^ bp .Kl>, > '^A^:> THE IRISH NATURALIST ^ JtloutljU) ;rioitvnal Ol' GENERAL IKISII NATURAL lllSTokY THK OFFICIAI, OKC.AN UV The Royal ZoohgicnJ Scdettj of Ire h tad ; The Ihih/in Mirnisropitul CltiU ; The Belfast Natural History aud rhilosophiral tacitly ; The Belfast Naiurah'sls' Field Cluh ; The Dii/din Anturalists' JuVld Cluh ; The Arma(}h Natural llistary aud Philosojthirul Siciely ; The Cork Naturalists Field Cluh ; "The J.iuurich Naturalists' FiKIN,MARSIIAU. HAMILTON. KKN'! .N Co. Ltd. 1893. PKIXTED BY ALEX. THOM & CO. (LIMITED), 87, 88, & 89, ABBEY-STREET, DUBLIX. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE PRESENT VOI^UME. Anna N. Abbott, Cork. Mary K. AndreWvS, Belfast. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamii^ton, Kilmannock, New Ross. E. C. Barrington, 17, Earlsfort-terrace, Dublin. \V. B. Barrington, 58, South Mall, Cork. H. M. Barton, 4, Foster-place, Dublin. Ernest H. Bennis, Limerick. Rev. S. a. Brenan, b.a., Knocknacary, Antrim. D. C. CampbelIv, Ballynagard, Londonderry. A. S. G. Canning, Rostrevor, Down. G. H. Carpenter, b.sc. Science and Art Museum, Dublin. Thomas Chandi.ee, Athy, King's Co. Prof. Grenvii^le A. J. C01.E, f.g.s., Royal College of Science, Dublin. R. Langton C01.E, London. Nathaniei. CoIvGan, i, Belgrave-road, Rathmines, Dublin. W. E. Coi,i,iNGE, Mason College, Birmingham. Arthur J. C01.1.INS, Belfast. C. P. Crane, m.d., Waterford. R. N. CreighTon, M.D., Ballyshannon. Prof. R. O. Cunningham, m.d., f.i,.s., f.z.s.. Queen's College, Belfast. H. K. Gore Cuthbert, Recess, Blackrock, Dublin. Rev. AIvEXANDER Dei.ap, m.a., Valencia, Kerry. Rev. a. H. DEI.AP, M.A., Letterkenny, Donegal. G. E. Donovan, Timoleague, Cork. J. J. Dowi^ing, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. J. E. DuERDEN, A.R.c.sc, Royal College of Science, Dublin. Thomas Farrington, m.a., f.c.s., f.i.c, Cork. Maurice FitzGibbon, Howth, Dublin. Rev. H11.DERIC Friend, f.i^.s., Cockermouth, Cumberland. L. S. G1.ASCOTT, New Ross, Wexford. H. and J. Groves, f.i..s., Jeffreys-road, Clapham, London. J. Ernest Grubb, Carrick-on-Suir. Prof. A. C. Haddon, m.a., f.z s.. Royal College of Science, Dublin. J. N. HaIvBERT, Science and Art Museum, Dublin. W. A. HamiIvTOn, J.P., Ballyshannon. Prof. G. V. Hart, 1.1..D., o.c, Howth, Co. Dublin. H. C. Hart, b.a., f.i. s., Carrablagh, Portsalon, Co. Donegal. N. S. Hind, Ferns, Co. Wexford. H. Lyster Jameson, Killencoole, Co. Louth. Prof. T.Johnson, d.sc, f.i^s.. Royal College of Science, Dublin. Rev. W. F. Johnson, m a., f.ES., Armagh. James Johnston, Bray, Co. Wicklow. W. F. DE ViSMES Kane, m.a , f.e.S., Drumreaske, Monaghan. Wii,i,iAM Kennedy, Londonderry. G. H. KiNAHAN, M.R.I.A., P'airview, Dublin. Mary J. LEEbody, Londonderry. Rev. H. W. Lett, ma., Loughbrickland, Co. Down. George E. Low, Dundrum, Dublin. iv Contributors. David M'ArdIvE, Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. E.J. M'Weeney, M.A., M.D., 15, Ely-place, Dublin. C. B. Moffat, Ballyhyland, Co. Wexford. A. G. More, f.r.s.E , f.i. s, 74, Leinster-road, Rathmines, Dublin. George a. MUvSGRAVE, f.r.g.s., f.z s., Bournemouth. Francis Neai^e, 35, Catherine-street, Limerick. A. R. N1CH01.S, B.A., M.R.I. A., Science and Art Museum, Dublin. John H. O'ConneIvI., Kilkenny. Robert Patterson, m.b.o.u., Belfast. R. A. PhiIvI^ips, Ashburton, Cork. Greenwood Pim, m.a., f.l.s., Monkstown, Dublin. R. I. PococK, British Museum (Nat. Hist.), S. Kensington. James Porter, b.e., Cork. R. Lloyd Praeger, b.e., m.r.i.a.. National