Nov. (K.J.H.); two, Dec. 14-17 and five, Dec. 23-31 (N.J.C., R.S.H., T.R.J. e¢ al.). Two, Cheddar res., Jan. 13-16 (R.A., JAJMcG., B.R.) and three; Jam erate ebs im (H.R.H.L.). SMEW Mergus albellus S. Up to three (1g), Chew Valley res., Jan. 1-Mar. 5 (J.F.B.. R.H., D.J.P. et al.) but two gg, Feb. 19 (C.A.P.): last seen—two, Mar. 17 (R.S.H.). Two, Blagdon res., Feb. 20 (T.B.S.). Pair, Chew | Valley res., Dec. 23-31 (J.J. e¢ al.) and two gg on goth (R.S.H.). NortH AMERICAN Ruppy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis S. No breeding records. Up to 13, Chew Valley res., Jan. (R.S.H., D.W.) and seven still present, Apr. 13 (D.J.P.) but only three, Apr. 30 (R.M.C.), May 20, and pair, June 12 (R.A.); one, Sept.—Nov. | (M.L.D. e¢ al.); six, Dec. 18 (P.J.C.) and eight on 28th (B.R.). One, Cheddar res., Jan. 16 (J.A.McG.), 21 (B.R.). Two, Blagdon res., Nov. 13 (R.J.P.) and two pairs, Dec. 24 (R.A.). SHELDUCK ‘Tadorna tadorna G. and S. No precise data on breeding success, R. Avon to Weston-s-Mare, but evidence of further decline—cf. Proc. B.N.S., 1964, p. 39 and 1965, p. 146; several late broods again noted | (R.A., H.R.H., T.B.S , S.M.T.). None seen, Pill, where regulam 5 years ago (J.F.B.). Two pairs bred, Chew Valley res. (many | observers). GREYLAG GOOosE Anser anser G. Two feeding on saltings with Whitefronts, New Grounds, | Jan. 7 and one, Feb. 2 33 possibly wild birds but many are kept full- winged and unringed in W.T. enclosures (M.A.O.). WHITE-FRONTED Goose Anser albifrons G. New Grounds: 1,800 at end 1965 had increased to 3,000, Jan. | 22; to 4,700, Feb. 6, and to highest known total of 5,500 on goth. | At least 4,000 still present, mid-Feb., but only 350 on Mar. 8; last seen (two), Mar. 10. Autumn: first bide dee Sept. 33 94 ee late | Oct., then slow rise to 1,300 on Dec. 30 (W.T.). a Fourteen flying N., Sand Point, Jan. 9 (D.J.P.); 29, also to N., Weston-s-Mare, on 18th (P.C.). Parties of 40 and 60 heading i | over Long Ashton, Jan. 24 (J.E.A.) and 28 (G.E.C.). | |! BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 257 LEssER WHITE-FRONTED GOOsE Anser erythropus G. Two ads., New Grounds, Feb. 6, 13, one of which seen again on 20th; a third ad. reported on 27th (W.T., D.I.M.W.). Im- mature, Feb. 27 (D.I.M.W.) and another imm., same date (J.A.B.). BEAN GoosE Anser fabalis G. One, of Western race, A. f. fabalis, among Whitefronts, New Grounds, Feb. 6 (M.A.O.); still there on 20th (R.M.CG., W.T.). PINK-FOOTED GoosE Anser brachyrhynchus G. New Grounds: only records—one, Jan. 7, and second, Feb. 6, then continued sightings to end of month (M.A.O.); one, probably different bird, Mar. 5 (D.I.M.W.). DARK-BREASTED BRENT Goose Branta bernicla bernicla G. Party of seven ads. on saltings, New Grounds, Jan. 26; not seen again, but one present, Feb. 2 (M.A.O.). One on saltings, Chittening Warth, and afterwards on water nr. Severn Beach, Mar. 13 (K.J.H.). S. One on mud-flats, Sand Bay, Feb. 6 (R.A.). “BARNACLE GoosE’ Branta leucopsis — G. Juv. with White-fronts, New Grounds, early Feb. to Mar. 6 or later (R.M.C., M.L.D., M.A.O., P.A.R.). CanaDA Goose Branta canadensis G. Birds maintained at Frampton Gravel Pits continue to make frequent visits to the W.T. enclosures and sometimes to adjoining saltings (M.A.O.). S. Three flying up R. Axe at high tide, Apr. 24 (R.A.). -WHOOPER SWAN Cygnus cygnus S. Herd of 24 (8 imm.), Stoke Moor, Nov. 13 (C.Lo.). -BEwick’s Swan Cygnus columbianus G. New Grounds: ¢. 20, early Jan., rising to 85 on 18th, and 110-120, daily, Jan. 20-Mar. 10, with max. of 125, Feb. 14; all gone by Mar. 24; 147 individuals identified (by bill pattern) during winter. Autumn arrivals—6, Oct. 26 and 27 on 30th; rapid rise to 154, Nov. 20; 130-140 present, Nov. 30—Dec. 23 (but c. 193, Dec. 19 (R.A.)); 229 identified by Dec. 31 (P.S. e¢ al.). _ §. Only small numbers at resrs.: max. of 45, Chew Valley, Jan. 30 (J.E.A. ef al.); last noted—one, Apr. 26 (N.J.C.). Autumn records from Oct. 27 to end year, but numbers small—max. of 8, Blagdon res., Oct. 28 and four, Chew Valley res., Dec. 11. Rone flying W., Breach Hill, Chew Stoke, Nov. 19 (D.W.). Cc 258 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Buzzarp Buteo buteo G. and S. Records (203) for all months from 50 localities. Pairs present at Wotton-under-Edge, Cromhall, nr. Bath, Cleeve, Bleadon, Cheddar, Blagdon, Chewton Mendip and Chew Valley area in breeding season (D.B.W.P.S., J.H., R.J.P., D.W. e¢ ai.). Two breeding records (A.A.C., R.M.C., P.A.R.). Four together, Blagdon res., Jan. 30 (M.K.), Aug. 14. (P.A.R.), Cleeve, Feb. 26 (M.K.) and Chew Valley res., Apr. 10 (R.J.P.). Five, Blagdon res., Sept. 10 (M.K.). Single dead birds, Aust, Aug. 3 (T.R.J.) and Weston Beach, Dec. 11 (R.A.). SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus G. and §S. Reports (269) from 61 localities—ten in G.—all months. Nest with three young, Almondsbury, June 27 (A.E.B.). Juvs. reported from Weston Woods, Winscombe and Blagdon, July—Aug. (R.A., P.J.C., A.M.R.). GosHAWK Accipiter gentilis S. Female escaped from falconer, Nailsea, Aug. 24, present in | area 6-8 weeks later (J.L. per P.J.C.). MarsH HARRIER Circus aeruginosus S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., Apr. 16 (R.M.C., T.C., | C.E.D.S.), 18 (H.R.H.L.) and Stoke Moor, nr. Draycott on 24th | (T.B.S.). HEN Harrier Circus cyaneus S. Ring-tail, Blagdon res., Feb. 22 seen by A.C.L. and H.W.N. | who considered it to be this species. One, juv. 2, mist-netted, Steep | Holm, Oct. 9 (Res. Stn.) and male, seen Kenn Estuary, Nov. 20 | (M-L.D., P.A.R.). OspREY Pandion halvaetus S. One Chew Valley res., April 16 (R.A., R.M.C., T.C.). Hossy Falco subbuteo. S. At least three pairs bred—Eds. Single birds: Brean Down, | Apr. 15, Sept. 17 (T.R.J.W.); Barrow resrs., May 5 (E.K.); Uphill, | May 28 (R.A.); Mendip area, May 28, June 8, 9 (D.E.L., S.J.M., | R.J.P. et al.); Rickford, June 12 and West Harptree, Sept. 10 | (R.A.). Two, Batheaston, May 14 (A.A.C., R.M.C., B.S.). One, | sixteen dates, May 8—Sept. 4, Chew Valley res. (J.E.A., D.J.P., D.W. et al.) and two there, June 1 (R.S.H.). PEREGRINE Falco peregrinus G. New Grounds: 3, first seen Oct. 13, 1965, until Apr. 20 | (W.T.); 9, Jan. 2, 11 (M.L.D., P.A.R., D.I.M.W.), Mar. 6 (R.M.C., | B.K.) and g, Oct. 7-end of year (W.T.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 259 S. Single birds, Weston Bay, Apr. 23 (T.C., P.L.G.); Sand Point, July 7 (H.R.H.L.), Sept. 8 and Nov. 1o (R.A., T.B.); Brean Down, Sept: 9 (T.R.J.W.); Oct. 1 (R.F.T., P.T.) and Dec. 11 (M.L.D., P.A.R.). One, imm., Weston-s-Mare, Oct. 23 (P.C.). Meruin) Falco columbarius G. One, New Grounds, end Nov. (G.B.). S. One, 2 or imm., Sand Bay, Sept. 4 (R.A.). Single birds: Chew Valley res., Oct. 23 (D.S., R.F.T.) and 30th (C.V.R.S.); Brean Down, Oct. 25 (T.R.J.W.) and 2oth (R.J.P.); Yeo Estuary, Oct. 30 (R.J.P.), Nov. 20 g, (M.L.D., P.A.R.), Dec. 4 (R.D.O., K.D.S.) and on 12th (R.D.O.); g, Locking Pond, nr. Weston, iNov. 2 (P.C.). KestreEL Falco tinnunculus G. Reports (226) include 15 localities where birds seen regu- larly in breeding season. One nest with three young, July 2 (A.A.C., R.M.C.). S. Reports (512) from widespread localities, all months. Five nests—with 2, 2, 3, 4 and 5 young—June-early July (R.A., P.J.C., ~C.G., D.W.). Two juvs., Long Ashton, Aug. 10 (M.A.W.) and Sand Point, Aug. 28 (R.A.). Possibly seven, Chew Valley res., July 13 and nine on 17th (R.S.H.). Five within a mile, Priddy, Aug. 30 (H.W.N.). Steep Holm: 9, resident; two, Sept. 30, Oct. 2 and three on 3rd (Res. Stn.). RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE Alectoris rufa _ G. and §. Pair, Brean Down, six dates, Mar.—-end May (R.A., | D.E.L., R.D.O.); one, Middle Hope, Apr. 10, 17 (R.A.); one dis- _ playing, Velvet Bottom, June 7 (C.G.) and five, Wavering Down, | Oct. 19 (A.M.R.). Two, Marshfield, May 21 (T.C., P.L.G.) and _ one on 30th (M.L.D., P.A.R.). PARTRIDGE Perdix perdix | G. Twelve to 14 young, Almondsbury, “‘where species is now | rare” (A.E.B.). __§&. Coastal records: up to four, Brean Down, Jan.—Mar. (M.L.D., | R.D.O., P.A.R.); two, Sand Point /Middle Hope, May (R.A., _W.L.R.) and up to six, Clevedon-Yeo, Aug. and Nov. (R.A., | K.J.H., H.W.N.). The only inland records are two, Chew Magna, | Mar. 9 (D.W.); 4-5, Yatton, Aug.—Oct. (H.H.D.) and one, Blag- Hien, Oct. 28 (D.J.P.). QuaiL Coturnix coturnix _ G. One, Marshfield, June 28 (R.M.C.) and two, July 3 (R.H.). 260 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT WaTER Rait Rallus aquaticus G. One, Lasborough Park, Feb. 27 (D.B.W.P.S.). One, Short- wood Brickworks, Bristol, Dec. 17, and two, Frampton Cotterell, on 28th (f:C., (Pal:G;),. S. Nine records of up to six, Sand Bay, Jan., Mar. and Oct.— Dec. (R.A., T.B.S.). Up to four, Chew Valley res., Jan.—April, Aug.—Dec. (R.A., €.C.D., D.J.P: e¢ al.)—-a quy, Ane (EF. Ce K.E.V.). One, Blagdon res., Sept. 11 (P.J.C.) and one, Dundry, Oct. 21 (D.W.). CORNCRAKE Crex crex S. One, picked up dead, apparently accidentally killed, Lyn- combe Hill, nr. Sandford, May 11 (F.G.V.G.). Coot Fulica atra S. Emborough Pond: noted, Jan. 1-May 7, with max. 27, Jan 3 falling to 12, Apr._May; two, Aug. 15 (B.R.). Cheddar res.: 250, mid-Jan. rising to 400, Jan. 21, thence rapid fall to 45, mid-Feb. with one, Mar. 13; autumn counts—four, Aug. 8, rising to max. 1,800, mid-Nov., falling to 500, Dec. 23 (R.A., J.A.McG., B.R.)— cf. max. 380, mid-Nov., 1965. Other resr. records: 350, Blagdon, Jan. 8 and 330, Dec. 24 (R.A.); 350, Chew Valley, Jan 8 and 160, Dec. 24 (R.A.)—cf. 821, Blagdon, Dec. 12, 1965; 1,390, Chew Valley, Dec. 28, 1965. OyYSTERCATCHER Haematopus ostralegus G. New Grounds: one, May 3; two, June 2; one frequently visited W.T. enclosures, feeding on lawns or consorting with captive birds, Aug. 1-Sept. 7 (L.P.A., M.A.O.). One, New Passage, | Aug. 2 (CLR Je, Oj AVL.) | S. Noted, coast, Jan.Apr. and Oct.—Dec., with max., Weston | Bay area, 120, Jan 22 and 140-150, Dec. 3, 16 (R.A., D.J.P., | W.L.R., et al.). Chew Valley res.—July 9-Aug. 29 with max., | ten, Aug. 4 (R.A., R.M.C., R.J.P. e¢ al.). LapwinG Vanellus vanellus | G. and §. Breeding season records only from Almondsbury; | Clapton and Tickenham moors; and Blagdon and Chew Valley © resrs. (R.A., A.E.B., P.J.C., 5.M.T.). Largest flocks: 1,000—1,500,) | Yeo and Axe estuaries, Oct.—Dec., with 4,000 in latter area, Dec. — 27 (R.A., N.J.C. et al.). Movements noted: c. 120 to S., Brandon | Hill, Bristol, Jan. 11 (R.D.O.); ‘large numbers’ to N., Clevedon, | Jan. 26 (A.J.T.); 140 to E., Nailsea, Jan. 27 (M.V.T.); 2,500-3,000 | to S.W., Yeo Estuary, Dec. 4 (R.D.O.). | BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 261 RincED PLOVER Charadrius hiaticula G. and S. Largest counts: 80, New Grounds, May 3 and 700, Aug. 21 (L.P.A.); 111, Sand Bay, May 22 and c. 150, Aug. 21 and Sept. 4 (R.A.). Up to 13, Chew Valley res., July 24-Oct. 22 (P.J-C.,,, E.G.H., W.J.8. e al.). Three, Cheddar res., Sept. 4 (R.M.C.). LitTLE RincED PLOVER Charadrius dubius G. and S. One, New Grounds, Aug. 7 (L.P.A.). Chew Valley res.: one, Apr. 24 (W.J.S.); many reports of one ad. and one imm. (separate), mid-July to mid-Sept. (G.L.B., N.J.C., T.C. e¢ al.). KeEntTIsH PLOVER Charadrius alexandrinus S. Male, Chew Valley res., Apr. 13. Details reported include blackish legs and bill; crown and nape brighter than pale brown wings, and with blackish frontal patch; small black patch either side of breast instead of complete band; narrow white wing-stripe visible in flight (P.C., D.J.P.). Second Somerset record. GreY PLOVER Charadrius squatarola G.and§. Up to four, various coastal sites, Feb._May and Sept.— Dec.; two, Chew Valley res., May 28 and one, Oct. 8 (L.P.A., J.F.B., K.J.H., R.D.O. et al.). GOLDEN PLOVER Charadrius apricarius S. Chew Valley res.: ten, Jan. 9 (A.M.R.); one, Aug. 22 (T.C., D.S.); c. 25, early Oct., incr. to c. 150 at end of month and decr. to c. 25 in Dec. (32 reports, 15 observers), but c. 300, Oct. 12 (N.T.L.). 45, Marksbury, Mar. 20 (M.J.A.); 12, Charmy Down, Bath, Apr. 23, and 100, Oct.—Nov. (R.M.C., R.J.L.); one, Mendip, Sept. 9 (V.G.). Coastal records: 165, Kingston Seymour, Jan. 10 (R.J.P.); up to 400, Weston Bay area, Oct.—Dec., with max. of 1,000, Nov. 27, and 600, Dec. 27 (R.A., T.B.S.). TURNSTONE Arenaria interpres G. and §. One, sometimes two, on coast, May, Aug. and Sept., and up to eight, Dec.; up to three, Chew Valley res., July 24—Aug. fii PA. R.A. I.R.J., D.J.P: et al.). Common SNIPE Capella gallinago G. and S. Coastal records include 75, Axe Estuary, Feb. 109, and 19, same place, Nov. 13 (M.L.D., D.J.P., P.A.R.). Chew Valley res.: up to 14, Jan._Feb.; up to 20, Aug. 16-Sept. 24, then Bo-70 to end of year (R:A., T.C., T.R.J. ef al.). _ Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus G. and S. Single birds: Sand Bay, Feb. 15 (R.A.); Axe Estuary, | Feb. 21 (M.L.D., P.A.R.); New Grounds, Oct. 14 and Nov. 17 262 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT (M.A.O.); Priddy Pools, Nov. 10 (J.A.McG.). Two, Portbury, Oct. 13 (N.T.L.). Chew Valley res.: single birds, Jan., Feb. and Sept.; up to six, Oct.—Dec., with nine, Nov. 27 (N.J.C., W.J.S., D.W. ef al.). Woopcock Scolopax rusticola G. and S. Nineteen records of up to four, Jan._Mar. and Oct.— Dec., from Filton, Walton Moor, Clevedon, Weston Woods, Brean Down, Cleeve, Churchill, Winscombe, Cheddar Wood, Velvet Bottom and Coley Hill (T.B., T.B.S., D.W., T.R.J.W. e¢ al.). Heard roding on Mendip, May 28 and June 8 (C.G.). CurLEwW WNumenius arquata G. and 8S. Largest counts: 105, Sand Bay, Feb. 13; 342, New Grounds, Oct. 12; 150, Axe Estuary, Dee. 727 (EP ALR Ale Chew Valley res.: up to four, Apr. and June—Sept., with up to 12 in Aug. One in display flight, Clapton Moor, May 14 (P.J.C.). WHIMBREL WNumenius phaeopus G. and S. Noted on both passages, Apr. 16-May 27 and July 9- Sept. 18; one with defective wing, Yeo Estuary, last seen Oct. 22. Max. counts: 25, Kenn Moor, May 3 (S.M.T., G.W.), and ten, Woodspring Bay, Aug. 19 (R.A.). One, sometimes two, Chew Valley res., Apr., July and Aug. (R.M.C., P.A.R. e¢ al.). BLACK-TAILED Gopwit Limosa limosa G. Up to three, Apr._May and up to nine, July 3—Nov. 17 with peak of 25-30, mid-Sept. (L.P.A., M.A.O.). S. Chew Valley res.: one, April-May and up to six, July 24- Sept. 5 (C.E.B., T.C., H.W.N. ef al.). Weston Bay: ten, Sept. 18, | rising to 140-160, end Oct.—early Nov. (R.A., D.J.P.) then falling | to c. 80 by mid-Nov., and c¢. 50 by end of year (P.C., H.R.H.L., T.R.J.W. ef al.). BAR-TAILED Gopwit Limosa lapponica G. New Grounds: 65-85, Apr. 30-May 7, and up to 14, Aug. 14-Nov. 17 (L.P.A., M.A.O.). Six near Aust, Sept. 14 (C.A.P.). S. Six, Weston Bay, Feb. 4 (H.R.H.L.); c. six, Sand Bay and Weston Bay, Sept. 17—Nov. 20, then 12 to 17 to end of year, with — 25, Dec. 10 (J.E.A., R.A., W.L.R. e¢ al.). Chew Valley res.: two, | Sept. 2 and one on 18th (P.L.G., W.J.S.). GREEN SANDPIPER Tringa ochropus G. and S. One, sometimes two, New Grounds, July 1—Aug. 27 (L.P.A.). Single birds: Priddy Pools, July 23 (R.M.C.); Sand Bay, | Aug. 29 (R.A.); Lox Yeo river, Sept. 16 (J.F.R., G.S.); Stoke Moor, Nov. 8 (B.R.); Nailsea Moor, Dec. 17 (T.R.J.W.) and | Kingston Seymour, Dec. 31 (H.R.H.L.). Resrs.: single birds, Chew | BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 263 Valley, Jan. 16 and Apr. 20 (R.J.P.); up to 16, same place, July— late Aug., then one or two until Oct. 17 (R.A., R.M.CG., N.T.L., A.P.R. ef al.); one, Blagdon, Sept. 15 and one, sometimes two, Cheddar, Aug. 15—Oct. 16 (J.A.McG., B.R.). Woop SANDPIPER Tringa glareola S. One, Axe Estuary, Apr. 20 (H.R.H.L.). Up to six, Chew Valley res., May 29-Sept. 4 (30 reports, 20 observers). One, Miheddar res., Sept. 24, 25 (P.L.G., R.J.L.). COMMON SANDPIPER Tringa hypoleuca G. and S. City of Bristol: up to eight, R. Avon, Sea Mills, Feb._May and July—Dec. (J.F.B., N.T.L., J.F.R., K.B.Y.); one, | Floating Harbour, May 21 (B.R.). Resrs. and coast: 16 reports, | Apr.—May, with max. of nine, Cheddar res., Apr. 21 (J.A.McG.); 56 reports, July—Dec., with up to 20, Chew Valley res., and max. elsewhere of nine, Woodspring Bay, July 29 (R.A.) and eleven, | Cheddar res., Aug. 23 (B.R.). REDSHANK Tringa totanus G. Fifty, New Grounds, Aug. 21—‘a high count’ (L.P.A.). | City of Bristol: up to ten, R. Avon, Sea Mills and Shirehampton, Jan., Feb., and Aug.—Dec., but 60—70, Jan. 15, in snowy weather n).F-B., C.G., J.F.R). S. Breeding season records from Yeo Estuary, where at least one pair bred (W.L.R.) and Clapton Moor (P.J.C.). Coastal flocks: winter max.—5o, Weston Bay, Jan. 23 (R.A.); 19 reports, July— Dec., with max., all in Weston-s-Mare area, of c. 80, July 17 and mct. 2, and c. 60, early Dec. (J.E.A., R.A., D.J.P. e¢ al.). SPOTTED REDSHANK Tringa erythropus G. and §. New Grounds: two, May 1; six, June 1; up to nine, July 9-end of Sept.; 13, Oct. 12 (L.P.A.). Yeo to Axe estuaries: one, sometimes two, Jan. 9, May 2 and Aug.—Dec. (R.A.). One, Clevedon Pill, Oct. 2 (A.J.T.). Up to 12, Chew Valley res., July 23-Oct. 25 (57 reports); two, Blagdon res., Sept. 11 (P.J.C.). GREENSHANK Tringa nebularia G. and S. Single birds—Sand Bay, Apr. 17 and New Grounds, May 1; up to six, various coastal localities, July 15—Oct. 16 (L.P.A., R.A., J.F.B., C.A.P., P.A.R.). One, R. Avon, Shirehampton, Oct. go (J.F.B.). Resrs.: (67 reports, July 3-Oct. 23): up to 17, Chew Valley (22 observers); up to four, Blagdon (P.J.C., R.M.C., H.W.N., C.A.P.); one, Cheddar (J.A.McG., B.R.). Knot Calidris canutus G. and §. New Grounds: 14, May 3; up to five, June 1-Aug. 15; 22, Sept. 25 (L.P.A.). One, Chew Valley res., Sept. 21 (A.M.R..). 264 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Only coastal counts over 25 were 170, Weston Bay, Jan. 22 and 200, Sand Bay, Oct. 30 (R.A.)—a reversion to pre-1960 numbers, cf. | Proc. B.N.S., 1965, p. 153. PuRPLE SANDPIPER Calidris maritima S. One, Brean Down, Nov. 13 (R.M.C.). LittLe StTint Calidris minuta G. and S. Single birds—New Grounds, May 17, Sept. 18 and Nov. 18 (L.P.A.); Sand Bay, Sept. 4 (R.A.); and Axe Estuary, Nov. 6 (P.C.). Chew Valley res.: one, May 22 and up to three, July 26—Oct. 29 (19 reports, 14 observers). Dunn) Calidris alpina G. and S. Max. counts—G.: 400, New Grounds, May 3 and | 1,400, July 30 (L.P.A.);—S.: 2,000, Sand Bay, Nov. 13 and 1,600 | Dec. 4 (R.A.). Up to 12, resrs., Apr.—Dec. (30 reports, 11 observers). CURLEW SANDPIPER’ Calidris testacea | G. and S. Single birds: New Grounds, Sept. 12-16 (L.P.A,, | M.A.O.); New Passage, Oct. 24 (M.L.D., P.A.R.). Up to three, Chew Valley res., Aug. 27—Oct. 21 (R.A., P.J.C., E.M.P., A.M.R, | et al.). ! SANDERLING Crocethia alba G. and 8. Coastal records of up to c. 20, Jan., Apr.—July and | Oct-Dec., but 38, New Grounds, June 1 (L.P.A.). One, Chew | Valley res., Oct. 16 (P.J.C.) and two on 19th (D.W.). | Rurr Philomachus pugnax | G. and S. New Grounds: up to eight, Sept. 13-17 and eleven, | Nov. 17 (L.P.A.). One, Sand Bay, July 26 (P.C.). Chew Valley | res.: one, Mar. 20-30; up to 16, May 8-end Sept.; then up to five, to | Nov. 12 (62 records, 26 observers). | Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta S. One, Sand Bay, Dec. 29, 30. Details supplied (T.B. per R.A.). | Grey PHALAROPE Phalaropus fulicarius | S. One, Chew Valley res., Sept. 7. Details supplied (P.D., C.8.8.). | LrEssER BLACK-BACKED GULL Larus fuscus S. Birds considered to be of the Scandinavian race L. f. fuscus reported from Weston-s-Mare, Feb. and Apr., and Chew Valley res., early Sept., but conditions of observations not stated—see foreword. BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 265 Common GuLL_ Larus canus S. Mainly reported from resrs., especially Chew Valley, where 5,000 roosting, Dec. 27 (P.J.C.). MEDITERRANEAN BLACK-HEADED GULL Larus melanocephalus S. One in almost adult plumage, Chew Valley res., July 9 (F.G.O.). Details supplied include: black hood reaching well down neck almost to mantle; pale grey wings with fawn markings; red bill, decurved at tip, darkening in colour towards base; heavier build than Black-headed Gulls and less buoyant flight. LittLte Gutu Larus minutus Si /One, Ghew Valley res., Apr. 2 (R.M.C.); one ad., Aug. 22, 23 (C.E.B., T.C.); ad. and imm., Aug. 24-29 (G.L.B., W.L.R. et al.); two imms., Sept. 3 (R.M.C.) and one, Sept. 7-18 (R.B., Puli.G. ef al.). BLACK-HEADED GULL Larus ridibundus G.andS. Upto 1,200, Durdham Down, Bristol, early morning, Jan. 10, Feb. 4, and 1,000, Dec. 22 (R.A.). Melanistic bird, Chew Valley res., Jan. 23 (A.P.R.)—possibly same bird as one seen at Filton, Feb. 14 (R.A.). Roost counts include: 1,000, Woodspring Bay, Aug. 12, and 2,000 on 19th (R.A.); at least 7,500, Weston Bay, Sept. 30 (P.C.) and 2,500, Dec. 25 (R.A.); over 5,000, Chew Valley res., Dec. 18 and 7,500 on 27th (P.J.C.). KittTiwakE Rissa tridactyla G. First-winter bird, City Docks, Bristol, Dec. 27 (P.J.C., M.A.W.). S. Dead ad., Cheddar res., Mar. 9; imm., same res., Mar. 9-13 (B.R., J.A.McG. e al.). Imm. flying down channel, Portishead, Mar. 17 (W.L.R.). Small ‘wreck’, end Mar.—early Apr.—three (2 ads.), Cheddar res., Mar. 28, 31 (B.R.) and five (3 ads.), Apr. 2 (R.M.C.); single imm., Apr. 3 (J.A.McG.) found dead on 8th (R.A.). Dead ads.; Chew Valley res., Apr. 1, 3; Sand Bay, Apr. 3 and Brean Down on 11th (R.A., D.J.P., B.R.). Imm. off Cleve- don, June 6 (P.L.G.). Brack TERN Chlidonias niger G. One, New Grounds, June 2 (L.P.A.) and g, Sept. 2 (T.R.J.). S. Ten, Chew Valley res., May 1 (M.H.) and one, Blagdon res. on 14th (R.A.). Movement noted, Chew Valley res., end May: six on 28th (R.S.H.); 16 on 29th (W.J.S.); 100 passed through on goth (P.L.G.) and 50+ on gist (T.R.J., S.J.M.); 17, June 1 (R.S.H.) and one on 3rd (R.A.). Autumn passage, Aug. 13-Oct. 30: 11 flying W., Charterhouse, Mendip, Aug. 13 (T.B.S.) and three, Blagdon, same date (P.J.C.); three, Woodspring Bay, Aug. 15 266 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT (T.B.); peak numbers, Chew Valley res.—25, Aug. 29 (P.J.C., R.M.C.); 30-40 on 30th (H.W.N., D.W.); 25, Sept. 3 (T.R.J.) and nine on 7th (P.L.G.); five, Cheddar res., Sept. 4 (R.M.C.). WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN Chiidonias leucopterus S. Juv. with Black Terns, Chew Valley res., Aug. 24-27. First seen by D.W. and later in day by G.L.B., R.M.C. and B.K. Record, third for district and second for Somerset—cf. Proc. B.N.S., 1949, p. 38 and 1960, p. 129—accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Committee. Common TERN Sterna hirundo Arctic TERN Sterna macrura G. ‘Two over estuary, New Grounds, May 29 (L.P.A.), Sept. 2 (T.R.J.) and one, New Passage, Sept. 14 (R.A., C.A.P.). S. Spring migrants: one, Blagdon res., Apr. 16, 17, and three on 24th (J.E.A., W.L.R. e al.); two, Cheddar res., May 7 (R.M.C.); three, Sand Bay, May 21 (D.J.P.); and six, Chew Valley res., on goth (T.C., P.L.G.). All autumn records of less than ten birds, except 42, Chew Valley res., Aug. 13 (R.M.C.) and 25 on 17th (T.R2J.). LittLeE TERN Sterna albifrons G. One over estuary, New Grounds, May 1 (L.P.A.). S. Two, Chew Valley res., Sept. 10 (T.C.). SANDWICH TERN Sterna sandvicensis S. Party of four, considered to be of this species, Chew Valley Tes., ANpr., 24. MLD. P ALR): LirtLe Aux Plautus alle G. One picked up alive, but died later, Severn bank nr. Oldbury- upon-Severn, c. Feb. 6 (per H.D.). RazorBILL Alca torda S. Single dead birds, Weston Bay, Dec. 10 and Sand Bay on Dith)(RoA;), GuILLemMoT Uria aalge S. Single dead adults, Sand Bay, Apr. 3, Aug. 14 (R.A.). Stock Dove Columba oenas G. Breeding records from Dursley, Littleton-upon-Severn and Tockington (A.E.B., D.B.W.P.S.). S. Small numbers, Sand Point, Jan., Nov. and Dec. (R.A.) and Stoke Moor, Feb. (T.B.S.). Breeding season records from 1965 localities and Shipham, Crook Peak, Charterhouse, Tickenham and Flax Bourton (R.A., T.B.S., T.R.J.W.). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 267 TurTLE Dove Streptopelia turtur G. Reports from Lasborough Park and Dursley (D.B.W.P.S.); Inglestone Common, Filton and New Passage (R.A., N.J.C., C.A.P.). S. Reported from Uphill, Weston Woods, Sand Point, Bur- rington, Blagdon res., Hunstrete, Brockley, Walton, Cadbury Camp, Ashton Hill and Leigh Woods, May-Sept.; one, Chew Valley res., Oct. 22—late date (R.A., G.E.C., H.H.D. et al.). COLLARED Dove Streptopelia decaocto G. Breeding reported from Slimbridge and W.T. enclosures where flock increased from 100 to c. 200 by year end (M.A.O.). Numbers also increasing in Bristol (C.G. e¢ al.). At least 150 feed- ing, Avonmouth Docks, early in year; recoveries of birds ringed there by P.J.C. and C.L. include:— RINGED RECOVERED _ 3088672, Juv., 30.8.65 : 22.3.66 on fishing boat in approaches to St. George’s Channel, 400 m. W.S.W. 3088762, 1st. W. 2.1.66 : 7.8.66 Troqueer, Maxwelltown, 250 m. N. 3088671, Juv., 30.8.65 : 15.6.66 Drogheda, Louth, 215 m.N.W. 3088585, Ad. 25.10.64 : 16.9.66 Kilrush, Clare, 295 m. W.N.W. S. Extension of range continues: breeding or breeding season records from Pill, Easton-in-Gordano, Lodway and Ham Green (J.F.B.), Leigh Woods (P.J.C.), Nailsea and Backwell (H.H.D., S.M.T.), Clevedon (A.J.T.) and Weston-s-Mare (R.A.). Cuckoo Cuculus canorus G. and S. Reports from 39 localities (7 in G.). Juvs. seen, Bishop Sutton, Charterhouse and Cheddar Wood, July—Aug. (R.A., T.C., T.B.S., D.W. e al.). Barn Ow Tyto alba S. Single birds, Stoke Moor, Jan. 30 (T.B.S.); Woodspring Bay, Oct. 12 (T.B. per R.A.); Farmborough, Nov. 10 and on 29th (D.W.) and Sand Point, Dec. 21 (R.A.). Up to three, Chew Valley res.—56 records—Jan.—May, July and Nov.—Dec. (R.H., D.J.P., M.A.W. eé al.). LirtLtE Owt $ Athene noctua G.and§&. Reports (87) from 41 localities—1o in G@.—all months. All refer to one or two heard, except six, Yeo Estuary, Oct. 2 and four on oth (M.K.). Reported breeding, Brean Down and Goblin Combe (M.K., T.R.J.W.). Tawny Ow. Strix aluco G.and§. Reports (109) from 39 localities—g in G.—all months. Breeding records:—G. New Grounds (L.P.A.) and Redland, Bristol (C.G.); juvs. reported, Brentry, Stoke Bishop and Clifton (P.J.C., A.P.R., J.F.R.);—and S. Clevedon (A.J.T.). 268 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT SHORT-EARED Ow. Asio flammeus S. One, Wavering Down, Nov. 6 (A.M.R.). NIGHTJAR Caprimulgus europaeus S. One seen and heard, east side, Cheddar Wood, May 31 (T.B.S.) and one heard after dark, Wrington Warren, June 8 (C.G.). SwirFT | | | | ae Fig. 2. The Distribution of Oryctolagus cuniculus (Rabbit) and Mustella vison (American Mink) in the Bristol area, 1965-66. The symbols represent at least one record within the sq. km. of O. cuniculus (Mm), and M. vison (X). One of the major changes that has occurred in the mammalian fauna of the area since Tetley described it is the complete dis- appearance of Scuzrus vulgaris, the Red Squirrel, and its replacement | by Scuzrus carolinensis, the Grey Squirrel. This animal is now com- mon and widely distributed throughout Somerset and Gloucester- shire. The inconspicuous habits of the rats, mice and voles probably account for the paucity of records of many of these animals. The two separate records for Apodemus flavicollis, the Yellow-necked Mouse, one in 1965 from Rodney Stoke Woods in the Mendips and | one in 1966 from Leigh Woods, were both obtained as the result of | trapping. The single records of Muscardinus avellanarius (Dormouse) — DISTRIBUTION OF MAMMALS 289 from near Clevedon and Micromys minutus (Harvest Mouse) from near Wrington are interesting and suggest that investigation might reveal a more widespread distribution of these species. Rattus raitus, the Ship Rat, is known to be present in the Bristol and Avonmouth area (Bentley, 1964) and one record for Bristol was received in each year. Although Flatholm is outside the area of this local survey it is interesting to note that a colony of R. ratius existed there in 1962 and 1963 (J. D. R. Vernon, pers. comm.) and the species may still be present on the island. CARNIVORA No. of records 1965 1966 Vulpes vulpes (Fox) .. oe me - as os 16 31 Mustella erminea (Stoat) .. oe “e sa 7 3 11 Mustella nivalis (Weasel) .. we ee - ree 6 5 Mustella vison (American Mink) .. ts ba eee’ 16 Meles meles (Badger) xe ae - oe eae 25 No records were received for Martes martes (Pine Marten), Mustela putorius (Polecat), and Lutra lutra (Otter). Records for Vulpes vulpes (Fox), Mustella erminea (Stoat), Mustella nivalis (Weasel), and Meles meles (Badger), though not very numer- ous, suggest a wide distribution. One of the most interesting changes in the mammalian fauna of the area has been the appearance of Mustella vison, the American Mink. The first record of this species for Somerset was in 1962. Since that time it has appeared in increasing numbers in the county. Trapping was started by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1965 and the records of mink distribution shown in Fig. 2 are taken from the Ministry’s records. So far no reports of feral mink have been received from that part of Gloucestershire covered by this survey. ARTIODACTYLA No records have been received for any species of deer. Obviously the numbers of records received during 1965 and 1966 are too few for any final conclusions to be made about the numbers and distribution of mammals in the Bristol area. The scarcity or complete absence of records for some species known to be common —notably the shrews and smaller rodents—indicates that some method rather than casual sightings of live or dead animals is necessary to obtain definite information of their distribution. Systematic trapping of selected areas, examination of the pellets of E 290 BARBARA E,. JONES birds of prey, and a survey of remains in discarded bottles (Morris & Harper, 1965) would help to fill some of the gaps. It is hoped that when recording has been continuous for 5—10 years a more complete picture of the distribution of the mammals of the Bristol district will be available. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should like to thank the following who have contributed records: Miss J. E. Adam, K. T. Batty, H. Bowers, J. F. Burton, Miss I. Cameron, Miss A. R. Chapman, T. Cleeves, R. M. Cross, R. M. Curber, Miss J. D. Ethelston, D. J. Foxwell, H. R. Hammacott, H. M. H. Hickley, H. G. Hockey, D. J. Hughes, Miss L. E. Hurrell, J. 1. James, A. F. Jayne, D. E. Ladhams, Miss R. Lee, K. Lockyer, Mrs. R. Lovell, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, H. Newman, M. K. Palfreman, D. H. Peregrine, E. W. Powell, Miss J. Powell, F. H. Rawlings, Miss M. H. Rogers, 8S. W. H. Rolfe, H. Sansom, Tl’. B. Silcocks, R. G. Symes. | | REFERENCES _ Andrewes, C. H., Thompson, H. V. & Mansi W., 1959. Myxo- | matosis: present position and future prospects in Great Britain. | Nature, Lond., 184, 1179-80. | Bentley, E. W., 1964. A further loss of ground by Rattus rattus L. | in the United Kingdom during 1956-61. 7. Anim. Ecol., 38, | B7IS3 13° : Morris, P. A. & Harper, J. F., 1965. The occurrence of small | mammals in discarded bottles. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond., 145, 148-153. | Tetley, H., 1941 (for 1940). Land Mammals of the Bristol District. : Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 9, 100-142. Thompson, H. V. & Worden, A. N., 1956. The Rabbit. London, f Collins. | 291 STUDIES ON THE BIRDS OF PREY OFA E BRISTOL DISTRICT I. INTRODUCTION By G. SWEET HE Ornithological Section’s Bird of Prey Study was in- augurated in 1964 on the initiative of a small group of B.N.S. members with a special interest in the raptors. In that year, the British ‘Trust for Ornithology and the Nature Conservancy carried out a national enquiry into the breeding season status of the Kestrel, Tawny Owl and Barn Owl, using the 10 km. squares of the National Grid as a basis for recording (Prestt and Bell, 1966). The Section took part in this enquiry, and the opportunity was taken to launch a detailed local study, which would cover all seasons over a term of years, and deal with a wider range of species. A series of reports is planned to deal with specific topics. The first one, on the breeding season status of the Kestrel, follows this introduction which outlines the aims and methods of the studies. These set out to obtain information on as many aspects as possible concerning the local populations of Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Barn Owl, Tawny Owl and Little Owl, and to determine the status of the less common species. Two of the aspects which are being investigated call for particular comment. ‘The first is the size of the local populations at different seasons. Experience with other species shows that a general term such as ‘common’ can cover widely different numbers, and that subjective impressions are an inadequate basis for precise statements about status—they may indeed fail to reveal substantial changes. The task here is to provide as firm a numerical assessment as possible; the importance of this, even for the commoner birds of prey, was stressed by Prestt and Bell (1966). In this district these birds do not seem to have been seriously affected by chemical contamina- tion of the environment, as they have been elsewhere, and the pre- sent studies will therefore provide both a datum for future work here and a useful comparison with other areas. The second noteworthy aspect being studied is the hunting range of the various species, its size and its variation from day to day and season to season. ‘T’his is a subject on which, for these species, there appears to be no sufficiently precise information in the British literature except Southern’s (1954) study of the Tawny Owl. We 292 G. SWEET use the expression ‘hunting range’ in the same sense as Craighead and Craighead (1956), to describe the area over which an individual bird, or a pair, habitually hunts during a given period. It is not in general defended against incursions by other members of the same species, and so must be distinguished from ‘territory,’ defined by Noble (1939) and Nice (1943) as ‘any defended area.’ The methods of study fall into three categories: (A) The most extensive, and the least specialized, is the recording of ‘casual’ encounters, often made while travelling. The minimum useful information about such a sighting is the species, number of birds, place (specified as accurately as possible) and date. Records are kept on edge-punched cards, to ease sorting according to locality, month, year, the nature of the bird’s activity, and the pre- cision with which the locality was indicated. Any other data, such as time of day and weather details, are also recorded on the cards. Many observers contribute information in this category, especially for Kestrel and Tawny and Little Owls. (B) This category calls for more precise information. Forms have been devised to record for each observation the date, time, weather, | sex (when distinguishable), and the activity of the bird or birds; the forms are supplemented where necessary by sketch maps. Individual | birds can sometimes be distinguished by plumage characteristics _ such as state of moult or colouration, and then more detailed in- formation on behaviour can be gathered, including the interaction | of individuals with one another. Fewer observers participate at this _ level, which demands both skill and patience. A valuable feature 1s | that some localities are surveyed regularly, so that the work, | although less extensive, is more intensive than that in category A, (C) The third method consists of concentrated and prolonged | studies of particular pairs of birds or of very limited areas. The object is primarily to record in detail the hunting range and behaviour, and as this necessarily involves lengthy periods of | observation the study is still more intensive and less extensive, and fewer individuals take part in this than in (A) and (8B). Large- scale maps are the main medium for recording and primary analysis. The work in categories B and C includes the methodology of field observation. By developing suitable observing techniques, which | take into account the topography, weather, time of day and other variables, the value of the time spent in the field has been con- siderably increased. These three categories overlap to some extent. Casual sightings accompanied by details of weather etc. contribute substantially to | B; repeated visits to the same area made in category B contribute to C; and both B and C contribute data of type A, in which form the } STUDIES ON BIRDS OF PREY 293 information is most easily used for some purposes. This is exemplified in the following part, in which the main analysis depends on plottings of type A data, although the interpretation rests also on more precise studies. REFERENCES Craighead, J. J. and Craighead, F. C. 1956. Hawks, Owls and Wild- life. Stackpole, Pennsylvania. Nice, M. M. 1943. Studies in the life history of the Song Sparrow. II. Trans. Linn. Soc. N.Y., 6, 1-329. Noble, G. K. 1939. The réle of dominance in the social life of birds. Auk, 56, 263-273. Prestt, I. and Bell, A. A. 1966. An objective method of recording breeding distribution of common birds of prey in Britain. Bird Study, 13, 277-283. Southern, H. N. 1954. Tawny Owls and their prey. Ibis, 96, 384-410. II. BREEDING SEASON STATUS OF THE KESTREL By S. M. Taytor Davis (1947) gave the local status of the Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus, as “Resident. Common and widely distributed.’ Reporting on the national Small Predator Enquiry, Prestt (1965) rated it as ‘common’ in the whole S.W. peninsula, including Gloucestershire. For the change in its breeding status between 1953 and 1963 his rating was ‘slight decrease’. ‘These ratings were derived from subjective assess- ments made by a large number of experts with a detailed knowledge of their localities. As to the slight decrease, we have no precise evidence for the Bristol District, although any change which may have occurred is certainly much smaller than the decrease which has taken place over the same period in eastern England. The present breeding season status can, however, be described fairly precisely following the first three years’ work of the Bird of Prey Study. THE DATA _ The area to which the present investigation relates is shown in Fig. 1. It follows no administrative boundaries, but is the largest continuous area considered to be adequately covered by the | 294 S. M. TAYLOR La Cae LA RADSTOCK Fig. 1. Sketch map of Study Area (boundary chain-dotted). The 10 km. grid lines of part of the National Grid square ST are shown, | and the main built-up areas are shaded. observations. For convenience, it has been delimited by even- | numbered kilometre lines of the National Grid. It covers 1308 | sq. km., of which the majority lies in N. Somerset, and it includes | the built-up areas of Bristol and Bath and their suburbs. ‘These, | together with Weston-s-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead and the larger | villages, are estimated to cover 140 sq. km., leaving 1168 sq. km. | (450 sq. miles) of potential Kestrel terrain. (Although Kestrels have bred in the heart of the city of Bristol, it is not thought that any did so during the period here discussed; the location and incidence | of the fifty or so sightings over the City suggest that they were of birds resident outside the built-up area.) In deriving the above — figures, no allowance was made for the water surface of the reservoirs. | Kestrel observations of all three categories described in Part I have been used, attention being confined to the months of April to | July, and 756 reports were available, roughly equally distributed _ among the three years. The number of actual sightings is sub-_ stantially in excess of this, as an appreciable proportion of reports 4 STUDIES ON BIRDS OF PREY 295 is of birds seen regularly over a period. The presence of several breeding pairs in the vicinity of Chew Valley Lake, combined with the high concentration of birdwatchers there, produced over 200 reports. The situation was clarified by Category B studies made by D. Warden. Similar complications at another site were resolved in the same way by R. M. Curber. THE ANALYSIS The method used will be described in some detail for future reference. Each year all breeding season sightings were plotted, on a scale of 4 km. to one inch, using National Grid co-ordinates supplied by the observers or deduced from their locality descriptions; the months were distinguished by separate symbols. Most of the observations fell into more or less well-defined clusters, and these were ringed on the map. Caution was exercised in this operation— if there was doubt as to the existence of a cluster, it was not marked. A condition for the marking of a cluster was that at least three of the four months, or March and two of them, had to be represented in it. Field studies made in the localities of typical clusters showed them to be occupied by resident pairs of Kestrels. In other cases, the same deduction could be made from the details given by observers (showing, e.g., the presence of birds of both sexes, or of juvenile birds at the end of the period). Also, in eighteen cases over the period, clusters were found to be associated with known nest sites. It was therefore assumed that each cluster could be taken to represent a resident pair of birds—a conclusion strengthened by the permanence from year to year of nearly all the clusters, discussed below. At the end of the three years, a composite plot of the data was constructed, and the tentative cluster boundaries were transferred to it. By making minor adjustments it was possible in all but sixteen of the 56 cases to produce cluster boundaries containing all three years’ plottings of sightings. In fourteen of the remaining cases, two years were represented; two of these cases referred to sites where regular observations had been made in two years, but not in the third—no allowance has, however, been made for this. In the final two clusters only 1966 was represented, and the details suggested a shift from an adjoining or partly overlapping area belonging to the fourteen just discussed. Taking these sixteen cases into account, the final inference is that there were 52 clusters of observations in 1964, 48 in 1965 and 50 in 1966, in the area in question. On the assumption that each 296 Ss. M. TAYLOR represents a resident pair, the average figure of 50 corresponds to a density over the rural area of one pair per 23.4. sq. km. (9 sq. miles). ‘The somewhat lower estimate published in Proc. B.N.S., 1964, p. 43, did not allow for built-up areas and was based on less complete data. The clusters were uniformly distributed over the whole rural terrain, except for seven or eight areas, in each of which there was room for a cluster of typical size. If hypothetical clusters were inserted, and if all the 56 observed during the three years were assumed to be occupied each year, an absolute maximum of 64 pairs would be arrived at, equal to one pair every 18 sq. km. (7 sq. miles). CONCLUSIONS An analysis of 756 reports of Kestrel sightings in the months | April to July, 1964 to 1966, over an area of 1168 sq. km. of rural terrain in N. Somerset and S. Gloucestershire, leads to an estimate of about one resident pair per 23 sq. km., almost uniformly distri- buted. An upper bound to the density, very unlikely to be realized, is one pair per 18 sq. km. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgment is due to the large number of members who have contributed records regularly or casually. The special part played | by Messrs. R. M. Curber and D. Warden has already been men- | tioned. I am grateful to H. R. Hammacott and N. G. M. Taylor for | substantial assistance with fieldwork and with the sorting and ~ plotting of records, respectively. : REFERENCES Davis, H. H. 1947. A revised list of the birds of the Bristol District. | Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 27, 225-268. Prestt, I. 1965. An enquiry into the recent breeding status of some of the smaller birds of prey and crows in Britain. Bird Study, 12, 196-221. THE VEGETATION OF CATCOTT HEATH, SOMERSET By A. J. WILLIs (Department of Botany, University of Bristol) INTRODUCTION HE extensive low-lying parts of Somerset known as the Levels include a substantial tract, South Marsh, between the Mendip and Polden Hills. The area of South Marsh referred to as the Turf Moor, lying west of Glastonbury and extending to Edington, is a complex of fen and bog and includes many of the peat ‘Heaths’, which have long been known as sites of great interest for their plant and animal life. Catcott Heath is one of a sequence of these, and lies west of the large Shapwick Heath and near to the western margin of the peat, indicated approximately by the Burtle Sands, deposits which may represent a former coast-line. The vegetation of the lowland areas was first described in some detail by Moss (1907), and an account of the plant communities of Shapwick Heath and of the ecological factors operative there has been given by Hope-Simpson, Newton and Ricketts (1963). Although a number of notable plant records have been made for Catcott Heath (White, 1912), the information is scattered; in the present paper an attempt is made to give a more complete account of the plants, in particular of one enclosure (“Ten Acre’, adjoining Higher Ropes Drove, and here referred to as the Marsh Pea en- closure) which supports a rich vegetation in which several species now very rare on the peat moors occur in quantity. The area (National Grid Ref. ST /405414) is of special interest because of this assemblage of plants, some of which were known formerly to be much more widespread on the Turf Moor; it is probable that the vegetation of parts of this Heath may resemble that once common in the peat moors but which is being progressively replaced as a result of man’s activities. Very substantial changes have taken place because of peat cutting and gradual lowering of the water table in the last century, and further change is likely, particularly if drainage schemes lead to even lower water tables. It therefore seems desirable to put the present vegetation on record, especially as it is probably the best remaining example of a fen community in the Somerset Levels. 