Library, Dublin. WiLiviAM E. Praeger, Keokuk, Iowa, U.S.A. J. G. Robertson, Dublin. R. F. vScHARFF, PH.D., B.sc, Scicucc and Art Museum, Dublin. W. E. Sharp, Ledsham, Chester. J. R. Sheridan, Achill Island. Owen Smith, Nobber, Co. Meath. Professor W.J. Soi^i^as, IvI..d., f.r.s.. Trinity College, Dublin. Wiu^iAM Starke V, Jun., Rathmines, Dublin. W11.1.IAM vSwANSTON, F.G.S., Belfast. J. H. H. SwiNEY, C.E., Belfast. James Tank, Dublin. J. TayIvOR, Mullingar. R. J. USvSHER, J.P., Cappagh, Co. Waterford. Rev. C. H. WaddeIvIv, b.d., Saintfield, Co. Down. Amy Warren, Ballina. Robert Warren, Ballina. S. Westropp, Cork. E. Wii^iyiAMS, Dublin. ERRATA. Page 26, line 6,/?r " Carval" read " Caracal." ,, 16 and 17 from bottom, for "as Monstroma does from Ulva,"" read " as Ulva does from Alonostromay 173, ,, 27, for "■ Aminophila sabulosa,'' read '' Pompilius fusciis.'' 227, last line but one, for " Scharff" read "SchaefF." 229, line 33, for " Cotton" read " Collon." 229. The note on Azolla should be transferred to special heading " Vascular Cryptogams." 243, foot-note, line 2, for " formed" read " former." 279, last line, for "fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh" read " third, fourth, fifth, and sixth." 280, line 2, for " seventh" read " sixth." 302, line 41, for "■ extractor " read •' retractor." INDEX. Abbott, A. N.— Plants Flowering in December, 83 ; White Centaury, 23. Acheronha alropos, 252. Acrospermum rp-aminwn, 195. Ajuga, white, 23. Algae, Marine, 313. Allium scorodoprasxnn, 23. American Bird-Visitors to Ireland, 29, 87, 203, 293. Ampelis garndus, 85, 1 14, 114, 114. Anatomy oi Arionjiagelhis, 316. Anchorella uncinata, 81. Andrews, M. K. — Denudation at Cultra, 16, 47. Andromeda polifolia, 254. Anthelia juratzskana, 1 16. Aphanomyces sp., 1 1 7. Aran Islands Ethnography, 303 ; flora, 75, 106. Argyroneta aguattca, 99, 147. Ai-ionflagelhis, 302, 316. Armagh flora, 11, 27, 34, 59, 91, 127, 155, 182, 212, 228, 250; Lepidoptera, 24 ; Nat. Hist, and Philosophical Society, 28, 116, 145, 225, 299, 320. Auk, Little, 324. Autumnal Blossoming of Spring Flowers, 299, 321, 321 ; Autumnal Disappearance of Woodcock, 85. AzoJla caroUneana, 229, 318 ; Jilicidoides, 318. Bacterium rubescens, 26. Badger, 25. Ballyrudder Gravels, 27. Barrett-Hamilton, G. E. H.— Hoopoe in Wexford, 177; Black Redstart in Wexford, 177 ; West- ern Variety of the Red-breasted Snipe in Ireland, 323. Barrington, E. C— Hairy-armed Bat in Dublin, 277 ; Quails in Wick- low, 230. Barrington, W. B.— Early arrivals of Migrants in Cork, 177 ; Osprey and Quail in Cork, 201. Barton, H. M.— Arrested Develop- ment of Frog's Tadpole, 149. Bat, Hairy-armed, 277 ; Reddish- grey, 230. Bee-eater, 25. Beggioloa roseopersicina, 1 17. Belfast Nat. Hist, and Philosophical Society, 27, 51, 82, 116, 172, 254, 319- Belfast Nat. Field Club, 27, 51, 82 116, 145, 173, 196, 225, 226, 254, 297> 319- Ben Bulben flora, 22. Bennis, E. H.— Earlincss of the Season, 199. Birds: American, in Ireland, 29, 87, 203, 293, 302 ; of Midland Lakes and Bogs, 231, 261 ; of Lough vSwilly, 25; of Strangford Lough, 67. Bittern, 86, 1 14. Botaurus stc//(iris, 86, 1 1 4. Bourgainvillid n. up., 196. Boyne Mouth, Plants of, 299. Brama rait, 230, 253. Bream, Ray's, 230, 253. Brenan, S. A. — Sirex gigas and Acherontia atropos in Antrim, 252 ; a Correction, 277 ; Wasps in Antrim, 252. Bubo maximits, 1 13. Bugle, white, 24. Building Stones, Irish, 168, 179. Burkitt, R. J., obituary, 224. Bustard, Little, 256. Buzzard, Honey, 25. Campbell, D. C— Iceland Gull at Londonderry, 1 78 ; Macrolepidop- tera of Londonderry District, 19, 43, 72, 147 ; Reappearance of Quails near Londonderry, 202 ; Spring Migrants at Londonderr}-, 201 ; Waxwing nearLondonderr>', 85, 114. Carex rhynchophysa, 83, 1 84. Carpenter, G. H.— A deceptive Caterpillar, 279 ; Irish Wasps, 199. Casual Plants, 300. Caterpillar, A deceptive, 279. Centaury, white, 23. Centipedes, 309. Cephalozia catemdafa, 319. Cerylr alrycn, 293. _ _ Chandlee, T. — Euphorbia cypanssms in King's County, 250. Characcie, 163; of Armagh, 214. C/iionis alba, 56, 82, 15I, 202. Chivolepus aureus, 297. Chlorocysds sarcophyci, 318. Ciliata, 1 1 7. Ciotius thapsus, 51. Circus rinerareus, 253. Clare Plants, 251. > / ?54 VI Index. Coal in Ireland, 56. Coccyzns americanm, 203 ; crythroph- fhahnus, 205. Cole, G. A. J.— Animal Footprints in Old Red Sandstone, 115; Beauty and Use of Irish Building Stones, 168, 179. Cole, R. L.— Coal in Ireland, 56. Coleoptera: of Ardara, 53 ; of Beau- pare, 299; of Dublin, 139, 160, 229 ; of Dundalk and Carlingford, 227 ; of Wexford, 301. Coleopterist in Ireland, 139, 160. Colgan, N.— Inconstancy of Colour in Flowers, 11 1 ; Lough Neagh Petrifactions, 178 ; Notes on the Flora of the Aran Islands, 75, 106 ; Notes on the Flora of Co. Dublin, 283 ; Ricdocaipus imtansiw Dublin, 250 ; The Shamrock, a further attempt to fix its Species, 207; The Shamrock, a Postscript, 250. Colias edusa, 301. Collinge, W. B.— Some Notes on the Irish vSlugs, 148 ; Anatomical Ch aracters of ^4 rion flagellus, Cllge ., 316. Collins, A. J. — Arrival of Spring Migrants, 201 ; Bittern in Ireland, 114 ; Supposed Hybrid Hare- rabbit, 25. ColourofWildFlowers, 111,174, 229. Columha cenas, 202, 253. Conopteryx rhamni, 252. Cordyceps entomorrhiza, 146, 195 ; militaris var. sphan-ocephala, 26. Cork Mollusca, 200 ; Plants, 23, 23 ; Nat. Field Club, 28, 51, 116, 173, 197. Corrib, L., Crustacea, 24. Coturnix communis, 201, 201, 202, 230. Crane, C. P. — Ray's Bream in Waterford, 230. Creighton, R. N. — Crustacea from L. Erne and L. Corrib, 24 ; ^ipon- giJla lacustris at Ballyshannon, 322. Crisia rwnosa, 146. Crossbill, 25, 150. Crustacea of Loughs Erne and Corrib, 24. Cuckoo, Black-billed, 205 ; Yellow- billed, 203. Cultra, Denudation at, 16, 47. Cunningham, R. O.—Cldonis alba, 202. Curlew, white, 86. Cuthbert, G. H. K.— A Correction, 277 ; Coleoptera from Courtown, ■301. Cygmifi heivickii, 1 14. CynogJossum officinale, 173. Delap, Alex. — Tree Mallow in Ire- land, 112. Delap, A. H. — Additional Localities for Land and Fresh-water Mollusca, 84. Denudation at Cultra, 16, 47. Didymoprium grevillei, 117. Dolomite of Cork, 117, 135, 221. Donegal Coleoptera, 53 ; Lepidop- tera, 147 ; Land and Fresh-water Mollusca, 230. Donovan, G. E.— Goosander in Cork, 86. Dowling, J. J. — Quails in Dublin, 201. Dublin Coleoptera, 139, 160, 173, 197 ; Flora, 283 ; Hymenoptera, 197 ; Lepidoptera, 322 ; Micro- scopical Club, 26, 50, 81, 115, 172, 195, 278, 297, 318; Nat. Field Club, 27, 51, 82, 145, 196, 226, 254, 298, 320. Duck, Feruginous, 114; King, 177. Duerden, J. E. — Some North of Ireland Polyzoa, 165. Earthworms of Ireland, 6, 39, 89, 121, 188, 216, 238, 272, 288. Egg-collecting and Egg-destruc- tion, 57. Eleocharis acuularis, 276. Entomology, Irish, 32. Epicoccum purpurascens^ 115. Erica mediterranea flowering in October, 321. Erne, L., Crustacea of, 24. Erosion, Marine, 16, 47. Erythrcea centaureum, white, 23. Ethnography of Aran Islands, 303. Euphorbia cyparrissias, 250. Eurite containing Riebeckite, 