298 A. J. WILLIS Most of the field work reported in this paper was carried out in 1963 and 1964. THE CONDITIONS FOR PLANT GROWTH Catcott Heath is one of the most low-lying parts of the Turf Moor. Moss (1907) quotes its altitude as 10 feet above Ordnance Datum and White (1912, p. 616) describes part of the area as “. . . a very wet swamp of considerable extent—possibly, in part a primitive morass—and is unapproachable, even in a dry season, without a little wading.” Although the altitude of much of the area is not substan- tially different from that noted by Moss, the ground is considerably drier than formerly, no doubt as a result of the improved drainage of the Levels. Nevertheless, the water table is close to the peat sur- face (in late May 1964 about 1 foot below), and the peat above the water table can hold five or more times its dry weight of water. Such a low-lying site as Catcott Heath is liable to be flooded by water fairly rich in mineral salts, notably calctum, of which the principal source is ultimately the carboniferous limestone of Mendip. Fen conditions consequently result, with pH values near to neu- trality, and high mineral content of the peat. An indication of fairly eutrophic conditions is given by the rather high ash contents of the peat, which were found to vary from 11.5% to 17% of the dry weight. An average of three estimations made at a depth of 1-2 inches in the Marsh Pea enclosure was 12.6%, and at a depth of 3-4 inches was 14.8%. These ash contents are similar to those of most of the peat profile developed under fen conditions in the Gordano valley (Willis & Jefferies, 1959), but a little lower than reported (20%) for reedswamp and Carex fen peats by Gorham (1961). The low ash contents of Sphagnum and other bog peat (where the values are commonly 1-4%) are, however, in very strong contrast. THE VEGETATION OF THE MARSH PEA ENCLOSURE This enclosure is some 10 acres (4 ha.) in extent. As already noted, it is of special interest because of its assemblage of plants, a number of which are local and rare on the peat moors as a whole, but quite plentiful in the present site. Most of the enclosure bears a complete cover of fairly tall her- baceous plants, but clumps of Salix cinerea ssp. atrocinerea, with some Alnus glutinosa, Betula pubescens, Crataegus monogyna, Myrica gale, Rosa canina, Rubus spp. and Viburnum opulus, are also present. ‘The domin- ant plants are Molinia caerulea, Juncus subnodulosus, the Marsh Fern THE VEGETATION OF CATCOTT HEATH 299 Thelypteris palustris and the Water Horsetail Equisetum fluviatile. A number of other species comprise a substantial part of the flora, however, as indicated in Table 1, where the relative bulk of the chief components is shown. Assessments of the whole enclosure were made subjectively by the procedure described by Willis, Folkes, Hope- Simpson and Yemm (1959). Nomenclature of higher plants follows that of Clapham, Tutin and Warburg (1962), of mosses that of Warburg (1963) and of liverworts that of Paton (1965). ‘The very plentiful Funcus subnodulosus is a good indicator of eutrophic con- ditions, but some of the widespread species, such as Filipendula ulmaria, are also components of showy “‘mixed fen’’ vegetation. Table 1. The chief species of the Marsh Pea enclosure. The figures give percentage relative bulk of the major components of the vegetation, assessments being made in late May, 1964, when the vegetation was about 15 inches tall. Species not listed represented less than 1% of the total bulk of the vegetation. Bare ground I Carex lasiocarpa I Juncus subnodulosus 20 C. panicea I Molinia caerulea 20 C. riparia I Equisetum fluviatile 15 Cladium mariscus I Thelypteris palustris 15 Iris pseudacorus I Filipendula ulmaria 8 Lathyrus palustris I Thalictrum flavum 5 Lythrum salicaria I Carex rostrata 2 Peucedanum palustre 0.5 C. disticha I Three areas within the enclosure dominated by different species were studied and values of pH of the peat of these localities estima- ted by means of a glass electrode. The results are given in Table 2, from which it is seen that although there is variation from site to site in some of the most abundant plants the range of pH values is rather small. At the surface the conditions are close to neutrality but tend to be slightly more acidic at depths of 3—4 inches. The flora of the enclosure is diverse, over 100 species of flowering plants being recorded, and some 20 species of Bryophytes. ‘Table 3 shows the less frequent members of the flora; many components typical of fen communities are seen to be represented. A very small, drier, grazed pasture to the east bears flora of a somewhat different kind, comparable to the communities at some parts of the edge of the Marsh Pea enclosure where normally no grazing occurs. It may be noted that in an adjoining rhine is one of the last surviving patches of Ranunculus lingua on the moors. 300 A. J. WILLIS Table 2. The major components of the vegetation and pH values of three sites in the Marsh Pea enclosure. Site I Site 2 Cladium mariscus Molinia caerulea Lathyrus palustris Thelypteris palustris Molinia caerulea Thalictrum flavum Thelypteris palustris Juncus subnodulosus Filipendula ulmaria Carex lasiocarpa Lythrum salicaria C. disticha Carex disticha C. rostrata plat 1-2” «6.26 pH at 1-2”. 6.74 3-4” 6.26 3 AGnnORgs Site 3 Juncus subnodulosus Equisetum fluviatile pH at 1-2” 6.45 Filipendula ulmaria 3-4” 6.06 Thalictrum flavum Of special interest is the occurrence of the Great Fen Sedge, Cladium mariscus, in the enclosure. This plant was once common in the Somerset Levels, its remains being abundant in the eutrophic fen peat which developed above the Phragmites peat (which formed in the Atlantic Period some 6,000 years ago) on the clay floor of the Levels. Cladium is also plentiful in the more recent peat of early Sub- atlantic age, developed following widespread flooding as a result of the wetter climate at the end of the Sub-boreal Period (Clapham & Godwin, 1948). At that time water rich in bases flooded much of the peat moors converting the oligotrophic bogs to fens, and leading to conditions which favoured the growth of Cladium mariscus, characteristic of calcareous sites where the water is not too deep (Conway, 1938). Cladium is now very rare in Somerset, being extinct in the Gordano valley (Willis & Jefferies, 1959), and extremely restricted in the peat moor area. The plant was noted by W. Sole in his manuscript Flora of Somerset, 1782, for ““Burtle moor,”’ but was not known on the Turf Moors by Clark (1858). It was, however, rediscovered at Catcott Burtle by Corder in 1910 (White, 1912). White records that a ‘‘. . . solitary clump, four or five feet across, . . Survives,’’ but the patch has increased in size since then. Several smaller clumps now exist and occasionally flower; the time of their formation is, however, unknown. The Marsh Pea, Lathyrus palustris, plentiful and widespread in the enclosure, where it may climb cn willow to a height of 7 feet, is very THE VEGETATION OF CATCOTT HEATH 301 Table 3. Less abundant species of the Marsh Pea Angelica sylvestris Caltha palustris Calystegia sepium Cardamine pratensis Carex hostiana C. nigra Cirsium dissectum Dactylorhiza fuchsii D. incarnata D. praetermissa Epilobium hirsutum E. obscurum Eriophorum angustifolium Galium palustre G. uliginosum Holcus lanatus Hydrocotyle vulgaris Hypericum tetrapterum Hypochoeris radicata Juncus acutiflorus Lotus pedunculatus Lychnis flos-cuculi Lycopus europaeus Lysimachia nummularia L. vulgaris Mentha aquatica Alisma plantago-aquatica Hottonia palustris Hydrocharis morsus-ranae Lemna minor L. trisulca enclosure. In rhines Menyanthes trifoliata Oenanthe fistulosa Ophioglossum vulgatum Osmunda regalis Pedicularis palustris Phalaris arundinacea Poa pratensis Polygonum amphibium (terrestrial form) Potentilla anserina P. palustris Prunella vulgaris Ranunculus acris R. flammula Rhinanthus minor Rumex acetosa Scutellaria galericulata Sium latifolium Stachys palustris Stellaria palustris Taraxacum officinale T. palustre Valeriana dioica V. officinalis Vicia cracca Oenanthe aquatica Rumex hydrolapathum Sparganium erectum Typha latifolia At edge and drier pasture to east Agrostis stolonifera Anthoxanthum odoratum Briza media Carex flacca C. hirta Cerastium holosteoides Cirsium arvense C. palustre C. vulgare Dactylis glomerata Eupatorium cannabinum Festuca arundinacea Geranium dissectum G. robertianum Glyceria maxima Poa trivialis Potentilla erecta Ranunculus repens Solanum dulcamara Sonchus asper Stellaria graminea Succisa pratensis Urtica dioica 302 A. J. WILLIS rare in 8. England. Typically a plant of wet peat bogs, its distri- bution appears to be becoming increasingly restricted both on the Somerset moors and also in Britain as a whole. Drainage of suitable sites for the plant is no doubt an important factor here. Another plant, quite abundant in the Catcott Heath enclosure, but rare in S. England, is Carex lastocarpa, recently discovered in the area, but known also on Shapwick and Street Heaths. Although the rare plants mentioned above are well established components of the flora of the enclosure, together with the many other species typical of fen or “mixed fen,” a substantial number of plants known by Sole on “‘Burtle moor” appear to be extinct. Losses in the flora in this locality almost certainly include Cowbane, Cicuta virosa, and Hypericum elodes; Sole notes Parnassia palustris “in old pits on Burtle moor’? (Clark, 1858), but this record has never been confirmed. Table 4. Bryophytes of the Marsh Pea enclosure. On ground Acrocladium cordifolium Drepanocladus fluitans A. cuspidatum Eurhynchium praelongum Brachythecium rutabulum Fissidens adianthoides Bryum capillare Mnium affine agg. B. pseudotriquetrum M. punctatum Campylium stellatum Epiphytes (on willow) Cololejeunea minutissima Amblystegium serpens Frullania dilatata Hypnum cupressiforme var. Lophocolea heterophylla cupressiforme Metzgeria furcata H. cupressiforme var. filiforme Ulota crispa Of interest in the Bryophyte flora (Table 4) of Catcott Heath is the fair number of epiphytes; these thrive in the somewhat damp and unpolluted atmosphere. The extremely small liverwort Cololejeunea minutissima is known in N. Somerset only from. this locality where it occurs (bearing sporangia, androecia, and discoid gemmae) together with Frullana dilatata and other epiphytes on willow. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Catcott Heath, towards the western limit of the Somerset Turf Moor, bears vegetation developed under eutrophic, near neutral, conditions on peat which lies very close to the water table. Typical THE VEGETATION OF CATCOTT HEATH 303 fen plants are well represented in a diverse flora in which several species of rare and local distribution (Cladium mariscus, Lathyrus palustris, Carex lasiocarpa) are notably abundant. Further studies are however, needed to elucidate the ecosystem more fully, including the habitat conditions and their effects on these and other plants. Although conservation of the existing habitat is highly desirable, drainage conditions of the area may alter as a result of a lowered water table elsewhere; any such differences must lead to changes in the vegetation of which a record and analysis would be valu- able. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many of the studies reported here were undertaken jointly with the late N. Y. Sandwith to whom I am much indebted. I am very grateful to Mrs. J. Appleyard, who confirmed the naming of nearly all of the Bryophytes, and to P. J. M. Nethercott for comments on the manuscript. , REFERENCES Clapham, A. R. & Godwin, H. 1948. Studies of the Post-glacial History of British Vegetation. VIII Swamping Surfaces in Peats of the Somerset Levels. [IX Prehistoric Trackways in the Somerset Levels. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 233, 233-73. Clapham, A. R., Tutin, T. G. & Warburg, E. F. 1962. Flora of the British Isles. Gambridge: University Press. Clark, T. 1858 (for 1856-7). A Catalogue of the Rarer Plants of the Turf Moors of Somerset. Proc. Somerset. archaeol. nat. Hist. Soc. 7, 64-71. Conway, V. 1938. Studies in the autecology of Cladium mariscus R. Br. V The distribution of the species. New Phytol. 37, 312-28. Gorham, E. 1961. Water, ash, nitrogen and acidity of some bog peats and other organic soils. 7. Ecol. 49, 103-6. Hope-Simpson, J. F., Newton, S. E. & Ricketts, M. J. 1963 (for 1962). Plant Communities on Shapwick Heath, Somerset. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 30, 343-61. Moss, C. E. 1907. Geographical Distribution of Vegetation in Somerset: Bath and Bridgwater District. London: Roy. Geogr. Soc. 304 A. J. WILLIS Paton, J. A. 1965. Census Catalogue of British Hepatics (4th ed.). British Bryological Society. Warburg, E. F. 1963. Census Catalogue of British Mosses (3rd ed.). British Bryological Society. White, J. W. 1912. The Flora of Bristol. Bristol: Wright. Willis, A. J., Folkes, B. F., Hope-Simpson, J. F. & Yemm, E. W. 1959. Braunton Burrows: the dune system and its vegetation. _ J. Ecol. 47, 1-24. Willis, A. J. & Jefferies, R. L. 1959 (for 1958). The Plant Ecology of the Gordano Valley. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 29, 469-90. Vor. “MXE, PART. 1 PuatE VII anticline at Blue Anchor Point. Upper: Gypsum veins across the gentle Lower: Offset conjugate gypsum veins. facing page 305| 305 CONJUGATE GYPSUM VEINS AT Ewe ANCHOR POINT, SOMERSET By R. BrapsHAW AND D. HAMILTON (Department of Geology, University of Bristol) HE Triassic, Rhaetic and Liassic rocks at Blue Anchor Point (ST038437), described in detail by Richardson (1911), are disposed in a gentle anticline with an almost horizontal axis trending about 100°. Well developed sets of intersecting gypsum veins form a conspicuous feature of the cliff face (Pl. VII, upper) and the relation of these conjugate veins to the anticline is the subject of this paper. Gypsum is abundant in the Tea Green Marls and the overlying Sully Beds which vary in lithology from finely laminated, dark grey, sandy mudstones to massive, onion-weathering, dark green silt- stones. It occurs in three quite distinct forms: (1) nodules of pink or whitish, coarse grained alabaster, occurring essentially in the laminated mudstones and at the base of the massive beds; (2) thin veins of white, finely fibrous satin spar, more or less parallel to the bedding; (3) the conjugate veins of pink satin spar. These forms however are not found in the overlying incompetent Rhaetic shales. The general relationships of these three types are shown in Fig. Ia. N S DVD yp ee Lae Ny iy Mp . Wr, "ty, | yy | ey | | { | | HT | SS | i iy | | ant ij | | | | Mi ¥ conga x i) y | | | ‘ asereteage Cll aaa > | Drs | Pep ||| f ci 1 any , = Vl reer 7 ‘ _ (j}—e——> (a= CD, Ua rl \ ! Z CUT 77 i 5 - = fo —— Cezar Fig. 1. Relationships of the various forms of gypsum. (a) Nodular alabaster in the laminated beds, white veins parallel to the bedding and the cross cutting pink veins. (Unornamented bands are the more massive rocks); (6) and (c) Horizontal white veins cut by thin pink veins and both deformed by subsequent movements. 306 R. BRADSHAW AND D. HAMILTON A study of the textural and age relations of the gypsum and the structure of the foreshore is in progress and suggests that the nodules are the oldest and were penecontemporaneous with the deposition of the sediments, whilst the white veins, parallel to the bedding, are folded and are earlier than the pink veins which cut them (Fig. ib;'c)). The normals to fifty-two of the pink gypsum veins and of bedding planes accessible at the base of the cliff are plotted on a lower hemisphere stereographic projection (Fig. 2). The plot shows that the axis of the fold and the line of intersection of the conjugate veins are essentially parallel and horizontal, with a trend of about 100°. The gypsum veins all have sharp contacts with the enclosing rock, are individually variable in width and range up to 6 cm. across. The angles between the conjugate sets vary from 35° to 75°, the INTERSECTION OF Fig. 2. Stereographic plot of poles to conjugate veins (dots) and to bedding planes (crosses). The pecked lines represent great circles through the biggest concentra- tion of poles, and the fold and vein axes are at right angles to these. smaller angles being characteristic of the more massive beds and the larger angles of the laminated beds. Similar relationships have been noted by Bucher (1921) who stated that the angle of shearing is more acute in the more brittle beds of the sequence examined, and by De Sitter (1956) who noted a variation in angle between GYPSUM VEINS AT BLUE ANCHOR 307 15° and go° depending on the physical properties of the rocks and perhaps on the overburden. The dip of the conjugate sets varies across the anticline (Fig. 3a). On the north side one set is vertical and the other set dips about 35° to the south, whereas on the south side of the anticline the dips are symmetrical about the vertical with inclinations of about 75° N. and S. Fig. 3. Relation of conjugate gypsum veins to the anticline. (a) As seen at present with the bisector of the acute angle (direction of maximum compression) shown by pecked lines; (4) Orientation of the bisectors if the beds are returned to the horizontal. The unfolding of the asymmetrical fold and returning the beds to the horizontal (Fig. 3b) shows that the bisectors of the acute angles do not have a constant angular relationship to the bedding planes. X-ray studies indicate that the fibrous satin spar is elongated parallel to the z crystallographic axis. The orientation of the fibres with respect to the margins of the veins ranges through normal, oblique, sinusoidal and chevronned (Fig. 4). There is considerable evidence of movement within these beds. Fig. 4a-e. Orientations of gypsum fibres in pink veins. 308 R. BRADSHAW AND D. HAMILTON The pink veins are often off-set at their intersections (Pl. VII, lower; Fig. 1a), the fibres show varying degrees of deformation (Fig. 4b-e) and the rock surfaces adjacent to the veins usually have down-dip slickensides. Further indication of movement is provided by small scale, normal strike faulting parallel to the conjugate gypsum veins (Fig. 5). It is clear that the acute wedges between the veins have moved towards the line of intersection as indicated by the arrows on the figure. This is characteristic of conjugate or complementary shears and Price (1966) states that there is abundant evidence to show that during the formation of such shear planes the direction of greatest compression intersects the acute angle formed by the planes. Hence at Blue Anchor at the time of formation of the conjugate veins the direction of greatest compression was approxi- mately vertical whilst the least stress, possibly a tension, was horizontal in a N-S direction. This orientation appears to be anomalous in a fold which must have been produced initially by a stress distribution with the greatest compression normal to the fold Fig. 5. Normal strike faults near crest of anticline. axis, i.e. horizontal in the N-S direction in this case. From a similar | distribution of shear planes associated with a gentle anticline in | Kentucky, Bucher (1920) deduced that the active element in their | formation was a horizontal tension developed at the crest of the | anticline during folding and that the weight of the superincumbent | strata, giving the compressive stress, was merely passive. ‘Tension | produced by arching on the outer arc of an anticline was adduced |} by Zwart (1951, discussed by De Sitter, 1956) to account for | conjugate shear joints, later folded, in a gently folded dome at Robin | Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire. In contrast to this, at Blue Anchor, the conjugate sets are well | developed right across the anticline. Since the bisectors of the acute | angles have differing angular relations to the bedding (Fig. 3b) it is| unlikely that the joints were formed before the folding. Therefore the | GYPSUM VEINS AT BLUE ANCHOR 309 sequence would appear to be a N-S horizontal compression to produce the folding, giving rise to a local N-S tension which formed the shear joints. REFERENCES Bucher, W. H. 1920. The Mechanical Interpretation of Joints, Pt. 0. 7, Geol. 28, 707-730. Bucher, W. H. 1921. The Mechanical Interpretation of Joints, Pt. Il. 7. Geol. 29, 1-28. De Sitter, L. U. 1956. Structural Geology. New York. Price, N. J. 1966. Fault and Joint Development in Brittle and Semi- Brittle Rock. London. Richardson, L. 1911. The Rhaetic and Contiguous Deposits of West, Mid, and part of East Somerset. Q.7! geol. Soc. London, 67, 1-72. Zwart, H. J. 1951. Breuken en Diaklazen in Robin Hood’s Bay (England). Geol. en Minb. 13 (N.S.), 1-4. PLATE VIII Vou, “xox. PART TE es é a i i PIR < | ng | RIPE BS. ¥ Ee to GS 4 if ee ee - SS. ra Stee eee ~ — e . bs 4 POO OE yas % “yy I S al i d, d and protracte d in the manuscript. 9 ’s map Somersetshire survey of the localities mentione Reduced almost 3 times from the original. eastern part of Strachey many North- 1736, showing facing page 311] OF STONES, FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF JOHN STRACHEY’S PROPOSED SOMERSETSHIRE ILLUSTRATED By B. D. WEBBy EARLY two hundred and fifty years ago John Strachey published three small papers on the strata in coalfields of Great Britain. The first two, A curious Description of the Strata observ’d in the Coal-Mines of Mendip in Somersetshire (1719) and An Account of the Strata in Coal-Mines, &c. (1725) appeared in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the third, as a pamphlet entitled Observations on the Different Strata of Earths, and Minerals. More particularly as are found in the Coal-Mines of Great Britain (1727). ‘This last work incorporated the results of the earlier papers, and included many additional observations. ‘The papers contained the first illustrated cross-sections of a fault and an angular unconformity, the sections being accurately located, orientated and of a known length. Eyles (1955, p. 131) has observed that these publications “show him to have been one of the earliest English geologists who was an observer and recorder of geological facts, rather than a theorist. He made what were, for the time, outstanding contribu- tions to stratigraphical geology. .. .”’ John Strachey, F.R.S., the son of John and Jane Strachey, was born at Sutton Court in the parish of Chew Magna in 1671. Little is known of his youth. At the age of three he inherited the estate and, at sixteen, as Edward Clarke wrote to John Locke, the philosopher and family friend, he had “grown tall and very like his father in person and humour” (Rand, 1927, p. 228). He was attend- ing Trinity College in Oxford, but did not remain there long. On his twenty-first birthday he married Elizabeth, daughter of William Elletson of Alverstoke, Hampshire, who bore him eighteen children. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1719. From his widespread travels through Great Britain in pursuit of his anti- quarian interests, he became very familiar with the scattered repositories of historical records. He has been referred to as “‘a student of a very painstaking, as well a very dry, character”? by Sir 312 B. D. WEBBY Edward Strachey (1899, p. 7). His wife Elizabeth died in Edinburgh in 1722 and, two years later, he married Christina, daughter of Richard Stavely of London, who bore him a son. In later years he continued to follow his antiquarian interests instead of attending to the business of running the estate and it consequently became increasingly burdened with debt. Most of these later years were spent in Edinburgh and travelling about Great Britain. He died at Greenwich in 1743. In addition to his geological writings, Strachey published An Alphabetical List of the Religious Houses in Somersetshire (1731), a Map of Somersetshire (1736) and An Index to the Records, with Directions to the Several Places Where They Are to Be Found (1739). He left several unpublished manuscripts including corrective notes for Dugdale’s Monasticon (Bodleian Library, Oxford), letters addressed to John Pointer on the Roman camps in Somersetshire (British Museum), and part of Somersetshire Illustrated; in A Typographical Description and a Natural and Geographical History of that County (Somerset Record Office, Taunton). The printed Proposals of this latter work is dated July 24, 1736 (Sir Edward Strachey, 1869, p. 94), but he never managed to see it into print, probably owing to his declining years and lack of funds. A 37-page fullscap manuscript, DD/SH 116, housed in the Somerset Record Office, proves to be part of the natural history section for the proposed Somersetshire Illustrated. It is a fair copy probably made by a scribe, and deals with the topics coal, stones, © metals, plants, animals, fish and “‘Humane Creatures.’’ In the Proposals Strachey observed that the natural history section followed | ‘““mostly the Method... of Dr. Plott.’ The first part of the manu- script consists of a slightly revised version of the Observations on the | Different Strata of Earths, and Minerals (1727). The most important difference is the addition of descriptions of the coal mines in Flint- | shire. The second part of the manuscript, from pages 16 to 27, is — the section on stones and metals, and forms the basis of the present | paper. | Strachey did not merely follow Robert Plot’s method of presenta- tion; he also adopted some of his ideas. Certain passages in the | manuscript dealing with the formation of stones and fossils are taken | directly from Plot’s Natural History of Oxfordshire (1677) and Natural | Eistory of Staffordshire (1686). Plot viewed stones as chiefly formed by petrifaction out of salts with a mixture of earth and sometimes sulphur, and fossils as Lapides sui generis, produced by a “‘plastic virtue”’ in the earth or quarries acting on certain salts. | The manuscript records numerous observations of different stones | in Somerset and elsewhere, and a most important passage on the | OF STONES, ETC. 313 differences between coal seams and veins of lead. Unfortunately Strachey confused the topographical and stratigraphical relation- ships between coal (Coal Measures) and lead (in the Lower Palaeozoic and Carboniferous Limestone hills), viz., “‘this Coal Country ... is likewise traversed and intercepted by such Lead Hills in several Places, and these always lying higher than the Coal.” (Observations, 1727, p. 6). Yet, in this manuscript, he made what is a most significant and undoubtedly a correct observation on the difference in appearance of coal seams and lead veins. A seam of coal may be followed ‘‘on a Levell a long way,”’ he observed, “but... you are soon thro’ its perpendicular thickness.’? On the other hand, ‘Lead branches itself among the Rocks so that it cannot be followed on a drift or level as Coal nor do you ever know the perpendicular depth.’’ It is “‘often pinched Up between the Rocks to the thickness of half a Crown and then perhaps opens Again 12 or 18 Inches more or less.” The manuscript can be dated after 1731 since it incorporates material published in the Odservations of 1727 and refers to Mr. Allen’s wagon-way at Prior Park, which was built about 1731. It is a fair copy and was probably ready for publication at the time of the appearance of the Proposals in 1736. Every effort has been made in editing the manuscript to retain the original style and content of Strachey’s work, and corrections and other modifications have been kept to the bare minimum. However, it has been necessary to punctuate a little, at least to render the text easily readable, and to correct some of the mcre obvious mistakes in spelling. For example, Vertiol, foreing and Pibles have been silently corrected to Vitriol, foreign and Pebbles, respectively. Capitals have been added regularly at the beginning of sentences. A few words have been added to the text and are enclosed in square brackets, and a few words have been omitted where they are obviously redundant. The north-eastern part of Strachey’s map of Somersetshire is reproduced (Plate VIII), showing many of the localities mentioned in the manuscript and including the occurrences of ‘‘Cole works,”’ ““Mineryes,” and lead and Lapis Calaminaris mines. In some cases a locality on the map is spelt differently in the manuscript. It remains to thank Lord Strachie of Sutton Court for permission to consult the Strachey papers at the Somerset Record Office, Taunton; Mr. I. P. Collis and Mr. D. M. M. Shorrocks of this office for help in securing a photocopy of the map, checking the typescript against the original manuscript and offering numerous useful suggestions; and my wife for reading the text and advising on editorial matters. 314 B. D. WEBBY OF STONES Ist. of Such as serve to Supply the Necessitys of Mankind. 2. of Such as are for Ornament and Delight whether Trans- parent or Opake. 3. of formed Stones. of Mettallick Stones and Mettals which are Extracted from Stones. It is a very probiable Opinion that Stones are Coagulations of Salts and Earths or Made by the Meetings of Solutions of Acid & Alchalixite Salts which Compound Transparent Opake and Semi- opake Stones according as they are more or less mixt with Sulphurs and Earth of different finesses & purifications. For wee know of nothing in Nature that Unite as those 2 doe. As the offa made out of the Spirits of Wine and Urine rectyfied and another of Vitriol and Salt by a Solution of Saturn &c.1 And if Anyone doubt whither Stones and petrifications arise from Salts let him but ask the Chymists whither they find not all indurated bodys such as Stones, Bones, Shels, &c., most highly Sated with a Saline principle & some Mixture of Earth and Sulphur which give as I said the Opacity of Transparency.” Those which with frost or Rain Slake like lime, are freest from Sulphur and Consequently will Improve lands, as Chalk, &c. | Thus Transparent stones seem to be made of pure Solutions of © such like Salts and Transparent Sulphurs, purified by filtrations thro’ the pores of the Earth. Thus a Tartarious Salt meeting with a pure Solution of Sal Geminae and a white Sulphur or Bitumen may possibly make a Diamond. The same Alcalious Salt with Native Cinnaber may Make a Ruby; with blew Vitriol a Saphir, with green Vitriol an Emerald, with Orpiment a Topaz, and so in like Manner with others. ® But because all Stones may in some sence be termed Petrifications* — let me speake something more of petryfied waters for in the Chapter — of waters I treated of such only as were incrustations and barely | superficiall. Now a Word of such where the Very bodys of the | waters are turned into stone as it drops from the Rocks; a most | Notable Instance whereof we have in the Cavern at Wookey?® in this | County where the passages in some places were they not purposely | broke down would soon be obstructed by these Lapides Stillatitii® — which continually, as the Drops fall from the Roof Conglutinate | and become a firm stone. Here may also be observed the Degrees _ of Operation: The botton or Oldest part being a hard and Solid — opake stone and so lessens both in Opacity and hardness, till the top | OF STONES, ETC. 315 which is Newly fallen is little more then the Consistency of a jelly and as the Water Transparent. In the same manner several stones hang like Iceakles from the Roof, the Connicall or lower part newly formed being Soft and Transparent, the Upper part which is older is Opake, and as hard as the Rock itself.’ It will likewise in a fortnights time Encrustate a Tobacco pipe or any substance thrown into it, but whither it in time will Change the substance I have not maid the Experiment. Next for such petrifactions as are made by water per minimi® and the body of wood or any thing else wholy transformed into stone. The reason of their Difference from Incrustations may probably be that some of these petrifying particles contained in the water may be more then others by reason of which Sublelty and fineness. ‘They are carried with the waters into the Closest ‘Texture whereas the others by reason of their Grossness Adhere only to the Superficies as we have said in the treating of Waters. Limestone. There is great quantity in almost all parts of this County the Marsh excepted. The most in repute is Cheddar and Gurnyslade by Binegar, at Elm and Vales,?® of all which they send for the best work to very remote parts. They burn it altogether in round kilns built about 12 feet in hight, & Closing Connicall in their bottom, where they draw forth the lime at an Eye or two. They burn it with pit Coal, laying that with the stone stratum super Stratum to the top. They make lime also of blew & white lyas, of Marble & in some places of freestone. Flynts. Of Flynts the County affords few or none, tho’ many stones will strike fire and for that reason are Called Pyrites by the Natural- lists. Of Stone Used by the Masons for building and walling there is an Excellent Blew lias Dug in the Cornfeilds near Somerton and all there abouts which if the Outside be hewn off is within Very hard, and receives a good polish and casts a blewish Colour, of which Stone the Magnificent but abortive building of the late Lord Stowell is Erected, all the front polished. ‘The Banwell and Shepton!® Lias one being dark blew the other white mixt in squares for a flore at Mr. Jones at langford has deceived even Curious Eyes who have taken it for Blue and white Marble. The lias both white and blew is plenty in most parts of the Country; both sorts is also often burnt for lime. Of the blew lias there are very good Quaries all along on the hills between Clutton, Henton, &c: which they there Call Cornish stone,!! which is Very good being much of the same thickness for all sorts of sizable work, and Under it lyes a thick stone but not so good for walling because it Drinks Water. However both Make a good lime and is for that purpose much Used. 316 B. D. WEBBY The White lias is in perfection about Timsborow so that of it are made flour pots &c: and for all Uses of the stone Cutter, very white and beautifull. For paving and tyling there is no Stone comes near that of Brisleton which the Quarry Men call pennant!? so smooth natuarly that it Needs little or no hewing, easy to be wrought and with all very durable and tho’ very Smooth not Slipery, and Much of it is transported as far as the Western Islands for tombstones, it rising so large that it is Usuall to have a Stone 8 or g feet long and 3 sometimes 4 feet over. Another property it has that it Never sweets, a great Commendation to Neat Huswives. Of which also they Make Styles which for safety of Cattels legs in case they leap as well as for Durableness is much Commended. Of the same sort of stone are most of the tiled Houses thereabouts Covered. Like this but more of an Iron stone is dugg which is also a large and thin tho something more Stubborn to Work about Clutton and Curles!® not far from Chew!* and some other places. The only fault for tyling is that the Weight requires strong timbers then Modern builders Usually allow. It is a Pyrites and will strike fire. But for tyle stone the best, lightest and most durable is Dugg about Phillips Norton and so towards frome. Tis a whitish grey, and the longer in the Air [the better] it grows. It seems to be the top or leading of freestone. There is also a place near Clutton Mendip+® a good stone for pave- ments very white and Harder then freestone. Much such another stone is dug at Chiply!® in the grounds of Edward Clark Esq., and this lyes in a bed of Red Earth out of which it is Doubtless generated and hardned and whitened by some Sub- terraneal heat or Cold, for it is Evident that in whitening as well as hardning that both or either of those qualitys will perform the Operation. Thus we see the Calx of all stones is white, the Cinders of Coal and Ashes and all things that have been burnt are whitened (so the Cold also turns the hares and foxes in some Countrys white), but to Clear all in one of these blocks of Stone when working for a pillar to be set at the front of the house, with in the Solid Stone was found a Clott of the same Earth or Clay not at all petrified and the Circumambient stone plainly Enough Discovered to any ones sight all the Degrees of Operation both as to hardning and whitening. In some of the Estate belonging to the Same Gentleman is also Dugg a very good sort of black Marble of which he has several hearth paces and Chimney peaces in his Neat New built house there. For Heaths, Ovens and backs of Chimneys there is a peculiar sort dug in the Woodlands so soft as its first Coming to land that they | work into backs with Mouldings but afterwards with fire grows still _ harder and is durable to the end of time. | There is good freestone Dugg at severall places as at Dundry, OF STONES, ETC. 317 Oddown and round about bath, and at Dultin!? which is to much Inland and Hamon Hill,1® but that at Dundry is found to Decay with out Doores wherefore that about bath which is both whiter and harder is in better Esteem for Pillars, gates, Statues &c: which are Exposed to the wheather, ?!°® the river being now made Navigable [to| Bristoll and other places, being better supplyed hence then from Dundry. The great work carried on at Comb?° by Mr. Allen and the waggan way in the Manner of those at Newcastle are the worthe Notice of the Curious of which sea the Description in Comb and Widcomb. But of all stones for beauty I know none equally that Dug at Dracat?! not far from Cheddar and at Bobster?? in hardness equal- ling and in beauty surpassing the foreign Marble. When Dug it is very rugged, Uneven and ill Coloured like a Comon stone full of branches, knobs, Cockles and Pebbles but when polished is so gobbonated with all variety of beautifull Colours that at a Small Distance any Stranger would take it for a Curious peice of Inlaid work, but the Country it lies in being so ill for portage and the Difficulty of Charge of polishing it and the few Gentry in that part of the Country is the reason I Suppose why no more Used. It riseth in great breadth fitt for Any Use Commonly 8 or 7 feet long and a Yard over. In the Church of Wedmore are two tombstones of it, that of the Hodges tho’ now scratch and battered it shews its Goodness. In the Mansion House by is also a very large Mantle peice of it well polished and in some other places, and I think Deserves to be Aplied to all Uses for which we go so far to fetch foreign Marble not Equal to this so Ornomentall, tho homebred porphery. At Bobster alsc they Dig the Same Sort of Stone of which there is a Very large table at My lord Weymouth at Longleet? but the fault found in this sort of Stone is that it will not take so high a polish as some other Marbles. Neither are we altogather destitute of precious Stones. In the Rock Opposite to Saint Vincents in long Aston some few Rubies have been found, Diamonds Equal in lusture [to] the Oriental. Only in hardness they fall short and its Remarkable that on this Side [of] the River™4 they are found Hexagonal in Clusters in flynts of a round fine Reddish Colour and hollow within. On the other Side Mostly Single but Angularaly. These all go Under the Name of Bristol Stones and were it Not for the Commoness would have greater Esteem.”> Agats and Chrvstalls are Many times found among the Rocks of Sparr in Mendip Hills and indeed seem to be Only Sparr improved. | Of Formed Stones—Of the Bronticae Ombricae?® or Bellamites 2’ 318 B. D. WEBBY Transparent Mr. Beaumont relates to have found Severall in the Roads of this Country, these he Immageines to be formed of a Coagulations of Dews falling on Nitrous Streams.28 They — are Said to be good for Ocular Distempers in horses.?® Sununitates or Stone fig: Penis absq Preputio?° are said to have been found by Beaumont in Mendip Hills. Trochites?1 or Stones resembling wheels and Entroychites®? or wheels within wheeles have been found by the same Author. In a lane between Chewton and Mendip I saw a large Stone in it, the fig: of an Astorite or Starr. ‘Tis Said some of these Asterites will move in Vinaga /Plott /.33 In an Old wall at Wilmerton?4 I saw placed a Stone which may be either Ranked with the Stellites or Ophomorphiles or ‘Trochyles or Astroites. 3° But above all the formed Stones of Ophomorphiles or Cornua Ammonis?® Stones Resembling Snayles or rather Snakes do chiefly abound and that Not Only about Keynsha where Camden takes Notice of that, but about Corston, Newton St. loe, ‘’'wiverton?’ to Bath in such plenty that Scarce a Stone in the high way but is of that Sort either more or less visiable from an Inch to a Yard, some- times a father Diameter. How stones of that bigness and in such plenty shoold be formed in Nautilar Shells as the Naturalists (who rather talk Noncence then say nothing) would make Us beleive is yet a Mystery. They are always found without a head, the tayle turned Inward and in Basso releivo or Inbossed work.?°® Plotts Opinion is that they are formed by two Salts shoothing Different ways like as a whirlepole making a Verticall figure, or by Some peculiar yet Unknown Salt that has this property,?* but in all the digging there is No such Salt found. The Earth next Under these Stones which [are] of the lias kind and Makes good lime, is a fryable Yellowish Malm or loom and that succeeded by red. Now as to the formation of all Stones the Naturalists say the principal Ingredients are Salts, and if so, much more [in] formed stones, it being a perogative of the Saline principal to give bodys their figures as well as Solidity and duration, no other principall shoothing naturally into figures each of its one kind but salts. So Nitre shoots into pyramids, Sea salt into Cakes, Allom into Octa ones, Sall Armoniack into Hexa drams and other mixt Salts into mixt figures. Of these Inclination of Salts there is a further Evidence in the Anatomy of Animals particularly the Volatile Salts of Harts- horn which in the head of the Cucurbitt Naturally branches into figures of the horn, and so the Salt of Vipers shoots into Snakes like OF STONES, ETC. 319 that Animall.4° What sort of Solts each sort of Stone is formed of is hard to Determine. Dr. Plott thinketh the Ophomorphiles are formed by 2 salts shooting Different ways, which like a whirlpole meet and make a Helicall figum. Lime Stone, Lyas white and blew [is found at] Pimbery, 4! Shepton, Bannet;*?2 freestone as at Bath, Dundry, Hail Hill.4* Redstone in all the Red Soyl, freestone at Nunny; Marble at Dracal,** Bobster. Called Pennant tyling and paving as Brisleton, Curley,4+° Naylsy, Clutton. Flynts none in these parts; Merchasites in the Coal and Marle pits. Grindstone, Whetstones, Mill Stones, tuck stones, Hones I know none. Sand for Glass is Made out of the red Stone... 4° Its Observiable that where lead Mines are, there are Caverns Near them, and in these Caverns, the Sparrs hang like Iceakles, from the roof, whence the Water Drops. At Wokey hole there are several such which Dropping from a Sugar loaf at the bottom and meet the others in time which Congeal from the Top. In these the progress of the Petrafaction is Very visible, the Extremities either ways being Very Soft and Almost or Sometimes quite liquid and those what have been longest still harder Congealed. In Cheder Cleves, Under Dolebery Camp,*? which some will have to be Artificiall, tis odd that in the Sand of this last hole which lyes at the bottom there are prints of the feet of foxes and dear tho’ there have been none of the last, for this last Centure. In lamb hill above Harptree is a Cavern*® where you descend 10 fathom; some will also have it to have been a lead Mine now Exhausted. The Hill About it did formerly abound in Oar. In Elm is a Cavern Called poking hole, not a passage as some have Imagined to the Opposite fortification of Tedbury?® for that would have been an immense labour to have Undermined the River, which is at least 30 fathom [deeper?] than the Rocks on either Side but Made [by] hands either for time stone of which it is Composed or on search after lead or Coal, the last being found but a Mile from it. Lapis Calaminaris is Medicinally Used for Clearing the Sight but in Greatest quantitys for Making of brass. [It] was first Discovered ‘in Mendip hills in the beginning of Qu: Elisabeth Reigne at the \sametime that Cooper was Rediscovered in Cumberland. °*° It’s Dug chiefly about Shipham and mostly in pits. That Stone is very hard including a Natural Brimstone. It’s Yellow or sometimes orange Colour with Sparr between the Cavities. They first Buddle or wash the Oar, as Lead or Tinn, than Calcine it by making a large round Arear like a Charcoal heath, of faggots outward and Charcoal within a Yard from the ground. Then a Stratum of the largest Stone of the Calaminaris, and then Smaller till all is laid and then fire it, 320 B. D. WEBBY thus takes the Sulpur from it. After this they Beat it to pieces. This was the Method as Dr Brown tells you was Used in Germany.°*! Here they prefer a Kiln to an Open Hearth®?—The same Author for Making brass says they take Calcined Calams 100£, Copper 28£ and the Dross of both but first put into large Crucibles some pieces of brass and the Dross and then the Copper and let Stand 12 houres, after which they put Eight Crucibles full into one and let what will run over, the best always Sinking to the bottom, and then Casting it into a Stone frame bordered with Iron run it into plates®>3—This Mixture of Lapis Calaminaris makes brass Not only the harder but Cheaper Mettall then Copper. Dr. Brown tells us Lapis Calaminaris is found within 2 Leagues of Aix but in the Territories of limburg and wrought this 300 years (lothorps volum 2, p. 554 & 555).