172. Farriiigton, T. — Magnesian Lime- stone of the Cork District, 135. Fesfuca sylvatica, 84. Fitzgibbon, M. — Lepidoptera at Woodenbridge, 175. Flora of Aran Islands, 75, 106 ; of Armagh, 11, 27, 34, 59, 91, 127, 155, 182, 212, 228, 250; of Donegal, 84 ; of Dublin, 283 ; of Kildare, 321 ; of North-east of Ireland, 51 ; of Queen's County, 321 ; of Rathlin Island, 53, Flowers ; Autumn Blossoming of, 299, 321, 321 ; early Flowers, 199 ; Inconstancy of Colour of, iii, 174, 229. Index vu Footprints in Old Red Sandstone, 115. Foraminifera, 27. Fratercula arctica, 202. Friend, H.— The Earthworms of Ireland, 6, 39, 89, 121, 1S8, 216, 238, 272, 288 ; Trichia chrysos})ervHi. 83. Frog ; A native of Ireland, i, 85, 95, 177; Arrested Development of Tadpole, 149, 176. Fungi : of Beauparc, 298 ; of Dublin district, 245, 257 ; of South-west, 227 ; of \Vicklow, 146, 227, 245, 257, 320. Gallinago coe/estis. 83 ; coelesfis var. sabnm, 302, 324; major, 302. Gal way Algte, 313; Ethnograph}-, 303-' Garden Warbler, 185. Geologists' Association, 253. Glacial deposits, 27. Glascott, L. S. — A Plea for the Rotifera, 191. GlencreeRo3^al Forest, 199. Goosander, 86. Grebe, Great Crested, 25. Groves, H. and J. — Notes on Irish Characeae, 163. Grubb, J. E. — Arrival of Spring Migrants, 201. Gull, Iceland, 178, 202. Gyrodon rubellus, n. sp., 320. Haddon, A. C. — The Aran Islands, a Study in Irish Ethnography, 303 : Review of Jordan's Report on Mollusca from South-west, 80. Hcemonia appendicu/ata, 146, 148. Halbert, J. N. — Coleoptera in Dublin, 229 ; Hcemonia appendi- culata in Dublin, 148 ; Lema erichsoni at Santry, 252. Hamilton, W. A. — BufF-coloured Snipe, 86. Harpa-hjennea ovata, 27S. Harrier, Montagu's, 253. Hart, G. V. — Lepidoptera at Howth and Castlebellingham, 322 ; Lepidoptera of Londonderry District, 275. Hart. H. C. — Autumn Blossoming of Spring Flowers, 321 ; Flora of Donegal, a Correction, 84 ; Sabine's Snipe, a Correction, 324 ; Spirida, lanthina, and Velella at L. Swilly, 55. Hawkweeds, new Irish, 53. Helianthemum vidgare, 228. Heh'x arhiistornm, 302 ; fiisca. 302 ; pisana, 300 ; rufescens, 277, 301. Hcmipteraof Dundalk and Carlin^- fonl, 227. Hepatics ; of \Wn lUdbcn, 22; of Howth, 197; of Leixlip, iii, Jlieraria, new Irish, 53. Jlipjniruriu egertoni, 50. Hoopoe, 177. Hybrid Hare-ra1)bit, supposed, 25. lanthina roUmdatu, 277. Irish Entomology, 32. Janieson, II. L. — Arrfyronrta at/uatira in Captivity. 147 ; Bewick's Swan in Armagh, 1 14 ; Manntflonsa steJ/atanirn in Sligo, 323 ; Reddish- grey Bat in Louth, 230 ; Sirex yKjas and Macrofjiossa stellatunim in Louth, 229 ; Timarcha tene.lnirosn ill Waterford, 199; Yellow-billed Sheathbill on the Irish coast, 151. Johnson, W. F.— Coleoptera at Ardara, 53; Early vSpring Butter- flies, 176; Lepidoptera at Ardara, 147 ; Lepidoptera at Armagh, 24 ; Obituary Notice of Rev. George Robinson, 296 ; Polyjiodium cal- careiim at Carlingford, 22 ; vSpring Migrants at Armagh, 177 ; Water- spiders in Captivity, 99. Johnson, T. — A Visit to Round- stone, Co. Galwa}-, 313. Johnston, J. — Autumnal Disap- pearance of Woodcock, 85. Ju/jula hutchinsicEvar. integrifolia, 196. Killala mollusca, 55. Kane, W. F. de V.— Eagle Owl and Magpie in Ireland, 1 13 ; Irish Entomolog}', 32 ; Is the Frog a Native of Ireland, 95 ; Puffin in the Irish Midlands, 202. Kennedy, W. — lanthina rotundata at Portrush, 277. Kinahan, G. H.— The Scalp, 231. Kingfisher, Belted, 293. Larus kucopterm, 178, 202. Lnvat era arbor ea, 1 1 2. Leebody, M. J. —Colour-variation of Wild Flowers, 229 ; :S/>iranthes romanzoviana in Londonderry, 22S. Lejeunia diver siloba, 82. Lema erichsoni, 252. Lepidoptera, 28, 147. 254; ditto, earlv, 176; of Armagh, 24, 176, 320 ,' of Donegal, 147 ; of Howth, 322 ; of Londonderry, 19, 43, 72, 147, 175; of Louth, 322. Lett, H. VJ.— Malta moschata, 228; Sphagnum austini in Ireland, 22. Lichens, 28. VI 11 Index. Limerick Nat. Field Club, 15, 28, 83, 118, 321. _ Limosella aqnatica, 300. Linota h'naria, 114. Liverworts, 22, iii, 147. Londonderry Lepidoptera, 19, 43, 72, 147, 175. Lo])hyrnf> jnni, 55. Louth Lepidoptera, 322. Low, G. B. — Therajirmata in Dublin, 277. Loxia curvirostra, 25, 150. Lnmhricid^ I venture to think that many people would deny at the present day that toads live in Ire- land, and 3'et they are plentiful about Dingle Bay. Water- fowl also were then much more plentiful, as the countr>' was more thinly inhabited, and these birds, in pools and marshes which they now do not frequent, would keep down frogs. Authorities differ as to whether there is an Irish name for the Frog, Dr. Hyde informing me that there is none, and that the word for "frog" used in the Irish translation of the Bible, which was made about the jxar 1620-50, is "losgan," a Scotch Gaelic word, not in use in any part of Ireland now, while Dr. Joyce says that the word now used is "cnadan" which is not a very ancient one. This might be explained by the supposition that frogs and other of the lower animals, not being hunted or useful for food, w^ere, in ancient times, spoken of collectively under a name uniting them all, such as ''worms," just as many people now-a-days speak of snails and kindred invertebrates as "insects " Dr. Frazer kindly pointed out to me that there is a frog sculptured on the Drumcliffe cross in Co. Sligo, which dates from about the nth century. There is a drawing of this interesting cross in his wonderful col- lection of sketches, made principally by himself, of Irish antiquities. However, I attach no special importance to this figure in aiding the present enquiry into the origin of the Frog in Ireland, and we must search for something more tangible to prove its presence there in ancient times. One of the most convincing proofs of an animal's existence 6 The Irish Naturalist. in a country in former times ivS the finding of its remains in a fossil condition, and the bones of the Frog have been found associated with those of the bear and other extinct animals in the caves of Ballynamintra, in the County Wexford. But of as much importance is a knowledge of its present distribution. For if, as we are told, the Frog was introduced into Ireland from Trinity College Park, Dublin, it ought to be most com- mon in the suburbs of the city and get rarer as we proceed westwards, as all the lower animals spread with extreme slow- ness, and radiate outwards from the point where they first obtained a footing. However, as it happens, the Frog is much more common on the west than it is on the east coast. In Kerry it flourishes in great numbers up to certainly 2000 feet on the mountains ; from the mountainous regions of Donegal, I have seen many specimens collected by Mr. Patterson ; and in Connemara I have found it common, though it is absent from the Aran Islands. There are undoubtedly few places in Ireland whence the Frog would have less chance of spreading than the College Park, lying as it does almost at sea-level, the current and floods of rivers being generally held to be the principal factors in animal