°4 OF METTALLS Of these we Enjoy an Equal quantity with most,and more than any other Countyes, for Silver in Considerable quantitys is found to be conteyned in the lead. But it not Answering the loss of the lead is not generally worth the Extracting, But for lead the profit is more Considerable. Mendip Hills have here to fore been much more famous than they are at present; Broadwell Down afford good plenty. The Veins are Many times discovered by an Oyly smell especially in a foggy Morning. °° The Oar is often found in a Pyramidal form and the rust which lyes over the veines of lead shoots Pyramidally like the Sparr and oftentimes Pentagonall or Hexagonall. The Grovers have their peculiar terms of Art which in Most places are nearly the same, & by Mr. fuller in Derbyshire are given, as in the following Rhimes .. . °® The lead of Mendip and of this County | is not Accompted altogather so soft and Plyant as that of Darbyshire © and therefore not so good for sheeting, but fittest for Bullet and Shott tho’ for the former it serves also Indifferent well.*” | The Bishops of Wells have had great benefitt of it, Especially Bishop Still who is said to have the harvest, Bp. Montague the | Gleaning and Bp. Lake the Stubble. °° Its free for Any English Man to work on these Hills Subject however to Certain laws among themselves which were anciently Settled by Chief Just. Chock,?? | among which that which they Call burning the Hill is Very Remark- | able. The person found guilty of Stealing any oar or Working tools is shutt up in one of their Hutts made of Turf, in which they put the Oar. This is Encompasse with fern furz, &c: and when it is on fire, f i i OF STONES, ETC. 321 The Criminal who has his hands and feet at liberty is allowed if he can to work himself a passage through the hut to make his Escape but must Never after work there or have anything to do about the Piill.¢° As Coal Spreads like a blankett in a Continual Spirall Coat, Lead branches itself among the Rocks so that it cannot be followed on a drift or level as Coal nor do you ever know the perpendicular depth, whereas you soon cut thro’ the Coal some Seams being only 10 Inches others as Many feet—Lead is often pinched Up between the Rocks to the thickness of half a Crown and then perhaps opens Again 12 or 18 Inches more or less. ‘The Strata above it are Ist Ruble Stone then Slate or Slag, a Shattering blewish Stone hard in digging but Crumbles and Shatters in the Air, this is sometimes 20 Yards Deep. Lead is Never found in this Slagg but if you find a lime Stone Under it it’s reckoned a very good Sign that Lead is at hand. *®} Many Miners in flyntshire affirm that the general Dip of Lead there is to the 12 o’Clock, and the Coal to the Eleven o’Clock Sun &2— Lead Oar is mixt in Sparr and the Sparr is Inclosed in Rocks of lime Stone but seldom a Solid Rock over.*? The Earth between these Rocks is allways of a Yellowish Colour. Sparr is also the bed or Seat of Christalls and Bristol Diamonds are found in such Veins of Sparr Inclosed in limestones Rocks. Se wee are told the Diamond Mines of Quotara in East India are in a yellowish Earth full of Small pibbles like our gravel pits. Those of Malabar lye in More Reddish or rather Orange Colour Earth about 4 fathom Deep, *®* to which the Surface of the Earth on St. Vincents Rock by Bristol is Orange Colour but gradually Changes to yellow. Lead differs from Coal in this: When you meat with a Seam of Coal you may follow it on a Levell a long way but as above you are soon thro’ its perpendicular thickness but on the Contrary a Branch _or Vein of Lead is not long on a levell. Tis wrought either from the rise to the dip or E Contra & as deep as Water or Other Obstacles will permitt. ® At Minera® in Denbighshire are Vast Old Works said to have _ been wrought by the Antient Romans who with Vast labour threw _ open their levels and Addits to the Day. The Chiefest Oar both for _ Quantity and goodness yet there is by Ridding Up the Old Man as | they Call it, that is Clearing up those old levells and working Under _ them. On the other Side also from flynt South after you have Crossed the River Allayn®’ the Red Soyl changeth to Orange Colour and to a more Yellow Earth where on Mould Mountain®® are several | works particularly Mr. Robinson at Cavan Baugham which runs _E & W. The Veins at Cavan Vaughan Dip west yet ... Pot hole®® | is in Denbyshire. € we | | | 322 B. D. WEBBY There were formerly four lords of Mendip in the Mortimer Rose (so Called from his being Baliff of the Forrest in the time of Edward the third). First the lord of Bath, 24 the Abbot of Glaston, 3% Lord Bonvile, 4* lord of Richmond who Signed these laws Mentioned before. So Leland?° says there were 4 lords, 1*the King whose Right was granted in fee Farm to the Bishop of Bath, 24 the Abbot of Glaston, 34 Bonvile and now the Marques of Dorset, 4» Gourney and now Cara- doc alias Newton, which had all their Mineries, the 1' Near Pridye,71 the 24 Near Charter House wherefore some have Affirmed that the Abbot of Charter House not Glaston was the 2° lord and indeed since the Reformation the Lord of Charter House and lately Mr. Gore have been one of the Lords Royall,7? the 34 is Chewton Mineries and the 4" Harptree Mineries.7* Copper and Lead are very Regular and run almost perpendicular and are seldom lost when the Main Vein is found but grows richer and wider as they grow Deeper. Copper Mines are first met with about Comb Sydenham’* in Somersetshire and in several places in Devon and Cornwall Mixed with the Tinn— In Cumberland at Alston More, is a Copper More. At Keswick in Cumberland is both Copper and Lead Mixt and so in Scotland. At Disert and Talergoth?® have been found Copper Oar but in no gerat Quantity. At Keswick S'. John Pettis imployed 400 Men in one Copper Mine. At St. Carbery Prices Mines at Eskirhir?® in Cardiganshire a Vein of Green Copper Oar 4 feet wide yields 3 Turn of Copper from 20 tun of Oar and lyes between Veins of Lead. The Drift or level of it is East and west. There is a Cross Vein of Brown Copper Oars 5 feet wide yielding 5 turn out of 20 or part. The first is found at 3 Yards, the last at 15 Yards Deep. NOTES 1This passage is taken, in condensed form, from Plot’s Natural History of Staffordshire, 1686, p. 150. The original version is as follows: “‘It has been an opinion that challenges no great seniority, that Stones are coagulations of Salts and earths, | which if finely mixt, sublim’d and percolated by the means of heat, and after condensed by cold, make a transparent stone; and if but grosly mixt with little or no percolation, an opake one; wherein though I cannot deny but there may be some- what of truth, yet I think it will be more particular, and more home to the business, if we further add, that this coagulum or petrification is rather made upon the meeting of the solutions of acid and Alcalizat salts; and that these doe compound transparent, semiopake, and opake stones, according as they are more or less mixt with sulphurs, and earths, of different finenesses and purifications. OF STONES, ETC. 323 And this I take to be very probable, because we know of no things in nature that unite so strictly as these two doe, makeing a coagulum in bodies that at first sight seem very unlikely to performe any such matter; witness the offa alba of Helmont, a thick gross substance, far from the nature of a liquid, made out of the spirits of wine and urin highly rectify’d; and another such like Offa made of the spirits of Vitriol and Salt, by a solution of Saturne made with distill’d Vinegar . . .” 2 This sentence is taken directly from Plot’s Natural History of Oxfordshire (1677, pp: 32-3), 2nd Edn., 1705, p. 33: “If any body doubt whether Stones, and so Petrifactions, arise from Salts, let him but consult the Chymists, and ask, whether they find not all indurated Bodies, such as Stones, Bones, Shells, and the like, most highly sated with the saline Principle? Some Mixture of Earth and Sulphur ’tis true there is in them, which give the Opacity that most Stones have; from which, according as they are more or less free, they have proportionable Transparency...” 8 The paragraph comes entirely from Plot’s Natural History of Staffordshire, 1686, pp. 150-1: “Thus transparent stones having little or nothing of those terrestrieties the opake ones have; seem to be made of pure solutions of such like salts, and transparent Sulphurs, or Ambers, all purifyed by filtrations through the closest colanders, and then fixt upon meeting. Thus a calcarious or Tartarious Salt meeting with a pure solution of Sal gemmae, and white-ambrine Sulphur or bitumen, ’tis like produces an Adamant or Diamond. The same alcali’s meeting with a pure solution of native Cinnaber make a Ruby, with a solution of blew vitriol (for there is a natural blew Vitriol as well as an artificial) a Saphir, with solution of green vitriol a Smaragd or Emrauld, with solution of Orpiment a Topaz, and so for stones of all other inter- mediate colours, or mixt of these in proportion as they partake more or less of one or the other.” “ They are classified by Plot as (i) those formed from a body of water turning to stone (e.g., stalactites), (ii) incrustations of a superficial nature, and (iii) petri- factions per minima (or totum per totum), which result from a fine steam pervading the entire structure of the body. Natural History of Oxfordshire (1677, pp. 33, 35), 2nd Edn., 1705, pp. 34, 36. 5 “Ochie-hole”’ is mentioned in Camden’s Britannia (English edn., 1637, p. 230), and described by Beaumont in the Philosophical Collections of the Royal Society, 1681, pp. 2-3. 6 Stalactites. ? Gibson observed in additions to a later edition of Camden’s Britannia, 1722, p. 83, that in Wookey hole “‘the droppings of water encrease the rock, and are turn’d into stone; in some places hanging like icicles.’’ The view accords with Plot’s general statement of the “‘very Body of Water being formed into Stone as it drops from the Rocks” (Natural History of Oxfordshire, 1705, p. 34), but differs from the interpretation of Woodward, that water collects “‘Sparry Particles’’ in the strata and, in dropping into the cave, leaves the particles to incrust and form stalactites. Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth (1695), 3rd Edn., 1723, pp. 211-2. Dale expressed a similar Woodwardian view (Phil. Trans., 1704, P- 1572). 8 Plot’s 3rd class of petrification. See note 4. ® Vallis, near Frome. 10 Shepton Mallet. 11 Arkell and Tompkeieff note that “Cornish” is a common corruption of “cornice,” a name applied to a projecting ledge left during mining or to a parti- cular mined seam. (English Rock Terms, 1953, p. 30). Differs from “‘Cornish-Stones”’ mentioned by Woodward which are quartz crystals (Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth, 1723, p. 198). See also note 25. 12 First mentioned by Strachey in Phil. Trans., 1719, p. 972. 13 Curl’s, 14 miles south-east of Chew Magna. At both Clutton and Curl’s, sandstones of the Pennant Series crop out (see 1” Geol. Survey Map, Bristol District, 1962). 324 B. D. WEBBY 14 Chew Magna. 15 Clutton has been used in place of Chuton (=Chewton). 16 Between Milverton and,Wellington. 17 Doulting, east of Shepton Mallet. 18 Hamdon Hill, 5 miles west of Yeovil. 19 “to the wheather” was originally misplaced at the end of this sentence. 20 About 1731 Ralph Allen Esq., built a wagon-way with a 3-ft. g-in. gauge to transport Bath stone from his quarries on Combe Down to the River Avon. The loaded wagons descended by their own gravity some 450 ft. in a distance of about 14 miles (Lee, 1943). As Strachey rightly observed, the wagon-way was similar to ones at Newcastle, where they were used mainly for transporting coal from the pits. Allen was also responsible for the building of Prior Park, just below the summit of Combe Down, during this period. Collinson observes that it was started 50 years ago and finished in 1743 (The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset, 1791, Tage 7O) = 21 Draycott, south-east of Cheddar. 22 Vobster, between Coleford and Mells. 23 Longleat House, 5 miles south-east of Frome (in Wilts.) 24 Presumably on the south-west or Somerset side. 25 Rock crystal, formerly known as Bristol Stones or Bristol Diamonds. Camden observed that the high rocks on the east side of the Avon are “call’d S. Vincent’s, and is so stock’d with Diamonds, that one may gather whole bushels of them... The other rock on the western bank is likewise full of Diamonds, which by a wonder- ful contrivance of nature are contain’d in hollow reddish flints (for the ground here is red) .. .”” (Britannia, 1722, p. 96). Owen (1754) gives a long account of the crystals. Merret (1678) noted that they are the same as Cornish Diamonds and “seem ... to be but a finer, purer, and harder sort of Sparr.” 26 Echinoids. 27 Belemnites. 28 Beaumont gives a description of the objects but does not name them; see Phil. Trans., 1676, p. 735- 29 Taken from Plot’s Oxfordshire, 1705, p. 96. 30 Called lapides figura penis absque praeputio by Lachmund (in Plot’s Staffordshire, 1686, p. 192). 31 Single, disarticulated crinoid columnals. 32 Articulated crinoid stem columnals, also referred to as St. Cuthbert’s Beads (Lister, 1674, Lhwyd, Phil. Trans., 1712, Pp. 467). 33 Plot observes that the stars “if but steeped a Night in Vinegar, or other sharp Liquor, may be divided the next Morning with Safety and Ease” (Oxfordshie, 1677, p. 86; 2nd Edn., 1705, p. 87). Beaumont mentions that ‘“The Stones... generally move in Vinegar, the juyce of Lemmons, &c.” (Phil. Trans., 1676, p. 731). 34 Probably Wilmington, south-west of Bath, or Kilmersdon, south of Radstock. 35 It is not clear what type of fossil Strachey observed here. “‘Stellites’? may be some star-shaped structure, ““Ophomorphiles” is an ammonite, ‘“Trochytes,” a crinoid columnal, and “‘Astroites,”’ a compound coral with a radiating structure. 36 Ammonites. | 37 'T'werton. | 38 First mentioned by Leland between 1535 and 1543 as “Stones figurid like © Serpentes wound into Circles found in the Quarreis of Stone about Cainsham” - (Leland’s Itinerary, 1745, 7, P- 97)- Camden, whose Britannia (1st edn.) appeared in. Latin in 1586, enlarged on this observation: “I have seen a stone brought from OF STONES, ETC. 325 thence, like a serpent, in a round, the head whereof, tho’ but imperfect, jetted out in the circumference, and the end of the tail was in the center; but most of them want the head.’’ But Gibson adds in the edition of 1722 (p. 93) that “all our Naturalists now agree, that such stones are form’d in Wautili shells, and that there are no heads belonging to them.” Strachey disagreed with the nautiloid interpretation, although he granted that they had no heads. The Keynsham occurrence is also mentioned by Hooke, in his Micrographia, 1665, p. 109, and by Owen in a chapter on “Snake Stones,” in his Observations . . . about Bristol, 1754. Ray, in his Miscellaneous dis- courses, 1692, pp. 121-3, included descriptions by Richard Waller and William Cole of specimens collected by them at Keynsham. 89 Plot originally stated that “‘the Ophiomorphit’s, or Cornua Ammonis, most pro- bably formed either by two Salis shooting different ways, which by thwarting one another make a Helical Figure, just as two opposite Winds or Waters make a Turbo; or else by some simple, yet unknown Salt, that affects such a Figure” (Oxfordshire, 1677, p. 123; 2nd Edn., 1705, p. 124). Strachey repeats this sentence at the end of the next paragraph. 40 Taken from Plot’s Oxfordshire: ‘“That Salts are the principal Ingredients of Stones, I think has so sufficiently been noted already, that to endeavour any further Evidence of the thing, would be actum agere in me, and loss of time to the Reader: And if of Stones in general, much rather sure of Formed Stones, it being the undoubted Prerogative of the Saline Principle to give Bodies their Figure, as well as Solidity and Duration: No other Principle that we yet know of naturally shooting into Figures, each peculiar to their own kind, but Salts; thus Nitre always shoots into Pyramids, salt Marine into Cubes, Alum into Octo, and Sal Armoniac into Hexaedrums, and other mixt Salts into as mixt Figures. Of these spontaneous Inclinations of Salts, each peculiar to its Kind, we have further Evidence in the Chymical Anatomy of Animals, particularly in the Volatile Salt of Harts-horn, which in the Beginning of its Ascent is always seen branched in the Head of the Cucurbit like the Natural Horn. And we were told by the very Ingenious and Learned Sidleyan Professor here in Oxon, That the Salt of Vipers ascends in like manner, and shoots into Shapes somewhat like those Animals, placed orderly in the Glass” (Oxfordshire, 1677, p. 122; 2nd Edn., 1705, p. 123). 41 'Timsbery, near High Littleton. 42 Probably Banwell. 43 Presumably Hamdon Hill. 44 Draycott. 45 See footnote 13. 46 List of stones omitted. 47 North of Cheddar. 48 Lamb’s Lair Cavern. An earlier and much more complete description of the cavern is given by Beaumont in the Philosophical Collections of the Royal Society, 1681, pp. 4-5. 49 'Tedbury camp. 50 These remarks come from Fuller, who in 1662 stated: ‘‘Plenty hereof is also found in Mendip hills; and it is much used in physic (being very good, as arti- ficially ordered, for the clearing of the sight), and more by metallists; for brass, no original, but a compound metal, is made of this stone and copper; and becometh more hard than copper alone, and therefore the more serviceable for many other purposes... it was first discovered in this county in that juncture of time when the copper mines were newly re-discovered in Cumberland...” (Worthies of England, 1840, 3, p. 86). Anderson lists 1561 as the year when a copper mine and Lapis Calaminaris (calamine) were found in Cumberland (Monthly Review, 1764, p. 175). Gough mentions that calamine was mined at Worle in 1566 (Mines of Mendip, 1930, p. 210). 51 Brown observes in a Lapis Calaminaris mine about 6 miles from Aachen that 326 B. D. WEBBY after the “‘washing of the Ore or Stone . . . the most remarkable work is the calcining of the Ore . . . and it is worth the seeing; for they place Faggots in a handsome order first, and cover a large Area with them, of about Forty or Fifty yards Diameter, upon which they place Charcoal in as good an order, till all be covered and filled up a yard from the ground; then they place ranks of the largest Stones of Calmey, and after them smaller, till they have laid all on; and then by setting fire to the bottom, the fire comes to each stone, and all is handsomely calcined.”’ Account of Several Travels Through . . . Germany, 1677, p. 164. 52 Pooley describes the type of ‘Oven’ used in preparing Lapis Calaminaris on the Mendip Hills (Phil. Trans., 1693, p. 676). 53 Brown originally observed that in making brass ‘““They take calcined Cadmia, or Calmey, as they call it, Copper from Sweden, and the melted dross of both; to twenty-eight pounds of Copper they put an hundred pound of Calmey: They put first into very large Crucibles, some old pieces of brass and slacken, or the dross, and afterwards the Calmey and Copper, and let them stand in the Furnace twelve hours; after which, they put eight Crucibles full into one, and let what will run over, the best sinking always to the bottom; and then cast it into a Frame made of stone, bordered with bars of Iron; and so run it into brass Plates...” Account of Several Travels Through .. . Germany, 1677, pp. 160-1. 54 Quoted from the first series of abridgments of the Philosophical Transactions. Aachen has been variously referred to as Aken, Aquisgranum or Aix la Chapelle. 55 This belief is also mentioned by Pooley (Phil. Trans., 1693, p. 673). 56 The poem, originally composed by Edward Manlove, a steward of the Barge- moot court for the lead mines in the Wapentake of Wirksworth in Derbyshire, is as follows: “Bunnings, polings, stemples, forks, and slydder, Stoprice, yokings, soletrees, roach and rider, Water holes, wind holes, veyns, coe-shafts, and woughs, Maine rakes, cross rakes, brown henns, buddles, and soughs, Break-offs, and buckers, randum of the rake, Freeings, and chasing of the stole to th’ stake, Starting of ore, smelting, and driving drifts, Prim-gaps, roof-works, flat-works, pipe-works, shifts, Cauke, spar, lid-stones, twitches, daulings, and pees, Fell, bous, and knock-bark, forstid-oak and tees, Bing place, barmoot court, barge master and stowes, Crosses, holes, hang-benches, turntree and coes, Founder-meers, taker-meers, lot, cope, and sumps. Stickings, and stringes of oar, wash-oar, and pumps, Corfe, clivies, deads, meers, groves, rake-soil the gange, Binge-oar, a spindle, a lampturne, a fange, Fleaks, knockings, coestid, trunks, and sparks of oar, Sole of the rake, smitham, and many more.”’ (Quoted from Fuller, Worthies of England, 1840, 1, p. 366). 57 Taken from Fuller: “Plenty of the best ...is digged out of Mendip hills. Indeed it is not so soft, pliant, and equally fusile, as that in Derbyshire; not so proper for sheeting, because, when melted, it runs into knots, and therefore little known to, and less used by, our London plumbers, for, being of a harder nature, it is generally transported beyond the seas, and employed to make bullets and shot, for which purpose it is excellent.” (Worthies of England, 1840, 3, p. 85). Gough mentions that Mendip lead is especially suitable for making shot because of its arsenic content. It was used when available in the Shot Tower of Redcliff Street, Bristol, during the nineteenth century (Mines of Mendip, 1930, p. 178). 58 Also from Fuller: ‘‘It is almost incredible what great sums were advanced to the bishops of Bath and Wells by the benefit of lead, since the latter end of queen Elizabeth. Bishop Still is said to have had the harvest, bishop Montague the OF STONES, ETC. 327 gleanings, bishop Lake the stubble thereof; and yet considerable was the profit of lead to him and his successors.”’ ( Worthies of England, 1840, 3, p. 85). Still was Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1592-1607, Montague, from 1608-1616, and Lake, from 1616-1626. Fuller thus records a drop in production of lead in the Priddy mineries (Wells Liberty), which belonged to the Bishop of Bath and Wells. There was a similar fall in production over the same period (1600-1630) in the adjoining Chewton Liberty (see Green, 1958, p. 86). Fuller’s statements (also note 57) are repeated in Cox’s Magna Britannia, 1727, 4, p. 834. Vellacott (in Page, The Victoria History of Somerset, 1911, 2, pp. 374, 378) has attributed Fuller’s statements (in- cluding note 57) to Strachey. 59 Sir Richard Chocke, son of John Chocke, of Long Ashton was made a Justice of Common Pleas on the accession of Edward IV to the throne in 1461, and he continued in this capacity through the succeeding reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Edward V. He died in 1483, in the first year of Richard III. According to Gough (1930), Sir Richard Chocke merely settled a dispute on the rights of the common for grazing purposes in Edward IV’s reign, and it was not directly con- nected with mining. Gough believes the Mendip mining customs are of great antiquity; they ‘were not written down as a definite code until the reign of Queen Mary” (p. 82). The association of Sir Richard Chocke’s name with the mining laws is thought to have resulted from the inscription of laws on mining and pasture together in court-books and on maps of Mendip. By the seventeenth century the association had already become firmly established. Vellacott also gives an account of the Mendip mining disputes (in Page, Victoria History of Somerset, 1911, 2, pp. 362- 79). 60 This passage may have been taken from Gibson’s addition to Camden’s Britannia, 1722, p. 82: ““The Groviers (for so the Miners are call’d, as the pits they sink are call’d Groves) living at some distance, leave their tools, and the oar they have got, sometimes open upon the hill, or at most only shut-up in a slight hutt. Whoever among them steals any thing, and is found guilty, is thus punish’d: He is shut up in a hutt, and then dry fearn, furzes, and such other combustible matter, is put round it, and fire set to it. When it is on fire, the Criminal who has his hands and feet at liberty, may with them (if he can) break down his hutt, and, making himself a passage out of it, get free and be gone; but he must never come to work, nor have to do any more, on the hill. This they call Burning of the hill.”? Listed as Item 6 in the code of Mendip mining laws (see Gough, 1930). 61 An uncompleted sentence here has been moved to a more appropriate place following the mention of Mr. Robinson’s work at Cavan Vaughan in the next paragraph but one. $2 The terminology employed up to this time for recording directions in mines. According to Plot, ‘‘about Chedle . . . the coal dips S.W. and by S. or as the Miners call it to the two a Clock-Sun.”’ (Staffordshire, 1686, p. 131). Brown observed that “the Miners’? at Chemnitz “‘direct themselves under ground by a Compass, not of 32 points (such as is us’d at Sea) but by one of 24; which they divide, as we do the hours of the day, into twice 12” (Phil. Trans., 1670, p. 1194). See also discussion on mining compasses in Agricola’s De Re Metallica, edited by Hoover and Hoover, 1950, Pp. 57- 63 In an earlier, loose manuscript accompanying Strachey’s own annotated copy of the Observations (DD/SH 366, housed in Somerset Record Office), the following note is added in the margin beside this same passage: ‘‘& in flyntshire, Denbigh, Darby & Yorkshire Lyes under a Limestone Cover but in Montgomery & Caernarvan there is instead of Limestone an hard Iron Rock.” It may be substituted for the phrase “‘but seldom a Solid Rock over.” __ %4The observations come from a description of diamond mines by the Earl Marshal of England (Duke of Norfolk) in 1677. ‘“‘Quotara”’ is a mis-spelling of the locality referred to as ““Quolure” by the Earl Marshal. This seems to be Kollur, a famous locality for diamonds lying on the right bank of the Krishna River in the Guntur district. Malabar is on the south-west coast. ®® This paragraph is interpolated here as in the earlier, loose manuscript 328 B. D. WEBBY accompanying Strachey’s annotated copy of the Observations (DD /SH 366). It adds some fresh details on the relationship between seams of coal and veins of lead. 66 5 miles west of Wrexham. 87 Alyn, a tributary of the Dee. 68 Near Mold. 69 ; mile south-east of Llanferres. 7° According to Leland, ‘““Ther were of ancient tyme 4. comptyd as chefe Lords of Mendepe. First the Kynge, and his Parte cam to the Bysshope of Bathe as by a Fee Ferme. Glastenbyre had a nothar Parte. Bonvill Lord of Bonvile, and now Graye Lord Marques of Dorset was the third Owner. The fourthe was Gurney, now Caradoc, alias Newton.” (Itinerary, 1745, 7, Part 2, p. 82). Gough considers that Leland rightly observed that there were four Lords Royal, but some of the details about individuals were in error (Mines of Mendip, 1930, p. 87). 71 Priddy, north-north-west of Wells. °2 North-east of Cheddar. The mines at Charterhouse were first worked during the Roman occupation (Eichholz, in Bristol and its Adjoining Counties, 1955, pp. 175-6). From the twelfth century to the Reformation Carthusian monks from Witham had grants of land on Mendip for grazing, and later for mining at Charterhouse. Gough infers that the Lord Royal was attached to Charterhouse (i.e., Witham), rather than Glastonbury, during this period, a view he shares, though probably for different reasons, with Strachey. On the dissolution of Witham by Henry VIII, Charterhouse went to Robert May, and it remained in the May family to the end of Elizabeth’s reign. Sir Thomas Gore was Lord Royal of Charterhouse in 1675, and it was retained by the Gore family at least until 1756. The mines at Charter- house were also known as West mineries, the West Liberty (Gough, Mines of Mendip, 1930, pp. 89-91). 73 Kast of Lamb’s Lair Cavern, in the Harptree Liberty. There “Mineryes” are shown on Strachey’s map (Plate VIII). Presumably Priddy and Chewton are combined since they occur close together. 74 Near Stogumber, west Somerset. 75 'Talargoch Mine is between Dyserth and Meliden, north-north-east of St. Asaph, Flintshire. 76 Esgairhir or Estkyrkyr is 3-4 miles east of Talybont. Strachey’s observations are apparently taken from William Waller’s report on the Cardiganshire mines | about 1700. A copy of Waller’s map is reproduced in Hunt’s account (1848) of the history of the lead mines. REFERENCES Agricola, G. 1950. De Re Metallica. Translated from the Latin Edition of 1566 by H. C. and L. H. Hoover. New York. Anderson, A. 1764. An Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Commerces, from the earliest Accounts to the present Time. Monthly Review, 30, 81-94 & 166-76. | Arkell, W. J. & S. I. Tompkeieff, 1953. English Rock Terms. London. Beaumont, J. 1676. Concerning Rock-Plants and their growth. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 11, 724-42. Beaumont, J. 1681. An account of Ookey-hole, and several other Subterraneous Grottoes and Caverns in Mendipp-hills in Somersetshire, &c. Phil. Coll., 2, 1-8. } | OF STONES, ETC. 329 Brown, E. 1670. Concerning the Mines, Minerals, Baths, &c. of Hungary, Transylvania, Austria, and other Countries neigh- bouring to those. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 5, 1189-08. Brown, E. 1677. An Account of Several Travels Through a great part of Germany. London. Camden, W. 1637. Britannia. Translated from the Latin Edition of 1586 by P. Holland. London. Camden, W. 1722. Jbid. Translated from the Latin and substantially added to by E. Gibson. London. Collinson, J. 1791. The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset. 3 vols. Bath. Cox, T. 1727. Magna Britannia et Hibernia, Vol. 4, London. Dale, S. 1704. Concerning Harwich Cliff, and the Fossil Shells there. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 24, 1568-78. Earl Marshal of England [Duke of Norfolk]. 1677. A Description of the Diamond-mines. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 12, 907-17. Eichholz, D. E. 1955. The Bristol Region in the Roman Period, 163-77. In MacInnes, C. M. and W. F. Whittard, Bristol and its Adjoining Counties. Bristol. Eyles, V. A. 1955. Scientific Activity in the Bristol Region in the Past, 123-43. In MacInnes, C. M. and W. F. Whittard, Bristol and its Adjoining Counties. Bristol. Fuller, T. 1840. The History of the Worthies of England, 3rd Edn., 3 vols., London (1st Edn., 1662). Gough, J. W. 1930. The Mines of Mendip. Oxford. Green, G. W. 1958. The Central Mendip Lead-Zinc Orefield. Bull. geol. Surv. Gt Br., 14, 70-90. Hooke, R. 1665. Micrographia. London. Hunt, R. 1848. Notices of the History of the Lead Mines of Cardiganshire. Mem. geol. Surv. U.K., 2 (2), 635-54. Lee, C. E. 1943. The Evolution of Railways. 2nd Edn. London. Leland, J. 1745. The Itinerary of Fohn Leland, The Antiquary (ed. by J. Hearne). 2nd Edn., in g vols., London. Lhwyd, E. 1712. Some farther Observations relating to the Natural History of Wales. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 27, 467-9. Lister, M. 1674. A Description of certain Stones figured like Plants, and by some Observing men esteemed to be Plants petrified. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 8, 6181-91. Merrett, C. 1678. A Relation of the Tinn-Mines, and the working of Tinn in the County of Cornwal. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 12, 949752: Owen, E. 1754. Observations on the Earths, Rocks, and Minerals, For some Miles about Bristol. London. Plot, R. 1686. The Natural History of Stafford-shire. Oxford. 330 B. D. WEBBY Plot, R. 1705. The Natural History of Oxford-shire, Being an Essay toward the Natural History of England. 2nd Edn. Oxford (1st Edn:, 1677): Pooley, G. 1693. An Account of digging and preparing the Lapis Calaminaris. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 17, 672-77. Rand, B. 1927. The Correspondence of John Locke and Edward Clarke. London. Ray, J. 1692. Miscellaneous Discourses concerning the Dissolution and Changes of the World. London. Strachey, Sir Edward 1869. On Sutton Court and Chew Magna. Proc. Somerset. archaeol. nat. Hist. Soc., 14 (2), 82-102. Strachey, Sir Edward 1899. Jn Strachey, J. St. L., Strachey, Sir E. and C. Strachey, Materials to serve for a History of the Strachey Family. Printed privately, London. Strachey, J. 1719. A curious Description of the Strata observ’d in the Coal-Mines of Mendip in Somersetshire. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 80, 968-73. Strachey, J. 1725. An Account of the Strata in Coal-Mines, &c. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 38, 395-08. Strachey, J. 1727. Observations on the Different Strata of Earths, and Minerals. More particularly as are found in the Coal-Mines of Great Britain. London. Strachey, J. 1731. An Alphabetical List of the Religious Houses in Somersetshire, 643-66. Jn Walteri Hemingford, Canonicc De Gisseburne, Historia de Rebus Gestis Edvardi I. Edvard I, & Edvard Hl. 2 vols. Oxon. Strachey, J. 1736. Somersetshire survey’d and protracted [Map of Be aN oe measuring 37” x 29” with a scale of just over 4 inch to one mile] London. Strachey, J. 1739. An Index to the Records, with Directions to the Several Places Where They Are to Be Found. And Short Explanations of the Different Kinds of Rolls, Writs, etc. London. Vellacott, C. H. 1911. Lead mining, 362-79. In Page, W., The Victoria History of Somerset, Vol. 2, London. Woodward, J. 1723. An Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth, and Terrestrial Bodyes, especially Minerals. 3rd Edn. London. (1st Edn., 1695). Animals... | The International Colour Natural History Magazine! 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Over Compton Sherborne Dorset Telephone: Yeovil 4608-9 BINOCULAR COMPARISON TEST The naturalist often finds difficulty in selecting the most suitable binoculars from the large variety available to him. The binoculars listed below are all good in their class but, if you would like further advice, please do not hesitate to *phone Arthur Frank at his personal number— STD-041-221-6666 EX-ADMIRALTY 7x50 CANADIAN NAVAL BINOCULARS Made under licence to Bausch and Lomb. A day and night glass which ranks amongst the finest made today and is certainly equal in performance to glasses costing twice as much. Complete with waterproof ruberised case £24 JAPANESE BINOCULARS From the many binoculars produced in Japan, we have selected two centre focusing instruments—an 8 x 30 and a 10 x 50—both of which we can offer with confidence. The optics are coated and light transmission is excep- tionally good. Definition compares favourably with much more expensive instruments. Prices inclusive of case are £10.19.6 and £15.10.0 respectively. Any instrument A SPECIALIST BINOCULAR willingly sent FOR THE BIRD WATCHER on approval The Swift AUDUBON 8.5 x 44 de- signed to the specification of the world-renowned Audubon Society of America. Unusually wide field of 445 ft. at 1,000 yds. Extra close focusing down to 12 ft. enables feeding activities, etc. to be watch- ed as from 1/8 ins. Included amongst other features are retractable eye- cups for spectacle users, built-in | adaptor to suit any camera tripod. This outstanding binocular has easy positive focusing by cylindrical control, weighs 38.4 ozs. and the height closed is 6} ins. £36 Price with fine leather case RUSSIAN 7x 50 CENTRE FOCUS BINOCULARS r Not as streamlined as the Conti- ; nental or Japanese glasses, but optically and mechanically they are of extremely high quality. We can FOR NEW. e C a ; shoreueny recoonaens them. ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE | | with case and filters. £15.15.0 The new LEITZ TRINOVID is indisputably the binocular of the century. It is of revolutionary design and performance, and the 10 x 40 model, which we particularly like, is £86 17 | extremely light and wonderfully compact. Price with soft leather case otf. CHARLES FRANK LTD. 145 QUEEN STREET, GLASGOW C.1 STD. 041-221-6666 \ q f | / y : a ae o PRESIDENTS MePeNT GANDERS = 00 ee we RG 2 HENRY E. FRIPP .. re we ae 4, a a 76 PUGH FORSTER BURDER ..° .. 02. 0... oa. 80 _ JOHN BEDDOE .. he eR RS A a 83 _ Professor WILLIAM RAMSAY oe ie ie ae Pun Om _ Rev. THOMAS HINCKS .. i if wat a mn 87 Me PoleorC LLOYD MORGAN... .. 2... go Professor ADOLPH LEIPNER... My Gi ne i‘ 93 Mueerciar'SYDNEY YOUNG: .. .. 0 4.) 4s se 94 _ §.H. SWAYNE... BAW Ry ee ear ae A aN 0 tes 97 Professor C. LLOYD MORGAN Bk ea att ealome eek ete Me 99 _ ARTHUR B. PROWSE ... ae a ote te Sas IGOR PORE 0 ae ag (OCC CG 0a a eR cere 07 _ G. MUNRO SMITH Jt CERO Roar (cider inine ly ta. 10 _ Miss I. M. ROPER .. i i unt aie oY 13 iG. C. GRIFFITHS... A ke Panes ee aie, 17 ERNEST (later Sir Ernest) H. COOK sa Ges ies bs 19 Bee oo a ee 22 Seiescr ©. V. DARBISHIRE .. 3 .. 6. cs we 24. Mee MER ee eee 27 ee IN 30 Me mR 31 F. S. WALLIS ae ae ite i oh 33 - Professor O. V. BMGISEIRE 8 a 34 DMP CEMURTRIE. 2. an 35 Professor MACGREGOR SKENE PR eGR jen, hier 38 Dee Ne re pe 42 Sir Pewee PERNIOR 86 8 Sou 45 Professor W. F. WHITTARD ae ae ae sue She 52 BR Re ee ae a a 54 eR a ee ee 56 Miss M. H. ROGERS ye ‘, ve a es aie 58 SS PET TIPS ok ee A 60 I. H. DAVIS. PANN ais ie a be me es 62 RM OE ee be ee ak 63 F. DEVONSHIRE eA hammer uaa a. NPR ot 65 ue ee Pe eee 86 The dates given are those of election to office. MEMBERSHIP OF THE BRISTOL NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY Anyone interested in Natural History may apply to join the 4 Society as a Full member. The annual subscription is 25 /-. 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STERNE, B.Sc., g CHARLCOMBE Way, BATH, SOMERSET The SOCIETY’S LIBRARY is housed in the City Museum ~ and is available to members between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5. 30 _ p.m. on weekdays. Certain publications (chiefly American) are, however, now kept in the University Library, Queen’s Building. —_— VOLUME XXXI, PART IV, 1967 CONTENTS PAGE Council .. hs ey fs = = = os 7 -» 338 New Members and Changes of Address ts Ss a a 2936 Report of Council i = “3 re a = 2 -. 343 Report of Entomological Section sé i ved a ss Se @ 943 Hon. Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts... bs = i agen | Report of Botanical Section .. Be a 7 $5 as -. 345 Hon. Librarian’s Report - a ys = - is ». 345 Report of Geological Section .. es er 28 as a -. 346 Report of Ornithological Section ae 2 a re Aa ee) Report of Mammal Section .. fi ak oe a ee s- 346 Report of Junior Section su! sf es <4 a a -. 348 Account of the General Meetings... sit =i - sit -. 349 Bristol Botany in 1967, by A. J. Willis a — - ee we 351 Bristol Bird Report, 1967 7 A a ie oe a .. 361 Studies on the Birds of Prey of the Bristol District III. Breeding Season of the Kestrel, by D. Warden .. ihe .. 389 Lepidoptera Notes, Bristol District, 1967, by A. D. R. Brown and K. H. Poole a, si er “ BG ae 4 a =e 308 Mammal Survey, Bristol District, 1967, by R. E. Symes .. - 2 403 Light-trapping of Lepidoptera on Mendip, by T. B. Silcocks a 07, Surface Patterns on Godney Moor, Somerset, by L. F. Curtis... ss EIT The Geology of the Portbury Area, by A. B. Hawkins eA os ee ee Some Fuller’s Earth Sections in the South Cotswolds, by H.S. Torrens.. 429 Bristol Diamonds, by R. Bradshaw .. a ane 7 eae ne 439 Oot OP oO INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS . All matter offered for publication in the “PRocEeEpINGs” must be sent as directed on p. 2 of cover of current issue. . 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A 337 338 COUNCIL 1967 OFFICERS: PRESIDENT: F. R. STERNE PAST PRESIDENTS: F. S. WALLIS, Ph.D., D.Sc. Miss M. H. ROGERS, M.A. Prof. M. SKENE, D.Sc., F.L.S. Prof. F. COLES PHILLIPS, F. W. EVENS M.A., Ph.D. . BASSINDALE, M.Sc. B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. VICE-PRESIDENTS: Mrs. M. J. ROGERS, M.A. H. G. HOCKEY HON. TREASURER: HON. AUDITOR: P. J. M. NETHERCOTT A. E, BILLETT HON. SECRETARY: Mrs. F. R. STERNE, B.Sc. HON. CIRCULATION SECRETARY: Mrs. G. RUDOWSKY HON. BULLETIN SECRETARY: D. W. B. FROST CHAIRMAN, FIELD COMMITTEE: H. G. HOCKEY HON. SECRETARY, FIELD COMMITTEE: A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. HON. LIBRARIAN: R. BRADSHAW, M.Sc. HON. ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN: Mrs. M. J. ROGERS, M.A. HON. EDITOR: A. J. WILLIS, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.L.S. HON. SCHOOLS LIAISON OFFICER: Mrs. A. J. HOLLOWELL, M.A. f. H. H. DAVIS, M.B.O.U. R. J. G. SAVAGE, R OFFICERS OF SECTIONS: BOTANICAL: President—T. E. T. BOND, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.L.S. Hon. Secretary—Miss I. F. GRAVESTOCK, B.A. ENTOMOLOGICAL: President—K. H. POOLE Hon. Secretary—P. F. BIRD, B.Sc. GEOLOGICAL: President—\. H. FORD, B.Sc. Hon. Secretary—W. O. STOCK JUNIOR: President—C. E. D. SMITH, Ph.D. Hon. Secretary—Miss L. E. HURRELL Hon. Membership Secretary—Mrs. H. G. HOCKEY Miss D. M. BUSSELL MAMMAL: President—R. J. G. SAVAGE, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. Hon. Secretary—Mrs. A. R. HOLETON, B.Sc. ORNITHOLOGICAL: President—G. A. FORREST, M.A. Hon. Secretary—S. M. TAYLOR, B.Sc. | OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL: Miss J. E. ADAM R. CURBER K. T. BATTY J. EATOUGH | J. BOSWALL Miss R. C. LEE | D. A. C. CULLEN C. E. LEESE T. B. SILCOCKS Ex-officio the Professors of Botany, GEOLoGcy and Zoo.ocy at the UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL 339 NEW MEMBERS (other than Junior Members) From 17 May 1967 to 17 May 1968 A,—Associate Member. C.—Corresponding Member. H.—Honorary Member. The addresses of Junior Members may be had from the Hon. Junior Membership Secretary. puaridee: AL Ci... 63s ks) 38 Amberley Road, Stoke Lodge, Patchway, Bristol Allen, Dr. K. C., B.Sc., Ph.D. 1 Rose Terrace, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol Allen, Mrs. K. C., B.Sc..... Do. Avery, Dr. R. A., B.Sc., Ph.D. Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Barnett, Wiss O. V..sac<5 +: 60A Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Beaton,.Miss D. R: ........ 83 St. Michael’s Hill, Bristol 2 PE PD CNUICY,. Denise sae te 6 oi hs Barn House, Charlcombe, Bath, Somerset OV eps, ete ects ia Seca sts 8 Clyde Park, Redland, Bristol 6 Bova, irs, J. Mia jo... ets Do. BRON Gye ghost rahls o1G oils aise x's oi Sie Do. Browi,,G. Biss ves gases ss Badock Hall, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Brace, C.R.,, BSc. 2s .as<. 13 Northfield, Bridgwater, Somerset BUONO? aie iwine ais ost ae 73, Symington Road, Fishponds, Bristol Byford, G. HG. uses ase Patch Farm, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire Byrde, Dr. R. J. W., B.Sc. Homeleigh, Downside, West Town, nr. (Hort.), Ph.D. Bristol Campkin, C., M.I.E.E. .... Appledene, Tickenham, Clevedon, Somerset Challice, J. S., M.I.Biol., 7 Wyatt’s Close, Nailsea, nr. Bristol LRT, Charlesworth, Mrs. W. B. .. 36 Albert Road, Clevedon, Somerset @lark, Mis, MM. My. 3 cciu as’. 48 Russell Road, Fishponds, Bristol Cleveland, Mrs. R. L. ...... Flat 4, 10 Margaret Building, Brock Street, Bath, Somerset me Colfer; Miss S. BE. ....5..... 24 Summerhouse Estate, Tickenham, Cleve- don, Somerset Coupe, Miss 8S. M., S.R.N... 14 Cambridge Park, Redland, Bristol 6 @rewdson, N,.... Gravel material present Fig. 3. The height of peat and gravel deposits recorded in tie boreholes. THE PEAT The recording of organic matter in the silts and other deposits and of distinct peat bands is shown in Fig. 3. It is immediately GEOLOGY OF PORTBURY AREA 427 apparent that here there are no distinct peat horizons that can be traced over a wide area. Instead the evidence suggests that the conditions during the formation were similar to those of today with, apart from the Vale of Gordano, isolated pockets of peat accumula- tion, rather than a large area as in the Somerset Levels. As no de- tailed examination has yet been made of the peat it is inappropriate here to discuss its origin further. The peat band recorded in boreholes P20 and P28 at about —18 ft.O.D. may be compared with that recorded by Godwin (1940) at Swansea between —23 and —18 ft. O.D. and dated by him as pollen zone VIc. It can also be compared with peats between —18 and —13 ft. O.D. at Avonmouth zoned by Seddon (1965) as Vila and with the peat at Burnham at —15 ft. O.D. dated by Godwin and Willis (1959) as 6,262 +130 B.P. (Before Present), and thus indicating that it formed towards the end of the Boreal trans- gression. Peat is further recorded from several boreholes (Fig. 3) between —10.5 and —1 ft. O.D. which in altitude is below the top of the marine clay in the Somerset Levels (Godwin, 1943) and there- fore again formed during the late stage of the marine transgression, which ended about 5,400 B.P. (Godwin and Willis, 1961). Several peat bands lying between 0 and +13 ft. O.D. are prob- ably comparable to the widespread peat horizons of the Somerset Levels and under Caldicot Level; details of the latter are to be published later. Godwin and Willis (1964) have dated the top of the peat in the Caldicot Level where it is overlain by marine clays as 2,660 +110 B.P., showing a period of relative sea level stability for the preceding three thousand years. This was followed by the Romano-British marine transgression which deposited clays on the lands bordering the Bristol Channel and penetrated the Gordano Valley to a substantial extent, reaching Weston Drove, and resulting in more than 1o ft. of marine clay in some parts (Jefferies, Willis and Yemm, 1968). Peats are now recorded in several small areas to the south between +20 and +22 ft. O.D. (Geological Map). In the Vale of Gordano— further inland—Willis and Jefferies (1959) have described the accumulation of peat to heights of between +16 and +18 ft. O.D. and have recently discussed the Late and Post Glacial history of the area (Jefferies, Willis and Yemm, 1968). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Te author is grateful to the Port of Bristol Authority for access to site investigation reports and permission to publish information contained in these. 428 A. B. HAWKINS REFERENCES ApSimon, A. M. & Donovan, D. T. 1956. Marine Pleistocene de- posits in the Vale of Gordano, Somerset. Proc. speleol. Soc. 7, 130- 6. Godwin, H. 1940. A Boreal transgression of the sea in Swansea Bay. New Phytol. 39, 308-21. Godwin, H. 1943. Coastal Peat Beds of the British Isles and North Sea. 7. Ecol. 31, 199-247. Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. 1959. Cambridge University Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, I. Radiocarbon, 1, 63-75. Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. 1961. Cambridge University Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, III. Radzocarbon, 3, 60-76. Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. 1964. Cambridge University Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, VI. Radiocarbon, 6, 116-37. Jefferies, R. L., Willis, A. J. & Yemm, E. W. 1968. The Late- and Post-glacial history of the Gordano valley, North Somerset. New Phytol. 67, 335-48. Seddon, B. 1965 (for 1964). Submerged Peat Layers in the Severn Channel near Avonmouth. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 81(1), 101-6. Wills, L. J. 1938. The Pleistocene Development of the Severn from Bridgnorth to the Sea. Q.7l geol. Soc. Lond. 94, 161-242. Willis, A. J. & Jefferies, R. L. 1959 (for 1958). The Plant Ecology of the Gordano Valley. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 29(5), 469-90. 429 SOME FULLER’S EARTH SECTIONS IN THE SOUTH COTSWOLDS By H. S. Torrens (Department of Geology, University of Keele) INTRODUCTION HE Fuller’s Earth (BATHONIAN) of the South Cotwolds is i poorly known since natural exposures are rare. Arkell and Donovan (1952) have described the stratigraphy in this area but recent excavations for the Bristol Motorway (M4) have shown that the stratigraphy is more complex than was thought. A. THE FULLER’S EARTH OF THE BRISTOL MOTORWAY An important section in the Fuller’s Earth has recently been ex- posed near Dodington Ash, north of Bath (ST/757782) during excavations for the new Mg (Bristol-London) motorway. The main section in the Fuller’s Earth was exposed immediately to the west of the Bath-Stroud road (A46) intersection with the M4. The following section was seen in the Fuller’s Earth. The Institute of Geological Sciences are preparing for publication an account of the complete section here. GREAT OOLITE LIMESTONE Extends abave UPPER FULLER’S EARTH CLAY Bed Thickness 20. Marls and occasional thin limestones, the top of one of the latter showing a pronounced bored oyster-covered surface—seen at the intersection with A46 c. 30 ft. 19. TRESHAM ROCK: Pink unfossiliferous well-bedded Compact limestones with strongly iron-stained marl band towards base. c. 15 ft. 18. Brown bedded marls and clays a i: om oe hus 15 ft. ORNITHELLA BEDS (Beds 11-17) 17. Brown streaky clay with fauna of large Ornithella bathonica (Rollier) bathiensis Muir-Wood Pe a ie re hee ea 3 ft. 16. Brown streaky clay .. 2 ft. 15. Blue clay with fossil wood and Ornithella bathonica in situ at base. . 7 ft. 14. Brown, impersistent shelly marl .. Sigs a ae ae 3 in. 13. Thin limestone band; Procerites sp. in situ .. 6 in. 12. Very fossiliferous shelly marl, Main horizon for Ornithella bathonica 1 ft. 6 in. 11. Rubbly limestone... c. 1 ft. 10. DODINGTON ASH ROCK: Compact, thick-bedded pink to yellow detrital limestones .. 6 ft,-8 ft. g. Greenish clays with white marlstone near top ee ar ae 2 ft. 430 H. 8S. TORRENS 8. Blue clay with whiter fossiliferous limestone in centre with Liostrea acuminata (J. Sowerby) 5 ft. 7. CROSS HANDS ROCK: Very rubbly detrital limestone full of comminuted shell fragments and crinoid ossicles with sharp litho- logical lower boundary, but gradational at top. Meleagrinella echinata (W. Smith) very common at base a oe vaie2tt: 6 ime ACUMINATA BEDS (Beds 3-6) 6. Thin cream fine-grained limestone with L. acuminata... ae 3-6 in. 5. Cream coloured marls oe ae ne ae ie -. Qin.—1 ft. 4. Blue clays... a ee ie 4 ft. 3. Blue L. acuminata lumachelle—very fossiliferous . . te mt. 3 ft. LOWER FULLER’S EARTH CLAY (Beds 1 and 2) 2. Blue and green clays.. 25 ft. 1. Knorri clay at base with Catinula knorri (Volta) lotharingica de Grossouvre ar a a8 : Me INFERIOR OOLITE The following faunas were collected: ORNITHELLA BEDS (11-17) Bed 17: Ornithella bathonica bathiensis, 31730—72, abundant. 15 speci- mens collected loose from this horizon had a mean length of 36.3 mm. with a standard deviation of 4.06 and a standard error of 1.04. Serpula sp. (small quadrate species) very common; Liostrea acuminata, 31773—5, occasional. Bed 15: the basal portion yielded frequent Ornithella bathonica. Bed 13: Procerites sp., 31781, in situ in the middle of the bed. Bed 12: Ornithella bathonica extremely abundant, 31782824, 31828- 56. 42 specimens collected in situ had a mean length of 24.2 mm. with a standard deviation of 4.06 and a standard error of 0.62. Procerites sp., 31825—7, Hibolites parallelus (Phillips), 31827, 31860-2, Rhynchonellotdella smitht (T. Davidson) (common), 31857—9, Lzostrea acuminata (occasional), 31865-6, Wattonithyris sp. (occasional), Pholadomya sp., Oxytoma sp. DODINGTON ASH ROCK. Bed to: Lycetticeras comma (S. 8. Buck- man), Bristol City Mus. Cb 4602, a fine large, almost complete specimen, with 1} whorls of body chamber, and the following dimensions (in mm.): Whorl Whorl Umbilical height width width At maximum diameter 108 56.5(0.52) 56.0(0.51) 18.5(0.17) At diameter go 54-0(0.60) 56.5(0.63) g.5(0.105) Ceratomya sp. (one), Ctenostreon rugosum (W. Smith) (one), 31875, Ornithella cf. haydonensis Muir-Wood, 31870-3, Wattontthyris sp. (several); all these found loose on the outcrop of the bed, in the characteristic matrix. Tulites sp. indet., 31868, in situ in lower half of the bed (3-4 ft. above the base). FULLER’S EARTH SECTIONS 431 Bed 8: Liostrea acuminata (frequent), 31879—86, Chlamys (Radulopecten) sp., Pecten sp. indet. (fragments), Pentacrinus sp. (ossicles—frequent), minute regular echinoid, micromorphic gastropod; all identified from a sample collected above the middle of the bed. Parts of Bed 8 were very fossiliferous in places being almost entirely composed of shell fragments. CROSS HANDS ROCK. Bed 7: Tulites sp. (GSM LAJ 217) col- lected loose by officers of the Institute of Geological Sciences on or near the outcrop of the bed. It can have come only from Bed 7 to judge by lithology. Meleagrinella echinaia, both left and right valves, extremely abundant in the basal part of the bed, 31906—37, 31942-6. Other fossils collected 2m sztu from the base of Bed 7 in- clude: Pholadomya lirata (J. Sow.), 31902, Pleuromya sp., Parallelodon sp., [erebratulid pedicle valve, rare specimens of Lzostrea acuminata, 31938-41. ACUMINATA BEDS (3-6) Bed 6: quite fossiliferous: Liostrea acuminata (frequent), 31947—-61, Ceratomya sp., Pholadomya lirata, 31963, Anisocardia sp., Wattonthyris sp., ammonite impression (Oppelid); all collected in situ. A large Procerttes sp. found loose, 31970, and heavily encrusted with large Serpulae possibly came from this bed, as well as a further septate fragment of another Procerites sp., 31971. Bed 4: rather unfossiliferous but a sample collected about 1 ft. 6 in. from the top yielded several fragments of Liostrea acuminata, 31972-3. Bed 3: the main Liostrea acuminata bearing lumachelle, being a solid bank almost entirely composed of masses of this oyster. Brachiopods were also frequent. ‘The following were collected in situ: Procerites sp. indet., 31974, Perisphinctid ammonite (?Wagnericeras), 31975, Liostrea acuminata (extremely abundant), 31976—8,33000-52, Wat- tonthyris sp. (abundant), Kallirhynchia sp. (referable to the forms figured by Muir-Wood (1936) from the Lower Fuller’s Earth Clay— abundant), Rhynchonelloidella sp. (rare), Acrosalenia sp. (single fine specimen). The Institute of Geological Sciences collections also contain 2 ammonites (both Procerties sp.) from this bed (GSM LAJ 45-46). Specific names for the well preserved brachiopod fauna of this bed cannot be accurately given until the brachiopods of the Lower Fuller’s Earth are restudied and the various morphotypes figured by Muir-Wood (1936) are re-evaluated. A large Procerites sp. (part of the body-chamber) preserved in a blue mudstone was also found on the outcrop of the Acuminata Beds, 33103-4 (Beds 3-6). 432 H. S. TORRENS The junction of Beds 2 and 3 marks the base of the Acuminata Beds. Liostrea acuminata, it must be noted, ranges higher than the Acuminata Beds having been recorded in Beds 7, 8, 12 and even 17 above. Beds 3-6 undoubtedly mark the acme of this species at this section, although it is still very common in Bed 8. It is more strictly localized stratigraphically in the region south of Bath. Farther north and into the Cotswolds its vertical range becomes more extensive, although it is still most common at the same horizon as in the Bath district. Bed 1: crowded with the small oyster Catinula knorri lotharingica, 33105-218, which is so characteristic of the same horizon in the area between Doulting and Bath, Somerset, where ammonites of the Zigzag Zone have been found in association. PREVIOUS WORK IN THE AREA The Fuller’s Earth of the region has been described by several authors. Reynolds and Vaughan (1902) described beds in the Sodbury railway tunnel to the north. Part at least of their “‘Passage Beds’’, in which they found Procerites, are clearly equivalent to the Tresham Rock of the motorway section, as already noted by Arkell and Donovan (1952). From other parts of the Fuller’s Earth below the Passage Beds they recorded Ornithella and Meleagrinella echinata, forms which occur commonly in particular beds in the motorway section. A section to the south of Sodbury Tunnel and only a little to the north of the motorway section is that recorded by Fry at Dodington Ash (1951). This section is not easy to correlate with that of the motorway. Fry’s Bed 15, however, obviously correlates with Beds 12-15 of the motorway, both yielding small Ornithella, while his Bed 13 with Meleagrinella echinata must include Bed 7 of the motor- way. His Bed 12 is equivalent to the Acuminata Beds. There are, however, discrepancies in thicknesses of various beds between the two sections. Richardson (1935) has described a detailed section at the Cross Hands Road cutting (ST/764811) which lies between the motorway section described here and the Sodbury Tunnel. Correlation be- tween the two sections is quite good. At the base of the sections, the Ostrea Acuminata Clay described by Richardson in the Lower Fuller’s Earth is identical both in thickness and fossil content to Bed 3 of the motorway. It was this bed at. the Cross Hands Road cutting which yielded in situ the Wagnericeras fortecostatum (de Grossouvre)—Bristol University Museum 13494, recorded by Arkell (1951-59, p. 205) in error from the Cross Hands Rock above. Richardson’s next bed above is Bed 4 of the motorway. The two FULLER’S EARTH SECTIONS 433 basal beds placed by Richardson in his Fuller’s Earth Rock are presumed equivalent to Beds 5 and 6 of the motorway, but Richard- son’s placing of them in the Fuller’s Earth Rock must have been due to the presumed occurrence of “‘Ornithellids” in them. The collec- tion from this locality has been redetermined (in Arkell and Donovan, 1952) and the Ornithellids shown wrongly determined. Above these beds Richardson records a bed up to 1 ft. thick in which Meleagrinella echinata was fairly common. This is obviously equivalent in part to Bed 7 (Cross Hands Rock) of the motorway section. Richardson’s second Ostrea Acuminata Clay in his “‘Upper Fuller’s Earth”? above correlates with some part of Bed 8 of the motorway section in parts of which L. acuminata is still very common. Bed 8 of the motorway section is entirely Subcontractus Zone, Tulites having been found both above and below. It is a clay band of variable thickness interdigitated between limestone beds (Beds 10 and 7). The lower of these limestone units, Bed 7 at the motorway, has been named the Cross Hands Rock by Arkell and Donovan (1952), the type section being at Cross Hands Road cutting where according to Richardson’s description it was 9g ft. thick (four beds of limestone separated by clay). Of these, Richardson’s lowest two may be better classed with the Acuminata Beds, to judge by the motorway section and the absence of Ornithella in them. The lower part of the Cross Hands Rock in both places is crowded with M. echinata, forming a useful marker horizon; the Cross Hands Rock of the type section is equivalent to Bed 7 and a part of Bed 8 of the motorway section. ‘This rock unit is entirely of Subcontractus Zone age. Beds equivalent to Bed 10 of the motorway section were thus not included with the Cross Hands Rock at the type section, not having been exposed there. Bed 10 is thus so far unnamed. The name Dodington Ash Rock has been chosen and the type locality is that of the motorway section (Bed 10). The Institute of Geological Sciences have used the term Fuller’s Earth Rock for this unit, but since both the Cross Hands Rock and the Dodington Ash Rock (with several of the beds above) are to be correlated with the true Fuller’s Earth Rock of Bath, this cannot be followed (see Fig. 1). CORRELATION OF THE MOTORWAY SECTION ORNITHELLA BEDS Beds 17 to 12 yielded Ornithella bathonica sspp. and are to be correlated with the Ornithella Beds of the Fuller’s Earth Rock south of Bath. The Ornithellid faunas of Somerset show a slight but pro- gressive increase in size but the topmost beds of the Somerset Ornithella Beds no longer contain Ornithellids. 434 H. S. TORRENS The top bed (17) of the Ornithella Beds at the motorway, how- ever, yielded Ornithellids larger in size than any collected south of Bath. They can only be compared with the largest “‘species”’ figured by Muir-Wood (1936)—-O. brutonensis (Rollier) and O. bathonica var. bathiensis. The name O. bathonica bathiensis has been given to the FULLERS EARTH ROCK AVID HLYV3 SY¥371Nd YWIMOT AVID H1lYV3 $938 VLIVNINNDY $Q38 INYOETIW SY3T1Nd Y3addN O Po) = 4 a imal ae. — > lee] m O ” MIDDLE BATHONIAN UPPER BATHONIAN JW3HDS IWNOZ] HIVE JO HLNOS 25 a 5 C x = a © fe) a > O 2 a va) z n O — 4 aa ”n iz Ps) et = nv > = N O N O 2 Zl eOuisS z c ah Zz = m w— m HARD a ARKELL &) compacr 3) (OAGHORee ang LIMESTONE ! BEDS DONOVAN (1952) $q3ig WVHYAQ tl] POOJINS UOISOID SQIOMSLOD HILNOS an 25 > S ORNITHELLA BEDS >Erre os 1S) pn oz @) wn ”n > o = Oo Zz t n Gvou SONVH SSOYD| AVMYOLOW HLUW3 suating [o£ W3MOT SONVH SsoUudl ONILLAD a Fig. 1. Correlation table, Fuller’s Earth Rock and Clays, south of Bath and in the South Cotswolds. FULLER’S EARTH SECTIONS 435 population from Bed 17 which is correlated with the top of the Ornithella Beds south of Bath. Beds 12 to 15 (basal part) yielded smaller Ornithellids referred to O. bathonica. In length and overall size, the population is shorter and smaller than that of Bed 17, the mean length being 33% less. Beds _ 12-15 correlate on ammonite evidence with the basal part of the Ornithella Beds of Somerset. The Ornithellids from Beds 12-15 are, however, somewhat smaller in length and size than those at the base of the Ornithella Beds in Somerset. Probably the two popula- tions are of identical age and the slight size differences due to control by differences in environment. The Ornithella Beds of Somerset and the Bristol Motorway section belong in the Retrocostatum Zone (Torrens, 1967). It is known from other ammonite evidence (Torrens, in press) that all beds from the Ornithella Beds up to and including the Tresham Rock belong in the same Zone. MORRISI ZONE From the evidence south of Bath (Torrens, 1965, 1967) the upper part of the Dodington Ash Rock on which the loose specimen of Lycetticeras was collected is to be placed in the Morrisi Zone. The small specimens of Wattonithyris sp. found loose may have come from the same horizon to judge by the distribution of this genus in the Fuller’s Earth Rock of Somerset. SUBCONTRACTUS ZONE The two specimens of Tulites found at the motorway section show that all beds from the lower half of the Dodington Ash Rock, in which a specimen was found in situ, down to and including the Cross Hands Rock belong in the Subcontractus Zone. The four small Ornithella cf. haydonensis Muir-Wood collected loose from Bed 10 must have come from the Subcontractus Zone portion of the Bed, as in Somerset where this species is restricted to this Zone. PROGRACILIS ZONE The Acuminata Beds of the motorway yielded several specimens of the Perisphinctid genus Procerites and the same horizon at the Cross Hands Road cutting (p. 432) a specimen of Wagnericeras fortecos- tatum. ‘The ammonites are the same as those found in the Acuminata Beds south of Bath. They show that the Acuminata Beds belong in the Progracilis Zone (Torrens, 1967). 436 H. S. TORRENS B. FULLER’S EARTH ROCK OF DYRHAM A further Fuller’s Earth section in this area is that exposed near Dyrham in the head of the Combe, south of Dyrham (ST/744744). This was first noted by Richardson (1910) and a generalized section has been recorded by Arkell and Donovan (1952). The Fuller’s Earth Rock section here has never been recorded in detail, and is as follows: Soil FULLER’S EARTH ROCK (Beds 1-15) Bed Thickness 15. Bioclastic limestone .. seen 14. Marl : sis 6 in. 13. Bioclastic limestone .. 3-6 in. 12, Marl .. 6 in. 11. Fractured rubbly bioclastic limestone 1 ft. 10. Strata obscured : an he c. 4 ft. g. Marl Y ‘Ornithella Ae we seen 6 in. 8. Very rubbly bioclastic limestone { bathonica (abundant) he I ft. 7. Marl ~ =e oe a Sa tis : . 1 ft. 6in— 2 ft. 6. Bioclastic limestone .. I ft. 5. Marl .. I ft. Morrisi Zone (Beds 3 and 4) 4. Nodular limestone .. : ae ye sf ah i 2 ft. 3. Marl .. i Dh a sts wor. Wdt. 9) 1M Subcontractus Zone (Beds 1 and 2) 2. Chalky limestone (top of Arkell and Donovan’s Hard compact limestone?, 1952) ; mes by a 1. Chalky limestone... ; Beds 2-5 may be slightly cambered and their thicknesses ‘slightly overestimated as a result. 1 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. seen The only faunas collected in sztu here were: Bed 11: Ornithella sp. (occasional). Beds g and 8: Ornithella bathonica (very common), 33356-467, 33484-99; 49 complete specimens had a mean length of 24.3 mm. with a standard deviation of 3.45 and a standard error of 0.49. ‘These results compare closely with those calculated by McKerrow (1953) | from another population collected here (Dyrham south). They are | identical in size to the population from Bed 12 of the motorway | section and allow a definite correlation to be made. Rhynchonelloidella | sp. (occasional), Liostrea acuminata (occasional specimens), 334.70-1, | 33481. Bed 5: Liostrea acuminata, 33511. Bed 4: Pleuromya subelongata (d’Orbigny), 33512. Bed 3: an erosion surface may be present at the base of Bed 3 since | an adherent oyster was seen cemented to the top surface of Bed 2 | and a bored oyster-covered limestone pebble found in Bed 3 (33517). | Bed 2: Tulites sp., Bristol City Mus. Cb. 4603, (in situ). This part of | the section belongs in the Subcontractus Zone and is to be correlated / FULLER’S EARTH SECTIONS 437 with the lower part of the Dodington Ash Rock of the motorway sec- tion which has also yielded Tulites. Palaeontological correlation between the motorway and Dyrham sections is possible, but correlation between lithological divisions at the two sections is almost impossible. ‘There seems to be rapid and considerable variation in the development of limestones in these beds in this region. The Dyrham Fuller’s Earth Rock correlates on brachiopod and ammonite evidence with the middle of the three rock bands and the superjacent Ornithella beds in the Fuller’s Earth at the motorway section (the Dodington Ash Rock of this paper—see Fig. 1). Arkell and Donovan (1952) correlated this Dyrham section with the Tresham Rock they recognized farther north, but the motorway sect- ion has shown that this correlation needs modification. The Fuller’s Earth Rock at Dyrham is at a separate horizon below the Tresham Rock. There seems little doubt that Arkell and Donovan could only map the Cross Hands Rock and Dodington Ash Rock together as one unit which they called the Cross Hands Rock, the lower of their two rock units in the Fuller’s Earth. These new sections have shown that three rock units are present and not two as originally thought. The new correlations outlined above are shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. SUMMARY A new section exposed during construction of the M4 motorway has shown for the first time the succession in the Fuller’s Earth of the South Cotswolds. Three limestones are present, not two as thought previously. ‘These are in descending order: Tresham Rock (of Upper Bathonian age). Dodington Ash Rock—newly named (of Middle Bathonian age— Morrisi and Subcontractus Zones). Cross Hands Rock (of Middle Bathonian Age—basal Subcon- tractus Zone). The celebrated exposure of Fuller’s Earth Rock at Dyrham is correlated with the motorway section and shown to be of similar age to the Dodington Ash Rock. It is not to be correlated with the Tresham Rock as had been suggested. A number of ammonites have been found, normally very rare in these strata. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am extremely grateful to Dr. H. Ivimey-Cook for discussion of some points in this paper and for allowing me to gain access to the Institute of Geological Sciences’ collection from the motorway section. 438 H. S. TORRENS The work was done during the tenure of a D.S.I.R. Studentship at Leicester University. My thanks go to Professor P. C. Sylvester- Bradley for his constant kindness and encouragement. The author’s collections (numbers cited in text) are in the Department of Geology at Leicester University; GSM:—Geological Survey and Museum. REFERENCES Arkell, W. J. 1951-59. A Monograph of English Bathonian Am- monites. Palaeontogr. Soc. [Monogr.| i-viii, 1-264, pls. 1-33. Arkell, W. J. & Donovan, D. T. 1952. The Fuller’s Earth of the Cotswolds and its relation to the Great Oolite. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 107, 227-53, pls. 13-6. Fry, T. R. 1951. Temporary exposures and borehole records in the Bristol area. 7. Jurassic rocks at Dodington Ash, Gloucestershire. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 28{2), 199-202. McKerrow, W. S. 1953. Variation in the Terebratulacea of the Fuller’s Earth Rock. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 109, 97-124. Muir-Wood, H. M. 1936. A Monograph of the Brachiopods of the British Great Oolite Series. Part i, The Brachiopoda of the Fuller’s Earth. Palaeontogr. Soc. [Monogr.| 1-144, pls. i-v. Reynolds, S. H. & Vaughan, A. 1902. On the Jurassic strata cut through by the South Wales direct line between Filton and Wootton Bassett. Q. Zl geol. Soc. Lond. 57, 719-52. Richardson, L. 1910. The Inferior Oolite and Contiguous Deposits of the South Cotteswolds. Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Fld Club, 17, 63- 136. Richardson, L. 1935. Some sections of the Fuller’s Earth in the south Cotteswolds. Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Fld Club, 25, 279-82. Torrens, H. S. 1965. Revised zonal scheme for the Bathonian Stage of Europe. Reports. Carpato-Balkan Geol. Cong. VII, part II, 1, 47-55: Torrens, H. S. 1967. Standard Zones of the Bathonian. Coll. Fur. II. Luxembourg (preprint), 46 pp. | Torrens, H. S., in press. The Stratigraphical Distribution of | Bathonian ammonites in central England. Geol. Mag. | VoL. XXXI, Part IV PLATE X a—d: Potato Stones; a and b: Two halves of one stone with a rim of fine-grained quartz with larger quartzes (Bristol Diamonds) growing into the cavity; c: Stone completely filled with agate and fine-grained quartz; d: Rim of fine-grained quartz with central cavity being filled by large calcite crystal (flat area to left of centre); e, f: Quartz (Bristol Diamonds) growing from the sides of veins. All x 0-6. (Photographs by R. Godwin) facing page 439] 439 BRISTOL DIAMONDS By R. BRapsHAw (Department of Geology, University of Bristol) INTRODUCTION Thus when two gems their emulous light display, That in a true, this in a glist’ring ray, Vulgar spectators with distracted eyes Gaze; or the more highly the false jewel prize, Till, to a skilful lapidary shown He parts the diamond from the Bristol stone. HIS extract is from the poem Divination by Wase in 1666 which is, according to Lord, one of the few political satires of the time to support the government of the period. In it the author is discussing the ethics of anonymous attacks on the adminis- tration and is perhaps suggesting the difference between true and false friends. It is clear that he realizes that Bristol Stones are often passed off as diamonds—that they are, in fact, counterfeit. It is the purpose of this article to enquire into the nature of Bristol Diamonds or Bristol Stones, to show how early observers believed them to be true diamonds albeit of inferior quality, and to trace the growing awareness of the fact that they are quartz crystals. The distribution of the stones in the Bristol district is described, and their possible mode of origin discussed. Finally, a number of quotations are given to show how Bristol Diamonds were well known to late sixteenth and seventeenth century poets. The two substances which are confused are diamond and quartz. Diamond, a form of carbon, is the hardest substance known, is often colourless and transparent but may show pale colours such as yellow or green; sometimes it is black. It is often found as rounded and shapeless pebbles but may occur as small octahedral crystals; the variety of faces found on jewellery-diamonds have been cut by lapidaries (Fig. 1, a—c). Diamond is highly-prized as a gem-stone because of its hardness, brilliance, ‘fire’ and rarity. Quartz, one of the many forms of silica, may be colourless and brilliant but is often milky, smoky, amethystine or rose-coloured. When found as small, well-formed crystals (Fig. 1, e, f) it has a superficial resemblance to some forms of cut diamond. It was much used in second-rate jewellery, being cut as ‘brilliants’ (Fig. 1, c), but is much softer than diamond, has no ‘fire’ and is very abundant. ig BRADSHAW | eS @ f g h Fig. 1. a-c: Top and side views of cut diamonds:— a: Table; b: Dutch rose; c: Brilliant. d: Fluorite cube modified by hexoctahedron; e: Common form of quartz showing prism capped by two sets of rhombohedra; f: Quartz with only the rhombohedra developed and thus resembling hexagonal bipyramids. g-i: Forms of calcite:-— g: Rhombohedron; h: Prism capped by rhombohedron (nail- head spar); 1: Scalenohedron (dog-tooth spar). QUARTZ In several of the following quotations the word ‘c(h)rystal’ is used instead of quartz and it is appropriate to discuss briefly the origin of the name quartz. More extended discussion can be found in the articles by Frondel (1962) and Tomkeieff (1942). Theophrastus in the third century B.C. used the word cristallos, and Pliny in the first century A.D. crystallus, for rock-crystal (i.e. quartz), which was believed to have been formed from water by extreme cold, it being said that rock-crystal was found only where the snows of winter were frozen hard. This belief was commonly held until the seventeenth century. The term crystal was applied to the transparent, euhedral type of | quartz until the eighteenth century but afterwards to any body with | a regular polyhedral form. At about the same time the name quariz came into more general use for the form of silica occurring as good crystals. It had been widely applied to the white, granular, massive BRISTOL DIAMONDS 44] type of vein quartz since the beginning of the eighteenth century though in sporadic use much earlier. The first usage of the word quartz in English by Jorden (1632) also mentions Bristol Stones: There are also certain stones which we call fluores [fluorite], which doe naturally shoot in divers forms: as Christall six squares Sparr, which the Dutch [Germans] call Sput or Quertz, shoots into points like diamonds: as we see in those Cornish or Bristoll stones. EARLY REFERENCES TO BRISTOL DIAMONDS William Camden’s Britannia (1586) is a mine of information on the history, geography and folklore of the various counties. Bristol is described in the chapter on Somersetshire and Holland’s transla- tion (1610, p. 239) of the original Latin edition gives... From hence as Avon holdeth on his course, there are on ech side very high cliffes by nature set there (as it were) of purpose, the one of them which on the East-side overlooketh the river beareth the name of S. Vincents rock, so full of Diamants, that a man may fill whole strikes or bushels of them. These are not so much set by, because they be so plenteous. For in bright and transparent colour they match the Indian Diamants, if they passe them not: in hardnesse onely they are inferior to them; but in that nature her selfe hath framed them pointed with six cornered or foure cornered smooth sides; I think them therefore worthy to be had in greater admiration. The other rocke also on the West-side is likewise full of Diamants, which by the wonderfull skill and worke of nature, are enclosed as young ones within the bowels of hollow and reddish flints: for, heere is the earth of a red colour. Since no other mineral is mentioned it seems certain that Camden believes these crystals to be diamonds though he agrees that they are of inferior hardness. The forms he describes are those of quartz and since they have naturally-occurring smooth bright faces they are superior to Indian diamonds which must be cut. Camden infers that the diamonds on the western (Leigh Woods) side of the river have a different mode of occurrence from those at St. Vincent’s Rock. The ‘hollow and reddish flints’ may well be potato stones about which more is said later. The diarist John Evelyn visited Bristol in 1654 but it is not clear whether or not he believed the stones to be true diamonds but what was most stupendious to me, was the rock of St. Vincent ... the preci- pice whereoff is equal to any thing of that nature I have seene in the most confragose cataracts of the Alpes... Here we went searching for Diamonds ... Thomas Fuller (1662, 3, p. 33) in a section on the ‘Naturall Commodities’ of Bristol, seems to be in no doubt. These are the Stars of the Earth, though such but dimme ones, which St. Vincents Rock near to this City doth produce. Their Price is abated by their paleness and softnesse, to which we may add their Number and Nearness; For, were they but few and far fetched, their value would be advanced; They are not those Unions, Pearles so called, because thrifty Nature only affordeth them one by one; seeing that not only Twins but Bunches and Clusters of these are found together. Were this Rock of raw Diamonds removed into the East-Indies, and placed where the Beams of the Sun might sufficiently concoct them, probably in some hundreds H 442 R. BRADSHAW of years they would be ripened into an Orient perfection. All I will add is this; a Lady in the reign of Queen Elizabeth would have as patiently digested the Lye, as the wearing of False Stones or Pendants of counterfeit Pearl, so common in our Age; and I could wish it were the worst piece of hypocrisy in Fashion. Britannia became a standard reference and many later writers such as Childrey (1661) owed much of their information to it. In a chapter on ‘Natural Rarities of Somersetshire’ he writes (p. 37) ... On the upper side of these craggy Rocks of St. Vincent, are digged out pellucid stones, sexangular (or six cornered) which we call Diamonds. Some will have them to be Chrystal, but (saith Mr. Johnson) I think they are rather of the nature of Fluores. For (saith he) I remember an Apothecary of Bristol told me, the Lord of the place would not have them taken out of the Iron Mine, (which was the womb in which they were formed) because the greater quantity of them make the Metal the more fluid, and apt to melt. And Agricola tells us, that Fluores are very like Diamonds but not so hard, and that they are used in the melting and trying of Metals; for (saith he) they make the matter in the fire much more fluid. And Kentmannus in his Catalogue of Fossils, reckons Pellucid Fluores, sexangular, and like Crystal. Of these St. Vincent Stones, Gambden speaks thus: They are (saith he) so plentiful there, that one may fill a bushel with them; and they are all either four cornered or six cornered. And saith Speed, saving their hardness, they are as good as the Diamonds of India. On another Rock more Western than St. Vincents Rock, there are found Dia- monds enclosed in hollow and reddish Flints after a wonderful manner, and the Earth itself is red there too. Childrey clearly believes that the pellucid stones are not diamonds and the fluores he mentions is fluorite (Fig. 1, d) which is now only rarely found in the Bristol district. John Strachey, who has an important place in the history of geology, proposed writing a Somersetshire Illustrated but only the Proposals were printed. Recently Webby (see Strachey, 1736) cited a section of Strachey’s manuscript entitled Of Stones and the follow- ing is a brief extract (Webby, 1967, p. 317). Neither are we altogather destitute of precious Stones. In the Rock Opposite ! to Saint Vincents in long Aston some few Rubies have been found, Diamonds | Equal in lusture [to] the Oriental. Only in hardness they fall short and its Remark- | able that on this Side [of] the River they are found Hexagonal in Clusters in flynts of a round fine Reddish Colour and hollow within. On the other Side Mostly | Single but Angularaly. These all go Under the Name of Bristol Stones and were it | Not for the Commoness would have greater Esteem. Agats and Chrystalls are | Many times found among the Rocks of Sparr in Mendip Hills and indeed seem | to be Only Sparr improved. The rubies are hematite-stained quartz crystals and since he talks | about agates and crystals in the Mendips it appears that he considers | the Bristol Stones to be diamonds but of inferior quality. This is confirmed by a later reference in a passage ‘Of Metalls’ (Webby, | 1967, p. 321). Sparr is also the bed or Seat of Christalls and Bristol Diamonds are found in such | Veins of Sparr Inclosed in limestones Rocks. So wee are told the Diamond Mines of Quotara in East India are in a yellowish Earth full of Small pibbles like our ~ gravel pits. Those of Malabar lye in More Reddish or rather Orange Colour Earth BRISTOL DIAMONDS 443 . .. to which the Surface of the Earth on St. Vincents Rock by Bristol is Orange colour but gradually Changes to yellow. The suggestion that crystal is only a superior sort of spar (calcite, see Fig. 1, g—i) had been made earlier by Merrett (1678) who con- sidered Bristol Diamonds to be the same as Cornish Diamonds and “seem ... to be but a finer, purer, and harder sort of Sparr.”’ Calcite is much softer than quartz, is rarely clear and transparent in the Bristol district, has a quite different crystalline form (Fig. 1, g—i), and a perfect rhombohedral cleavage (similar to Fig. 1, g). However quartz from the Bristol area has been recorded and figured by Phillips (1819) as crystallizing as a ‘primitive rhomboid’ similar in shape to the calcite rhombs. These two minerals often occur together and have the same mode of occurrence in veins and cavities. This fact was recognized by Owen (1754) who noted that two sorts of materials—crystals and spar—are often identified as the same. Both can be clear and transparent, are joined to stone at one end and are pointed or sharp at the other, and both grow in clusters, but whereas crystal is clear, bright and hard, spar is muddy, softer and less glassy; crystal will cut glass and suffers no change in a moderate fire, yet spar will break when it touches glass and will calcine to lime when heated; crystal is almost always uncoloured, spar is often yellowish or whitish. He states (p. 32-3) that ‘Bristol stones are all of the former kind [i.e. crystal]’ and are ‘as well polished as if from the hands of a lapidary.’ At Clifton ‘they resemble table diamonds; and some of them, where the pyramids stand up- right, and are broad and short, have at first view an aspect of rose diamonds.’ (See Fig. 1, a, b). Owen’s observations were extremely acute and the reader is referred to Chapters 2, 3 and 5 for details of the varied crystalline forms of crystal (quartz), of the ‘manner in which Bristol stones grow,’ of their frequent association with cavities in the iron ores, and with cracks in other rocks. He nowhere men- tions ‘potato stones’ by name but some of the descriptions are clearly of nodules or geodes which have since been called potato stones. ... the old writers supposed, crystal was congealed from water, and I think they say the present writers deny it but Owen says that he agrees with the old writers. He is not saying that crystal is hard-frozen water but he adduces much evidence from vaults, bridges, kettles, etc., that water can congeal into stone... or at least that it can leave some stoney matter behind it. Bristol stones, are formed in the cavities of iron ore and the cracks of stones, just in the same manner as those stoney icicles; that is, from water draining through, and resting a great while upon the surface (p. 54). This was certainly the best account to that date and there have been few to equal it since. It is therefore all the more surprising to find Barrett (1789) writing ... 444 R. BRADSHAW On St. Augustine’s side of the city, a mile down the river Avon, is the noted rock of St. Vincent, which furnishes the naturalist with those beautiful pieces of spar called Bristol stones... . in the fissures [of the limestone] are found those fine crystals, smoothed and formed into angles by nature as well as by the most skilful lapidary can be done: sometimes they are found inclosed in hollow reddish nodules, which are as it were | pregnant with these gems, and contain them as in a safe matrix, which must be | broke before you can discover them; these are turned up often by the plow in the fields near Durdham-down and about Kingsweston. (See Plate X a, b, for pregnant nodules) Yet his contemporary Pryce (1778) wrote What is vulgarly called Spar with us, and which is so plentifully scattered upon | the surface of every heathy common, is not the real Spar; and is, by most Litholo- gists, better known by the German name of Quartz, for want of a proper English appelative. DISTRIBUTION AND ORIGIN By the end of the eighteenth century therefore it had been estab- lished that the Bristol Stones were crystal (quartz), that they | occurred in fissures in the limestone or in hollow nodules either in | the limestone or in closely related rocks and that frequently iron | ore was associated. Further, Owen had suggested that the crystal | was deposited from circulating waters. The Bristol area was a popular and important one in the growing _ study of geology so that there are numerous articles which describe the geology and mention Bristol Diamonds. Reference may be made | to Bright (1817), Buckland and Conybeare (1824), Etheridge (1870), Woodward (1876) and Stoddart (1876, 1877). From these and other accounts it was established that the quartz | crystals are associated with iron ore veins and patches, both in the | Carboniferous Limestone and the Dolomitic Conglomerate, at Winford, Clifton, Clapton and Providence; they are also found in | nodules or geodes, called ‘Potstones’ or more frequently ‘Potato — Stones,’ in the Dolomitic Conglomerate or closely related Keuper | Marls at, for example, Sea Mills, Shirehampton, St. Vincent’s | Rocks, Westbury-on-Trym, Leigh Woods, Failand, Sandford Hill, East Harptree, Langford, Chilcompton, Dulcote and Wells. The Dolomitic Conglomerate of Triassic age is a fossil scree deposit banked against Old Red Sandstone and Carboniferous rocks | during the wearing away of the mountains produced in this area at | the end of Carboniferous times. It varies in lithology from a coarse | breccia, as in Bridge Valley Road, Bristol, to a fine-grained yellow dolomitic breccia as at Clevedon. Its flagrantly unconformable | relation to the older rocks and its distribution can best be studied on | the geological map of the Bristol District. There is always the possibility of finding potato stones and Bristol Diamonds anywhere | along this outcrop. BRISTOL DIAMONDS 445 Iron ore (hematite, goethite or limonite) is always found in pipes or fissures in the Dolomitic Conglomerate close to its junction with the underlying Carboniferous Limestone in which veins of iron ore also occur. It seems generally agreed (see Green and Welch, 1965) that the iron was brought into the rocks by groundwaters descending from above, the iron having been leached out of the Trias or, more probably, from shales of the Coal Measures. ‘The calcareous patches in the Conglomerate and parts of the Carboniferous Limestone itself were thus replaced by the iron to produce patches of hematite, etc. These downward percolating waters, moving through fissures and joints, would also carry silica in solution which would be deposited as quartz. Extensive silicification of the Dolomitic Con- glomerate has been described from the Mendips by Green and Welch (1965, pp. 74-77 and 95) who however suggest that some of the silica may be of hydrothermal origin, i.e. from ascending waters. The formation of mineral veins in cracks and crevices in rocks is fairly well understood but the same cannot be said for the formation of geodes (potato stones in the Bristol area). ‘These potato stones (Plate X) are from 1-8 inches across, are sub-spherical to irregular and have outer layers of chalcedonic silica or fine-grained quartz. They are often hollow, with quartz, calcite or celestine crystals growing into them (X, a, b) but they may be completely filled with crystalline materials (X, d) or with banded agate (X, c). The origin of geodes has been discussed in detail by Pettijohn (1949, p. 151) who suggests that the significant features when found in limestones are (1) a subspherical shape, (2) a hollow interior, (3) a clay film between the wall and the limestone matrix, (4) an outer chalcedonic silica Jayer, (5) an inner drusy lining of inward projecting crystals, (6) evidence of expansion or growth. A necessary prerequisite for geode formation is an initial cavity in which connate (original) saline solutions are present as a fluid isolated from the rest of the rock by a layer of gelatinous silica. The waters outside freshen, osmosis begins and the internal pressure built up is directed against the wall. This promotes solution at the silica-limestone interface which goes on until the concentration of salts inside is reduced and the expansion pressure is negligible. The silica gel dehydrates, crystallizes and then shrinks and cracks so that mineral-bearing waters, as discussed above, can enter the cavity and deposit the quartz, calcite or celestine. Bristol is not the only place to give its name to these ‘false dia- monds.’ Herbert-Smith (1958) records, in addition, Isle of Wight, Cornish, Vallum (Madras), Mari (Indus), Alaska, Arkansas and Bohemian Diamonds; Miers (1902) has a Wicklow (Ireland) type; Frondel has Herkimer, Lake George, Cape May (all U.S.A.), 446 R. BRADSHAW Marmaros (Hungary), Briancon and Alencon (France), Schaumberg (Germany) varieties and Phillips (1819) mentions Bornholm Dia- monds. BRISTOL DIAMONDS IN LITERATURE Poets of the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries made many allusions to Bristol Diamonds, almost always setting them against real diamonds; there is the idea of the false or counterfeit being contrasted with the true. Even though Strachey in 1736 describes ‘diamonds’ from the Bristol area and seems to believe them to be real, Lodge (in Wits Miserie, 1596) talks about “‘A counterfeit chain . . . [of] Bristow diamonds.” There is a strong possibility that the source of information for many of these early poets was Cam- den’s Britannia (1586) in which, as shown earlier, the inferiority of Bristol Diamonds was discussed but which includes no indication that the stones were crystal (later, quartz). In Hall’s Satires (1597), which were an arraignment of ostentatious piety in particular and of ostentation in general, we read... And he that cannot brag of greater store, Must make his somewhat much, and little more. Nor can good Myson wear on his left hond, A signet ring of Bristol diamond, But he must cut his glove to show his pride, That his trim jewel might be better spy’d: ... Drayton’s poem Poly-Olbion (1612) is said to recreate the romantic spell of Elizabethan England. In the fourth song, lines 188-193, he makes a brief reference to Bristol Diamonds. And as Loégria spares not anything of worth That any way might set her goodly Rivers forth, As stones by nature cut from the Cornubian Strond; Her Dertmore sends them Pearle; Rock-vincent, Diamond: So Cambria, of her Nymphs especiall care will have. For Conwy sends them Pearle to make them wondrous brave; Meercraft, in Ben Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass (1616), asks Gilt- head to find him a diamond ring so that he can play some trick on Fitzdottrel. When this is produced in Act III, Scene 1, Meercraft asks Meercraft ... How now; you have there now Some Bristol stone or Cornish counterfeit You’d put upon us! Gilthead No, sir, I assure you: Look on his lustre, he will speak himself! I’ll give you leave to put him in the mill: He is no great large stone, but a true paragon, He has all his corners, view him well. In Nathan Field’s Amends for Ladies (1612) Husband suspects his wife and asks his friend Subtle to discover whether or not she is true BRISTOL DIAMONDS 447 to him. This is playing into Subtle’s hands since he desires the wife and thus can carry out his friend’s wishes while at the same time furthering his own evil designs. In their discussions Husband says (Act I, line 483) Chimicall metals, and bright gold it selfe By sight are not distinguisht, but by th’ test; Thought makes good wives, but triall makes them best: To the unskilfull owners eies alike The Bristow sparkles as the Diamond, But by a Lapidarie the truth is found, Come you shall not denie me. The widespread use of quartz for diamonds either as cheap jewellery or perhaps with deliberate intent to defraud obviously made people wary and John Cleveland in The King’s Disguise (1651), a poem which makes reference to the stealing of packets of secret letters, uses the term Bristoll-sense as synonymous with a suspicious nature. Hence Cabinet-Intruders, Pick-locks hence, You that dim Jewells with your Bristoll-sense: And Characters, like witches, so torment, Till they confesse a guilt, though innocent. Mennis and Smith (1658) return to the problem of the real and the false, the true and the good friend, in their poem To the Duke of Buckingham. Oh you that should in choosing of your owne, Know a true Diamond from a Bristow stone, You that do know they are not allwayes best In their intent, that lowdest do portest But that a prayer from the Convocation Is better than the Commons protestation, Trust them that at your feet their lives will lay And know no arts but to performe and pray Whilst they that buy perferment without praying Begin with bribes, and finish with betraying. and the poem by Wase quoted earlier is on the same theme. Between 1673 and 1678 Samuel Butler wrote Hudibras and in the next few years a number of imitations of 1t appeared. In one of these, by Ward, (1707, vol. II) we find: The cap the stalking hero wore Was set with Bristowe gems before. The Rev. William Goldwyn, sometime Master of Bristol Grammar School, wrote a poetic description of Bristol in 1712 and discussed Bristol Stones without referring to them by name. In clustering brightness lie, Like constellations studded in the sky, Some glistening stones which careful Nature locks Within the cabinet of the firmest rocks Whose brilliant sparks, when lapidaries fine With Eastern pearls in second beauty shine. 448 R. BRADSHAW Sir Walter Scott was present at the coronation of George IV in 1821 and in a letter describing the scene he wrote: Beside the Prince [Prince Esterhazy] sat a good-humoured lass .. . . who wore as many diamonds as if they had been Bristol Stones. Bristol Diamonds (Marshall, 1888) is the title of a romance, set in the Hot Wells area of Bristol in 1773, in which true love finally — triumphs. On one occasion the hero and heroine walked from the Pump Room towards Clifton and on the way There were stalls with men stationed behind them selling the then famous | Bristol diamonds. As they passed, the light caught a trinket, shaped like a fat heart, set round with these stones. This was bought and presented to the heroine but as they walked back past the Pump Room and a knot of young men, one of them remarked: “Almost like a little Quaker, but the effect is spoiled by that shining bauble.” “She takes ’em for real diamonds, I'll lay a wager.’ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank Mr. T. R. Fry for discussion on the location and | origin of potato stones, Dr. J. Wilders for help with some of the sources, and the staff of the Reference Section of the Bristol Central | Library. REFERENCES Barrett, W. 1789. The History and Antiquities of the City of Bristol. Bristol. Bright, R. 1817. On the Strata in the Neighbourhood of Bristol. Trans. geol. Soc. Lond. 4, 193-205. Buckland, W. & Conybeare, W. D. 1824. Observations on the | South-western Coal District of England. Trans. geol. Soc. Lond. 1 (2nd Ser.), 210-316. Camden, W. 1610. Britannia. Translated from the Latin Edn. of 1586 | by P. Holland. London. Childrey, J. 1661. Britannia Baconica. London. Cleveland, J. 1651. “The King’s Disguise’ in B. Morris & E. Worthington (Eds.), 1967, The Poems of Fohn Cleveland. Oxford. Drayton, M. 1612. Poly-Olbion in J. W. Hebel (Ed.), 1933, The | Works of Michael Drayton. 5 vols. Oxford. Etheridge, R. 1870. On the Geological Position and Geographical | Distribution of the Reptilian or Dolomitic Conglomerate of the Bristol Area. Quart. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 26, 174-91. Evelyn, J. 1654. In E. S. Beer (Ed.), 1955, The Diary of Fohn Evelyn. 5 vols. Oxford. BRISTOL DIAMONDS 449 Field, N. 1612. ‘Amends for Ladies’ in W. Peery (Ed.), 1950, The Plays of Nathan Field. Austin. Frondel, C. 1962. Dana’s System of Mineralogy (7th ed.). Vol. III. Stlica Minerals. New York & London. Fuller, T. 1662. The History of the Worthies of England. London. Geological Survey, 1962. I-in. to 1 mile geological map of the Bristol District. Chessington. Goldwyn, W. 1712. In Arrowsmith’s Dictionary of Bristol (2nd ed.) 1906. Bristol. Green, G. W. & Welch, F.B.A. 1965. Geology of the Country around Wells and Cheddar. Mem. geol. Surv. U.K. Hall, J. 1597. In Satires of Joseph Hall. 1824. London. Herbert-Smith, G. F. 1958. Gem-stones (13th ed.), rev. by F. C. Phillips. London. Jonson, B. 1616. “The Devil is an Ass’ in W. Gifford (Ed.), 1879, The Works of Ben Jonson. London. Jorden, E. 1632. A Discourse of Naturall Bathes and Minerall Waters (2nd ed.). London. Lodge, ‘T. 1596. Wits Miserie in Oxford English Dictionary (1888 ed.). Marshall, E. 1888. Bristol Diamonds or The Hot Wells in the Year 1773. London. Mennis, Sir J. & Smith, J. 1658. The Muses Recreation, Wit Restor’d and Wits Recreations (1817 ed.). 2 vols. London. Merrett, C. 1678. A Relation of the Tinn-Mines, and the working of Tinn in the County of Cornwal. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 12, 949-52. Miers, H. A. 1902. Mineralogy. London. Owen, E. 1754. Observations on the Earths, Rocks, Stones and Minerals, for some miles about Bristol and on the Nature of the Hotwell, and the Virtue of tts Water. London. Pettijohn, F. J. 1949. Sedimentary Rocks. New York. Phillips, W. 1819. Elementary Introduction to Mineralogy (2nd ed.). London. Pryce, W. 1778. Mineralogia Cornubiensis. London. Scott, Sir W. 1821. In J. G. Lockhart, 1839, Memoirs of the life of Sir Walter Scott. 10 vols. London and Edinburgh. Stoddart, W. W. 1876. Geology of the Bristol Coalfield. Part 3. Carboniferous. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 1 (N.S.), 313-34. Stoddart, W. W. 1877. Jbid. Part 5. The Triassic Period. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 2 (N.S.), 39-47. Strachey, J. 1736. Jn Of Stones, from the manuscript of John Strachey’s Proposed Somersetshire Illustrated by Webby, B.D. (1967) Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 31, 311-30. Tomkeieff, 8. I. 1942. On the origin of the name ‘quartz.’ Min. Mag. 26, 172-8. 450 R. BRADSHAW Ward, E. 1707. Hudibras Redivivus. London. Wase, C. 1666. ‘Divination’ in G. de F. Lord (Ed.), 1963, Poems on Affairs of State. 2 vols. New Haven and London. Webby, B. D. 1967. See Strachey, J., 1736. Woodward, H. 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F a ue ac We Me: 83 Professor WILLIAM RAMSAY 4 Ai ae oa se 84 Rev. THOMAS HINCKS .. My Be Je ae im 87 Professor C. LLOYD MORGAN .. ai ys as ee go Erokx Addison, D., A.R.I.C.S. .... Allan, D. L., M.A. Allen, Dr. K. C., B.Sc., Ph.D. Allen, Mrs. K. C., B.Sc. .... Alwyn-Smith, Miss S. J. .... Angles, R., A.M.I.Mech.E., PAU MROU NCS estilo lenalid toi eral ole des Anstey, Mrs. A. V. Appleyard, Mrs. J. AGDery Rel ite eo. GaSe ye RG Whereis oi dos Guns oe eee eo we eo 4 Portland Street, Clifton, Bristol 8 Greengates, Olveston, nr. Bristol 14, Woodgrove Road, Henbury, Bristol 7 Coombe Bridge Avenue, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 1 Rose Terrace, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol O. 11 Henley Grove, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol c/o Postmaster, Post Office, Filton, Bristol 14 Cheriton Place, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Sunnyside, West Horrington, Wells, Som. 271 Coleridge Road, Weston-super-Mare, Som. 83 Queenshill Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Avery, Dr. R. A., B.Sc., Ph.D. Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, Badock, Miss M. D......... Bailey, Miss M. Joo. ........- Baldwin, Ie Bod a6ea 6s sae Baldwin, Mrs. D. F. Ballard, Miss D. Bambridge, Miss M. BanhamuBe@y0 Pie. wee es 5 Barnett, Miss O. V. Barnett, S. HuoG. .).c0.... coe ec eee Baldwin, S. A., M.P.S., F.G.S., EAB 0 cokes Bambridge, Mrs. M. 5; BA... eocee ee eo Barnett, Mrs. S. H. G....... Baron, Miss J. P. .. Barrett, J. H., A.L.E. in Wartlett, Ply... 5 eels eee eee Bartlett, Mrs. S. .. Bashford, Mrs. G. I. Bassindale, Mrs. R. BP AGEY CAR aoe ee tS Sas A e's Batty, Mrs. K. T. Beaton, Miss D. R. *Bassindale, R., M.Sc. eee ee oe oo Bristol 8 22 Woodbridge Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 24 Arundell Rd., Weston-super-Mare, Som. 17 Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Do. 11 Downlands Road, Purley, Surrey 336 Lodge Causeway, Fishponds, Bristol 286 Canford Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. 52 Highbury Road, Bedminster, Bristol 3 60A Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 2 The Avenue, Sneyd Park, Bristol 9 Do. Cotswold Cottage, Lansdown Lane, Upton Cheyney, Bitton, nr. Bristol 10 Avonwood Close, Shirehampton, Bristol 15 Penrhiwfer Road, Tonyrefail, Porth, Glam. 75 Ellacombe Road, Longwell Green, nr. Bristol 115 Reedley Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 209 Stoke Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. Steppings, Ladye Bay, Walton St. Mary, Clevedon, Somerset Do. 83 St Michael’s Hill, Bristol 2 460 A. A, LIST OF MEMBERS Bebbington, A., M.Sc., M.I. 13 Red House Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, BIOL etait aversyareate ect ane Bristol Bennett, Miss A. E., B.Sc. .. 37 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bennett Gaye ao58 foc eta 5 Maple Gardens, Bear Flat, Bath, Somerset Bennett, Miss E. B. ........ 2 Alexandra Road, Southmead, Bristol Bennett, Mrs. N. M., B.Sc. .. Pippins, Hill Lane, Tickenham, Clevedon, Somerset BentleyvAwg ase o spe tees Barn House, Charlcombe, Bath, Somerset Best, G: Re, Lil Biol. 22.5% Hortham Cottage, Hortham Lane, Almonds- bury, nr. Bristol Betts: Miss’b. L.,, BScs. 75.5. 8 St Michael’s Park, Bristol 2 Beverley, EAD). en vacies tae 2 Northumbria Drive, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Beverley, Mrs. EB. Diz...:2%.. Do. Bigger WG asi ose texres Brook House, Priory Road, Easton-in- Gordano, nr. Bristol BIG Ss VAISS tote otters seat Monks Park House, Southmead Hospital, Bristol Billets Ayal cw ets eso 55 Sree Hardy Lane, Tockington, nr. Bristol Bard eddies Weer heave. deeb tnd aus Winchcombe Galleries, 11 Gloucester Street, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Glos. Bird, P.- Bz, (B.Sc), 8.Z:5: A. M. ANGE Se cous ays Je-cyahatalle Bete ee The City Museum, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 Blackford, Miss M., B.A., NGM Se oser cues elageeenate ott 64 Berkeley Road, Fishponds, Bristol Bland, Miss Ja (Gira aah cd 2 20 Dundonald Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Bland, Rea Las BoA shee cys toe Clifton College, Clifton, Bristol 8 *Blathwayt, C. S. H., M.A., 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somer- BR EEO Lew arhamataaden: set Bond, Dr. T. E. T., D.Sc., Sonoma, Knightcott Road, Abbot’s Leigh, Bh Dy aaa ot so sacs nr. Bristol Bond, Miso Po Eiwlin2 6006s Do. Boswally Ji evi sctcieet Se ae et B.B.C. Natural History Unit, Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bowen, Miss M., B.Sc....... 211 Redland Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Boyd, H. Sn ene 1032 Pinewood Crescent, Ottawa 14, Canada BOya soo Ma, Ae he oe aes 8 Clyde Park, Redland, Bristol 6 Boyd, Mirs.JyM:. 2.icals nigh Do. BOYGs (Sos ngacveltp ects aeesery Sees Do. Bradley, MrsaW.. Bac... % 63 Highbury Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 *Bradshaw, R., M.Sc., F.G.S. Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Brain, Miss M.D. M....... 17 Moordell Close, Yate, nr. Bristol Brannon, Miss Fj H... 3. o- Gordano, 30 Cambridge Road, Clevedon, Somerset Brecknell eG ysis Uscon See 18 College Road, Wells, Somerset Brewster, CuAue ns 3. vente 102 Derricke Road, Stockwood, Bristol 4 Bridge, ColsiGiAw 2 as Glencorse, 14 Ridgeway Road, Long Ashton, Bristol Bridge; Miss. M. By .o%:3 223... Do. Bight il. Gri = se eater 73 Bryant’s Hill, St. George, Bristol 5 Bright, Mars. Fs Gs} cis. acter Do. Bristol Central Library...... College Green, Bristol 1 Britton, Mirs:(D. Hie. Sa5-6.04 40. 50 Kingsway, Kingswood, Bristol Britton, * Mis): (Rea ae Ae. 2. 23 Buckingham Place, Downend, Bristol Britton, Miss Po Jn. ot Village Farm, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol Bromell, Miss M. A. ........ Monks Park House, Southmead Hospital, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol “Browns A; DAR. « fee g Stoke Park Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Brown, BayoHies jose. tate The Chase, Bishop’s Road, Cleeve, nr. Bristol LIST OF MEMBERS 461 Brown, D.H., B.Sc., Ph.D... Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Brown, Mrs. D.H.,B.Sc.,Ph.D. 38 Laurie Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol 9 ee Brown, G. Bp .........6.55. Badock Hall, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Brown, G. F. G., B.A.Sc., g Stoke Park Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 A.F.R.Ae.S. iBruceyi@oiR), BSc. si. ...5. 13 Northfield, Bridgwater, Somerset RV AOtE paiskticol 6. ces os 116 Doncaster Road, Southmead, Bristol pryantyMrs. Fs)... 3% Do. Buddery, Dr. J. H., A.R.C.S., 15 Gloucester Road, Thornbury, nr. Bristol Ph.D. Buddery, Mrs. J.H. ...... Do. BurmettP fo. kes eas Beam Mills, Wrington, nr. Bristol *Burton, J. F., F.R.E.S., B.B.C. Natural History Unit, Whiteladies INISBIO Wie toad tsi Sere. Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 BUREN ORs bios wk cctale os oe Ellfield, 23 Merlin Haven, Wotton-under- Edge, Glos. tise (Caio hae oes a 36 St. Silas Street, Bristol 2 Bussell, Miss D. M....... .. The Bungalow, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 Gin 2) 8 IU (0) 6 ts a 73 Symington Road, Fishponds, Bristol Bytord, (GH. GC. 22.66. eae. Patch Farm, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire Byrde, Dr. R. J. W., B.Sc. Homeleigh, Downside, West Town, nr. (blortae PRD. Oca eas es Bristol Byrde, Mrs. J. H., B.Sc. .... Do. Bywater; (Mi Je wick ccs as 53 Stonebridge Park, Upper Eastville, Bristol 5 Cadogan, A., B.Sc., M.I.Biol. 27 Treefield Road, Clevedon, Somerset Cameron, Miss I. L......... 44 Kellaway Avenue, Bristol 6 Campbell, Dr. A. M. G., 79 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 MZA., D.M., F.R.C.P. Campbell, Mrs. A.M. G. .. Do. C. Campbell, Dr. B., Ph.D., Hordley, Woodstock, Oxfordshire M.B.O.U. Ganapbellbl saree eae se 32 Gore Road, Ashton Gate, Bristol 3 ee PAGarinle GS. oe 5 8 os os 8 Hazeley Close, Hartley Wintney, Hants. Carpenter, Mrs. R. K....... Beaufort House, 52 Park Road, Stapleton, Bristol eA @arr, AYP. BSC... .. 6s 's os The Nature Conservancy, Furzebrook Re- search Station, Wareham, Dorset A. Carter, R. W.G., B.Sc. .... Journey’s End, Forehills Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol Cary,,.Muss KioM) 2.5.3 23% Garden Flat, 9 Cambridge Park, Redland, Bristol 6 @asex’ Mass Mil. .¢....+... 2 King’s Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 *Chadwick, P. J. W....2..... 6 Goldney Avenue, Clifton, Bristol 8 Challice, J. S., M.I.Biol., 7 Wyatt’s Close, Nailsea, nr. Bristol LARC, Charlesworth, W. B. ...... 36 Albert Road, Clevedon, Somerset Charlesworth, Mrs. W. B. Do. CMEtWOOGMTE. . besietes eas asa 116 Station Road, Henbury, Bristol Clark, "Mrs. M.M. .....5.. 48 Russell Road, Fishponds, Bristol moe Clark. Miss Pos). oe. sss Laudon, Lower Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Glos. Clark, R. J., B.Sc., M.I.Biol. 1g Orchard Road, Olveston, nr. Bristol Glark Mirs! Roa cos. fe els Do. @lark, WH. M., B.A... .c6.2.. 41 Valley Road, Clevedon, Somerset lay, SteMICA.. .Ph.Dy ..65 2% Merlin, Cadbury Lane, Clapton-in-Gordano, nr. Bristol Clement, Miss G. G......... Trenance, Lyndhurst Road, Midsomer Norton, Bath, Somerset 462 Ae C. LIST OF MEMBERS Clements. F835) 225. eee ntele Clothier, Gi Be ics ct ceuate Clough, Miss A. M......... Colfer, Miss S. EB. .....0..5. Collars Ng Bh kee ee Colley, Miss V. C., B.Sc..... Collins, Mrs. K. G. ........ Collins!Meiecs cena oceans Colthurst, Mrs. M. L., 10: Clo © 0 ARs er Nee ee arn ar Colthurst, W. D. Colthurst, Mrs. W. D. ...... Cook, Miss VoVsc05 42 sislne Coombs, Dr. C. J. F., M.A., MAB Baie usk4 cae ke Coupe, Miss S. M., S.R.N. .. Cowie, Dr. J. W., B.Sc., PH DIE GiSs, «otek els Crewdsons Nini oe tala ose he Crichton, Miss M. J. ...... Cullens Do AwGs. Jz co 6, dees @Gulverwelly RAV «cea. . ek. @umamins; (Co EL. Saies ss es Cummins, Mrs. C. H.:...... Garber Re Me ine iistaitctentee “Curtis,dl. Ee, dC, oo wie * Curtis; Dr. M. 15. K., B:Sce., Ph.D., F.G.S. Guthbert, Gy Rois colockiteeae Dalby, Mrs: BoM. 24). 5 225 Davey sb Gansiac eet. sie Davies, Miss A. M. ........ PID AVES lets terre tetera iatcs eecetes Davies, Mrs. M. E. M....... Davies, Mrs. N. Vaughan Davis Gu Sun ea sea Davis, H. H., M.B.O.U. .... Davis, MrsiHeoHer 500 ls, cio Davis; Mirs: Mia. cules Waivis, Mass Ni Miu 2 veer Day Re Mikirk, CR ein Maleate enning, W..)is .itiive esate |. 149 Queen’s Road, Bishopsworth, Bristol 3 7 The Crescent, Backwell, nr. Bristol 7 Fallodon Way, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 24 Summerhouse Estate, Tickenham, Cleve- don, Somerset 10 The Dell, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 32 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 154 High Street, Portishead, nr. Bristol 88 St. Mark’s Road, Easton, Bristol 5 Stonecrop, 57 Wembdon Hill, Bridgwater, Somerset Winnats, North End, Creech St. Michael, Somerset Do. 15 St. Helena Rd., Westbury Park, Bristol 6 Greenwith Place, Perranwell, nr. Truro, Cornwall 14 Cambridge Park, Redland, Bristol 6 Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 4 Beloe Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Clevedon Farm, Clevedon, Somerset 1 Oakwood Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol The Chestnuts, Norton Malreward, Pens- ford, nr. Bristol 13 Meadway Avenue, Nailsea, nr. Bristol g Osborne Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Lark Rise, Church Road, Hanham, Bristol Crosskeys, Horse Street, Chipping Sodbury, nr. Bristol 208 Stoke Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. 11 Weatherby Avenue, Odd Down, Bath, Somerset Dept. of Geography, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 The City Museum, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 Hungerford Court, Newton Park College, Bath, Somerset Grange Fell, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 57 Coombe Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 13 Berkeley Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 17 Glenmere Drive, Chatham, New Jersey, U.S.A. 61 Long Ashton Road, Long Ashton, Bristol 3 Clyde Road, Redland, Bristol 6 7 Cadogan Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Gordano, Church Road, Winscombe, Somerset oO. Ground Floor Flat, 9 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 2 Coleridge Vale Road East, Clevedon, Somerset Manzai, Dancing Lane, Wincanton, Som. 789 Whitchurch Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 LIST OF MEMBERS 463 Dennison, V. D., B.Sc....... Heathercrest, The Batch, Churchill, Som. Dennison, Mrs. V. D. ...... Do. Derham, Miss M.R. ...... 30 Aberdeen Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 Devonshire, Dr. A. F., M.A., 59 Falcondale Road, Westbury-on-Trym, IVY eo Yolarvisreis ses <0 0900-0 Bristol Diekson;:T.,.M............. 80 The Dell, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Dickson, Mrs. H. M. ...... Do. Dobbie: Dr..J. Le... 2... Gattrells, Fry’s Lane, Batheaston, Bath, Som. Dobbie, MirstiJedis 6.4 2s os Do. Donovan, Prof. D. T., Ph.D., Dept. of Geology, University College DiSe.,,F.L:S;, F.G:S...... London, Gower Street, London, W.C.1 Drake, P. rhe Gestets 6 sls ie Bai 6 19 The Avenue, Clifton, Bristol 8 Dransheld, Re'D.....0.... 6. Hiatt Baker Hall, Parry’s Lane, Bristol 9 Drazin, Dr. P. G., M.S., Ph.D. 15 Nugent Hill, Bristol 6 Drazin, Mrs. P. G., B.A. .... Do. Duckworth, Miss E. S....... c/o Meat Research Institute, Langford, nr Bristol Duddens (Gi. ee bs clases 26 Rousham Road, Eastville, Bristol 5 Dudden, Mrs. G. H......... Do. Duddridge, Miss E., B.Sc. .. 59 Kellaway Avenue, Bristol 6 Dudley-Smith, Mrs. R....... The Follies, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Dunning, Mrs. L. M. ...... 20 Glenwood Road, Henleaze, Bristol Eastes, Dr. H. J., M.B., B.S. ©The Bank House, High Street, Marshfield (Glos.), Chippenham, Wiltshire Eastes, Dr. Z. M. U., Do. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Eatough, J. A., A.R.P.S. .... 116 Newbridge Road, St. Anne’s Park, Bristol 4 Eatough, Mrs. J. A. ........ Do. Bdwardsy PsiDy «ena Vs o52 ss Wills Hall, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Bowards, Re (Gussie. ce sa 17 Donald Road, Uplands, Bristol 3 Edwards, Mrs. R. C. ...... Do. Blhott; Mrs. WB. ... 6.655 55 Effingham Road, Bristol 6 BSH PA Cs Ie echag tsi ee cece ks 22 York Gardens, Clifton, Bristol 8 Ethelston, Miss J. D......... 297 Down Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol BGMEISLOMY Soy desc os ay e.e che 08 s Do. vase Wile aaicsc so auto ed os D Ward, Ham Green Hospital, Pill, nr. Bristol Evans NMR oo sb a ee 8s aces 5 Lampeter Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Bivens ABW At. S533 dale < 5 Cotham Park North, Cotham, Bristol 6 Everett, Miss P.S. ...)+-..- 80 Parry’s Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Pivermmtt I iGls6 5 4s Set als oc 21 Dark Lane, Backwell, nr. Bristol Byles, Dr V.A.; D.Sc....%.. The Old Cottage, Great Rissington, Chel- tenham, Glos. Eyre-Brook, A. L. .......+... Druids Mead, Shirehampton Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Falk,,Mrs, M. M., ......7. 7 Sion Hill, Clifton, Bristol 8 Farmer, Miss P. E., B.Sc..... 44 College Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 armer Ps Gi tote sinters 83 Wallingford Road, Inns Court, Knowle, Bristol 4 heareActGoukK-s BeSG. s..i5 ss 60 Clifton Park Road, Bristol 8 Bear Mrs, Aci K. occ. os Do. iRreldMirs:0D. 3B... 205.606 3 4 Collingwood Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Findlay, D..@:, M.A. ...... Russets, Chewton Keynsham, nr. Bristol Bem ect) ote vale Ss a are 22 ‘Tennyson Avenue, Clevedon, Somerset Bleming; Nirs. T. 2.2 .ccsiess Do. LIST OF MEMBERS Fleure, Miss E., M.A. ..... Plook;) HR Bent es tei eos Blook, Mars: (He iF. 2. chee: Pord,:E/H. BSc) 37. Ford, Mrs. J. H. Forrest, G. A., M.A... 05.2: Foster:"Marsi Dy Hiv. 2. Poster; DER. 622237 Se ee eee ee eee Foster, Mrs. D.. Rises. 2 th Foster, Mirss BiG. 2 4 lee Poster, sj. Save Koxall ae ob Sa os French, Miss E. H., B.Sc:.... Prey vA“Be BA. lose: Frost2D: WB. <5 Gets Frost; Mrs M.‘Hiwn.. 82 *Frost, Dr. L. C., M.A., Ph.D. Frost, .Mass\W.. Moss osc s0 jf Bi ad Li: ee ee Fulford, Miss D. M......... Garden, Miss S..M. ........ Gatland.Miss.GsS.. ciate Garvey, Rot, chit saeco at Gaytord, |. .Cz BiAscs.ce ane Gaytord, Mrsifo Ci) ii2 Gazzard, Miss K.. E:.. 2.50. Geary, With 30> cn aeen 5 Gee, Miss E. B. H. Ghani, K., B.Sc. Gibb, D. G. re ey eee ee ee eee re Gibby oe ae. ear Gibb, Miss M. E., M.A. .... Gibbs BIN EONS Muda d. OY Gillett, Miss S. M. Gingell, Cojo T. Glanvill, Mrs. M. E......... Goldring, D., B.Sc., Dip. Ed. Gorvett, Dr. H., B.Sc., Ph.D. eee ee eee os eee oe eee Goswell. R:'W., B:Se.) Ps... Gotham, P. F., B.Sc. Top Flat, Vyvyan House, Clifton Park, Bristol 8 Sunnyside, Keyton Hill, Blackford, Wed- more, Somerset O. Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 The Small House, Syston, Mangotsfield, | Bristol Do. 43 Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 g Weston Crescent, Horfield, Bristol 7 115 Henbury Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Do. 64 King’s Drive, Bishopston, Bristol 7 56 Egerton Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 6 Westbury Park, Bristol 6 7 Clifton Park, Clifton, Bristol 8 Dept. of Geography, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 32 Oakwood Road, Henleaze, Bristol Do. Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 ! 10A Eastfield Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 59 Air Balloon Road, St. George, Bristol 5 55 Waverley Road, Redland, Bristol 6 5 West Dene, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 28 King’s Walk, Bishopsworth, Bristol 3 19 Chesterfield Road, Downend, Fishponds, Bristol Myrtle Cottage, Abbots Leigh, Bristol D oO. 19 Redfield Road, Patchway, Bristol 10A Eastfield Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 18 Sion Hill, Clifton, Bristol 8 The City Museum, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 | Allendale, Gloucester Road, Almondsbury, nr. Bristol Do. Flat 5, 11 Clifton Park, Bristol 8 11 Henshaw Road, Kingswood, Bristol 5 170 Redland Road, Redland, Bristol 6 3 Henry Street, Ripley, Derbyshire 44 Pulteney Street, Bath, Somerset Lake View, Chew Stoke, nr. Bristol Do. 45 St. Matthew’s Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 95 Baden Road, Kingswood, Bristol 25 Julian Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Woodlands, Bridge Road, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 | Dept. of Zoology, Imperial College of Science | and Technology, Prince Consort Road, | London, S.W.7. 83 Sea Mills Lane, Bristol 9 2 Northleigh Avenue, Milton, Weston-super- Mare, Somerset LIST OF MEMBERS 465 Graham, Miss C.D. G. .... 81 Redland Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Graham, Miss V. E......... Do. Gravestock, Miss I. F., B.A... 8 Cranleigh Gardens, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Greene esha. wis oases 74. Chantry Gardens, Southwick, Trow- bridge, Wilts. Gregory, Besfi ...5 05. ee a 21 The Causeway, Coalpit Heath, nr. Bristol (Grosew A. Note coe ee es os Old Forge Cottage, Bream, Lydney, Glos. Groves, Miss Ces... 2.2. eek 21 Bayswater Avenue, Redland, Bristol 6 Grundy, Miss M. E......... 46 Burley Crest, Downend, Bristol Habgood, Miss M. E. ...... g Burlington Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Hack, Mrs. M. W. ........ Myrtle Hall, Hung Road, Shirehampton, Bristol PbalMiCAP ee She gee as ot x Sa Sunny Bank, The Rock, Brislington, Bristol 4 RlatleWitss Po M.. fon. s sta 6s 14, Henleaze Avenue, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol TAMERS Tie Wis cd ae bc acw a el 29 Caledonia Place, Clifton, Bristol 8 inamblett,, Do Re lees. sas 71 Riding Barn Hiil, Wick, nr. Bristol apitlton; Be... eee ee 4 Sandbach Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 *Hamilton, D., B.A., M.Sc... 25 Old Sneed Avenue, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Hamilton, Mrs. D., A.R.C.M. Do. Hamilton, Mrs. G. R. ...... 32 Kingsway Road, Burnham-on-Sea, Som. Hamilton, R.G., M.A. .... Tanglewood, Cuckoo Lane, Wraxall, nr. Bristol Hamlyn, Miss M. E., B.Sc... Ross-Lyn, Middleway Lane, Broadoak Hill, Dundry, Bristol Hammacott;,-HoR. . 20:5. Roseway, West End, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Hammersley,,B. B. ...:.... 68 Bromley Heath Road, Downend, Bristol Hammersley, Mrs. E. L. .... Do. RIG SHING at. 2s 5 5 OS Wlnady.a Gowen Birdcombe Court, Wraxall, nr. Bristol Harding, Miss J. M.D. .... 4 Bell Barn Rd., Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol lard y.owirs WR) 2. oe eas 12 Stoke Park Road, Bristol 9 Harman, Miss E.M. ...... 215 Canford Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Harper, Miss Ra J. os econ g Crawley Hill, Uley, Dursley, Gloucester- shire Harris, Miss BicAs. i... sss 22 Westerleigh Road, Downend, Bristol ERARHISM SEOs isk facil seas eke Hiatt Baker Hall, Parry’s Lane, Bristol 9 Hlaerisong we td ee Malt House, Chelwood, nr. Bristol Hartill, Dr. G. G., M.R.C.S., Stone House, High Street, Chipping Sod- NRG CB ne a eo ns bury, nr. Bristol aril; MrsnGiG. ..é04.. Do. latch, Mass RavAs.. 2266). Nurses Home, Bristol Maternity Hospital, Queen Victoria House, Bristol 6 *Hawker, Prof. L. E., D.Sc., Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, 1 sated BRD A) I © 8 eear eer re Bristol 8 *Hawkins, A.B., B.Sc., F.G.S. Winifred Cottage, Oxleaze Lane, Dundry, Bristol Fawkins Ko As. iss ices sass 12 Warleigh Drive, Bannerdown, Bath, Som. Plawkinss PG. (66% ai dis as 5 The Mount, Studland, Dorset iaynes, Miss By..)....2..%%. 27 High Street, Wick, nr. Bristol Hayward, R., F.R.E.S. .... The Old Vine House, Lyncombe Vale Road, Widcombe, Bath, Somerset Heckels, Miss A., B.Sc....... 5 Princes Buildings, Clifton, Bristol 8 Hembrough, Miss E.M. .... Oakhurst, London Road, Warmley, Kings- wood, Bristol Hendra, D. W., B.Sc. ...... 6 Walliscote Avenue, Henleaze, Bristol Heslop, I. R. P., M.A., Belfield, Poplar Road,, Burnham-on-Sea F.R.E.S. Somerset Heslop, Miss J. E........... Do. 466 LIST OF MEMBERS Hewlett, Miss C. M. E., M.Sc. Hickmott, P. A., B.Sc., A.M.1.E.E., A.M.I.Mar.E. Hlickmott, Mrs. PovA, % 2.2%: Flicks," Miss'O} 3... 4 enone Hliggens, Miss B.........2. Huley,:Miss'M. Doe. 5525.0: Hill, Miss L. M., B.A. ...... Hill-Cottingham, Dr. D. G., M.Sc., Ph.D. Hill-Cottingham, Mrs. D. G., B.Sc., M.1I.Biol. Hinton, Prof. H. E., Sc.D., fd sl DEY Sie) oes neon erat ann Hobbs, S. cc ee ee ee we wo eo we www Elobbss Wiss 'S.. Vii4-3% saat « Blockey EE Gi sinisai ose Hockey, Mrs. H. G. ...5.... Holes Bs sonata ee ees Holeton, Mrs. A. R., B.Sc. Holgate, Miss M. E., M.A. Holley, Miss: Ji. M. Roo 2.4.2. Hollman, Av ctinarses sostsoes Hollingsworth, Miss J. ...... Hollingsworth, N. H., B.Sc., CPihorn eccl atd cates Holloway, Mrs. M. M....... Hollowell; A> J., BSc... ac. Hollowell, Mrs. A. J., M.A., A.M.A. Miolimes, (Ry @S Es 35 sais. BlolmessWiitAcs 2. sete ss ase Hopkins; AW. Jbl sc stesso Howard, Hots. MVvAc 2... 02% Howard, R. W., M.R.C.V.S. Hudson, Professor J. P., M.B.E., G.M., M.Sc., Ph.D. Hudson, Dr. M. A., Ph.D. Hudson,Dr RG Bese. Flughes;Mirss@., i. oo. Hughes, Professor G. M., M.A., Ph.D Hughes-Games, Dr. J. S., MEE CB aye ee eee Hulbert: RiGee Sse oe Hulbert, Mins VRC ee HullsMiss [Orcs nares cae HumphrisN PSs sent eee ec eee ee eo ee Humphris, Mrs. N. P., B.Sc. Hurfurt1Gy. Basis Beene Hurrell, Miss L. E. 4 Cavendish Crescent, Bath, Somerset Oakdene, Greyfield Road, Clutton, nr. Bristol Do. The Vicarage, Olveston, Bristol Ley Cottage, The Ley, Box, Chippenham, Wiltshire 37 Queen’s Court, Clifton, Bristol 8 15 Clare Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 36 Station Road, Backwell, near Bristol Do. Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 48 Queen’s Court, Clifton, Bristol D oO. 66 Fourth Avenue, Bristol 7 11 Eastwood Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 Greystones, 20 Ham Lane, Stapleton, Bristol O. 47 Goodwin Drive, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 16 Osborne Villas, St. Michael’s Park, Bristol 2 The Mount, 2 Providence Lane, Ashton, Bristol 13 Oakwood Road, Henleaze, Bristol Churchill Hall, Stoke Park Road, Bristol 9 13 Hampton Park, Redland, Bristol 6 7 Eastcombe Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset 94 Broad Street, Staple Hill, Bristol 81 Cranbrook Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Do. Long Poole’s House, Clifton College, Bristol 8 12 Highfield Avenue, St. Austell, Cornwall g Churchill Road, Wells, Somerset 41 Thingwall Park, Fishponds, Bristol Warners Lodge, Chewton Keynsham, nr. Bristol Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol 97 Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 44 Druid Stoke Avenue, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Bridge Cottage, Half Acre Close, Whit- church, Bristol No Name, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol oO. 580 Wells Road, Bristol 4 Fiddlers Bottom, Abbotside, Wotton-under-Edge, Glos. D Cromhall, O. 17 Abbots Avenue, Hanham, Kingswood, Bristol Moorgate, South Brent, South Devon C. LIST OF MEMBERS 467 Isaac, Dr. D. H., M.D., M.R.C.P. Nackson (MA Vi o. .. ce eee Jago, Miss I. M., B.Sc....... Niamies!(Vliss Be... 2. on ees Sfarrettnle ME i se ee Jarrett, Mrs. J: M..’....... Jay, Miss G.deL. ........ PAVING s Ne 8 ols as a als 04 0) ei Jeffery, Dr. D. C., M.B., M.R.CG.S. Netley Wiss Rw. ek Be ka es Jenkins; Miss D.R. ........ Jenkins, Dr. F. G., M.B., Ch.B. sfenkins: Wrs: (Gee. ce Nenkins, Mrs. G. Po ....5.5. Jenkins,-Mrs: Mi. G....... .<. Jervis, Miss M. E., M.A..... Nohns, Miss°C. Mo... 5... Johnson, Mrs. M. P.A..... Jones, Miss C. R., B.A. *Kearns, Prof. H. G. H., O.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D. INeefe: Mass‘O2 A... 26.5 so een, Miss Al Bs 22.27. .:.- *Kellaway, G. A., B.Sc., F.G.S. emo [tl DAN. cis siete s ds Kennard’ Av ii.cc 6nd an ole os Kenney, D. J., A.M.I.Mech.E., Tei Sts] 5G ¥o\ chs Rana aa Kenney, Mrs. D. Je sie. oe. Khan, A. A., M.Sc. ........ | TS (4 3 asaree eee ee a Wome RM Wa. oe. eee ce be Kington) B. L:,'B.A:......... KRmieht, JA, BSc... 6.0. . 6s Remit, ORs iiss aie ace oa ons NorehtyMirsR. BE. i....... Krajenski, Mrs. B........... Kreling, Miss A. D., B.A. .. 32 Rockwell Green, Wellington, Somerset 5 Avon Road, Shirley, Solihull, Warwick- shire 43B Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 78 Broad Walk, Knowle, Bristol 4 Loughrigg, 61 Providence Lane, Long Ashton, Bristol Do. Aynho, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Alwyn Cottage, 55 Bury Hill, Winterbourne Down, nr. Bristol 24 Monks Park Avenue, Horfield, Bristol 7 18 Seventh Avenue, Northville, Bristol 7 1 Bampton Close, Headley Lane, Bristol 3 Barrow Court, Barrow Gurney, nr. Bristol 14, Lancashire Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 51 Redcliff Hill, Bristol 1 201 Wellington Hill West, Westbury-on- Trym, Bristol. The Poplars, 55 Nore Road, Portishead, Bristol 47 Rookery Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 4 Bellevue Court, Bellevue Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 2 Gloucester Row, Clifton, Bristol 8 Warren Cottage, Station Road, Flax Bourton, nr. Bristol 51 Clarendon Road, Redland, Bristol 6 14 Valley Road, Mangotsfield, nr. Bristol 2 Codrington Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol 141 Ashton Drive, Ashton Vale, Bristol 3 8 Bay Road, Clevedon, Somerset Institute of Geological Sciences, 5 Princes Gate, London, S.W.7 Graystones, Charlton, Radstock, Bath, Som. g Trenchard Road, Saltford, nr Bristol Merlin Haven House, Wotton-under-Edge, Glos. Do. Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Mayfield, g Uplands Road, Saltford, nr. Bristol 38 Yeo Moor, Clevedon, Somerset 64 New Road, Water Orton, nr. Birmingham c/o Geology Dept., The University, Mappin Street, 8 St. George’s Square, Sheffield Da Marmelo, Church End, Charfield, Glos. Do. 496 Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 8 St Michael’s Park, Bristol 2 468 HamblesiMiss Rag % «evades Hance. Re Ee ils ee Bangdon Gals ties sae eee H. *Veach, A. C., T.D., M/A. 2. Wee PAHOA arcs tire te a ee We@: IVITSUA Os co. wise eee eee A. ~ Wee, Gs P., B.Sc. bee, Mass: Rij Gz. 35d eae wiueese, C.F: Bac: fenton; Miuss E. Jen '342 es Lewis, Mrs. G. E. cee ee eo we allico, Miss Jo iW es ss,08 35% 4) amentani aj. fc wine a eenee Lippiatt, Miss EE. M2 basis en Tioyds Misseb Min acceso ae BoadervR Rind cchcwe sees Long, Miss"G. Ei a ate Long, Miss J. E. Lovell, Miss cj Mist. .cayera eters Lovell, Mitss Res Joti siete, ie Tuas; VAs pac eo cua ons Tusmore, Nas ees. cnervetre Luton, Mrs. D., B.Sc., M.I.Biol. Machin, Mrs. J. E. Mack, Mrs. B. MacMillan, Mrs. A., B.Sc., Ph.D. MactTaggart, Mrs, M....... Mann, H. G A. Manning <1 A enews Martin, M. H., B.Sc., Ph.D. Mathieson;,Ay Mins 22 H. Matthews, Dr. L. Harrison, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., F.L.S. Matthews, Ri C., BSc? ./. 5. Matthews, Mrs. R. C., B.Sc. Maunder, Miss M. FE. .....). IMcGivan VAs ices leles tae McGivan, Mrs. N. McKeag, Mars, TM... ac! McKnight, Mrs. N. H....... McItcod Sr Aicus Fw es McOmie, Dr. J. F. W., M.A., D.Phil., D.Sc. Meade-King, M. G., B.A. Meade-King, Mrs. M.G. .. Merchant, Miss E. M....... eee ee we ee LIST OF MEMBERS 18B Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 22 Julian Road, Sneyd Park, Bristol 9 | 14 St. Aubins Avenue, Broomhill, Bristol 4 | Lower Lodge, Knoll Hill, Bristol 9 74. Ridgeway Road, Long Ashton, Bristol D oO. 5 Gordon Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 78 The Dell, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 32 Haverstock Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 6 Camden Crescent, Bath, Somerset 2 Polden House, Windmill Hill, Bristol 3 10 Channons Hill, Fishponds, Bristol 15 Randall Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 4 College Fields, Clifton, Bristol 8 65 Park Street, Bristol 1 10 St Alban’s Road, Westbury Bristol 6 45 Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 46 Wellington Park, Clifton, Bristol 8 Amber Leigh, Rudgeway, nr. Bristol 13 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 27 Belluton Road, Knowle, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Newport, Mon. | Hall Flat, 20 Tyndalls Park Road, Clifton, | Bristol 8 Do. 2 Tibbott Road, Stockwood, Bristol Whispering Pines, North Hill, Downside, | Backwell, nr. Bristol } 40 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 | 28 First Avenue, Highfields, Dursley, Glos. 2 Clyde Park, Redland, Bristol 6 Park, | 106 Cromwell Road, St. Andrew’s, Bristol 6 | Bell Court, Nympsfield, Stonehouse, Glos. g St. Margaret’s Drive, Henleaze, Bristol High Walk, Olveston, Bristol 7 High Grove, Sea Mills, Bristol 26 Gathorne Road, Southville, Bristol 3 Dept. of Botany, University of Bristol, © Bristol 8 ; 11 Edward Road West, Clevedon, Somerset | The Old Rectory, Stansfield, Sudbury, | Suffolk ; Rackley House, Rackley, Compton Bishop, | Axbridge, Somerset | oO. 6 Oak Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 13 Derby Road, Bristol 7 D Oo 53 Alma Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 1 Osborne Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 63 Woodhill Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol 16 Richmond Hill, Clifton, Bristol 8 5 Worcester Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 D o. 14 Merfield Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 LIST Merrie, T. D. H., B.A....... Messiter, Miss F. E., B.Sc., F.Z.S. Moalburm Oe i... se eee es Milburne, Mrs. D. Miller, K. W., B.Sc., Ch.B. Milton, J. MiltomeWirs. Jo Fk oa ca ese Mitchell, Miss’ J. R. ....-... M.B., eee eee eee ee ew ee 8 IMIGOM Olle tee e sees wes: Morgan, Miss D. C., B.Pharm., VIRB IS tree acer a ses Ga hw as Wlorgan, JS... 05.26. sees ea. Morgan,’ Miss. V......-<5-- Morris, P. Miorris’ Mis. P.M. ........ eee ee ee ee © ee ew we 8 IMoanden, Wi Jor. ss eee Mullinger, Mrs. M. R. M. .. Mundy, Miss O. S., B.Sc. Murray, DOH. 0.2 .5..55- Nature Conservancy (The) .. Nawton, Miss S. J., M.C.S.P. Nea Nc £25, otysatere waa a a INGAIOM INES. c.cgow bers ne weed os INetbercott, P..J: Mi 2.....% Nettle, Miss E. C........... Neville, Miss M., B.Sc....... ING VINES IR: wicusc aa ss ae oda es Newson, M.D., B.Sc. Niblett, Es-G. M....ch.0650s eee eee Nicholls, Miss D. I., B.A..... Nicholls, Dr. H. J. L. Nicholls, W. T., A.M.I.Mech. E., A.F.R.Ae.S. Nicholls, Mrs. W. T. eee eee @opome rR Fe. avec sc dene @eborne, Mrs. R. BF... 22.2... Weilvie VIRAL esos 6 wa aie @ranmuviiss EM iis oss ans Ormond, FsGe 2 os es Fy es Osmaston, Dr. H. A., B.Sc., M.A., D.Phil. Owen, Mrs. M. I. ec ere eee eo © ecee ee ee Packer, Mrs. K. M., M.A. .. AMG, PAs ial agas mvc 3 s)s oops = eAtiicts a WN s Sh oee2-o: « ncsee cae oth «hs Rartitt, Mirss. Wo. cose eee Parker, Miss 8., B.Sc. ...... Parry, Mrs... Me. 2... 22a OF MEMBERS 469 West Fairwood, Dollar, Clackmannanshire 1 Tyndall’s Park Road, Bristol 8 15 Northover Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Syston Court Cottage, Mangotsfield, Bristol Grove Cottage, Flax Bourton, nr. Bristol 10 Randall Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Do. 10 Margaret’s Buildings, Brock Street, Bath, Somerset 19 Coronation Avenue, Fishponds, Bristol Pharmacy Dept., Southmead Hospital, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 139 Wellsway, Keynsham, nr. Bristol 305 New Cheltenham Road, Kingswood, Bristol 4 Hughenden Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 103 Passage Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 11 Red House Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 22 Dryleaze, Wotton-under-Edge, Glos. 9g Hampton Park, Redland, Bristol 6 13 Mansfield Avenue, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset 19-20 Belgrave Square, London, $.W.1 105 Hesters Way Road, Cheltenham, Glos. 70 Trym Side, Sea Mills, Bristol 18 Church Road, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 6 Hazelwood, Hazelwood Road, Bristol 9 3 Beaufort Road, Kingswood, Bristol 7 Belmont Rd., St. Andrew’s Park, Bristol 6 4 Shirecliffe Close, Pitsmoor, Sheffield 3 2 East Shrubbery, Redland, Bristol 6 Woodlands, Woodlands Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol 151 West Town Lane, Bristol 4 Blackbarrow, Norton-sub-Hamdon, Som. 3 School Estate, Chew Stoke, nr. Bristol Do. 1 Tratman Walk, Henbury, Bristol Do. The Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Glos. 6 Arbutus Drive, Bristol 9 1 Chapel Hill, Farleigh, Backwell, nr. Bristol Dept. of Geography, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 62 Parry’s Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 34. Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Woodland Bungalow, Abbots Leigh, Bristol 4 Caine Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Do. 10 Cavendish Place, Bath, Somerset 127 Cromwell Road, Bristol 6 470 C. Ass LIST OF MEMBERS Parry-Jones, J., Wing.-Cdr., 10 Nithsdale Road, Weston-super-Mare, M.Eng., A.F.R.Ae.S. .... Somerset Parsley. Missi iPhones cee 13 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 RarslowisAii Bei stein tie ie aches 41 Woodleigh Gardens, Whitchurch, Bristol 4 Parslow; Mrs: A. B.. os... Do. Partridge, C. A., 247 Park Lane, Frampton Cotterell, nr. AS MG. Mech Be sed 2's oysine s Bristol Payne RiiG.5 B.5C. 2.6 as cr The City Museum, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 *Pearman, J. V., F.R.E.S..... Beechcroft, Upper Icknield Way, Aston Clinton, nr. Aylesbury, Bucks. Ped Glen Bis anh occas oe ilar 127 Charlton Road, Kingswood, Bristol Peddie. Mrs. F.Ely 2.002. 4 Do. Beneyead, Mirs:Ginus.. ccc. nen 32 Redland Grove, Redland, Bristol 6 Peregrine, Dr. D. H., B.A., Badock Hall, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Ph.D. Perkins), Nits. MEUM... 8 saan 25 Sandy Leaze, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Perrett, D. H., M.P.S....... Greylynch, Folly Lane, North Wootton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset Peterson’: Miss! My. 55.104 oeeat 21 Clifton Wood Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 *Phillips, Professor F. Coles, Wains’ Way, Butts Lawn, Brockenhurst, M.A., Ph.D., F.G.S...+<. - Hampshire Bickrell Weal ornare Sear 2 Hardenhuish Lane, Chippenham, Wilts. iteher, DiGi) sae cnn eee 9 Flowerwell Road, Hartcliffe, Bristol 3 Plater; Miss.M:,S5 Bs. 24.43; 19 Fernbank Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Pocoek; Miss Bett ice stn. en Mill House, Chew Magna, nr. Bristol Poolé;, Bis Way @tc aod eins Allon 53 Priory Court Rd., Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Poole, 1) i gee ts bars aie eset, g Orchard Road, Long Ashton, Bristol gal G00) Coppi) oe) i ir na prs am 51 Ashcombe Park Road, Weston-super- Mare, Somerset POple,, Res Ciacia Wae, acto anne 3 Beachgrove Road, Fishponds, Bristol Porter; D.,.J:,-B:Sc,,...R.1-C, 13 Richmond Avenue, Montpelier, Bristol 6 Potter) @W oi cis iehan cis bi brome Exmoor, 6 Southdene, Bristol 9 *Poul@ing. RE. ee taesteaat 39 Howard Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 Povey, R. C., B.V.Sc., The Grove House, West Hay Road, IER ICON Seis atte oat aces Wrington, nr. Bristol Prices, Mins Gini oe ws ccceeteteete 17 New Fosseway Road, Bristol 4 Price, Miss M. R., B.Sc. .... 18 All Saints Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Prichard *OWEy iiacssc a eae Tall Pines, Martcombe Road, Easton-in- Gordano, nr. Bristol Prichard, Mors: ‘O. ©... 225... Do. Princes) Gia adnate ses 53 Cheriton Place, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Prince, Miss ixGin aoe ee ace Do. Brion, Wins MEAs eka © «oe 10 Rysdale Rd., Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Prowse, Dr. D. C., M.B., Glencoe, Seafield Lane, Sidmouth, Devon Ch.B., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Pugsley, Prof. Sir Alfred G., 4 Harley Court, Clifton Down, Bristol 8 QO.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S. Bugsley,sladyy ie .u. ce apes Do. Purkis, Miss E. M. ........ 