distribution. Besides, we know that frogs and their spawn are killed by sea- water — how then did they reach Achil Island, where we are told by Thompson that they exist. I have now stated as much as I have been able to ascertain about the supposed introduction of the Frog into Ireland, and the reasons for my belief that it is a true native, and I hope that any of the readers of the Irish Naturalist who possess further information on the subject may be induced to send it to the Editors for publication. THE EARTHWORMS OF IREI.AND. BY RKV. HII^DKRIC FRIE)ND F.I,.S. Through the courtesy of Dr. Scharff of Dublin, and other naturalists resident in Ireland, I have been able during the past few months to make some notes on this hitherto greatly neglected branch of natural history, and as the subject is new, and any information respecting the classification, identification, and distribution of Irish earthworms will prove of service to The Earthivorms of Ireland. n future investigators, I venture to lay before the reader an account of those species which have thus far been identified. The indigenous earthworms of Great Britain are, as far as at present known, without exception, members of one family — the LicmbricidcE. This family is composed of some half a dozen genera, four at least of which are represented in our fauna. These genera bear the following names, Lumbricus, Allolobophora, Dendrobccjia, and Allurus. One or two others, (as Crodrihts, and Tetragommci) are at the present time either unknown within our borders, or their affinities are doubtful. Further research will alone enable us to decide some points which sadly need elucidation, and our readers will render good service to science by doing all intheirpowerto aid in the solution of these difficulties. Meanwhile I shall be content to treat only of such genera and species as I have been able personally to examine and determine. As indicative of the present state of knowledge on this subject it may be remarked that my paper communicated to the British Association last year, con- tained an account of a score of indigenous species, whereas ten years ago it was assumed that we had only eight or nine native worms in Great Britain. Since that paper was written the number has been raised to twenty-four or twenty-five. There are five species of Lunibricus, and as many of Alliutcs, while all the rest belong to the two remaining genera, whose boundaries have yet to be accurately defined. In this first part of my paper I confine my attention to the oldest genus, and describe only those species of Ltimbriciis which are known to-day as Irish. These are five in number, but there is every reason to believe that one other species might be found in the Island. We may take them in the order in which they were made known to the public. LumUricus tcrrcstris, Linn.— Common Earthworm. At last, after the lapse of nearly a century and a half, since Linnaeus first named this animal, we are able to give an accurate account of the same. Con- fusion has been worse confounded again and again by the mixing up of half a dozen different species under the old name, and even so recently as the last decade systematists had not discovered the difference be- tween the long worm {Allolobophora longa, Ude), and the earthworm, though they belonged to separate genera. To distinguish these two genera attention must be paid to the formation of the head, and the method by which the front lobe is inserted into the first ring. It t he first ring is cut entirely