13 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol 8 Purseclovem|iay ce eae Hiatt Baker Hall, Parry’s Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Rabbitts; BsArj ooactea coat 4 Longwood, Broomhill Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 Radburn, Miss H. M. M., 11 Henley Grove, Westbury-on-Trym, SRN: SCM ae dees Bristol Rake, Miss B. A., B.Sc., 69 Providence Lane, Long Ashton, Bristol N.D.H. LIST Rawlings, F. H., M.P.S. .... D.P.A. Reade; Diy B.Sc. .....-... Rees, Miss E. M. .......... Ruchards WAGE. 8... sk ees Ricketts) Lady <2. 2........- Riddell, Prof. A. G., M.B.E., M.S., F.R.GS. ROM GICE SAY un on caw vis os Riddick; Mrs.S. J. 2.2... Rigby sR GAB... ....... Roberts Ji ids ces ale a sees Roberts, Wirs J. Ts 2 fe ss RvobinSs. (Gerda i css ce cee es Roe, Capt. R. G. B., O.B.E., R.N. Roe, Mrs. R. G. B. Rogers, Miss A. G. ...:.... Rogers, Miss M. H., M.A. . Rogers, Mrs. M. J., M.A. .. Rolfe S. Wo H.. 2..0. 026.4% Rom hs fic cis de few cle eae s Rooms, Mirs.cP.. Je .2s.6. 5s. NOS@N OS NDS Mis suse ede he ah Roseveare, W. L. .......... Roseveare, Mrs. W. L....... BMPR OSS Miners sais ese stein ares 5 ears Routleya AAs. feo 3 38 4 sejes Rowats Miss Be... cia a ROWE Piis.crcsace «aves Save sit Rudowsky, Mrs. G. ........ Russell, Mrs. A. M., B.Sc. .. ALUSTIS Ta yeel tal 5 Onl it a a ane ee Sainsbury, Dr. M., A.C.T., Res.D.R.I.C., Ph.D., A.R.I.C. Salter @@ UB ewes bess Salter Mrs: @, B. .......455 Sambels, Miss B. M......... Sampson, Miss A. M. ...... *Savage, Dr. R. J. G., B.Sc., Ph.D,,:F.L:8., F.G.S., F.Z.S, pawyeteWVirs.A.M. .0..4 0). ease Mel. ks ec ec ye 5 Scawin, Mrs. M., B.Sc. OF MEMBERS 471 19 Richmond Avenue, Bristol 6 26 Darnley Avenue, Horfield, Bristol 7 45 St. Matthew’s Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 22 West Broadway, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Forwood House, Minchinhampton, Stroud, Glos. Corbys, Castle Road, Clevedon, Somerset 179 King’s Head Lane, Bedminster Down, Bristol 3 Do. 24 Heath Road, Downend, Bristol 11B Miles Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Do. 9g Weston Crescent, Horfield, Bristol 7 56 Bloomfield Avenue, Bath, Somerset Do. 4 Collingwood Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Top Flat, Vyvyan House, Clifton Park, Bristol 8 Woodlands Farm, Abson, Wick, nr. Bristol 14 Riverwood Road, Frenchay, Bristol Meadowside, Chew Stoke, nr. Bristol Do. 30 Northcote Road, Wallasey, Cheshire Crabwood, Winscombe, Somerset Do. 25 Tugela Road, Uplands, Bristol 3 4 Arch Close, Long Ashton, Bristol 27 High Street, Wick, nr. Bristol 97 Druid Stoke Avenue, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 13 Sea Mills Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Do. 371 Southmead Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Pine Croft, Alveston, nr. Bristol 93 Stackpool Road, Southville, Bristol 3 34 Torridge Road, Keynsham, Bristol The Long House, High Hall, Compton Martin, nr. Bristol Do. Faith Cottage, Latteridge Road, Iron Acton, nr. Bristol 36 Westover Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Dept. of Geology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Scaurs House, Westaway Close, Yatton, Somerset The Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden, Wisley, Ripley, Woking, Surrey Quistholme, Knole Park, Almondsbury, Bristol 472 LIST Scott, P:, C.B.E., D.S.C., aes iz S., M.B.O. VU. Scott, M. NAR Lee aes eee Pe Selway. Mars! BE. Joc 22 Shaws ADs Wes <4 okies eee Shearer, Miss'O:.M......... Shearman, Miss M. Sherborne, Mrs. E. A. coe ee wee *Silcocks, T. B., F.C.A. Silcocks, Mrs. T. B. Simamonds, J..H. Gin: 2. .c .2 Simmonds, Mrs. J. H. G..... Singleton Ce is w.oveik e,< lalate H. *Skene, Prof. Macgregor, D.Sc., F.L.S. Smeed, L. J. Smeed, Mrs. L. J Smith, Dr. 'C. E.\D.; Ph.D Smith, D. I., M.Sc. eee eee eee ee we ec ee ee ee ww eee ee ew *Smith, Dr. D. Munro, M.R.C.S., M.R.C.P. Smith, E. S. Smith, J. H. eeoveeeoeveecevee eae oe ec eee ee ee we ew ew Smith, J. O., B.Sc., F.R.LC. Ph.D., eee e® ® ee eee © & © © Oo pithy: MES J seAee shh eae Smith, Mrs. M. J. A. Smith, Wiss Mi Yes. 3 ees Smith, Miss N. M. oer ee ee ee ee eo ee eee eee ee eee eee eee eee ee ee we we ew Smith, Mrs. S. E. Soltau, Mrs. H. K. V. Soyer, MrssPi Ae Ayo 2 Sperrings, Miss M. W....... Spittalt Cr Jeyieauaitatad litte fee. ee ee ee Spittal, Mrs. Ce Jes. 2032555 Stamp, Miss P. W. Stephensont Misi. 14.322: © Sterne, Fo Reais svt acai Sterne, Mis: FE. Ri, B.Scee. 24 Stevenson, C. R., B.Sc., F.G.S. Steward, Mrs. S. Stickler, P. D. coerce eer eee ee Stock, W. coc ee ee ee ew we we ew ew oe ee ee ee we ew we ew ee ee ee ee we ew ew ew eo eee ee ee ww Stone, W. J. OF MEMBERS The Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Glos. 52 Ham Green, Pill, nr. Bristol The Orchard, Blagdon, nr. Bristol Ranalt, ‘Townsend, Almondsbury, nr. Bristol 75 Thornleigh Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 5 The Paragon, Clifton, Bristol 8 South Lodge, Frenchay, Bristol The Quest, Glen Avenue, Abbots Leigh, Bristol BS8 3SD D oO. g Rayens Cross Road, Long Ashton, Bristol Do. 9g Elmdale Crescent, ‘Thornbury, nr. Bristol 6 Dover Court, Abdon Avenue, Selly Oak, Birmingham 29 Dept. of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 12 David’s Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 Do. 5 Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 Dept. of Geography, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 2 Cleeve Lodge Road, Downend, nr. Bristol 18 Beechwood Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol 21 Upper Belmont Road, St. Andrew’s, Bristol 7 17 Worlebury Park Road, Weston-super- Mare, Somerset Church Farm House, Winford, nr. Bristol Maxwell, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Do. 27 West Shrubbery, Redland, Bristol 6 6 Tyne Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 7 Greville Road, Southville, Bristol 3 Freshwoods, Brae Road, Winscombe, Som. Do. 19 The Avenue, Clifton, Bristol 8 4 Prince’s Buildings, Clifton, Bristol 8 15 Cassell Road, Staple Hill, Bristol The Shieling, 162 Church Road, Frampton Cotterell, nr. Bristol Do. 8 West Park, Clifton, Bristol 8 7 Gloucester Row, Clifton, Bristol 8 g Charlcombe Way, Bath, Somerset D oO. Geology Dept., Kingston College of Tech- nology, Penrhyn Rd., Kingston-upon- Thames, Surrey 4 Radford Hill, Timsbury, nr. Bath, Som. 48 Bishopsworth Road, Bedminster Down, Bristol 3 Hollow Road, Shipham, Winscombe, Som. 25 Shaldon Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 12 Tower Road, Kingswood, Bristol 110 Lower House Crescent, Filton, Bristol oO. 69 Nibletts Hill, St. George, Bristol 5 LIST OF MEMBERS 473 Stott, Miss E. M., M.B.E 10 Paulman Gardens, Long Ashton, Bristol Stride, W. H. B., L.D.S. .... 6 Briarwood, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Stuart, A. J., B.S ano um 72 Belmont Road, St. Andrew’s Park, Bristol 6 stuart, Mrs.-A. J. .......... Do. Sibshs Uae. ce ee es Green Orchard, Compton Greenfield, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol suas), Wins. RL. 2.0.25. Do. Sullivan, Miss J. M......... 139 Dovercourt Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 Swaine, Miss A. K., F.R.S.A. Pisang Cottage, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Swales, Miss R. D., S.R.N., 14 Cambridge Park, Redland, Bristol 6 S.C.M Sweet;'G., M.B.O.U. ...... 40 Cornwallis Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Sweet, Mrs. G. i .......055. Do. Sweet, Miss S. os. .2.0..55- Do. WMG Oe ea, Sas ee arate Grove House, Grove Park, Weston-super- Mare, Somerset sydenham,-W:. 1. J......... 230 Overndale Road, Fishponds, Bristol moymes, IX. Gi B.Sc. ......--. 25c, Cotham Road, Cotham, Bristol 6 Symes, Mrs, R.G. ...2..-. Do. Bibaskers dear. ete gc se kok awe 46 Apsley Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Maylor C.J... 2.2 sees. 12 Claremont Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Maviors Mrs.) Ovss . sos oes 42 Alma Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Mavion. MG Cicer. Jas et ae 29 Birchall Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Waylor, Mrs. Mi. Ow .3. 0 « 40 Kensington Park Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 (havior, Ran ALCL Ss) a4 sss 16 Stanbridge Road, Downend, Bristol Miaydor, Mis. Ros oo < ea te os Do. *Taylor, S. M.,, B.Sc., Glenalan, Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol A.M.1I.Mech.E. Taylor} Mrs. 8..M. ........ Do. Taylor;, Mrs; WeN: ........ 46 Islington Road, Bedminster, Bristol 3 Thomas, Dr. A. E., B.Sc., 501 Bishport Avenue, Bristol 3 M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Thomas, Miss K. M., B.A... 168 Brynland Avenue, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Thomas Pe. . 24 ose eas os Lindisfarne, Ubley, nr. Bristol Whomias) RR. Ge fies oe bates 51 Wellington Hill West, Westbury-on- Trym, Bristol Thomas, Mrs. R. G......... Do. Thomas, Miss V.M. ...... 12 Dene Road, Whitchurch, Bristol Thompson, Mrs. M. E. .... 4 Ferndown Close, Kingsweston, Avon- mouth, Bristol MhernhiwllE A. stad ees Heddon, 50 Church Lane, Farleigh, Back- well, nr. Bristol MiCwWelly An). sais oo ce Sea ews 78 Old Street, Clevedon, Somerset MAneweilk Nis) Aw Jo os 3508 Do. Dilsley, Mes. D.V... 2.22252. 1 Lower Linden Road, Clevedon, Somerset ‘Tomlinson, P., M. D. ...... 45 Grove Road, Coombe Dingle, Bristol 9 ihoveys.Murs< J...) s.. <2... - Tockington Manor, Tockington, nr. Bristol Trapnell, C.G., O.B.E., M.A. Pine Leigh, Church Road, Leigh Woods, Bristol 8 Trewman, Mrs. V.C. B. .. 11 Osborne Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Trounson, Miss E........... 35 Melbury Road, Knowle, Bristol 4 (Dig We (2711 | ts gee Dept. of Geography, University of Bristol, Bristol 8 Mes RS foot Bio epsca bw 04 White Cottage, Ubley, Somerset SLR) IT) A Ue Do. M@ucks Mass (M.G.. oo. sa oes Do. 474 LIST OF MEMBERS ‘Punstall RY BS MESc. 2... -. Ridgeway, Brinsea Road, Congresbury, nr. Bristol Tunstall, Mrs. R. B., B.Sc. .. Do. H. Turner, H. W., M.A., F.G.S. The Cottage, Kensington Place, Clifton, Bristol 8 Turmers MirssMi. ee 25 Conygar Close, Clevedon, Somerset Upton ey W wee eas coete ee Glen Lynn, St. Saviour’s Road, Larkhall, Bath, Somerset Nance, Mirs. Fo Mar asc peas I Station Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Vanderplank, Dr. F. L., B.Sc., 51 Cambridge Road, Clevedon, Somerset Ph.D. WVarley...MirstN. Es ose sate 43 Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol 7 C.. *Vernon, J. D, R., B.Sc., 31 Kentings, Comberton, Cambridge M.B.O.U. PViECIOT sy VV fit, -S.,0sferan, Maceotet: Wyngarth, Easter Compton, nr. Bristol Vickery, Miss P:. M.0.5c.05.4) 20 Dundonald Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Vine, Miss D. J., N.F.F. .... 64 The Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol Vinnicombe, Miss E. J., B.Sc., 32 Ridgeway Road, Long Ashton, Bristol M.A. Vowles, D. G., B.Sc.(Econ.) 2 York Avenue, Ashley Down, Bristol 7 Wacner, MOA S es. oc alee ees Shepperdine House, Thornbury, nr. Bristol Wakefield, Mrs. G.S. .... 2 Southwood Ave., Coombe Dingle, Bristol 9 C. *Waldman,; M:; M:Se. 2.605%: Dept. of Zoology and Comparative Physio- logy, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia Walker (Gi. Aeee secu tee c/o British Transport Police H.Q., Temple Meads Station, Bristol Wallington, Miss J. ........ 16 Heathfield Road, Nailsea, nr. Bristol Wallington W. Alva: . 2 ei. Do. H. *Wallis, Dr. F. 8., D.Sc., Ph.D., 5 High Green, Easton, nr. Wells, Somerset F.G.S. Walters, Miss M. J. ........ 6 Kew Walk, Brislington, Bristol 4 Walton, (C§iGe = ese ia se: 22 Reedley Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol 9 *Warden, D., B.V.M.S....... Centaur, Ham Lane, Bishop Sutton, nr. Bristol Warden, NMirssDe heen). se oe Do. Wareham, Miss C. A. L. .. 42 Dark Lane, Backwell, nr. Bristol Wareham, Miss F.H. E. .. Do. Warn? Dr (Ret een a 41 Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol 8 Watkins, N. A., M.A., 18 Old Sneed Park, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 9 F.R.E.S. Watson, MissiBoJ. (22... 8 Downs Cote Park, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Webb,7At Bere wen arn. Wistaria Mews, Newport House, Newport, Berkeley, Glos. Webb, Dr. N. R., B.Sc., Ph.D., The Nature Conservancy, Furzebrook Re- search Station, Wareham, Dorset Weeks, AEE tik. trav ee 4 Shepherds Way, Rickmansworth, Herts. WW) ce lkcseSETe, | Ret cuiee pine ane nee Mountain Ash Farm, Bishop Sutton, nr. Bristol Weeks, "Mrs: Hist. se eee Do. Weir, Missi}. Co cain 45 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol 8 Welch, Dr. F. B. A., B.Sc., Penyllan, Gadshill Road, Charlton Kings, 1 Sal old D Par Pa RMN hs ee Oa Cheltenham, Glos. Welshman, Miss M. J....... 2 King’s Road, Brislington, Bristol 4 Westcott, Miss I. M., B.A., 20 Linden Road, Redland, Bristol 6 B. Litt. LIST OF MEMBERS 475 Westcott, Miss M. V., M.Sc. 20 Linden Road, Redland, Bristol 6 Westwood, Miss M., B.Sc. .. 59 Devonshire Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6. White; Miss C..M.°........ Woodlands Farm, Abson, Wick, nr. Bristol Whites. S5-BsSC.. 3 sic oss 44 The Park, Kingswood, Bristol Whiting, Dr. H. P., D.S.C., 62 Woodstock Road, Redland, Bristol 6 M.A., Ph.D. Walkins; Mrs. I............. 25 St. Alban’s Road, Westbury Park, Bristol 6 mies Williams, De Vsc0 cs oeie's oo = 13 Belvoir Road, St. Andrew’s, Bristol 6 Williams,’ Miss M........... 71 Effingham Road, St. Andrew’s Park, Bristol 6 Withanasy Ro Gen os occas aes 36 Strathmore Road, Horfield, Bristol 7 WWaliwarmas, Wi ele esas os od 14 Wellington Hill, Horfield, Bristol 7 Walllass Wiss Ae. sess weeds. Rectory Cottage, Ubley, nr. Bristol H. *Willis, Dr. A. J., Ph.D., D.Sc., Dept of Botany, University of Bristol, LO ES as a ee Bristol 8 AWVAT ISS i Ua ede CEA aay ea 44. Falcondale Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol IVGIISH URGE ORS ea ore es ace 40 Claremont Road, Bishopston, Bristol 7 Wialls)’\Mirs, REF... 0.25.2. Do. Willson, Miss A. Wynne .... The Mount, Long Ashton, Bristol Walsoms Muss Ad... wks. ce es Seawinds, 89 Nore Road, Portishead, nr. Bristol eee Wiltshire, Gs Wa. 42 daca. vs 35 Westbury Hill, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol Winchester, Miss A. ........ 8 Priory Road, Portbury, nr. Bristol Wann) Mars. Gi A... .e. o 148 Falcondale Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, Winter; Miss Bio. .60s. cess 151 West Town Lane, Bristol 4 Wathers, Miss D.. 2 ..3.<.2.. Middlegarth, Wellow Lane, Hinton Charter- house, Bath, Somerset Woodland, P.; M.A......:.. Dursley Grammar School, Dursley, Glos. Wareht.- Miss P. Aga sc s.s55 29 West Mall, Clifton, Bristol 8 Yemm, Prof. E. W., B.A., Stoneleigh, Long Ashton, Bristol D. Phil., F.L.S. Yemm, Mrs. E. Wa B.A... Do. if. *Yonge, Prof. C..M., C.B.E., 13 Cumin Place, Edinburgh 9 PhD... D.Sc., F.R.S., F.R.S.E. SV OUIGLE eA ss dade us ies oS 9.0 4A Alexandra Road, Clevedon, Somerset WEODEN. NES oo oie a ly «4 wee 5 Imperial Road, Redland, Bristol 6 AFFILIATED SOCIETIES BatTu— Bath Natural History Society BrisTOL— Ashton Park School, Blackmoors Lane, Bower Ashton, Bristol 3 Bedminster Down School, Donald Road, Bristol 3 Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society, Clifton, Bristol 8 Bristol Grammar School Field Club, Elton Road, Bristol 8 Clifton College Natural History Society, Clifton College, Bristol 8 Deere Preparatory School Natural History Society, Clifton College, risto 476 LIST OF MEMBERS Clifton High School Field Club, College Road, Bristol 8 College of St. Matthias, Fishponds, Bristol Portway (Upper) School, Penpole, Shirehampton, Bristol Redland High School for Girls Field Club, Redland Court, Bristol 6 Trafalgar Social Club, Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., 35 Queen Square, Bristol 1 University of Bristol Animal Welfare Society, The University Union, Queen’s Road, Bristol 8 University of Bristol Geological Society, Queen’s Building, University Walk, Bristol 8 DursLEY— Dursley & District Bird Watching and Preservation Society (Hon. Secretary, N. Lusmore, 28 First Avenue, Dursley, Glos). Kincswoop— Kingsfield School Natural History Society, Kingswood, Bristol. Book Review The Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs, by T. A. Cowarp, edited and revised by J. A. G. Barnes, London: Warne, 1969. 55s. Coward’s work, first published in 1920 and 1926, contributed greatly to the growth of large-scale bird study in Britain (and became even more widely-known in Enid Blyton’s one-volume abridgement, Birds of the Wayside and Woodland). Since the last revision by A. W. Boyd in 1950, there have been many changes in bird numbers and distribution, and much new published information. Now, J. A. G. Barnes has contrived, in one volume of 359 pages and 177 plates, to summarise the more important recent literature and to bring the accounts of status up to date, while retaining most of the original descriptive essays. It was, of course, these—succinct, highly informative, yet very readable—which gave Coward’s work its special character, and they can still be read with pleasure as well as profit. Every species recorded five or more times up to the end of 1966 has at least a short account, and some rarities—Wilson’s Phalarope is an example—figure amongst the 98 superb black and white photographs, mostly by Eric Hosking and J. B. and S. Bottomley, which replace the earlier half-tone blocks. The colour plates include 179 life-size egg studies and 2098 bird illustrations. Six of the latter are new, but the others are the familiar ones, principally Thorburn’s, which have been used in all the earlier forms of the work. In the review copy some had acquired an unpleasing reddish tint. The book is well printed on good quality paper, easy to read and pleasant to handle. The text is accurate, and the only misprint I detected was on the jacket, although a sentence about Shelduck ‘parliaments’ seems to have vanished from page 64. The ardent list-ticker would probably be better served by Hollom’s Popular Handbook, but the present work can be recommended to those who want rather more background information, to the serious beginner, and to the general naturalist who wants a single authoritative and up-to-date bird book on his shelves. S. M. Taylor 477 REPORT OF GCOUNGILE 1968 are 16 affiliated societies. At the Annual General Meeting, R. Bradshaw was elected as President, the other Officers and Members of Council also being elected. The Annual Dinner, held in the Senior Common Room, was well attended and Dr. E. A. R. Ennion gave an illustrated talk “Second Thoughts on Owls.’’ The General and Sectional meetings were well supported although the Entomological Section appears low in numbers compared with the past. It would be a pity to lose this, one of the oldest sections, for lack of support. During the past year the Conservation Committee have worked closely with the Northern Area of the Somerset Trust for Nature Conservation (S.T.N.C.) and indeed supply three of the five committee members for the Northern Area. Several reports of spoliation in various districts were investigated and either found to be in need of action by the S.T.N.C. or the Conservation Warden, or to be watched so that the spoliation did not spread. At the meeting held in November Mr. M. D’Oyly was welcomed to the committee. He is an Assistant Regional Officer in Gloucester, one of four appointed by the Nature Conservancy to the South West. With regret we record the following deaths: Prof. J. E. Harris, Mr. F. C. Perry, Col. K. A. P. Dalby, Miss D. L. Pratt, Miss H. C. Davis and Miss L. A. Koritnik. GWYNNETH STERNE, Hon. Secretary. Te: membership at the end of the year was 764, including 61 juniors. There WON bERBRARIAN SS REPORT 1968 106 books and 63 journals were borrowed by 36 members during the year. Exchanges have recently been discontinued with the Queckett Microscopical Society and the Liverpool and Manchester Geological Society. Thanks are once again due to Mrs. M. J. Rogers and Mrs. A. J. Hollowell for their work in the running of the library. R. BRADSHAW, Aon, Librarian. REPORT ENTOMOLOGICA 16.6 I 968 T the Annual Business Meeting on 16 January the following were elected: A eeesicent Mr. J. F. Burton; Secretary, Mr. P. F. Bird; Assistant Secretary, Mr. A. D. R. Brown; Committee, Messrs. D. G. Gibb, K. H. Poole, T. B. Silcocks, C. W. Wiltshire. During 1968 the following meetings were held: Mar. 12: The Evolution of Butterfly Migration by Mr. R. R. Baker, B.Sc. June 8: Clevedon, for insects and birds. Mr. J. F. Burton. Joint meeting with Junior Section. July 13: Peat Moors and Polden Hills. Mr. T. B. Silcocks. Aug. 10: North Lodge, Gloucestershire. Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Knight and Mr. D. G. Gibb. Oct. 22: Conversazione at Mr. A. D. R. Brown’s home. Nov. 12: Annual Exhibition at the City Museum. P. F. BIRD, Hon. Secretary. 9 € € rll 0 oon ! 7) 6 6T rZ0TF 8 IL9 8 607 0 S8 81 $8 € 06S PI Ive "PO ‘S¢ HLF JO pun [epeds UOT}NVG [VOISO[OYWUIO SY} pUe SIOINSPOI) [PUOTIOOS Aq ploy soour[eq p1ode1 JOU Op s}uUNOd9e SY I— ALON ‘PO “SZ OvF ‘puny suonelsni[] ,AIOAeS Alley,, 94} SUIPNoUT, —= ? 3 2 P) ? SCISSUM BEDS UPPER LIAS Fig. 5. Leckhampton Hill. Sketch map and the 3 measured sections. (see fig. 2 for key to ornament). INFERIOR OOLITE 545 evidence of probable subaerial exposure during the time of the unconformity (M. Talbot, pers. com.). Between this and the floor of the top quarry are 8 ft. 9 ins. of Lower Trigonia Grit. The basal 6 ins. is marly and was regarded by Buckman (1895) as the Harford Sands equivalent. It is followed by a series of ferruginous biomicrites all of which have bioclasts of a bivalve with a prismatic structure (Pterinacea). One softer bed con- tains chamosite ooliths. The hard band just below the quarry floor has an abundance of small serpulid tube clusters. In the top quarry proper some Io ft. 6 ins. of rubbly, highly fossiliferous (Gryphaea sublobata) sandy biomicrite complete the section; this is the Gryphite Grit. The detailed succession within the Middle Inferior Oolite was first described by Buckman in 18093 followed by an abridged suc- cession in 1895. The exact spot on Leckhampton Hill which was described remains unknown: there is a large area of disused quarry workings on the hill top. It is difficult to recognise the details of Buckman’s subdivisions in the section here described. ‘This is un- fortunate as Leckhampton Hill is the type locality of the Lower Trigonia Grit and Buckmam Grit (see Donovan and Hemingway, 1963). In particular the 11 ft. 8 ins. of sandy limestones of the Buckman Grit cannot be recognised between the Lower Tvrigonia Grit and the Gryphite Grit. It is curious that no detailed succession has been described subsequently, not even by Richardson (1904) who described almost every other section available in the Chelten- ham district. This anomaly needs details palaeontological investigation before a final explanation can be offered. However, it is possible that the thicknesses recorded by Buckman were only of very local application and that the two beds of hard ferruginous biomicrite with serpulids, here included at the top of the Lower Trigonia Grit, may represent a thinner lateral equivalent of the Buckmani Grit. SUMMARY OF THE STRATIGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENTS OF DEPOSITION Wherever they are seen the Scissum Beds are sandy biomicrites. They rest either on similar deposits (the upper part of the Cepha- lopod Bed in the region from Wotton-under-Edge to Frocester Hill) or on Upper Lias Clay (Crickley Hill and Leckhampton Hill). In each case the marked increase in carbonate content is probably due to a relative decrease in the supply of clastic material. The abundant bivalve and echinoderm (particularly crinoid) bioclasts indicate a shallow shelf sea. 546 J. W. MURRAY The Lower Limestone in the Wotton to Selsley Common area is an oosparite, often massive, and sometimes showing both large and small scale cross bedding. It can be interpreted as forming in a shoal, high energy, subtropical to tropical, marine or slightly hypersaline, environment. The ooliths probably formed submarine banks (as indicated by the large scale cross bedding) upon which there were smaller ripples and megaripples. (represented by the small scale cross bedding). In the Crickley Hill—Leckhampton Hill area the Lower Limestone is thinner and is represented by biomi- crites and biomicrudites indicating open shelf conditions. The Pea Grit is best developed around Crickley Hill where numerous massive beds of pisolith-bearing biomicrites are to be seen. These beds have long been famous for their rich fauna, particularly of brachiopods and echinoids. The pisoliths may be up to $ in. or greater in diameter. Many are flattened ellipsoids with a core of bivalve or brachipod shell fragment while others are nearer a spherical form. ‘Their growth is attributed to the activities of the encrusting calcareous alga Girvanella pisolitica (Wethered, 1891) and the fact that the coatings completely enclose the core indicates that the pisoliths were periodically rolled over (perhaps during storms). By analogy with modern regions of carbonate sedimentation (e.g. the Trucial coast of Arabia) the presence of echinoids would indicate an open marine environment or close proximity to open sea (as ina bay or at the entrance to a lagoon). Arkell (1933, p. 204) considered the environment to have been a coral reef but corals are not the most conspicuous components of the rock. It seems probable that the environment was sublittoral with perhaps a few feet of water, and that it was too disturbed to allow the development of a con- tinuous algal cover to form a bedded stomatolite but not so disturbed as to prevent the growth of the algae on the bioclasts. This was probably an embayment for to the north and south the pisoliths die out. In the Wotton—Nibley area a Pea Grit “‘equivalent,”’ usually less than 1 ft. thick, has been recognised but it seems likely that part of the Lower Limestone here is equivalent in age to the Pea Grit of the Crickley area. The Lower Freestone is typically an oosparite developed on a massive scale particularly at Leckhampton where sedimentary structures are very well shown. Its environment of formation must have closely resembled that of the oosparitic Lower Limestone. The Oolite Marl consists of an alternation of soft marls and thicker hard bands of limestone. In its southernmost occurrence (Selsley Common) these are biomicrites, with or without ooliths, and oosparites or biosparites sometimes with intraclasts and com- posite grains. At Leckhampton they are micrites, pelmicrites and INFERIOR OOLITE 547 oomicrites. On the whole a low-energy shoal, lagoonal environment is indicated (there is some similarity with the outer lagoon at Abu Dhabi, Trucial Coast of Arabia, Murray, pers. observation). The Upper Freestone is an oomicrite or oobiosparite at Selsley Common and an oosparite at Leckhampton. ‘The environment of deposition was probably similar to that of the other oolites. No other beds of Lower Inferior Oolite age are exposed in the area under discussion, although they occur in Cleeve Hill to the north. Their absence from the south may be attributed in part to the effects of slight folding followed by erosion and in part due to non-deposition (particularly in the south, see Buckman, 1901). Two erosional phases are recognised; one at the base of the Bajocian and one within the Bajocian (formerly known as the Vesulian trans- gression). South of Stroud there are no Lower Bajocian deposits (i.e. Middle Inferior Oolite) and the erosion surface is attributed to the mid-Bajocian. Rocks of Middle Inferior Oolite age are seen at Catbrain Quarry and on Leckhampton Hill. The Lower Trigonia Grit consists of ferruginous biomicrites sometimes with chamosite-oolith bands. The Buckman Grit cannot be recognised at Leckhampton but is represented by sands and sandy biomicrites at Catbrain Quarry. The Gryphite Grit is a sandy biomicrite rich in Gryphaea sublobata. All these formations are thin in the area described here. Following the Middle and preceding the Upper Inferior Oolite depositional phases there was slight folding accompanied by erosion. ‘This led to the mid-Bajocian unconformity (=Vesulian transgression of some authors) upon which the Upper Trgonia Grit rests. Buckman (1901), in a classic piece of mapping and geological deduction, demonstrated that the pre-Upper Inferior Oolite rocks were thrown into a series of very gentle folds with an axial direction varying from N.W.—S.E. (as in the Painswick syncline) to more or less N.—S. The Upper Inferior Oolite commences with the Upper Trigonia Grit, typically a richly fossiliferous biomicrite (Acanthothyris, terebratulids, and T7rigonia) indicating open shelf conditions. How- ever, at Breakheart Hill there are oobiosparites suggestive of shoal high energy conditions, while at Broadway (Dursley) there is a thicker succession of intramicrites indicating a nearby source of reworked intraclasts. A bored surface near the top of the formation in Leigh’s Quarry, Selsley Common, indicates a local brief inter- ruption of sedimentation. By analogy with the succession at Dundry, Richardson (1910) regarded the next band as the Upper Coral Bed. The only localities 548 J. W. MURRAY where this bed could be distinguished is Nibley Knoll and Wotton Hill. However, it is doubtful whether it can truly be correlated with the Dundry succession. The highest formation is the Clypeus Grit. To the south, at Coombe Hill, Wotton, Breakheart Hill and the Broadway, Dursley, it consists of intramicrites, biomicrites and oosparite. The succession is capped with oomicrite or oosparite. To the north, at Stanley Wood, biomicrites appear. On Selsley Common biomicrites and biosparites predominate but intraclasts appear throughout the succession and testify to the erosion of nearby limestones. The Clypeus Grit gives evidence of shoaling conditions at the conclusion of Inferior Oolite time. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should like to thank M. Talbot for introducing me to the staining method. B. Hawkins kindly read the manuscript. APPENDIX GRID REFERENCES OF THE MEASURED SECTIONS: Coombe Hill Quarry, Wotton-under-Edge ST/768944 Waterworks Quarry, Wotton-under-Edge ST/768943 Wotton Hill, Wotton-under-Edge ST/753938 (south end of quarry) Nibley Knoll ST/745957 Breakheart Hill Quarry ST/756967 Dursley, The Broadway ST/749978 Stanley Wood Quarry SO/826017 Leigh’s Quarry, Selsley Common SO/826025 Quarry 2, Selsley Common SO/829033 (= Quarry 2 of Witchell, 1882). Quarry 4, Selsley Common SO/832035 (=Quarry 3 of Witchell, 1882) Catbrain Quarry, Painswick SO/866115 Crickley Hill SO/g929159 (above junction of road to Crickley and A417). Leckhampton Hill SO/939185 INFERIOR OOLITE 549 REFERENCES Arkell, W. 1933. The Jurassic System in Great Britain. Oxford, Clarendon Press. 681 pp. Buckman, 8. 8S. 1887-1907. A monograph of the Ammonites of the “Inferior Oolite Series.’ Palaeontographical Society, London. Buckman, S. S. 1893. The Bajocian of the Sherborne District: its relation to subjacent and superjacent strata. Q. Zl geol. Soc. Lond., 49, 479-521. , Buckman, S. S. 1895. The Bajocian of the Mid-Cotteswolds. Q. J geol. Soc. Lond., 51, 388-462. Buckman, S. S. 1897. Deposits of Bajocian age in the Northern Cotteswolds: the Cleeve Hill Plateau. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond., 53, 607-629. Buckman, S. S. 1go1. Bajocian and continuous deposits in the North Cotteswolds: The main hill-mass. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond., 57, 126-155. | Channon, P. J. 1950. New and enlarged Jurassic sections in the Cotswolds. Proc. geol. Ass., Lond., 61, 242-260. Donovan, D. T., & Hemingway, J. E. 1963. Lexique Strati- graphique International, z (3aX) Jurassique, 394 pp. Folk, R. L. 1959. Practical petrographic classification of limestones. Bull. Amer. Ass. Petrol. Geol., 43 (1), 1-38. Folk, R.L. 1962. Spectral subdivision of limestone types. Amer. Ass Petrol. Geol. Mem. 1, 62-84. Hancock, P. L. 1966. The stratigraphy and structure of the Inferior Oolite rocks of the Cotswolds. The Mercian Geologist, 1, 275-281. Richardson, L. 1904. A handbook to the geology of Cheltenham and neighbourhood. Cheltenham, 303 pp. Richardson, L. 1910. The Inferior Oolite and contiguous deposits of the South Cotteswolds. Proc. Cotteswold Nat. Fld Cl., 17, 63-136. Wethered, E. 1891. The Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswold Hills, with special reference to its microscopical structure. Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond., 47, 550-570. Witchell, E. 1882. The geology of Stroud and the area drained by the Frome. Stroud, 108 pp. Woodward, H. B. 1894. The Jurassic rocks of Britain. vol. 4. The Lower Oolitic rocks of England (Yorkshire excepted). Mem. geol. Surv. England and Wales, 628 pp. 550 EDITORIAL NODE AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FOLK CLASSIFICATION OF LIMESTONES HE term limestone embraces all the calcareous sedimentary rocks. This short note is a précis of the classification proposed by Folk (1959, 1962). | Basically limestones are made up of three components: (a) com- plex carbonate particles (allochems), (b) microcrystalline calcite ooze and (c) sparry calcite cement. The important allochems are: (1) fossils and shell debris (bio- clasts), pellets (spheres or ellipsoids with a microcrystalline internal structure), ooliths (spheres with concentric and radial internal structure), and intraclasts (fragments of penecontemporaneous limestone). Table 1: Simplified Folk classification of non-dolomitised limestones. += fare rock type. > 10% allochems < 10% allochems | Sparry calcite Microcrystalline ° . “un cement > micro- | ooze matrix > = crystalline ooze sparry calcite I—10% = ee matrix cement. ms re ps allochems a so 6 A 2 3S Zs Sparry d Microcrystalline 3+ allochemical rocks | allochemical rocks A Intraclast- bearing micrite* Intramicrudite* Intramicrite* Intrasparrudite Intrasparite Oosparrudite Oomicrudite* Oolite- Oosparite Oomicrite* bearing micrite* Fossili- ferous micrite Biomicrudite Biosparrudite iomicrt Biomicrite Biosparite Biolithice Pelleti- ferous micrite Biopelsparite Biopelmicrite Most abundant allochem Micrite; if disturbed, dismicrite Pelleti- ferous micrite Pelsparite Volume of Allochem components Volume of fossils: pellets < 25% Intraclasts EDITORIAL NOTE 551 The microcrystalline calcite ooze is termed micrite. It probably originated as aragonite mud but has now recrystallised to calcite. Sparry calcite cement consists of grains or crystals of calcite, usually more than 10 microns in diameter, growing from the allo- chems into the pore spaces. In the Folk classification the limestone name is built up from its components. Thus a rock rich in ooliths and having a sparry calcite cement is an oosparite. If the ooliths are large it is an oosparrudite. Any coarse grained limestone has rud added to its name. Bzo refers to bioclasts, zntra to intraclasts, pel to pellets, micr to micrite. ‘The classification of non-dolomitised limestones is shown in table 1. REFERENCES Folk, R. L., 1959. Practical petrographic classification of limestones. Bull. Amer. Ass. Petrol. Geol., 43 (1), 1-38. Folk, R.L., 1962. Spectral subdivision of limestone types. Amer. Ass. Petrol. Geo. Mem. 1, 62-84. 552 EGOLOGY OF DUGKWEEDS AND AZOLLA IN NORTH SOMERSET By M. C. Smiru (Department of Botany, University of Bristol) INTRODUCTION HE five British species of duckweed (Lemna spp., Wolffia _ arrhiza) and the naturalized water fern Azolla filiculoides share a specialized growth form and often occur in competition with each other. The persistence of all six species implies that each must possess specific competitive advantages which, at some times and in some places, enable the population of that species to increase relative to the other five. The aim of this study, conducted in 1967, is to identify some of these advantages. Clatworthy (1960), whose observations are discussed by Harper (1961), measured growth rates of Lemna gibba and L. polyrhiza in single species and mixed cultures and found that the growth rate of each decreased when in competition with the other, that of L. polyrhiza declining by the greater amount. The relative success of L. gibba was attributed to greater buoyancy. Possible competitive advantages which have been the subject of the present investigation relate to:— I. Survival in winter; Length of growing season; Tolerance of low light intensities; Relative buoyancy; Drought resistance; Rates of growth on open water. Oop oN Although other factors no doubt operate (in particular tolerance of low mineral status, relative extent of animal and fungal attack, and degree to which saprophytic nutrition occurs), the changes in composition of populations of duckweeds, as observed in ditches, as well as experimentally, can be largely explained in terms of the features listed. North Somerset is the most favourable area in Britain for a study of competition between duckweeds. All five species are common ECOLOGY OF DUCKWEEDS 553 here. Kent, Sussex and Wiltshire are the only other counties in which Wolffia has been recorded since 1930 (Perring and Walters, 1962), but in none of these counties does there exist so extensive an area of suitable habitats for duckweeds as that provided by the drainage ditches and peat diggings in the low-lying ground to the north and south of the Mendips. Most such ditches, except the widest or most rapidly flowing, are by June entirely covered by duck- weeds, often in association with Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Callitriche spp. and Potamogeton spp. OCCURRENCE AND ECOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR OF DUCKWEEDS Relative Abundance Seventy-six sites within the area bounded by Clevedon, Burnham and Glastonbury at which at least one species of duckweed occurred were examined in July 1967. The sites were in roadside ditches at locations at least half a mile apart. Samples were scooped up in a net, and the proportion (by bulk) of each species was subjectively estimated. The average composition was L. minor 49%, L. trisulca 20%, L. polyrhiza 18%, L. gibba 11%, and Wolffia 2%. In total 210 occurrences of species were observed, of which 35% were of L. minor, 24% L. polyrhiza, 18% L. trisulca, 14% L. gibba, and 9% Wolffia. It is apparent that when L. minor occurs with other species it is, in general, more abundantly represented, whereas when Wolffia and L. polyrhiza occur in mixed colonies they are less well represented than other species. At twelve sites only L. minor occurred, and at three sites only L. trisulca. All five species occurred together at three sites (all near Kingston Seymour). Wolffia is particularly abundant in some ditches in this area, accounting for up to 30% of the bulk of colonies. Additionally Azolla filiculoides was recorded from one site, and the floating liverwort Riccia fluitans from two. The occurrence of Azolla is sporadic. For example in September 1965 it dominated 200 yards of a ditch at Loxton to the virtual exclusion of other species, whereas in 1966 and 1967 no plants of Azolla could be found at the site. Survival in Winter and Length of Growing Season Observations made in Spring 1967 (following a mild winter) are summarized in Table I. G 554 M. C. SMITH Table I. | Appearance of Duckweeds and Azolla in Spring, 1967 19 March 23 April go April 17 June L. gibba = Floating* Asin March Becoming Fully gibbous, more gibbous purple L. minor Floatingt Asin March As at 23 April Bright green but all fronds clusters sprouting L. polyrhiza Not on Kidney-shaped ‘Turions Dark green surface rootless green- mostly clusters, black turions, sprouting red below flcating L. trisulca Floating Asin March Asin March Asin March abundant Wolffia No sites A few on A few on Increasingly examined surface surface abundant Azolla No sites _No sites No sites Very small examined examined examined dark green plants *Frequent as either (1) pale green gibbous clusters, or (2) dark green non- gibbous single fronds sprouting pale green fronds. tGenerally occurring as bright green clusters similar to the summer form, but occasionally as elliptical purple rootless single fronds. These observations suggest that L. minor and L. trisulca generally pass the winter in floating unspecialized form, L. gibba in a floating but specialized form, L. polyrhiza in a submerged specialized form and Wolffia in a submerged but unspecialized form. Azolla generally overwinters as spores—although instances of Azolla overwintering vegetatively have been recorded from the area (Willis, 1967). Rough comparison of relative abundance at the beginning and end of the growing season suggests that the greatest increase is shown by Azolla, followed by Wolffia, L. gibba, L. polyrhiza, and L. minor, with L. trisulca showing the least increase. The species may therefore occur in the same order with regard to extent of winter mortality. The order in which growth commences in Spring is L. gibba, followed by L. minor and L. trisulca, then by L. polyrhiza and Wolffia, with Azolla last. Tolerance of Low Light Intensity Two investigations were made which suggest that tolerance of low light intensity decreases in the order L. ¢trisulca, L. minor, L. polyrhiza, L. gibba and Wolfia. ‘The position of Azolla is uncertain. (i) In a survey of sites in July the degree of shading by trees and ECOLOGY OF DUCKWEEDS 555 reeds was subjectively allotted to one of two levels, as shown in Table IT. Table II. Number of sites at which Duckweeds present L. gibba L. minor L. polyrhiza L. trisulca Wolffia Total Open QI 42 23 18 15 42 Some shade 8 31 18 20 4 34 Total 29 73 51 38 19 76 Wolfia, L. gibba and L. polyrhiza are associated with unshaded sites; the association is statistically significant (on applying chi squared contingency tests) at the 0-05 confidence level for the first two, and at o-1o for L. polyrhiza. L. minor and L. trisulca are rela- tively more tolerant of shade. (ii) Separate colonies of each species were grown in jars at different distances from a mercury vapour lamp. (Since tap water was used without addition of minerals, growth rates, especially at the higher light intensities, were probably lower than the rates achieved in ditches. Moreover, light intensity from a lightly clouded sky in summer at noon is over double the greatest intensity in this experi- ment). ‘The experiment was continued for six weeks, but initial frond numbers were based on a count a week after setting up, to allow for acclimatization, and the counts for the last week, when mineral deficiency appeared to have become pronounced, were not used. Table III. Percentage increase in frond number in 28 days Tight L. Dy: L. L. Intensity minor gibba_ polyrhiza trisulca Wolffia Azolla Average (Lumens /sq. ft.) 480 145 137 70 Te 93 51 IOI 225 ae 38 58 79 7 142 75 138 64 54 37 37 et 40 37 ye 32 39 ne) 52 4 13 27 45 —2 —I13 —6 IO —I0 IO —2 14 —I7 —I3 —7 6 I —I7 —6 Ae 1a +6 —I4 2 —6§ —§ —7 The results of Table III suggest that the photosynthetic com- pensation point of L. trisulca may be below the average of the six species, and that of Wolffia above it. No difference between the compensation points of the other species of Lemna was apparent. Shortage of minerals may have reduced rates of growth at the higher light intensities relative to rates of growth in weak light, the extent of the effect being greater with the faster growing species. 556 M. C. SMITH Relative Buoyancy When the plants in a colony become crowded the species with greatest buoyancy will shade the other species. Relative buoyancy was investigated by placing a mixture of species of known com- position (and containing approximately equal bulk of each species) in a half-filled 10 gallon carboy so that the water surface was just covered. The water level was gradually raised until, as the level rose up the sloping sides of the carboy, the surface area was reduced about three times. After gentle shaking, the composition of the layer visible from above was then estimated. The procedure was repeated with further reductions of surface area. Results, after conversion of actual percentage compositions of each species in the sample to equality, are shown in Table IV. Table IV. Percentage of total frond number due to each species * 1b L. L. L. Azolla gibba minor polyrhiza trisulca Wolffia ‘Total Total sample 16-7 16°7 16:7 | 16°79 Sola Oo Surface covered 18-9 17°4 23°0 26:2 O.. 14-7 “100 Surface reduced to 1/3 27-0 1972) ~16-9, 90-0 O 6:0 100 Surface seduced to 1/9 ey OAL Oe Bak, 7 Oe eal O EO O 6-3 100 Surface pediiced tOrL/Q7C i OnVR eG, ae ael 9°8 O 27 LOO *Figures are given to nearest 0.1 The relative buoyancy of the species declines in the order Azolla, L. gibba, L. polyrhiza, L. minor, Wolffia, and L. trisulca. Resistance to Drought Plants of each species were placed on the surface of a slurry of mud and water, which was then allowed to dry until cracks ap- peared. The mud was remoistened, and then examined at intervals. After three days all specimens of Azolla seemed dead; some of L. gibba and Wolffia seemed dead: all L. minor and L. trisulca appeared alive, but no growth had taken place; some specimens of L. polyrhiza had formed new fronds. Rates of Growth on Open Water In order to determine the relative rates of growth of the different species when there is no crowding on the surface each species was grown under the same conditions of good lighting and mineral status. ECOLOGY OF DUCKWEEDS 557 No significant differences were observed between the rates of . growth of the different species of duckweed, but in one experiment the rate of growth of Azolla was greater than the average for all the species by an amount that is significant at the 10% level, as shown in Table V. Table V. Rates of growth on open water tO LE. iE. L. Wolfia Azolla gibba minor polyrhiza trisulca Number of fronds atiso July —..- 45 38 32 34. 