in two by the backward prolongation ot the front lobe or prostomium, when viewed from above (fig. i) we conclude that the worm is a species oi Liunbriais ; if it is only partially cut (hg 2) we are examining a representative of the genus Allolobophora. ihere are exceptions which will be noted later. The earthworm is usually C 8 The Irish Naturalist. about five inches long, of a dark brown colour, iridescent, with a flattened tail and cylindrical body. When adult the girdle is prominent, and always extends from the 30th to the 37th segment. Under four girdle segments we find a band (fig. 3) on either side, and on segment 15 a pair of swollen protuberances, or papillse, carrying the male pores. The setae are in four couples, the individuals of which are nearly close together (fig. 4). Distribution in Irei^and. Lmnhriciis terresiris has reached me from Valentia Island, Kerry (Miss M. J. Delap); Newcastle, Co. Down (Mr. Praeger); Clondalkin and LeeSon-park, Dublin (Dr. Scharff); IvCtterkenuy, Co. Donegal (Mr. H. C. Hart) ; Malahide, Co. Dubhn (Mr. J. Trumbull), and Loughbrickland, Co. Down (Rev. H. W. Lett). Lumbricus rulbeHus, Hoffmeister — Red Worm, This worm has been known for about half a century, and its distribution is very wide. It is usually about three inches in length, and has all the characters of the typical Liimln-iciis. It can be readily distinguished from the foregoing, however, by the utter absence of papillse on the 15th and other segments, and by the position of the girdle, which occupies seg- ments 27 to 32. As usual in this genus, a band known as the puberty band (or tubercula pubertatis) runs along the four innermost segments of the girdle. The worm is very active, and abounds in most parts of the British Isles, in all kinds of soil and every conceivable locality. Distribution in Irei^and. Liimbrims rubelhis has been sent from half-a-dozen localities. Mr. Praeger has supplied it from Newcastle, and Dr. Scharff from Leeson-park, Dublin; in the latter case they were all immature. It has also reached me from Letterkenny (Mr. Hart) ; Mala- hide (Mr. J. Trumbull) ; Glasnevin (Mr. J. R. Redding) ; Loughbrickland (Rev. H. W. Lett), and Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow (Dr. Scharff). Lumbricus purpureas, Bisen — Purpi^E Worm. This is the smallest of the worms in this genus. It averages about two inches in length, and is readily identified as a genuine Liunbrims by its colour, iridescence, 'mortise and tenon ' shaped head, close setae, and girdle of six segments extending from the 28th to the 33rd. It is exceedingly active, and can run backwards almost as rapidly as forwards. Savigny undoubtedly knew the species longbefore Bisen described it, for he gives its characters very accurately — so far as they were observed in those early times — in connection with a species which he named Enterion cas- taneum. Distribution in Irei^and. Lumbricus purpureas is widely distributed. I have specimens from Valentia Island, Kerry, sent by Miss Delap; New- castle (Mr. Praeger); Leeson-park and Clondalkin, Dublin, and Powers- court (Dr. Scharff); Malahide (Mr. Trumbull), and Letterkenny (Mr, Hart). Lumtoricus rubescens. Friend— Ruddy Worm. This interesting worm has recently been sent me from Ireland. It conies midway between the common earthworm and the red worm, is from three to four inches in length, and has the girdle on segments 34 to 39, with the band on the four innermost segments. Like the common earthworm it has papillse on the under