50 42 Number of fronds at 23 August 106 112 77 65 III 187 Percentage increase eo) 195 141 gI 122 345 However, in a replicate experiment Azolla showed the lowest growth rate, apparently due to fungal attack. Competition under Experimental Conditions The species were grown for 55 days under controlled conditions of light (intensity averaging 656 lumens/sq. ft., from a mercury vapour lamp) and temperature (maintained approximately constant at 70°F. by carrying out the experiment in a shuttered basement), using a mineral medium (containing N, K, P, Fe, Mg, Ca, S and trace elements) sufficiently rich for no significant fall in composition to occur due to uptake during growth. To eliminate the effect of variations in conditions due to slight differences in distance from the lamp, the colonies were arranged in two 5 x 5 Latin Squares com- posed of compartments of 0°55 inches square and 1°5 inches depth. In one Latin Square each species was grown in isolation. Growth curves are plotted in Figure 1 as solid lines. The curves of L. poly- rhiza, L. trisulca, L. gibba and L. minor show uniform and high initial rates but indicate lower growth rates as the fronds become crowded and overlapping. The order in which this reduction took place, which is as above, reflects the relative site of the fronds of these species. The curve for Wolffia also shows an eventual reduction of growth compared with the initial rate but, since this species did not completely cover the surface even after 55 days, the reduction must be due to some factor other than crowding. (The experimental conditions do not seem to have been favourable to the growth of Wolffia, and the results relating to it in this and the next two ex- periments do not fit with the observations below made at Street). skoqg Os Ov O€ OL os OF Oc ieX4 cell / Vv / i " soulw "> + DI JOM O / \ a \ / ms o/ ti / pziysdjod ° 7 9 Ee iewmrate 1YysAj} 1 J = p2jnsiag*JO _- Peuenes ? / O sen io=s ' 7 B = e v oz1yidjod - y o-W-V, e/ e 4 Vv &b 1e) 7 7 “ i e re fa = V7 a Ls G7 sou "y+ priyskjod “4 <é pe RIV Noa ar DiHJ1OM @ + soulw + / / /V Joulw * Jourw "4 Jou "y A, Joulw *y uA o> . “e ynsiay*y + JOUIW / re tA 214) 10M + Px aloe Ww pe (saaAin> paysop) uolyiyadwo> a ul sarsads sayyoud pud Joulw “7 yo Sadnyjn> UL PUD (saasn> pIjos) seinyjn> sa!rads ajBuls ut SPaaMxING JO SBIDY YIMOID AAI¥DIDdWO> L aynol4d 558 07 ajo2g 607 ECOLOGY OF DUCKWEEDS 559 _In the second Latin Square each species was grown in com- petition with L. minor. Growth curves are plotted in Figure 1 as dashed lines, alongside the growth curves of single species cultures. The relative form of the curves suggests that: (i) Wolffia and L. trisulca do not reduce the growth rate of L. minor, but their own growth rates are curtailed if L. minor is present. (ii) When L. gibba and L. minor are in competition the growth rate of each is reduced, that of L. minor falling more than that of L. gibba. (111) When L. polyrhiza and L. minor are in competition the growth of L. polyrhiza is not reduced whereas that of L. minor is. (The fact that the growth of L. polyrhiza when in competition was faster than in isolation was presumably due to differences in the vigour of the specimens selected). Also in the second Latin Square all five species were grown in competition. As shown in Table VI the growth rate of each species was lower, compared with its growth in single species culture, when subjected to simultaneous competition from the four other species. The extent to which growth rate was reduced by competition with four other species was least in the case of L. polyrhiza and then in- creased in the order L. minor, Wolffia, L. gibba and L. trisulca. Table VI. | Comparison of growth rates in single species cultures and in cultures of five species in competition de L. L. L. Wolffia gibba minor polyrhiza trisulca (1) Frond number after 55 days in single species culture 33°8 45:2 Tl ee 2Ae one (2) Frond number after 55 days in competition oo Ome2-o 8-4 4°8 72 (2) as % of (1) -... -. 25°4. 50°74 72°4 19°7 20°7 Observations near Street Four sites were examined at intervals during the growing season and counts of each species made (Table VII). Sites 1, 2 and 3 were ina stagnant ditch. Site 1 was 1 yard up-wind (with regard to prevailing wind) of a Glyceria clump blocking wind- blown movement of duckweeds. Sites 2 and 3 were respectively 33 and 70 yards up-wind of the obstruction. Site 4 was in a peat digging protected from wind. All site surfaces were covered with overlapping fronds at each date except Site 3 in April which had 50% of the surface clear. By September Sites 1 and 2 had partially dried out and contained a slurry of mud and water. 560 M. C. SMITH Table VII. Fronds per square inch of surface Ly, i L Jo Wolffia Grid. "Ret.) site) Wate gibba minor polyrhiza trisulca ST/458386 1 30 Apr. — 407 9 267 -— 17 June — 750 61 414 — g Sept. — 187 61 72 — ST/458386 2 30 Apr. — 31 2g 94 — 17 June — 7a 138 308 — Q Sept. — 193 128 46 — ST/458386 3 30 Apr. —-- 10 2 172 = 17 June — Fi 98 651 — Q Sept. 8 1602 92 164 —- ST/464394 4 30 Apr. 7-252 = 144. 15 17 June 81 1355 —- 950 60 g Sept. 38 605 —- 630 «©6468 The changes in relative abundance of species can be tentatively explained in terms of investigated competitive advantages as follows: In April the abundance of ZL. trisulca and L. minor was due to their superior winter hardiness. Moreover, some plants of Wolffia and L. polyrhiza had not yet risen to the surface. Between April and June L. minor increased at each site, on average by 307%. Increase in L. trisulca was a little smaller, averaging 252%, due to shading by surface-growing species. Increases in L. polyrhiza and L. gibba were greater than for L. minor, due to superior buoyancy. Between June and September L. minor decreased substantially at Site 1, due to poor resistance to dehydration, whereas the more resistant L. polyrhiza maintained its numbers. The reason for the marked increase in Wolffia at Site 4 over the whole period is not known. Wolffia was found in experiments to be less buoyant and less shade tolerant than L. minor which dominated the ‘site. DISCUSSION The order of performance of the species with respect to five competitive advantages investigated, together with the order of performance in competition under experimental conditions, 1s summarized in Table VIII. ECOLOGY OF DUCKWEEDS 561 Table VIII. Order of performance Azolla L. L. Daf L. Wolffia gibba minor polyrhiza trisulca Survival in Winter 6 4. 2 2 I 5 Early growth in Spring 6 I at 44 at 44 Shade tolerance .. (3$) 5 2 34 I 6 Buoyancy I 2 4 3 6 5 Drought resistance . 6 44 ak I ak 44 Competition under experimental conditions (34) 5 2 I 6 34 Since an order of performance for Azolla was not established for two of the criteria it has been assigned an average position (of 34) for these. A broad correlation exists between the average order of perform- ance by a species in respect of the criteria above and the relative frequency of occurrence (Table IX). Table IX. Comparison of order of performance and frequency of occurrence L. L. JB L. Azolla Wolffia minor polyrhiza trisulca gibba Average order of performance fe Beh Q7 S20 3 Oar 4 og Order of relative frequency in N. Somerset oe I 2 2 4 6 5 Order of relative frequency in U.K.* I 4 2 3 5 6 *As assessed by number of 10 Km. squares in which recorded since 1930 (Perring and Walters, 1962). Among the more important competitive advantages and dis- advantages associated with particular species are: L. minor High winter survival and shade tolerance. L. gibba Buoyancy and early growth in spring. L. polyrhiza Drought resistance and buoyancy. L. trisulca High winter survival and shade tolerance, but lack of buoyancy a disadvantage. Azolla Buoyancy; poor winter survival a disadvantage. 562 M. C. SMITH The nitrogen-fixing blue-green alga Anabaena occurs within the leaf-lobes of Azolla, and Wolffia appears to be favoured by water with a high content of organic matter. It is therefore possible that two competitive advantages not discussed here are of importance— namely, tolerance of low mineral status and perhaps capacity for saprophytic nutrition. REFERENCES Clatworthy, J. N. 1960. Studies in the Nature of Competition between Closely Related Species. D. Phil. thesis, University of Oxford. Harper, J. L. 1961. Approaches to the study of plant competition. Symp. Soc. exp. Biol. 15, 1-39. Perring, F. H. & Walters, S. M. (Eds.) 1962. Atlas of the British Flora. Botanical Society of the British Isles, London. Willis, A. J. 1967 (for 1966). Bristol Botany in 1966. Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. 31, 239-48. AN IMPORTANT NEW SERIES A FOR NATURALISTS THE BBC RECENTLY ISSUED THE FIRST LONG PLAYING RECORD OF A SERIES WHICH IS CERTAIN TO BE OF GREAT INTEREST TO ALL LOVERS OF THE COUNTRY- SIDE AND ITS WILD LIFE: A SALUTE TO LUDWIG KOCH RED 34M _ Price 21/6 A brief account of the life and career of Dr. Ludwig Koch, the famous pioneer wild life sound recordist, as recalled by Desmond Hawkins with the help of extracts from some of Dr. Koch's well-known broadcasts and recordings, now permanently preserved in the BBC Sound Archives. As well as Dr. Koch and Desmond Hawkins, one can hear the voices of Field Marshal Paul Von Hindenburg, president of the German Weimar Republic, James Fisher, Sir Julian Huxley and Peter Scott. 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Includes 76-page Supplement on Access and Diagram Map. 5s 6d post free Parish Rooms, Dulverton, Somerset eee aes WILDLIFE and France “mets NATURE TOURS 1970 Cyprus Fair Isle Our range will be bigger than ever with at least 16 areas Angus to choose from. Newfoundland Experienced leaders on all tours. enue Booklet ready in late Autumn. S. W. Spain Poland ACADEMY TRAVEL LTD. R ; parcial 10 Bloomsbury Way, London, W.C.|! India Phone 01-405 2417 Members of A.B.T.A. Norway Members of 1.A.T.A. PRESIDENTS WILLIAM SANDERS oe St ae or — et oo? HENRY E. FRIPP SOR, Es NU cae ota ae: ea 76 PPOE@H FORSTER BURDER .. |... 2 www se 80 JOHN BEDDOE.. MT re” Bote en ea caine 83 Professor WILLIAM RAMSAY aA he ahs ie ay 84. Rev. THOMAS HINCKS .. 28 x ae wile ae 87 Professor C. LLOYD MORGAN .. an ae es se go Professor ADOLPH LEIPNER wee us aN ae ie 93 Professor SYDNEY YOUNG .; Di nee aA Me, 94 S. H. SWAYNE $. st oe AG ae ae 97 Professor C. LLOYD MORGAN Ps A rs a ar 99 ARTHUR B. PROWSE _.. ae ee a oye eel. STOOD Cc. K. RUDGE ae ie a a Ne ae fs 04 JAMES W. WHITE a Be oe ae ae *, 07 G. MUNRO SMITH a ae es oie bic ae 10 Miss I. M. ROPER Be S ote Ne ce che 13 G. G. GRIFFITHS... 36 bin a iE ae Ti ERNEST (later Sir Ernest) H. COOK A 56 aie cS 19 H. WOMERSLEY .. sik a oe ae fs a 22 Professor O. V. DARBISHIRE .. ee vie awe es 24. JAMES RAFTER _.. ae ne os Aas sf an 27 A. L. FLEMMING .. ite be Bit if i. — 30 J.0V: TLUTCHER. -.. Ae we ie ae - - 31 F. S. WALLIS ae wwe a! he se a 33 Professor O. V. DARBISHIRE Re le a aie ae 34. G. E. J. McMURTRIE __.. oP: es ot oe ae 35 Professor MACGREGOR SKENE si ve 5 ua 338 H. TETLEY oie Ke ee oe ae af aye 42 Sir LEWIS L. FERMOR .. ae os a. she ae 45 F. W. EVENS As ay a ues ie be AA 48 ii. He. DAVIS te op oe a ae es 50 Professor W. F. WHITTARD a ue oe Pur ate 52 Jj: BH. SAVORY OF nas se a i os <3 54 R. BASSINDALE .. ae as 8 ye 0 oa 56 Miss M. H. ROGERS ash a a - ae a 58 F. COLES PHILLIPS ee ee a Ao Ee ne Go H. H. DAVIS ee ae ye iain ce ay # a 62 RK, J. G. SAVAGE .. aks Ss ss ae Ke “te 63 A. F. DEVONSHIRE i as ye aN wy ie 65 F. R. STERNE ae si a ts a ie ie 67 R. BRADSHAW ae a ote es ae ae ae 68 The dates given are those of election to office. MEMBERSHIP OF THE — | BRISTOL NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY Anyone interested in Natural History may apply to join the Society as a Full member. The annual subscription is 25 /-. Members of the household of a Full member and persons residing outside a radius of twenty miles from the City Centre of Bristol may become members for an annual subscription of 12/6. There are also membership facilities for persons still undergoing educa- tional instruction or still under the age of 21 years at the reduced subscription of 12/6. A prospectus giving fuller details of the privileges of the various classes of membership may be obtained from the Honorary Treasurer:— P. J. M. NETHERCOTT, 6 HazELwoop, HazELwoop Roap, BRISTOL Q. PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRISTOL NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY The Society has stocks of back numbers of most annual parts of the Proceedings which may be purchased at the price of 5/-— per part (except parts of Vol. XXX which are 8 /— and of Vol. XXXI which are 15 /—), postage extra. Application should be made to the Honorary Librarian, Bristol Naturalists’ Society, City Museum, Bristol 8. Spo In addition, the undermentioned papers from the Proceedings may be obtained from the Honorary Librarian:— A Revised List of the Birds of the Bristol District by H. H. Davis, reprinted from Proc., 1947. Price 5 /—, postage extra. A Centenary History of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society 1862- 1962, being Part IIIA of Proc., 1961. Price 5/—, postage extra. 2.6 F-2 VOLUME XXXI, PART VI PRICE TWENTY SHILLINGS 1969 PROCEEDINGS OF THE Bristol Naturalists’ Society EpireD By J. W. COWIE ASSISTED BY A COMMITTEE “Rerum cognoscere causas’’—Virgil a 3 % PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY AT THE BURLEIGH PRESS, BRISTOL Issued 31st August, 1970 |__Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. | 31,(6) | pp.563—658 | 1970 | All matter for inclusion in the next issue of the Proceedings should be sent to:— Dr. J. W. Cowie, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY, THE UNIVERSITY, BRISTOL NOT LATER THAN FEB. 28. Other instructions for authors appear on Contents page. All Books, Pamphlets, Reports of Proceedings sent by way of exchange, gift or otherwise, and all correspondence relating thereto and to purchases of the Society’s publications should be addressed to:— Hon. LiprariAN, BrisroLt Nat. Soc., THE Ciry Museum, BRISTOL Applications for membership of the Society should be addressed to the Hon. Treasurer:— P. J. M. NeTHeERcoTT, Esq., 6 HAZELWOOD, HazeELwoop Roap, BRISTOL, BSQ IPU Enquiries concerning Field Meetings should be made of the Hon. Secretary, Field Committee:— Dr. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, 59 FALCONDALE Roan, WESTBURY-ON- [RYM, BRISTOL, BSQ 3JP All other communications should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary:— Mrs. F. R. STERNE, B.Sc., g CHARLCOMBE Way, BATH, BAI 6jz SOMERSET The SOCIETY’S LIBRARY is housed in the City Museum and is available to members between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on weekdays. Certain publications (chiefly American) are, however, now kept in the University Library, Queen’s Building. ahaha VOLUME XXXI, PART VI. 1969 GONTENTS PAGE Council .. es 7 oh te se sss ae = .. 564 Report of Council a be pa Be ae oe a .. 565 Hon. Librarian’s Report a oe =e a = ay .. = 565 Report of Entomological Section his sf ei is - .. 565 Hon. Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts an ing a ae .. 566 Report of Botanical Section .. oe oh - ie a5 .. 567 Report of Junior Section eet a oe ct on a8 .. 568 Report of Geological Section .. Bs oe te Be ae 23. 2506 Report of Ornithological Section ie ft ‘i id x .. 568 Report of Mammal Section .. i a ns os es .. 569 Account of the General Meetings ae Ms Hf are A i) 570 Obituary: Mr. I. W. Evans .. si ics a 5 ee 2 Bristol Botany in 1969, by A. J. Willis se eS si se. “53 Bristol Bird Report, 1969 aie ‘ 579 Lepidoptera Notes, Bristol District, 109, by re D. R. soa mal KG H. Poole - . 601 Mammal Survey, Bee District, Mane by R. Ca oe me .. 611 “A Description of a Cliff...” (Aust Cliff) by G6ran Vallerius, ee etn and notes by H. D. Hedberg and others 7 615 The Problems posed by Colliery Waste Tips in Somerset by C. G. Down 625 Section of Lias below the Midford Sand at Bitton Hill, Bitton, Gloucester- shire, by T. R. Fry ies wo sad Jo G31 Cheddar Gorge Survey, by M. H. Roses sata hes ea 635 The Portlandian and Purbeckian of the Vale of Wardour, ey x. ine fuel C. A. Wright = 651 Notes on the Severn Bore, by D. EH, pena o ee a .. 658 on INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS . All matter offered for publication in the “PROCEEDINGS” must be sent as directed on p. 2 of cover of current issue. . To ensure consideration for inclusion in the next issue, contributions must be received not later than February 28. . All copy must be type-written (preferably double-spaced) or in very clear manuscript and, in either case, with good margins. Copy submitted is not returnable and authors are advised to keep a duplicate. At the discretion of the Hon. Editor, contributors may be required to furnish short abstracts of their communications, for printing as summaries. Photos and drawings supplied for illustrations will be returned. . The copyright of all published matter shall be the property of the Society, whose Council has power to permit reproduction. . Authors :nall be entitled to 25 copies of their papers (without covers), free of charge. NV.B.—AUTHORS ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY OF THEIR ARTICLES. THE SOCIETY IS A SIGNATORY TO THE Farr COPYING DECLARATION, DETAILS OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ROYAL SociEty, BURLINGTON HouskE, W.1. A 563 564 COUNCIL 1969 OFFICERS: PRESIDENT: R. BRADSHAW, M.Sc. PAST PRESIDENTS: S. WALLIS, Ph.D., D.Sc. Prof. F. COLES PHILLIPS, rof. M. SKENE, D.Sc., F.L.S. M.A., Ph.D. W. EVENS R. J. G. SAVAGE, . H. DAVIS, M.B.O.U. B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. BASSINDALE, M.Sc. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. iss M. H. ROGERS, M.A. F. R. STERNE VICE-PRESIDENTS: J. WILLIS, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.L.S. K. T. BATTY HON. TREASURER: HON. AUDITOR: J. M. NETHERCOTT A. E. BILLETT HON. SECRETARY: Mrs. F. R. STERNE, B.Sc. HON. CIRCULATION SECRETARIES: Mr. and Mrs. G. H. DUDDEN HON. BULLETIN SECRETARY: D. W. B. FROST CHAIRMAN, FIELD COMMITTEE: H. G. HOCKEY HON. SECRETARY, FIELD COMMITTEE: A. F. DEVONSHIRE, M.A., Ph.D. HON. LIBRARIAN: R. BRADSHAW, M.Sc. HON. ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN: Mrs. M. J. ROGERS, M.A. HON.EDITOR: J. W. COWIE, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.G.S. HON. SCHOOLS LIAISON OFFICER: Mrs. A. J. HOLLOWELL, M.A., A.M.A. F. P F. H R. M As PB: OFFICERS OF SECTION: BOTANICAL: President—T. E. T. BOND, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.L.S. Hon. Secretary—Miss I. F. GRAVESTOCK, B.A. ENTOMOLOGICAL: y President—T. B. SELCOCKS, F.C.A. Hon. Secretary—A. D. R. BROWN, F.R.E.S. GEOLOGICAL: President—C. E. LEESE, B.Sc. Hon. Secretary: A. B. HAWKINS, B.Sc., F.G.S. JUNIOR: President—C. E. D. SMITH, Ph.D. Hon. Secretary—Miss D. M. BUSSELL Hon. Membership Secretary—Miss D. M. BUSSELL MAMMAL: President—A. F, JAYNE Hon. Secretary—Mrs. A. R. HOLETON, B.Sc. ORNITHOLOGICAL: President—G. A. FORREST, M.A. Hon. Secretary—S. M. TAYLOR, B.Sc. OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL: R. AVERY, B.Sc., Ph.D. D. H. PEREGRINE, B.A., Ph.D. D. A. C. CULLEN F. H. RAWLINGS, M.P.S., D.P.A. Miss R. C. LEE Miss E. J. LENTON K. GHANI, B.Sc. Ex-officio the Professors of Botany, GEOLOGY and Zoo.Locy at the UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL 565 REPORT OF COUNCIL, 1969 are 16 affiliated societies. The Annual General Meeting re-elected R. Bradshaw as President and elected the other Officers and Members of Council. General meetings have been well supported, some having a large attendance. Numbers at Sectional meetings have also improved during the year. The Annual Dinner was again held success- fully in the Senior Common Room, after which the Guest Speaker, Mr. W. O. Copland gave an illustrated talk on Nature Conservancy in the South-West of England during the past five years. The Conservation Committee has diligently continued its work to the good of all, making numerous representations and establishing contact with public authorities and private organisations. Proposals for our area to mark the 1970 European Conservation Year include a Nature Trail in Ashton Court Grounds. It is hoped the Society will support their efforts. Mr. K. T. Batty has agreed to be Chairman from March, 1970. With respect and regret we have to record the deaths of Mr. W. A. Geary, Mr. I. W. Evans and Mr. G. C. Bush. Te membership at the end of the year was 765 including 71 juniors. There GWYNNETH STERNE, Hon. Secretary. LIBRARIAN’S REPORT, 1969 Exchange of the Proceedings has been discontinued with the following:— Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire, Barrow Naturalists’ Field Club, Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club, Cheltenham College Natural History Society, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Cotteswold Naturalists’ Society, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Field Club, Manchester Microscopical Society, Marlborough College Natural History Society, Swansea Scientific and Field Naturalists’ Society, Academy of Sciences of St. Louis. 65 books and go periodicals were borrowed by 49 members. R. BRADSHAW, Aon. Librarian. REPORT OF ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION, 1969 T the General Meeting on 14 January the following were elected: President, At B. Silcocks; Vice-President, P. F. Bird; Secretary, A. D. R. Brown; Assistant Secretaries, R. Dransfield and C. W. Wiltshire; Committee, D. G. Gibb, A. Kennard and K. H. Poole. During 1969, the following meetings took place: Mar. 11: Talk on the Lepidoptera of S. W. England by A. Kennard. June 11: Branscombe, South Devon. Mr. A. D. R. Brown. July 5: Walton Hill, Clevedon. Mr. T. B. Silcocks. Aug. 23: Inglestone Common, Glos. Dr. C. E. D. Smith, Mr. D. G. Gibb and Mr. R. E. Knight. Oct. 7: Conversazione at Mr. A. D. R. Brown’s home. Nov. 4: Annual Exhibition at the City Museum. A. D. R. BROWN, Hon. Secretary. OT 6 cI OT oon WA 0 SI 9 foe) €69'1F T8¢ \v cLS Ise ‘D9 ‘SZI LF JO pung yeredg uonses jeoISojoyuUJO oy} pue sJomsvery jeuoTjoes Aq pley seouryeq p1osei jou op syunodov esoy L—" ALON oncooo- Am~ooow "po “SL LyF_ ‘puns suOTIeIISN]T] ,,AIOACS AIIeH,, 94} SUIPNIOUY » 6S soyTMIWOD pps jo spuvy Uy 007 spucg ssuraeg ysniig % L 0OCF O€ spuog UoWIdoToAed [BUOCHEN %S OFF« 00Z spucg Juswdojosed JeUOnEN % $6 OOTF« rE yurg SBUIAeS SOLO 3SOg Ul Wsodeqd us 0 0 SI anboayo pojussoidun ssa] Ol CI CL yueq Ul yse) :JUNODB }X9U O} soouRleg quourkedoid : MoUs WII OL6I pled sosuodxs jo souryeq :Moys WII L967 Ol Jorunf O€ JesIZOTOYNUIO Ol yeume Ww cI [es1S0[09H SI ]eorsojouloju_d SI yeoruejog :SUOT}OVG O1 SJURIDH oInyipusdxs ssoox9 :da}TWUIOD PIII sSunsatu [esoued Jo sosuodxo pue solv JsnI ZT wyoH desig 9 ‘O10 SOINJENY JO} JIoUNOD > SUOTINGIIUO_D (Arv1qi]) sUeINSUT O17 (Woo1 AIBIQT] JO) WY O€ ‘oJo ‘sjeuINof 10} UOTdTIOsqng Sulpulqyoog ¢ syoog (sjuridyo Suipnpout *gg6]) Ssuipaar04d JayiModA} Jo sseyoing Tl QOURISISSE |BOTIDID ‘Jo ‘syoog snbsyD 6r1 guoydajeay pure sose}sod 681 Ayouoyejig pue suljulig [erauey F “CO AN oo ono ooo 3 S io) N =—=O va) loo} 8961 6961 ‘UAAIAOAC I€ GHANA UVAA AHL UOA SLNANAVd GNV SLdIdOdu Ajo100G SISIPLINIENY [OWI 9Y} YIM JUNO" Ul JoInsvaty ‘UOHF ey] ooo cooo 0 g IL9 JUNO Jse] WO, sOULTeg oO Ss puny ,,AIOAeS AlIeH,, 0} SUCTINGIIJUOS SIOQUISIA I LIOT 9 7E UOISIOAUOS UO wnitolg pue spuog Justudojesoqd [euoneN UO jsolo}UT LI yueg SSUTAeg soLYO 1s0d ul yIsodop UO jsolo}JU] 8 Jguulgq UO WOldg 9 ¢ sospeg jo 98S 81 c9T 8 L tr SJUDWIOSTIIOAPY (Ga ee SIOQIIOSQNS b TI 8P syuTId yO ‘Pp 9 ZI pS suolyeuop ‘suolNqiyUOS sioyyne ‘s}ueID 2(8/L961) S8ulpa2I041d suoleuogd ¢ ls Sepa a Os O86 serene 0 0 7 OL6I 0 0 2 6961 0 OL 7 896I SOTJOIDOG poe yVv OF VY 9G Sa 9 LIT OLél O L ve 6961 siorunt 0: “S02 Sea 9 TI OL6l 9 tT OC 6961 SO}BIDOSSYV Of SO2Sl* sass 0 0 SI 6961 SIOQ WIS TAL Surpuodsa11oZy 9 “COL? =a ae 0 0 v_ CLE6I 9 TI 99 6961 ployssnoy sures ay} Jo sioquisy] TINA OEE ES 9 ae O SI 7wEe OL6l 9 €1 9I9 696T Oo STE 8961 sraqusf, 04 :sucTydiiosqng (SJaquioyy 'so3) pS FUP US OF “qd 567 wkEPORT OF BOTANICAL SECTION, 1969 the University on 27 January, 1969, the following officers were elected:— President, Dr. T. E. T. Bond; Secretary and Treasurer, Miss I. F. Gravestock; Committee: Mrs. C. H. Cummins, Mrs. N. Vaughan Davies, Dr. A. F. Devonshire, Mr. J. A. Eatough, Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott, Dr. D. H. Peregrine, Miss A. M. Sampson and Dr. C. E. D. Smith. The wild plant table at the Bristol Museum continued to be much appreciated, and thanks are offered to Mr. A. Warhurst and Mr. P. F. Bird of the Museum and to Mr. E. S. Smith and Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Cummins, as well as to all members who contributed specimens. At the Annual General Meeting in the Small Geology Lecture Theatre of The following winter meetings were held during the year:— Jan. 27: Annual General Meeting and a further Progress Report on the Somerset Flora by Capt. R. G. B. Roe; also Members’ Evening. Feb. 24: Plant Hunting in Kashmir, by Mr. Ivor B. Barton. Mar. 17: Film Evening (1) In Search of an English Garden, by Fisons Ltd. for the National Gardens Scheme; (2) Transparencies of a holiday at La Crave by Mr. C. H. Cummins. Oct. 27: Members’ Evening, with transparencies. £ p Nov. 24: Report of the Survey of Semi-Natural areas in Somerset, by Dr. C. E. D. Smith. The following field excursions took place, under the leadership of those shown:— Mar. 8: Goblin Combe, for bryophytes. Mrs. J. Appleyard. April 26: North Stoke and Pipley Bottom. Mrs. N. Vaughan Davies. May 3: Old Down Gardens and Down House, Tockington. By courtesy of Mrs. R. Bernays. Miss I. F. Gravestock. June 4: Kingsweston Down. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. June 7: Hawkesbury Upton to Lower Kilcott. Mr. C. H. Cummins. Abundance of Paris quadrifolia found, some with leaves, in whorls of 5, 6 or 7. Also Aquilegia vulgaris, white form. June 21: Cadbury Camp to Portishead. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. June 28: Woods East of Tickenham. Mr. E. S. Smith. July 9: Dundry and Highridge. Dr. A. F. Devonshire. July 15: The Peat Bog, Trelleck. Dr. D. H. Peregrine. July 26: Thornbury to Aust. Dr. A. F. Devonshire. August 16: Wick Rocks. Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott. September 27. Fungus foray to Prior’s Wood, Portbury. Dr. T. E. T. Bond. Profusion of Armillaria mellea, and good collections of Agaricus silvicola, Fistulina hepatica and Geastrum triplex. October 18: Westonbirt Arboretum, Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott, I. F. GRAVESTOCK Aon. Secretary. 568 REPORT OF JUNIOR SECTION, 1969 Bussell (Secretary until October), Miss E. J. Lenton, Mrs. A. J. Hollowell, Mr. R. Curber, Mr. A. F. Jayne. There was an active programme of winter indoor meetings, and outdoor meetings all through the year. Outstanding meetings were the January visit to Cardiff Museum, and the two weekend meetings—a Welsh Weekend in April, and a Dorset Weekend in August. Outside achievements were that the second edition of Animag was edited by P. Cook. Several parties were organized for Conservation Corps work in Long Wood (Somerset) and Wetmoor (Glos.) Nature Reserves. C. E. D. SMITH, President. Te: Committee for 1969 was Dr. C. E. D. Smith (President), Miss D. M. REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SB@W VON: tea in the Geology Lecture Theatre. The following officers were elected: President, Mr. C. E. Leese; Vice-President, Mr. I. H. Ford; Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. B. Hawkins; Hon. Field Secretary, Mr. D. Hamilton; Committee, Professor D. L. Dineley, Student President of the University Geological Society (both ex-officio), Mr. D. Addison, Mr. R. Bradshaw, Mr. A. E. Frey, Mrs. M. Scawin, Mr. R. W. Ashley, Mr. N. H. Hollingsworth. After the Meeting, the retiring President, Mr. I. H. Ford, gave a lecture entitled ‘Minerals and the Polarizing Microscope’. Other lecture meetings were:— 20 March: Geological Work in the China Clay Industry. Mr. C. M. Bristow. 23 October: Techniques in Geological Photography. Mr. E. W. Seavill. 27 November: Opencast Coal Mining. Mr. G. Walton. The following four field meetings took place:— 20 April: The William Smith Locale, leader, Mr. R. Bradshaw. 1 June: Winscombe and Dulcote, leader, Mr. C. E. Leese. 29 June: Vale of Neath, leader Mr. T. R. Owen. 13 July: Pleistocene of the Cotswolds, leader, Mr. A. B. Hawkins. A. B. HAWKINS, Hon. Secretary. Ts Annual Business Meeting of the Section was held on 16 January, 1969 REPORT OF ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION, 1969 T the 45th Annual General Meeting in January, Mr. G. A. Forrest and Mr. S. M. Taylor were elected as President and Secretary respectively. Mrs. J. Campbell (née Adam) and Miss M. Denison had resigned from the Committee on leaving Bristol. Messrs. A. D. Lucas and H. R. H. Lance were elected, and Miss C. Graham, Mrs. C. Hughes and Messrs. A. E. Billett, P. J. Chadwick, H. R. Hammacott, M. A. 6 Ogilvie, J. F. Rowe and D. Warden were re-elected. Porne waen /f tHe KING OF Mr. A. E. Billett was re-appointed Hon. Auditor. Re ifs cout ORE? Seven indoor meetings were held, with an average attendance of 81, the lowest (39) on November 21 and the highest (125) on October 8. The subjects and speakers were: 569 Jan. 17: A.G.M. The How and Why of Counting Birds, by Mr. M.A. Ogilvie. Feb. 21: Birds in a Surrey Oakwood, by Dr. G. Beven. Mar. 19: Fouia, its History, People and Birds, by Mr. E. E. Jackson. Oct. 8: Films—Wild Wings, Water Birds, Wild Highlands and Between the Tides. Nov. 7: St. Kilda Seafarer, by Dr. J. J. M. Flegg. Nov. 21: Annual Fieldwork Meeting. Dec. 10: Islay, by Mr. M. A. Ogilvie; a Morning Walk in S.W. Spain, by Mr. S. M. Taylor; A visit to the Camargue, by Mr. P. J. Chadwick. Field meetings were held at the Clevedon coast (Jan. 12), Steart (all-day, Mar. 23), St. George’s Wharf (May 7), Chittening Warth (May 15), Inglestone Common (May 17), Shirehampton Park and Horseshoe Bend (May 22), the Midford district(May 31), Chittening Warth (Nov. 2) and St. George’s Wharf (Dec: 14). We are grateful to the leaders and helpers on these occasions, and to members who have provided overnight hospitality for visiting speakers and have subsidised our activities in other ways. Members continued co-operative studies of birds of prey, work on the B.T.O. Atlas of Breeding Distribution, the Common Birds Census, Nest Record Scheme, breeding season census of Shelduck and informal survey work along the R. Avon. There is room for more members, skilled and unskilled, to join in all these activities. S. M. TAYLOR, Hon. Secretary. REPORT OF MAMMAL SECTION, 1969 T the Annual General Meeting on 16 January, 1969 Mr. A. F. Jayne was Acre President; Mrs. A. R. Holeton Hon Secretary; Miss E. J. Lenton Hon. Field Secretary; Mr. R. G. Symes Mammal Recorder; Messrs. R. M. Curber, F. H. Rawlings and Kevin Cook, Committee Members, and Dr. D. H. Peregrine, Library Committee member. The following field meetings were held:— Jan. 19: Fox Spotting. Leader: Mrs. A. R. Holeton. Six foxes were sighted within the city boundaries between 12 midnight and 2 a.m. Feb. 2: Brockley Combe Survey. Leader: Mr. F. H. Rawlings. Mar. 1: Portishead to Clevedon Survey. Leaders: Miss E. J. Lenton and Miss M. Crichton. Apr. 5: Shiplate Slait Survey. Leader: Mr. T. B. Silcocks. May 4: Wetmoor Survey. Leader: Mr. A. F. Jayne. Yellow-necked mice were recorded. June 1: Velvet Bottom Survey. Leader: Mrs. A. R. Holeton. June 22: A River Walk. Leaders: Miss E. Hurrell and Mr. A. F. Jayne. July 12: Cheddar Wood Survey. Leader: Mr. R. M. Curber. Yellow-necked mice were recorded. 570 Aug. 2: Midger Wood Survey. Leaders: Mr. R G. Symes and Mr. A. F. Jayne. Yellow-necked mice were recorded. Sept. 6: Wetmoor Survey. Leader: Mr. E. G. Symes. Oct. 3-5 Pembrokeshire Weekend. Leader: Miss E. J. Lenton. Oct. 12: River Yeo Survey. Leader: Mr. R. G. Symes. Mink droppings were found. Nov. 2: Bourton Combe Survey. Leader: Mrs. A. R. Holeton. A water shrew was caught in a live trap. Dec. 7: Avon Gorge Survey. Joint meeting with Junior Section. Leaders: Mr. R. M. Curber and Kevin Cook. Lecture meetings included:— Feb. 11: The Yearly Cycle of the Grey Seal by Professor H. R. Hewer. Mar. 11: Mink by Mr. R. J. Clark. Nov. 4: Urban Foxes by Mr. I. Beames. Dec. 11: Polecats by Mr. K. C. Walton. A large number of records has been received for the mammal survey. During 1970 the emphasis will change trom general distribution to projects and observa- tions on species of particular interest. A. R. HOLETON, Aon. Secretary. E. J. LENTON, Hon. Field Secretary. ACCOUNT OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS, 1969 FTER the elections at the 106th Annual General Meeting on 23 January Mr. R. Bradshaw gave an illustrated talk entitled “‘Noah’s Flood” giving some thoughts on the Bible story but also showing a considerable amount of research is still required. On February 6 J. A. Eatough showed some of his slides on Mendip Caves, including a unique series of the discovery and exploration of St. Cuthberts Swallet from 1953 onward before some of the caves were quarried away. On March 6 the ‘“‘Effects of plants on weather”’ was the subject taken by Prof. J. P. Hudson. On October 2 Dr. E. Neal spoke about his recent trip to Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda, when he spent four months working at the research centre. He successfully studied the banded mongoose, photographing it in the wild and discovering its life cycle, behaviour patterns and food. On November 6 Mr. Morley Penistan addressed us on “Forestry and Wildlife” illustrating his talk with slides. He explained the changes in wildlife and flora with the cycle changes in felling and re-afforestation. On December 5 Mr. Peter Conder spoke on “‘Conservation in America,’ com- paring and contrasting various aspects on both sides of the Atlantic GWYNNETH STERNE, Hon. Secretary. veri -~J — GENERAL FIELD MEETINGS well supported. A social evening was also held. Frvcttssppo field meetings were held during the year and were generally A list of the meetings and leaders with some indication of the main objects of interest is given below. A more complete account is kept in the records of the Field Committee. Jan. 5: Durlston Head, Littlesea, Studland, and Sandbanks; sea-birds, Feb. .9: ducks, and shore birds. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. Porlock Weir. Sea-birds and waders. Mr. H. G. Hockey. March Social Evening. Birds and Animals of India. K. Ghani. Mar. 16: Apr. 4: Apr. 22: May 18: May 21: June 9: June 15: July 5: July 12: July 23: Aug. 3: Aug. 16: Sept. 7: Oct...4: Cock Hill quarry, Doulting quarry, Kilmersdon coal mine, Berry Hill Woods. Geology. Mr. I. H. Ford. North Hill, Minehead. Birds (ravens and peregrines), and early spring flowers. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Evening Walk through Bristol Forest. Forestry. Mr. M. Scott. Tretower (an Elizabethan mansion) and Dan-yr-Ogof caves. (Upper Swansea Valley) including the bone cave. Mr. H. G. Hockey and Mr. E. Mason. Inglestone Common. Woodland birds, including nightingales. Mr. D. A. C, Cullen. Jubilee Path, Tidenham Chase, Woodland plants and _ birds. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Little Neath river (near Pont Nedd Fechar). Dippers and many species of fern. Mellte river (near Ystradfellte), waterfalls, Glanyr-Afon, an old farm house, now the South Brecon field centre. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Coldwell Rocks, Symonds Yat. Striking geological formations and trees. Dr. A. F. Devonshire. Margam Forest, near Bridgend, Glamorgan. Exhibition to cele- brate the 50th anniversary of the Forestry Commission. Mr. H. G. Hockey. Priddy Pools. Industrial archaeology and botany. Steart, Combwich, and Durley Reservoir. Autumn migration in birds, great variety seen, including 2,000 swifts. Mr. D. A. C. Cullen. Brean Down, Plants and Birds. Miss Groves. Scenery of the Mendips. Geography and geology. Mr. A. E. Frey. Avebury, Silbury Hill and neighbourhood. Archaeology. Mr. A. Cy IK. Fear: Nov. 16 and Dec. 14: Woodspring Hill, A study of birds. Mr. H. G. Hockey. A. F. DEVONSHIRE, Hon. Field Secretary. ®bituarp Mr. I. W. EVANS Mr. Ivor Evans, who died on 9 November, 1969 at the age of 78 years, had been a member of the Society since 1919 and President of the Botanical Section for many years. He was an enthusiastic field botanist and had already been making records for several years; a number of his records can be found in White’s Bristol Flora, published in 1912. He never had any systematic training as a botanist, but he was a friend of Miss Roper, James White, Mrs. C. I. Sandwith and her son Mr. C. I. Sandwith, and he learned much from them, particularly from Miss Roper. His natural aptitude, combined with a wonderful memory, made him an outstanding figure in botanical circles. He helped Miss Roper with the wild plant table at the Museum in prewar days, and after the war he helped Mrs. Wakefield with it. He was also an excellent after-dinner entertainer and helped greatly at the early dinners of the IN 35..in the 1920's: He was President of the Field Section as it was then called from 1939-45, and led numerous field meetings for the Society; by the end of 1964 he had led more than a hundred. Most of these were for the botanical section, but he also led a number of general field meetings. After 1964 ill-health prevented him from leading any more field meetings, and also forced him to resign the Presidency of the botanical section, which he had held since 1956. He still came to an occasional field meeting, the last occasion being an evening meeting in 1966 to the Humpy-Tumps, a patch of acid soil near the railway at Keynsham, which was one of his favourite localities. His herbarium which contains a substantial number of aliens, is housed in the Bristol City Museum. He made numerous records for Bristol Botany up to 1966 when he made his last two records of aliens growing near his home in the Old Market. He had an unrivalled knowledge of the flora of the Bristol district, and any journey taken with him in a ’bus or coach was always enlivened because he would point out from time to time places where some interesting plant grew or used to grow, very often a plant that he had first discovered himself. He was always ready to share his knowledge with others, and was just as ready to point out the common plants of a country lane to beginners as to show some of the rarities to members with more knowledge. He was equally interested in discoveries made by others, and was always ready to make a special journey to see a fellow botanist’s fresh discovery. A. F. DEVONSHIRE. I. W. EVANS BRISTOL BOTANY IN 1969 By A. J. WIL.Is (Department of Botany, University of Shefheld) LTHOUGH, in a year of average temperature and sunshine, February and March were colder and duller than normal, the spring flowers were not much later than usual. The total rainfall for 1969 (30.28 inches) was less than average, but July was a very wet month, 3.50 inches of rain falling in a single day. On the other hand, in October there was very little rain (the total for the month was 0.47 inches) and the temperature, after a fairly warm and sunny summer, was well above average, resulting in extended flowering in the autumn. Very late flowering plants were also favoured by a sunny November. Much to be regretted was the felling in 1969 of the well-grown tree of the very rare and endemic Sorbus wilmottiana E. F. Warb. on Clifton Down, G., from which the type was described; this species is totally restricted in its distribution to the Avon Gorge. The tree was cut down in the course of opening the view across the river. A deputation attended upon the Corporation of Bristol on this matter and steps are being taken to protect the stump which fortunately still shows signs of life. This regrettable occurrence highlights the importance of the need for close liaison between naturalists and City and County authorities, and with the growing awareness regarding conservation and increasing activities of Naturalists’ Societies and County Trusts it is hoped that in the future losses such as that described above will be precluded. With the death of Ivor W. Evans, on g November 1969, a valuable link with former eminent botanists of the Bristol region, notably J. W. White, was broken. An obituary appears on page 572. This year has seen a steady consolidation of records of some of the less common species of the Bristol flora, giving more complete know- ledge of the range of these plants. Reports of the continued existence of some rarities in known localities have been made and are re- assuring (e.g. Cyperus fuscus in the Gordano valley, Littorella uniflora on Mendip). Mrs. Appleyard has again been very active with respect to bryophytes, and her Bryophyte Flora of North Somerset is included in the 1970 issue of the Transactions of the British Bryological Society. ‘The reports given later in the present article include three new county (Somerset) records of mosses (Ephemerum sessile, Amblystegiella sprucet, here in its most southerly British station, and 574 A. J. WILLIS Eurhynchium pulchellum) made by Mrs. Appleyard in 1969, and also two new vice-county (v.c.6) records of mosses. A visit to the Denny (in Monmouthshire, but noted by J. W. White (Flora of Bristol, 1912, p. 204) as in the County of Bristol), the limestone island in the Severn estuary, was made by Dr. J. V. Beer on 23 June 1969, and reported in the Journal of the North Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society, Vol. 20, No. 9, September 1969. The sixteen plants noted by Dr. Beer on that visit included Lavatera arborea L., long known from the Denny, and Fumarna officinalis L. Among the nomenclatural changes in British plants listed by J. E. Dandy (Watsonia, December 1969, Vol. 7, Part 3, pp. 157-178) is that of the Bristol rockcress, Arabis stricta Huds., which should now be known as Arabis scabra All. The name A. scabra was given by Allioni to two different species at different times; the British plant, in recent years called stricta, is in fact based on Allioni’s name of 1773, and is correctly referred to as A. scabra. Names of contributors of several records are abbreviated thus: J.A., Mrs. J. Appleyard E.J.L., Miss E. J. Lenton C.H.C., C. H. Gummins P.J.M.N., P. J. M. Nethercott A.F.D., Dr. A. F. Devonshire D.M.S., Dr. D. Munro Smith I.F.G., Miss I. F. Gravestock Ophioglossum vulgatum L. In fair quantity in meadow, Wild Country Lane, Barrow Gurney, S., Dr. T. E. T. Bond. Aquilegia vulgaris L. A form with pale pink flowers, perhaps derived from a garden, Kingsweston Down, Bristol, G., P.7.M.N. Chelidonium majus L. Double-flowered plants, by field, Whitchurch Lane, Bristol, S., A.F.D.; also at Downend, G., D.M.S. Cochlearia officinalis L. A mauve-flowered form, coastal path, east of Nore Point, near Portishead, S., C.H.C. C. damca L. Middle Hope, S., P.7.M.N.; an extension in range from Sand Point (White, Flora). Rorippa islandica (Oeder) Borbas. Wick, G., P.7.M.N. This may be the locality noted by White (Flora) as ““Wyck... Still there in 1900.” Hypericum androsaemum L. A single plant in stone wall by stream, Chew Magna, S., A.F.D. Stellaria holostea L. A form with laciniate petals (var. Jlaciniata Bromf.) in lane near Norton Hawkfield, S., A.F.D. Oxalis acetosella L. With lilac petals (var. lilacina Lange), Oldbury Court Woods, Glen Frome, G., D.M.S. BRISTOL BOTANY O75 Rhamnus catharticus L. Small bushes, on Carboniferous limestone, Wavering Down and Crook Peak, S., P.7.M.N. Vicia sylvatica L. Splatt’s Wood, near Kilcott, G., C.H.C. and A.F.D. Trinia glauca (L.) Dumort. Compton Hill, S., P.7.M.N. This locality lies between Crook Peak and Wavering Down where Honewort has long been known. Apium nodiflorum (L.) Lag. Abundant and encroaching in stream, marsh, Windsor Hill, Shepton Mallet, S., L.F.G. Sison amomum L. A few plants by roadside, near Chew Magna, S., A.F.D. Stlaum silaus (L.) Schinz & Thell. Old pastures at Hanging Hill, near Upton Cheyney, G., P.7.M.N.: and North Weston, near Portishead, S., P.7.M.N. and C.H.C. Linarwa repens (L.) Mill. Old wall, Clifton, Bristol, G., D.M.S.; also Papaver dubium L. Chaenorhinum minus (L.) Lange. Old railway track, disused station, Midsomer Norton, S., I.F.G. Kickxia elatine (L.) Dumort. With K. spuria (L.) Dumort.; fallow field, south of Big Wood, Weston-in-Gordano, S., C.4.C. Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. Waste ground east of Nore Point, near Portishead, S8., C.H.C. Littorella uniflora (L.) Aschers. Several well established patches, bearing a few flowers in July, in a small pond on the southern edge of Black Down, Mendip, S., Dr. C. EF. D. Smith. The pond, which was full of water in May and again in November, but dry during the summer, is probably the one to which White (Flora) refers and in which Littorella was found in flower by him in July, 1908. Campanula rotundifolia L. A purple form with large flowers less inflated than usual, Avon Gorge, G., FE. S. Smith (conf. Dr. Kovanda, per P. F. Bird). Cirsium eriophorum (L.) Scop. The colony, known for many years, is extending at Kingsweston Down, Bristol, G., P.7.M.N.; on slope, near the Zoo, Clifton, G., D.M.S.; sloping field, north- west of Big Wood, Weston-in-Gordano, S., C.H.C. Cichorium intybus L. Colonizing roadbank, Belmont Hill, Failand, Sa lG, Picris hieracioides L. Shady roadside near Chew Magna, S., A.F.D. Lactuca serriola L. One plant by bank of Avon, S., A.F.D.; also on tip, Kingswood, G., D.M.S. 576 A. J. WILLIS Epipactis palustris (L.) Crantz. Abundant flowering spikes in Max Bog, near Winscombe, S., Dr. C. E. D. Smith. Surviving vigorously in this small peaty area from which it was recorded in 1912 (White, Flora) and in 1915 (Knight, Heart of Mendip). Spiranthes spiralis (L.) Chevall. Burledge Hill, near Bishop Sutton, Sin Bay. Ophrys apifera Huds. With Serratula tinctorra L., in permanent pasture, Burledge Hill, near Bishop Sutton, S., E.7.L. Dactylorhiza maculata (L.) So6 ssp. ericetorum (E. F. Linton) Hunt & Summerh. One plant in limestone heath above Goblin Combe, near Cleeve, S., A.F.D., close to plants of D. fuchsii (Druce) Soo. Scirpus sylvaticus L. Swampy ground by the Frome, Oldbury Court Woods, Glen Frome, G., D.M.S.; also on marshy ground by a tributary of the Little Avon, near Stone, G., £.7.L. and A.F.D. Cyperus fuscus L. 1969 was a good year for this sedge; several dozen small plants were present on earth thrown from a ditch and on wet mud, Walton-in-Gordano, S., P.7.M.N. Carex disticha Huds. Swampy ground, Shortwood, G., D.M.S. x Festulolium loliaceum (Huds.) P. Fourn. Several plants of this hybrid by the roadside, Dundry, S., A.F.D. Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth. Border of wood, North Weston, near Portishead, S., P.J.M.N. and C.H.C. Phalaris arundinacea L. var. picta L. Established on roadside, Big Wood, Weston-in-Gordano, S., C.H.C. ALIENS. Papaver somniferum L. Plentiful, some flowers dark crimson, waste ground, Downend, G., D.M.S. Eschscholzia californica Cham. Waste ground, Downend, G., D.M.S. Rapistrum orientale (L.) Crantz. Tip, Kingswood, G., leg. D.M.S., det: 07. PW) Ball: Atriplex hortensis L. var. rubra (Crantz) Roth. This garden escape was established on tip, Kingswood, G., leg. D.M.S., det. at British Museum. Linum usitatissimum L. A white form, present since 1966 on tip, Kingswood, G., leg. D.M.S., det. A. 7. Willis; also present was Camelina microcarpa Andrz. ex DC. Oxalis incarnata L. In gardens, where no recent plantings and spreading as a weed, Clifton, Bristol, G., leg. D.M.S., det. Dr. D. P. Young (cf. Young, Watsonia, 1958, Vol. 4, pp. 51-69, where O. incarnata noted as often running wild and as a relic of cultivation). BRISTOL BOTANY 577 Melilotus alba Medic. Single plant on site of demolished buildings, central Bristol, near Temple Meads, S., A.F.D. Prunus domestica L. ssp. domestica. Surviving on the sea cliff, Portis- head, S., C.H.C. (conf. A. 7. Willis), where long since known (White, Flora). Oenothera erythrosepala Borbas. With Althaea rosea (L.) Cav. and Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv., waste ground, Nore Point, near Portishead, S., C.H.C.; other garden escapes at Redcliffe Bay, S., include Lathyrus latifolius L., Linaria purpurea (L.) Mill., and Chrysanthemum maximum Ramond, C.H.C. Teucrium chamaedrys L. Established at Sand Point, S., LF.G. Leycesteria formosa Wall. Naturalized in the Forestry Commission part of Leigh Woods, Bristol, S., P.7.M.N. Inula helentum L. Established in permanent pasture, near Burledge Hill, Bishop Sutton, S., #.7.L£. BRYOPAYTES. Atrichum undulatum (Hedw.) P. Beauv. var. minus (Hedw.) Paris. Among stones in quarry, Winford, S., 7.A. This variety is new to v.c.6. Ditrichum heteromallum (Hedw.) Britt. On Old Red Sandstone, edge of grassy track between tow-path and wooded area, Leigh Woods, S., 7.4. Other v.c.6 records are Rowberrow and Clevedon. Dicranella staphylina Whitehouse. This is a newly described species, the distribution of which is not yet fully known but it is apparently widespread in the British Isles. Field near Portbury, S., J7.A. The first v.c.6 record is from Kilmington, outside the area covered by this report; Mrs. Appleyard has also found it near Wincanton. Gymnostomum aeruginosum Sm. In 1955, in Cheddar Gorge, S., T. Laflin. ‘This is the third locality for v.c.6. Wetssta microstoma (Hedw.) C. Mill. var. brachycarpa (Nees & Hornsch.) C. Mill. Field near Chantry and Tor Hill, Wells, S., J.A.; second and third records for v.c.6. Rhacomitrium heterostichum (Hedw.) Brid. On gritstone wall, Pensford, S., 7.A.; third v.c.6 record. Ephemerum sessile (Bruch) Rabenh. In small quantity, at edge of field near Nettlebridge, S., 7.4. This moss is new to Somerset. Bryum violaceum Crundw. & Nyh. Very sparingly on tow-path, Avon Gorge, S., 7.4. The first record for v.c.6. A description of this species of the Bryum erythrocarpum complex, with relatively small gemmae and with rhizoids usually deep violet, is given by Or ~I [e.8) A. J. WILLIS A. C. Crundwell and E. Nyholm in Trans. Br. bryol. Soc., 1964, Vol. 4, Part 4, pp. 597-637. Kygodon viridissimus (Dicks.) R. Br. var. stirtonit (Schimp. ex Stirt.) Hagen. Rocks at western end of Brean Down, S., 7.A. Second v.c.6 record. Orthotrichum stramineum Hornsch. ex Brid. On ash at Tor Hill, Wells, S., 7.A. A second record for Somerset. Antitrichia curtipendula (Hedw.) Brid. On ash trunk by stream in small wood near Holcombe, S., 7.A. The only other Somerset records were made by Rev. C. H. Binstead, from Ebbor Gorge, 1887, and near Wells, 1920. Campylium calcareum Crundw. & Nyh. On limestone wall, Murder Combe, near Frome, and limestone boulder in quarry, Avon Gorge, S., 7.A.; the second and third Somerset records. Amblystegiella sprucec (Bruch) Loeske. On limestone rock ledge, Chilcote Wood, near Wells, S., 7.4. This new county record represents the most southerly British station for this moss; the nearest records are from West Gloucester. Isothecium striatulum (Spruce) Kindb. On rocks, The Gully, Avon Gorge, G.; and also Funaria muhlenbergii Turn. on scree slope in this locality, D.M.S., conf. 7.A. Eurhynchium pulchellum (Hedw.) Jenn. Harptree Combe and Chilcote Wood, near Wells, S., 7.4. This puzzling moss, new to Somerset, is widespread in Harptree Combe, but only a small quantity was found in Chilcote Wood. Mr. A. C. Crundwell and Mrs. E. Nyholm name it, rather tentatively, Eurhynchium pulchellum, although it differs in several ways from the type and known varieties of that species. Details of these differences are included in Mrs. Appleyard’s Bryophyte Flora of North Somerset (Trans. Br. bryol. Soc., 1970). Riccia cavernosa Hoffm. This is the species formerly known as R. crystallina L. On exposed mud, Litton reservoir, S., 7.4. The only other Somerset record is from margin of dune pool, Berrow, where it now appears to be extinct. Scapania compacta (Roth) Dum. A curious form of this plant, named by Mrs. J. A. Paton, was found on a boulder at the head of Harptree Combe, S., 7.A. I am indebted to Mrs. J. Appleyard and Mr. P. J. M. Nethercott for help in assembling these records and also to Miss C. H. Slowley of Long Ashton Research Station for the supply of meteorological data. Or a1 © BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 1969 COMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE B.N.S. ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION P. J. CHADWICK G. E. CLOTHIER H. H. Davis G. A. FORREST H. R. HAmMacotr G. SWEET S. M. TAyLor HE mild weather of late 1968 continued throughout January, producing reports of early nesting. Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and at least one Black Redstart over-wintered. A Richard’s Pipit was a reminder of Oct. 1968’s influx. Very large Dunlin flocks were seen, especially at the Yeo and Axe Estuaries, and at the New Grounds the peak count of White-fronted Geese, on the 29th, was only a hundred short of the 1968 record figure. February brought an abrupt change to cold weather, with some snowfalls, and many geese left early so that the month’s maximum fell, unusually, below January’s. Snow on the 19th—e2oth was followed by impressive Lapwing movements but these, like others earlier in the year, were to the N.E. rather than to the S.W. March was the coldest for some years, and there were reports of failed nests and of Blue Tit broods dead in nest boxes. However, a Blackbird was feeding fledged young on Horfield Common on the 23rd (HGH). Some Chiffchaffs arrived early in the month, but the cold halted migration and the only hirundines seen were a few Sand Martins. April was dry and sunny, but with squally showers at times; migratory movement got under way again, though it was mid- month before substantial numbers of Sand Martins appeared at the reservoirs, and another week before Swallows and House Martins were plentiful. Two Rooks’ nests were built in Colston Avenue, Bristol, but like the one in 1968 they were apparently abandoned. Avocets were seen at Sand Bay, and Slavonian and Black-necked Grebes at Chew. A Spoonbill there was one of two present in S. England. The month produced only three or four Whitethroat records, foreshadowing an unprecedented general dearth. In some places locally the species was outnumbered by Lesser Whitethroats, and it was July 6 before the first one was ringed at Chew (c). In May more Avocets were seen near Clevedon and at the New B 580 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Grounds—the largest number to date. There were two reports of Hoopoes, near Bath on the 11th and at Stonehouse on the 26th, based respectively on several calls heard, and on a fleeting glimpse. Both observers know the species, but in neither case are alternatives ruled out completely, and it seems safest to class them as “possibles’ only. The month was rainy. June opened cool, turned fine and dry, and ended changeable. July was dry and sunny with some thunder- storms, and heavy rain on the 28th—-29th caused some flooding. Winds were from a westerly point in the second half, and a Great Skua, a Fulmar and Manx Shearwaters were seen off Sand Point. Several Little Ringed Plovers were reported, as were others in September. It was only in 1954 that this species, now seen annually, was first recorded in the area. August had short warm spells with thundery showers. It was notable for some large wader flocks. Curlew and Redshank were plentiful, and Ringed Plovers totalled some 3,000, with several hundred more just to the S. of the area, at Brean, and up to 1,000 at Steart. A few Curlew Sandpipers were present from the 17th, then forty appeared at the New Grounds, on the 25th, with a rapid rise to 100 and an equally rapid decline in early September. A second peak of ¢.45 occurred on September 9g, and smaller numbers were seen along the Somerset coast. ‘wo or three, trapped at Chew, were judged from their low weights to be new arrivals (c). (Previous post-war peak counts were twelve in 1946, fifteen in 1956 and forty in 1963). The birds were part of an influx of several thousands drifted W. off their migration route from N. Europe to their African winter quarters. September was dull though dry at first, but was wet from the 10oth—18th. Some late Swifts were reported, the last three between the 15th—18th. A White-winged Black Tern on the 7th was our seventh record, and the fifth since 1966, while an immature Red- necked Grebe was the eighth since 1950. In the second and fourth weeks, W. storms took Manx Shearwaters and Gannets to the Estuary, and a Great Skua to Chew. Transatlantic storm-driven vagrants included Pectoral Sandpipers, of which two came to the N. Som. reservoirs. There were more Little Stints locally than usual in September; this happened too in the other Curlew Sandpiper peak years mentioned above, and illustrates the association between movements of the two species. As in 1968, October was very mild, with little rain, and some Swallows remained late—a pair were at the nest up to the 11th, and one was seen at Frampton on Severn on Nov. 3. Exceptional flocks of Black-tailed Godwits were seen during the month. November was cold; the second week was very wet, with W. BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 581 winds reaching gale force at times. A Gannet, another Red-necked Grebe and a Black-throated Diver (the eighth record for the area) were reported. December too was cold and dull, with sleet and snow in the latter half, when a @ Kestrel came to a bird table at Cromhall (jH). A Red-throated and two Great Northern Divers visited Cheddar res.; one of the latter, a small bird, was also reported as a Black-throated, but careful study of photographs supported its identification as a Great Northern. An Avocet also visited Cheddar res. on the 18th. Further large Dunlin flocks were reported, and the year’s only large count of Knot came from the Axe Estuary on the 26th. Common Birds. Grasshopper Warblers are reported increasingly frequently. Subjective impressions are of a good Song Thrush breeding season. One experienced observer remarks, “‘Starling juvs. in 1969 summer flocks numbered in dozens rather than hundreds,” and mentioned an apparent shortage of Mallard and Mute Swan broods. Chaffinches, though still numerous, are decidedly less so than ten or more years ago, and figure less often on Nest Record Cards. A single record of Green Woodpecker from G., against fifty from S., and two of Tree Pipit, against fourteen, surely reflect observer bias, rather than numbers! Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava. Several Blue-headed Wagtails Mf. flava have been seen in recent years, principally at Chew, where another was ringed on Aug. 28, 1969 (c). Aberrant types also seem to be more common, both in G. and in S., with pale blue, grey or yellow heads and other plumage variations. The blue- and grey- headed forms are probably hybrids between flava and our native flavissima (see Milne, B.S., Brit. Birds 52, 281 — 295). The others may be mutant flavissima; Milne cites a ‘yellow-head’ with normal flavissima parents. On May 28 an adult 3 of the northern Grey-headed race M.f. thunbergi was seen at the New Grounds (LPA), and at about that date a dead bird was found at Avonmouth on a cargo ship from the Baltic (Har). The corpse was in poor condition when received, but most closely resembled thunbergi (with dark grey head and nape, no eyestripe, dark grey-green mantle, bright yellow underparts, no white on chin) (smr). The coincidence of the dates is interesting, but it is not known where the dead bird joined the ship. Rarities. Besides those already listed, the year saw a Red-breasted Goose (the seventh) at the New Grounds, and an Aquatic Warbler (the fifth) and four Serins in Somerset. The latter species was previously recorded in the County at Taunton in 1866 and at Brean Down in 1965. 582 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Contributors:-—A. F. Airey, L. P. Alder, P. Andrew, R. Angles, R. Arbery [Rar], G. R. Avery, C. R. Bagshaw, D. K. Ballance, Bath Natural History Society [Baru], P. Bennett, W. G. Bigger, A. E. Billett, R. K. Bircher, R. L. Bland, T. Bomford, Col. G. A. Bridge, Miss M. E. Bridge, Mrs. E. L. Briggs, G. B. Brown, F. Bryant, P. F. Burns, J. F. Burton, Miss S. M. Butlin, G. H. C. Byford, Miss S. E. Caola, R. Casson, P. J. Chadwick, R. N. Chadwick, Mrs. A. Charlesworth, W. B. Charlesworth, Chew Valley Ringing Station [c], H. M. Clarke, T. R. Cleeves, G. E. Clothier, J. T. Coates, P. Coate [pct], N. J. Collar, J. K. Comrie, R. M. Curber, P. Curry, C. R. Cuthbert, H. H. Davis, H. M. Dickson, P. J. Dolton, P. Duddridge, Dursley Bird-Watching and Preservation Society [p], T. D. Evans, P. G. Farmer, Field Club, Bristol Grammar School [F], G. A. Forrest, H. G. Forrest, C. Fuller, P. L. Garvey, P. D. Goodwin, Miss C. Graham, B. J. Gregory, K. J. Grierson, Miss P. M. Hall, D. R. Hamblett, R. G. Hamilton, H. R. Hamma- cott, R. S. Harkness, Dr. G. Hartill, R. Hemmings, H. G. Hockey, Mrs. I. M. Hockey, E. G. Holt, J. R. Hopkins, W. J. H. Hopkins, R. C. Hulbert, Mrs. J. Humphris, N. Humphris, Dr. R. F. Hurding, R. L. Jackson, K. Jacobs, M. C. Jacoby, J. Jarrett, Dr. D. C. Jeffrey, A. M. Jones, B. King, Mrs. R. E. Knight, N. T. Lacy, H. R. H. Lance, T. Lawrence, A. C. Leach, Miss E. J. Lenton, A. D. Lewis [apie], R. J. Lewis, Miss E. Lippiatt, A. D. Lucas, S. Martin, J. A. McGeoch, 8S. Millbanks, S. J. Moon, H. W. Neal, Mrs. F. V. Neal, North Glos. Naturalists’ Society [N], M. A. Oades, R. Ogborne, M. A. Ogilvie, B. A. Owen, Miss E. M. Palmer, A. J. Parsons, D. J. Perriman, R. C. Pople, J. G. Prince, Mrs. S. E. Prince, B. Rabbitts, A. M. Rackham, Miss B. A. Rake, R. A. Richardson, E. Rice, C. Rolfe, W. L. Roseveare, J. B. O. Rossetti, J. F. Rowe, CG. Rutter, M. Sainsbury [ms], J. D. Sanders, M. Scott [msc], Mrs. M. A. Silcocks, T. B. Silcocks, C. E. D. Smith, K. D. Smith, R. B. H. Smith, Steep Holm Trust Gull Research Station [s], Mrs. M. M. Stone, P. E. Stone, C. M. Swaine, Mrs. A. M. Sweet, G. Sweet, R. G. Symes, G. P. Taylor, Mrs. M. V. Taylor, N. G. M. Taylor, S. M. Taylor, H. A. Thornhill, A. J. Tigwell, R. G. Thomas, G. Walker, W. A. Walling- ton, D. Warden, G. Webber [Gwe], R. A. Whiting, Wildfowl Trust [wr], Miss A. Willis, M. G. Wilson, M. A. Wright, K. E. Vinnicombe, K. B. Young, H. J. Craske. Headings G. and S. refer to South Glos. and North Somerset, respectively. The boundaries are defined below on page 600. Prior to Jan. 1, 1968, the area was slightly smaller and was as defined in Proc. .B.N-S., 1960,.p: 114; BLACK-THROATED DIVER Gavia arctica See page 581. S. One, Cheddar res., Nov. 26-29 (BK, DJP, BR). GREAT NORTHERN DIVER Gavia immer See page 581. S. Two, Cheddar'res., Jan., and one to Feb. 12; one, Dec. 21— 24 and two on 27th and 28th (RjL, JAMCG, BR eé al.). RED-THROATED DIVER Gavia stellata G. One on Estuary, New Grounds, May 19 (LPA). S. One, Cheddar res., Dec. 21-31 (RMC, RJL, KEV ¢ét al.). GREAT CRESTED GREBE_ Podiceps cristatus G. and S. Breeding records from Frampton Pools (6 pairs), Tortworth (1 pr., 2 broods), Emborough Pond, Orchardleigh Lake (2 nests) and Blagdon and Chew Valley resrs. Large numbers at latter in autumn, with 330 counted, Oct. 4 and 16th. BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 583 _RED-NECKED GREBE Podiceps griseigena See pages 580, 581. G. One on Estuary, New Grounds, Nov. 15 (TDE). S. Immature, Cheddar res., Sept. 25—-Oct. 2 (TRC, SJM, BR et al.). SLAVONIAN GREBE Podiceps auritus S. One, Chew Valley res., Apr. 11 (pc); two, Cheddar res., Nov. 28—Dec. 14 (HRHL, Ms et al.) and three together on 17th (RjL). BLACK-NECKED GREBE_ Podiceps nigricollis S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., Apr. 10-16 (ajp, KEV) and Blagdon res., Nov. 22 (RMC). MANx SHEARWATER) Procellaria puffinus G. One found in dutch barn, Stroud, Sept. 30—flew off when released on Estuary, Frampton-on-Severn (RKB). S. Party of 30 flying off Sand Point, July 20 (RA); eleven, same place, Sept. 21 and five, Oct. 1 (TB). FutmaR Fulmarius glacialis G. One, Aust, Sept. 27 (PB, RMC, BK). S. Single birds, Steep Holm, May 3, Aug. 31; Brean Down, May 25; and off Sand Point, June 13, July 29. ‘Two, Weston Bay, Aug. II (RA, TB, AJP et al.). GANNET Sula bassana S. Imm. off Brean Down, Sept. 11 (BR). Single birds, Sand Point, Aug. 27, Sept. 29, Nov. 9 (TB) and Steep Holm, Sept. 21 (s). CormorRANT Phalacrocorax carbo G.and §. Thirty-nine pairs, Steep Holm. Reported from coast as far N. as New Grounds, and from all reservoirs, with up to 16, Chew Valley in March and December, and 12, Cheddar, December. HERON Ardea cinerea S. Population fully recovered from effects of 1962-3 winter and at its highest (70 nests) during the last 20 years. Two off Steep Holm, Aug. 30, 31st. BirTERN Botaurus stellaris S. Two, possibly three, Chew Valley res., Feb. 16-28 (pyc, jBor et al.) and one, Dec. 20 (RA). SPOONBILL Platalea leucorodia See page 579. S. One, Chew Valley res., Apr. 13-21 (HyJC, AJP). GARGANEY Anas querquedula G. Pair, Frampton-on-Severn, Apr. 4—Sept. 2 (LPA, TDE, JDS). S. Again bred, Chew Valley res., where up to 7 ¢¢ noted in May; max. of 17 birds, Sept. 8 (PLG, jBor, Aw e¢ al.). Two, Cheddar res., April 18 (mGw). Pair, Blagdon res., Apr. 20; three, Sept. 21 and two on 28th (pyc, PGF). 584 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT GADWALL_ Anas strepera G. and S. Bred successfully, Frampton Pools (only the second definite record, first being in 1956) and Chew Valley res., where up to 115, July and August; dispersed by mid-Dec., first—as in 1968—to Cheddar. A few seem to over-winter on small waters, e.g. Berkley nr. Frome and Orchardleigh. PINTAIL Anas acuta G. and S. No large winter counts from reservoirs, but 540, New Grounds, Feb. 19 and up to 50, Frampton Pools, around this date. Reservoirs: up to 20, Chew Valley, Sept.-Dec.; Cheddar total reached 47 in Nov. and 44 in Dec.; 14, Blagdon, Dec. 28. SHOVELER Spatula clypeata G. and S. New Grounds: 380, Feb. 19; 85, Oct. 31; 200, Dec. 1. Frampton Pools: 70, Feb. 9; 60, Mar. 16; 50, Apr. 5; 110, Sept. 21; 100, Oct. 5, then rapid decrease. Max. reservoir counts: 80, Blagdon, Jan. 12, and 82, Sept. 28; 150, Chew Valley, Jan. 15 and 180, Nov. 5, increasing to 290, Dec. 23. RED-CRESTED PocHARD WNetta rufina G. Up to ten seen regularly, Frampton Pools (TDE, PEs et al.) —probably escapes from Wildfowl Trust. Scaup Aythya marila G. Frampton, Pools: dg, Jan. 5. (1TDE); imm.co oy Dee i234 (jBor). Also two on canal, Splatt Bridge, Dec. 24 (jBor) and one on 30th (LPA). S. Single gg, Cheddar and Chew Valley resrs., Jan._May 8 (ACL, KEV ef al.). Autumn records: single gg, Blagdon res., Sept. 7, Dec. 28; Cheddar res., Sept. 24—Oct. 22, then up to seven (1 ¢) in Nov. and five (1 3), Dec. (Pc, RMG, sym et al.). ‘Turrep Duck Aythya fuligula G. Up to 300, Frampton Pools, Jan., increasing to max., 394, on Feb. 16th, 200 in March and 100-150, early April. At least eight broods there, July-Aug.; 150-200 present, Nov.—Dec., with max. of 235, Nov. 29. S. Up to 525 at reservoirs, early to mid—April. Bred successfully, Chew Valley res. and Orchardleigh Lake. Pairs, Emborough, Apr. 27 and railway ponds, Nailsea, May 26. PocuarD Aythya ferina G. Frampton Pools: 180-225, January to early March, but 300, Feb. 22; up to 130, October to December. S. Fewer counts available, largest being 790 at Chew Valley res., Oct. 5 and 1,080 at Blagdon res. on Dec. 28, when 125 also present at Chew Valley. At least three broods, Chew Valley. Or BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 58 _Ferrucinous Duck Aythya nyroca S. Adult reported in Dec. 1968 seen at Chew Valley res. and Orchardleigh; last reported on Feb. 13 (RMC, BR, RBHS ¢t al.). GOLDENEYE Bucephala clangula G. Up to five, Frampton Pools, Jan. to Apr. 12 and three, Nov.—Dec. S. About 45 present on resrs., mid-Jan., possibly fewer in Feb., building up to c.60, Mar. 24; 25 still present, Apr. 20; last record— 9, Orchardleigh, May 7. First, autumn—one, Chew Valley res., Nov. 8; 30 there by end Dec. (GBB, RNC, TL ef al.). LONG-TAILED Duck Clangula hyemalis G. One, Frampton Pools, Nov. 22, 23 (RKB, TDE). S. Single birds, Chew Valley res., May 7—June 1 (wos, RH, cR et al.), and Cheddar res., Dec. 27, 28 (BR). ComMoN ScoTER Melaniita nigra G. Adult male, Frampton Pools, Mar. 23 (TDE). S. Male off Clevedon, Mar. 20 (ajr). Sand Bay: one, Jan. 22; two, Feb. 27; four, June 15; one, Aug. 31; and one or two, September to December (RA, TB, PC, DJP). EIDER Somateria mollissima G. Female, New Grounds, Apr. 28 (LPA). S. Immature bird off Sand Point, Mar. 25 (Pc). RED-BREASTED MERGANSER Mergus serrator G. One on Estuary, New Grounds, Nov. 12 (LPA). S. Six, Chew Valley res., Jan. 14 (wes). Two off Sand Point, Dec. 2 (TB, pjp) and one, Blagdon res., Dec. 20 (RA). GOOSANDER Mergus merganser G. One, Frampton Pools, Feb. 23, Mar. 3 and Nov. 29 (TDE). S. Up to 19, Chew Valley res., Jan., but only six in Feb. and four, Mar. 4 (RMc, Dcj, BR et al.). Male, Blagdon, Mar. 2 (pPjc). Autumn reservoir records: seven, Chew Valley, Nov. 11 increasing to 16, Dec. 30 (PLG, HRHL ef al.); two, Cheddar, Dec. 7; and seven, Blagdon, Dec. 23 and 28 (Pj, DyP). SMEw Mergus albellus S. Brownhead, Chew Valley res., Nov. 22 (RA) and two in Dec. (RMoa, PLG ef al.). One, Cheddar res., Dec. 7 (pjc, MAW). Nort AMERICAN Ruppy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis G. Frampton Pools: up to nine, Jan., and eight, Feb.; adult 2 with brood (4), July 27; eight, Oct. 12th and 14, Nov. 22. S. Nine, Blagdon res., and 17, Chew Valley, Jan. 12; up to 37, Chew Valley, in Feb., but few in breeding season; numbers built up to 35, end year. No breeding records. 586 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT SHELDUCK Tadorna tadorna G. and S. Breeding season survey showed c¢. 350 ads., New Grounds to R. Avon, June 13 and c. 64 pulli, June 28; and c. 200 ads., R. Avon to Birnbeck I., June 13, and c. 163 pulli, June 28. More broods arrived at coast later. Pair bred, Chew Valley res., five hatched. GREYLAG GOosE Anser anser S. Two large-sized grey geese in flight, Sand Point, Feb. 9 and a single bird, also in flight, Apr. 27, were identified as Greylags (RA). Records of genuinely feral Greylags in N. Somerset are very few, and it must again be stressed that many are kept full-winged in the Wildfowl ‘Trust enclosures (Eds.). WHITE-FRONTED Goose Anser albifrons See page 579. G. New Grounds: rapid increase from 3,900 at end of 1968 to 6,600, Jan. 29. Well over 4,000 present throughout Feb., then sharp decline to 1,100, Mar. 7 and 600 on 8th; 15 (last seen), Mar. 24. First autumn arrivals: seven, Oct. 20; 1,400 by early Dec. and 3,650 by end of year; 30-35°% young birds—evidence of good breed- ing season (wT). Elsewhere, 50 in flight, Coalpit Heath, Jan. 5, two parties (50 and 22) overhead, Charfield, on 11th, and 52 over Chittening Warth, Dec. 28. S. Twenty-three, Sand Bay, Jan. 2nd and 14, Feb. 18; 14 over Nailsea Moor, Jan. 2; 31, Woodspring Bay on 4th and 80, Dec. 30; 30, Nailsea, Dec. 11; 24, Weston-s-Mare on 18th; 26, Chew Valley res.,| Jan. 10 and 25, Dec. 28; 62, Cheddar res,, Deesrre: LessER WHITE-FRONTED GoosE Anser erythropus G. Two ads. among albifrons, New Grounds, Jan. 24; still there, Feb. 28, also another ad. paired with albifrons (MAo, Ps). BEAN Goose Anser fabalis G. New Grounds: an adult of the Russian race, A. f. rossicus, first noted on Dec. 15, 1968, was last seen on Jan. 29 (WT). PINK-FOOTED Goose Anser brachyrhynchus G. Two, New Grounds, Jan. 23 to Mar. 24, and four, Dec. 19 to end of year (wrt). DARK-BREASTED BRENT Goose Branta b. bernicla G. Juvenile, New Grounds, Dec. 14-31 (wT). S. Four, Sand Bay, Jan. 2 (TB) and one, Dec. 18-30 (Pc, DjP). Two, on water and flying, Cheddar res., Dec. 17 (BR, jBOR). BARNACLE GOosE Branta leucopsis G. Five, with Whitefronts, New Grounds, throughout Jan.; two during Feb., and one Mar. 5 (wrt). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 587 ~Canava Goose Branta canadensis G. Frampton Pools stock: counts of 106, Jan. 19 and of go, Feb. 9 (TDE, jps). At least 12 pairs bred. RED-BREASTED GoosE Branta ruficollis G. One, always seen with Whitefronts, New Grounds, Jan. 19-31 (wr). Seventh New Grounds record. WHOOPER SwAN) Cygnus cygnus G. New Grounds: fourteen—13 ads., 1 cygnet—visited Rushy Pen Jan.-Apr. 1, but max. of 7 at any one time; one ad., Dec. 22 (wT). S. Two, Chew Valley res., Dec. 9 (BR). BEWICK’S SWAN Cygnus columbianus G. New Grounds: up to 350, Rushy Pen, Jan.—Mar. 5; 228, Mar. 7; 154 on 22nd, 59 on 24th, 18 on 2oth; last one, April 12; 439 different birds involved. Autumn records from Nov. 6; 250 by end month and 325, late Dec., with 396 individuals identified (wr). S. Heard in fog, Blagdon res., Jan. 11 (RA); 60-70 seen over Cheddar res., same day (TL); one, Chew Valley, Jan. 27 (pw). Autumn reservoir records: two, Cheddar, Oct. 31—Nov. 21; five, Nov. 28 and six on 29th; 14, Dec. 1; one on 7th but seven next day (JAMCG, BR, MS éf al.); 21-24, Blagdon, Dec. 6 (RA); five on 2oth, ten on 25th and twelve on 28th (pPjc, Dyp). BuzzaArp Buteo buteo G. Reported in breeding season from Elberton, Cromhall, ‘Tortworth and Dursley. Autumn and winter records from Frampton on Severn area and Wotton-u-Edge. S. Breeding season records from Mendip localities, Chew and Blagdon resrs., Mells, Orchardleigh, Compton Dando and near Bath. Single young reared at two sites (AEB, HWN, Dw eét al.). Outside breeding season: one or two, Weston Woods, Sand Point, Backwell, Goblin Combe, Portbury, Failand and Abbots Leigh, where one juv. present, Oct._Nov. (msc). Single birds, perhaps same one, Brislington and Stockwood, Bristol, Apr. 9 (PGF, KEV). SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus G. Two pairs bred nr. Almondsbury (AEB); two juvs. and ad., Michaelwood, early Aug. (EMA, wmc) and breeding probably near Frampton (TDE, Jps). Other Apr.—Julyrecords from Leonard Stanley, Mangotsfield area and in Bristol: Clifton, Sea Mills and Shire- hampton. S. ‘Three pairs bred, Blagdon (Ars, Pyjc); one, Wrington (cc); one, Brockley (GEc, pyc) and one, probably two, nr. Long Ashton (Gs). Probable breeding, Weston Woods. Records from many 588 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT localities, including Bristol and outskirts, Apr.—July. Four, Goblin Combe, Nov. 2 (RNC). GosHAWK Accipiter gentilis G. One, Frampton on Severn, Sept. 27 (PB, RMC, BK). BK, in a full account stressing large size, refers to shape, colour and mode of flight while rMc mentions large size compared with Kestrel and Sparrowhawk seen very shortly afterwards. Marsh HARRIER Circus aeruginosus G. One, New Grounds, Aug. 21 (LPA); a 2 found injured near Nailsworth, Sept./early Oct. was taken to Falconry Centre, Newent, where it has since partially recovered (Amj). Hen HArRRIER Circus cyaneus S. Female, Sand Bay, Dec. 19 (TB, RLJ, DJP). OsPREY Pandion haliaetus S. One, Axe Estuary, Sept. 1 (RA). One found trapped in wires over stream, Blagdon res. and released by Bristol Waterworks employee, Sept. 27 (per Pjc). Hossy Falco subbuteo G. New Grounds: single birds, May 2, Aug. 18, 21, Sept. 1, 15th and pair, Sept. 2 (LPA, MAO). Pair,near Patchway, Aug. 3 (Gs). S. Pair reared one young; present in four other localities during summer (three ads. seen at one site, early May). Single birds: nr. Barrow res., Apr. 17 (Gs); Shipham, May 17 (rTBs); nr. Frome, May 26 (BR); East Horrington, May 26 (aw); Weston Woods, June 23 (RA); Blagdon res., Aug. 4 and goth, Sept. 20 (pyc), Sept. 17 (pw) and Chilcompton area, Sept. 4 and 21st, Oct. 12 (RsH). Many records, Chew Valley res., May 18—-Sept. 21 (TRC, PLG, Dw ¢ét al.). PEREGRINE Falco peregrinus G. New Grounds: 9, Jan.—mid Mar. and Sept. 18—end year (LPA, BAO, JDS ef al.) S. One imm., St. George’s Wharf, Jan. 19—Mar. 22 and Nov. 29 —Dec. 14 (AEB, wGB, JFR et al.). One, Whitchurch, late Jan.—early Feb. (HGH). Imm. 9, Sand Point, Aug. 24 (RA); ad. 9, Steep Holm, Sept. 1 (s); imm., Chew Valley res., Nov. 9 (JBorR). MERLIN Falco columbarius G. Single birds: Wick, nr. Bristol, Jan. 5 (DRH); Aust, Mar. 8 (jFR) and Oldbury Court, Bristol, Dec. 14 (PLG). S. Single birds, Clevedon, Jan. 2 (pLG); Sand Bay, Jan. 2, Feb. 16 and Oct. 1, Nov. 1 (RA, TB); Hinton Charterhouse, Feb. 28 (BR); St. George’s Wharf, Oct. 4 (TBs); Chew Valley res., Oct. 26 (RMc) and Brean Down, Nov. 11 (ms). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 5989 -~ReED-FOOTED Fatcon’ Falco vespertinus S. Male, Brean Down, June 8 (Gwe). Record, accepted by Brit. Birds Rarities Committee, is second for County. Details include: no trace of white about head, plumage uniformly dark except lighter under-tail coverts tinged with rust. Flight similar to that of Hobby but wings shorter and tail slimmer; wings longer and tail shorter and slimmer than those of Kestrel. Kestr—EL Falco tinnunculus See page 581. Records of pairs in breeding season from G@.—Cromhall, *Oakford nr. St. Catherine, *nr. Upton Cheyney, Chittening and Clifton, Bristol; and §.—*Loxton, *Compton Bishop, *Cheddar, Priddy, Hinton Blewett, *Chew Valley res., *Chelvey, *Nailsea Moor, Portishead, *Failand, *Abbots Leigh, *Whitchurch and Monkton Combe. Breeding proved at localities preceded by*. RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE Alectoris rufa S. Pair, Crook Peak, Mar. 19; one, Brean Down, Apr. 4. Breeding reported, Sand Bay, where five seen, Oct. 16 (RA). PARTRIDGE Perdix perdix G. Pair, Tockington, Mar. 30 (AEB). Bred, West Littleton, and one, Iron Acton, July 9 (3jG). S. Covey of eight, Nailsea Moor, early March (HruH). Five Abbots Leigh, Sept. 1 and eleven, St George’s Wharf on 29th (TBs). Six, Stanton Prior, Dec. 29 (ms). Breeding season reports from nine other localities. QuaiL Coturnix coturnix G. and S. One-two heard, ‘Tormarton, Marshfield, Charmy Down and Toghill, June 26-28 (nyc). WatTER Rat Rallus aquaticus G. Four, Frampton Pools, Jan. 28; up to five, New Grounds, Feb., two, Apr. 14 and one, Sept. 16 (LPA). S. Up to ten, Chew Valley res., Jan.—Mar., and single birds there, Sept._Nov. (RA, Dw ef al.). One, Sand Bay, Mar. 23 and late Oct.—Nov. (RA). One, Blagdon res., Sept. 20 (pcr). One, Locking Pond, Dec. 23 (Pc). SPOTTED CRAKE Porzana porzana S. One, Chew Valley res., Sept. 5 (RSH). OYSTERCATCHER Haematopus ostralegus G. and S. Noted, Jan._Apr. 19 and Aug. 3—Dec.; up to 100, Sand Bay—Axe Estuary, up to ten elsewhere, coast and resrs. Lapwinc- Vanellus vanellus Bred, or breeding behaviour, Walton and Kenn Moors, Yeo Estuary and St. George’s Wharf (S.) and Almondsbury. (G.). 3,500, 590 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT Axe Estuary, Dec. 24 (RA). Large movements to N., Jan. 2, Feb. 7— 11 and 22nd-28rd, and to S., Nov. 29 and Dec. 1. RINGED PLOVER Charadrius hiaticula. See page 580. G. and S. Noted all months. Very large numbers, Aug.—up to 500, New Grounds (LPA, TDE, JDS), 1,500, Chittening (NTL, RGT) and 600, Sand Bay (ra, pyp). Up to 23, Chew Valley res, Aug.— September. LirTLe RINGED PLOVER Charadrius dubius. See page 580. G. Single birds, New Grounds, May 3 and July 10-24 (LPa, TDE). S. Two ads., Cheddar res., July 8-9 (jBor), one imm., 12th and two, Aug. 24 (TRC, sjm). Two imms., Chew Valley res., Sept. 7-14 and one, 17th (PLG, Dcyj ef al.). Grey PLOVER Charadrius squatarola More numerous than recently. Spring records up to four, New Grounds, Jan. to June 3, with 11, Apr. 26; two, Chittening, May 4; only S. record in period was one, St. George’s Wharf, May 15. Autumn: 40 records (8 in G.) of up to five, Aug. 14 to end year, from coast, moors and resrs., but up to 20, Sand Bay, Aug. 15 —Sept., a period when seldom reported in the area. GOLDEN PLOVER Charadrius apricarius G. Up to 75, New Grounds, Jan.-Mar. 22 and July 24-Dec.; 64 on stubble, Mangotsfield, Feb. 17. S. Fewer than low 1967 numbers; 18 records, Feb.—Apr. 7 and Sept. 12—Dec. Largest counts: Axe Estuary—150, Feb. 2 (RA and 300, Apr. 7 (KDs), up to 60 in mid-Sept. and 600, Nov. 2 (RA); 12, Chew Valley res., Oct. 26; 14, Kenn Moor, Nov. 30. TTURNSTONE Arenaria interpres G. and S. Chittening—Severn Beach: up to 200, Jan._May 30 and July 18—Dec., with up to 500, August. Elsewhere, present on coast all months, with max., 30, Kenn Est., June 15. Single birds, Chew Valley res., April and up to three, August. Common SNIPE Gallinago gallinago G. and §. 100 reports. More numerous than recently; noted, Jan.-Apr. 20 and July 12-Dec., with up to 70, New Grounds, Mar., and up to 120. Chew Valley res., Oct.-November. Jack SnrrE Lymnocryptes minimus G. Up to three, New Grounds, Jan-Mar. and Aug. 25- Sept. 21 (LPA, TDE). S. Nine records of single birds, Chew Valley res. (two, Jan. 25) —(RA) and coastal localities, Jan._Mar. 2 and Sept. 23—Nov. 30. Three flushed, Mendip, Jan. 28 and Oct. 25 (JAMcG). BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 591 Woopcock Scolopax rusticola G. and S. Single birds, Weston Woods, Jan.—_Mar. and Oct.— Nov. (TB); Filton, Oct. 7 (RA); Goblin Combe, Nov. 2 (F); Orchard- leigh Lake, Nov. 30 (Rmc) and Leigh Woods, Dec. 10 (Msc). CuRLEW Numenius arquata G. and S. Pattern similar to 1967’s. Peak counts: 324, New Grounds, Mar. 24 and 189, Sept. 24 (LPA); 180, Chittening, Aug. 2 —9 (NTL); 400, St. George’s Wharf, Aug. 31 (smr et al.); 300, Sand Bay, July—Sept. (RA, RFH ¢/ al.). WHIMBREL Numenius phaeopus G. and S. Spring passage, Apr. 14—June 1 (40 reports, 21 from G.—mostly from New Grounds) with max., 40, New Grounds (TDE) and 30, Woodspring Bay (RA), both on May g. Autumn passage, July g—Sept. 22 (31 reports, 14 from G.) with max., 29, New Grounds, Aug. 2 (LPA) and 10, Sand Bay, on 5th (RA). BLACK-TAILED Gopwir JLimosa limosa See page 580. G. 34 reports. Up to four, New Grounds, Apr. 9— May 19 and up to 14, July 6-Sept. 9. Up to 11, Chittening, March and July 27—Oct., but 100, Oct. 8-21 (NTL). S. 18 reports. Two, Axe Estuary, Mar. 9 (RA). Up to three, Chew Valley res., Aug.—Sept., and up to ten, coast, July 27 to end year, but larger numbers, Weston Bay, Oct.—Dec., with 220, Oct. 4 (PC). BAR-TAILED Gopwit Limosa lapponica G. Reports (26) of up to 20, mostly from New Grounds, Mar. 24 —May 15, with up to 58, early May; one or two, same place, June 29 —Oct. 12. S. Up to four, coast, Jan—May 15 and Aug. 1-Dec., but occasionally 20-30, latter period; 85 over Sand Point, Sept. 28 (RA). One, Chew Valley res., Nov. 15 (RMC). 17 reports. GREEN SANDPIPER Tringa ochropus Fewer than usual; 15 records, §. coast and resrs., Jan.—Apr. 5, with max. of three, Kenn Moor, Mar. 22. 89 records (34 in G.) of up to three, June 27—Dec., mostly from New Grounds, St. George’s Wharf (where 6, Oct. 4-wcsB) and Chew Valley res. (where 5, July 30 and Aug. 9-RA, KEV). Woop SANDPIPER Tringa glareola Single birds) New Grounds (G.), June 13 (TDE); and Chew Valley res. (S.), July 20, Aug. 8 and 22nd (RjL, sjMm, KEV) but two on gth (RA). CoMMON SANDPIPER Tringa hypoleuca Coastal reports (48 in G., 9 in S.) of up to ten, Jan. 5-May 8 and 592 BRISTOL BIRD REPORT June 24-Dec. 30. Reservoirs: 40 reports, Cheddar and Chew Valley, of up to 17, Apr. 12—May 9g and up to nine, July 9—Dec. 31, with up to 22, August. REDSHANK Tringa totanus G. and S. Pattern as in 1967 but spring numbers lower—max., 30-35. Autumn peaks: 400-500, Chittening, Aug.—Sept. (NTL); 150, Sand Bay, Aug., Dec. (RA, sjyp); 160, St. George’s Wharf, Sept. 24 (wos). Bred, latter place and Clevedon—R. Yeo. SPOTTED REDSHANK Tringa erythropus G. New Grounds (56 records): up to three, Mar. 25—-June 20 then up to 20 to end Oct. with up to 30, September. S. Records (50, incl. 39 from resrs.) of up to ten, Aug. 6 to end year; 16 over Sand Bay, Sept. 9 (Pc, ADLe). GREENSHANK Tringa nebularia G. and S. Up to four, Apr. 30-May 28, July 13—-Nov. 23, but up to 12, New Grounds and Chew Valley res., July—Sept. Five, Litton res., Oct. 13 and six, St. George’s Wharf, Nov. 16. 98 reports. Knorr Calidris canutus G. and S. Noted all months except June. Only counts over c.20 were from Sand Bay—Axe Estuary, where up to 300, Feb.—Mar. and up to 100, Sept. 28—Dec., with 1,000, Dec. 26, (RA ef al.). PURPLE SANDPIPER Calidris maritima G. Chittening: one or two, Mar. 29-May 7 and Dec. (NTL, JBOR). S. Single birds, Brean Down, Feb. 23; Sand Point, Sept. 21-22 and Nov. 30 (RA et al.); Chew Valley res., Nov. 29 and Cheddar res., Dec. 8—29 (CRC, PC, SM, BR ¢t al.) LitTLe Stinr Calidris minuta. See page 580. G. and §. One, Corston, Jan. 5 (RH). Two, New Grounds, May 19 (LPA). Up to five, New Grounds, Chittening, Sand Bay and resrs., Aug. 11—Dec. 16 (LPA, RA, PC, RMC, BR ¢é al.). 37 reports. PECTORAL SANDPIPER Calidris melanotos. See page 580. S. One, Cheddar res., Sept. 25 (BR). One, Chew Valley res., Sept. 29 (RSH fer EMP). BR’s notes include: medium-sized wader, smaller than Ruff. Most distinctive feature—streaked breast made abrupt contrast with white belly. Lighter stripes on back. Head dark brown, with dingy eyestripe. Chin and throat light. Slender, longish bill, slightly decurved at tip. Very alert; seen alone and with Ruff and Little Stint. Fed near rocky ground and exposed mud. Dunun_) Calidris alpina 167 records (77 from G.), all months. Max. counts: G@.—1,500, New Grounds, Jan. 25-Mar. 9 and 1,500-2,000, Nov.—Dec. (TDE, BRISTOL BIRD REPORT 593 MAO, Jps et al.); up to 3,500, Severn Beach—Chittening, late Dec. (NTL, RGT); §.—4,500, Clevedon—-R. Yeo, Jan. 12 (KEV); 3,000, Sand Bay, Dec. 13 (RA) and 2,000 on a2gth (pjP); 2,700, Axe Estuary, Jan. 26 and 2,500-3,000, Dec. (RA). CuURLEW SANDPIPER Calidris testacea. See page 580. G.and S. 57 reports, Aug. 25—-Oct. 12, mainly from New Grounds area (max., 100, Aug. 31—yps et al.), St. George’s Wharf (max., 14, Aug. 31—wos), Sand Bay (max., 25, Sept. 12—pc) and resrs. (up to four, Chew Valley). One, Clevedon (KEV) and one Cheddar res. (sjM), both on Nov. 16. SANDERLING Crocethia alba G. New Grounds: usually up to ten, Mar. 8—June 3 and July 13-Sept. 14, but up to 50, Apr./May and to 30+, Aug. 16. Up to 20, Chittening, May and one, Sept. 14. S. Up to 7, coast, Jan. 5-May 18 (but 22, Sand Bay, Feb. 27— TB) and Aug. 12—Sept. 18; four, Axe Estuary, Dec. 20 (RA). Single birds, resrs—Chew Valley, May 11 (jBor et al.) and Cheddar, Sept., Nov. 26 and Dec. 25 (pjp, BK ef al.). Rurr Philomachus pugnax Reports (120, 60 from G.), all months. New Grounds: peaks of 52, Mar. 14 (LPA) and 21, Sept. 28. Chew Valley res. (46 reports): one, Jan. 7, Feb. 22; up to ten, July 27 to end year, with up to 16, Sept. 21-23. Three, Cheddar res., Sept. 24-27. Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta G. Fifteen, New Grounds, May 30-31 (LPA, TDE, Kj) and one flying up river, same place, June 13 (TDE). S. Five, Sand Bay, Apr. 8 (RA, TB, PC); four, Clevedon, May 24 —25 (AC, WBC, RGT). One, Cheddar res., Dec. 18 (BR). RED-NECKED PHALAROPE Phalaropus lobatus S. Ad. @ in partial moult, Chew Valley res., Aug. 24 (RIL). Bird retained much red on neck. Dark vermiculated markings on back. Underparts very white. Bill long, fine, dark. Legs dark. Arctic Skua_ Stercorarius parasiticus S. > . eee Oy Cheddar Gorge Survey = ee 7 pe rOe5 Archaeology - a ~ a rea OKO Birds a ro be ae <9 as 2 ©6648 Botany a a s ih os ue oe 645 Caves a om se a - .. 638 Forest of Mendip . ae hy - a .. 641 Geology... o = me - ree .. 635 Introduction es 3 = a og , 1085 Mammals .. a me or - .. 649 Coastal changes at Bridgwater Bay 2 - - QI Coelacanth, Wacroporia from Wiltshire i < Sr es Colliery Waste Tips, problem of, in Somerset ie 625 Contents, Table of .. - tse oso. 457, 563 Gooper, J.-E... ae eer 107, 165 Cotswold Scarp, Eaterior Oolite a a a eli Shr Cotswolds, South, Fuller’s Earth Sections .. re nor pe 148) Council, members of .. 13 25114, 226, 336, 458, 564 Cowie, J.W. .. - o be Dy ft, ba -tT5 BO Curtis lB. J. oi Zs sf = - ATS Lepidoptera Notes, Bristol District 59, 165, 275, 393, 521, Lepidoptera, light-trapping on Mendip Lias below Midford Sand at Bitton Hill PAGE Dennison, M. 639 Devonshire, A. F. oe Sr 72 Devonian Rocks, Brendon Hills, Seruerane and Minerulion tion 69 Diamonds, Bristol 439 Down, CoG... 625 Duckweeds, Ecology in ‘North iseriome: 552 Dunnock on Steep Holm, Status of 83 Evans, I. W.—Obituary 572 Folk Classification of Limestones, Editorial note 550 Foxwell, D. J. 275 Frome Valley, Mosses of 193 lirik gga ee ea br oe 631 Fuller’s Earth Seaton: in n Séuth Gotewolds ae 429 Galena in Rhaetic at Almondsbury .. A ee ey | General Meetings, Account of 29, 129. 227, CAG dag. 50 Godney Moor, surface patterns ie Ne Pen 0s Graham, C. : 642 Gravestock, I. F. 645 Gull, Common, in Severn rani 173 Gypsum Veins, at Blue Anchor Point 305 Hamilton, D. .. ee ai oe si ae 221, 305 Earuson,/ 1. 2. by si ce Be 2035 Hawkins, A. B. as oY i 195, 421 Hedberg, H. D. and iron ep i md OTS Holwell Quarry, Oligokyphus from 185 Insole, A. 651 Jones, B. E. 285 Kestrel, breeding season and status he ae 293, 389 Keynsham Bypass, Geology of oo) OG Lagurus lagurus (Steppe Lemming), observations in captivity 107 Lemming, Steppe (Lagurus lagurus), observations in captivity 107 PAGE Macropoma, a coelacanth, from Wiltshire... III -~ Mammal Distribution & Survey, Bristol] District 285, 403, 531, 611 Matthews, S. C. A oe ae 615 Members, Lists of oe "3, 115, 227, 330, 459 Mendips, light trapping of enidonters a ie sas) BOF Midford Sand, Lias below, at Bitton Hill .. 2 .. 691 Mosses of Frome bane 2 ae af Me 22, »1Qe Murray, J. W. .. a ne ea 2 535 Obituaries: Boley, Mrs. G. M., 125; Evans, I. W., 572; Sandwith, N. Y., 128; Whittard, W. F., 126 Oligokyphus, from Holwell Quarry... - bs .. 185 Oolite, Inferior of Cotswold Scarp .. Bye ae .. .535 Rarelrs Part Il, 113; Part Ill, 225; Part 1V, 997; Part V, 457; Part VI, 563 Peat Layers, submerged, Severn Channel near Avonmouth 101 Peregrine, D. H. ae ie Ad oe ne .. 658 Phillips, F. Coles Bs = 126 PoolefK. H. .. ae eo 165, 275; 393, 521, 601 Portbury Area, the geolog y 44 421 Portlandian and Purbeckian of Vale oi Wverdowe - .. 651 Poulding, R. H. oe i = = es 83 Rawlings, F. H. es af me ae ze .. 649 Report of Council - a 18, 118, 231, 343, 477, 565 ss Librarian .. os 21, 120, 299194577. 505 a Botanical Section .. 20, 020,299) 345. 70s bog " Entomological Section LG, 11050291, 048.047 75-505 a Geological Section 21, 121, 234, 346, 480, 568 a Junior Section a mn 236, 348, 480, 568 a. Mammal Section .. oe 236, 348, 482, 469 Ornithological Section 22, 122, 235, 347, 481, 568 RaccnoNe Hl “3 Ae oe Ss se Ss .. 635 Sandwith, N. Y. mn a 8 .. 25 — Obituary 128 Savage, R. J. G. Pe ee - - me we, 1185 Seddon, B. a ie an Bas fe: Aa ae IOI Severn Bore... . 658 Severn Channel, near Avonmouth, submerged peat layers 101 silcecks, T. B. .. oe a sed - ar ae OF Smith, C. E. D. a = ie a ss oe = OAT Smith, D. Munro oe és - af ae ie’ °54Q8 Stmarth, MOC... ss i si ah oe 2-552 PAGE Somersetshire Illustrated, proposed, by John meg Of Stones 311 Steep Holm, status of Dunnock : a 83 Stones of, from manuscript of John Siracheys S Somenae Illustrated .. M; PS ORST I Strachey, John, Somerset Hustrated, Of Stones? 2 i ae Sweet, G. ae Ass A ” ie. i 2 er symes, Ri-Gis.. = a * 2 bg! 531, 611 Taylor, S. M. .. ne Ay: ne ar sit ‘ih As/ F293 Torrens, Hh: 5. -. sit Ae ie was ae Wee 429 Vallerius, Goran, description of Aust Cliff a HM. eGTG Vernon, J. D. R. a ae ae ae a Ba i Waldman, M. .. a on a 2 ft 111, 185 Walsh. TPs crane an si) FLAS Wardour, Vale of, Pariamdian & Barkecasn Ae spy gsO5I Warden, D. ax ae 54 a Be a! Eat Beg Webby, B.D. .. e me a ye 69, 311 Whittard, W. F. Obituary a ise Willis, A. J. ee She 125, 128, 131, 239, 201, 351, 485, 573 Wright, C. 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