surface of the 15th segment, upon which the male pores are placed. In colour and shape it exactly corresponds with the other species of the genus. It was first described by me in 1891 from specimens found in Yorkshire, and has since been discovered in many parts of the United Kingdom, though no continental investigator seems to have found it hitherto. It may have been known to Duges, and early writers of this century, but the old diagnosis is too meagre to satisfy the demands of modern science. . Distribution in IreI/AND. Five beautiful specimens of Lumbricus rubcscens reached me in good form during the month of October from J. R. Redding, Bsq., Glasnevin. One specimen at least carried on its The Earthzvomis of Ireland. g under surface those remarkable sacs known as spcnnatophorcs I have thus far failed to find these appendages on any other speciVs of ^.umhricus Dr. Scharffhasalso found this worm at Powerscourt. In Yorkshire I have discovered this species hyl)ridi/.ing with the red worm. Luinbricus papillosus, Friend— Pai'ii.u)S1v Worm. -This hpecics is new to science, and is at present known to occur only in Inland, where it is limited to the County of Duldin. Further study will no doubt reveal its existence elsewhere. A full description has been sent to tlic Royal Irish Academy, with drawins^^s to illustrate its specific peculiarities. The type will be placed in the Dublin Museum of Science and Art, as one of the series of British Earthworms which I am siipplyin.t( to that institu- tion. The girdle occupies only five segments (33-37) on two of which (the 34th and 36th) we find a pair of remarkable papilhe. Hence the specific name which I have suggested. On the Contnient we simihirly find another species of Lwubricus which has only five girdle segments (/,. inehboius, Rosa), but their situation differs from that of Z. papillosm. Our new species closely resembles the Common Earthworm and the Ruddy Worm, being four inches long, and possessed of papilke on the fifteenth segment. There is also a peculiar ridge connecting the girdle with the male pores. Distribution in IrEI/AND. — Lwnbriais papillosus first reached me on i6th June, 1892, in a consignment of worms from Dublin, collected by Dr. Scharff in his garden at Leeson Park. I was uncertain about its specific relationships till November, when I again obtained it, from Glasnevin, where it was found by Mr. Redding on a bare pathway in Botanic-road. It may be helpful if I add. a table setting forth the main external features of these species. • Segments Occupied by : Average. Lumbricus. 1 ISt Girdle. Band, i Dorsal Papillae. 1 Pore. 1 Length, inches. No. of Segments. i tcrrestris, Linn. . . 32-37 33-36 f 1 1 ' 15, 26 5 150-200 papillosus, Fr. .. 33-37 34-37 ^0 15.34,36 4 — rubcsccns, Fr. 34-39 35-38 h 6 r 15, 28 4 120-150 1 1 1 ru bell us, Hofifm. .. 27-32 28-31 1 1 ' 0 3 110-140 purpurcus, Bis. .. 28-33 29-32 f 10 2 90-120 1 For the encouragement of collectors I may add that I have received from Dr. Scharff at least one species of worm {AUo- lobophora hibernica, Friend) which has not been recorded for any other of the British Isles (an account of which is pub- lished in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acadcm)^\ while another new species {Alluriis macricriis, Friend) has come from Mr. Trumbull, L.R.C.S., of Malahide. I have in ad- c* lO The Irish Nahiralist. dition a further specimen which is new to Britain, but the relationships and position of which cannot be determined till a maturer specimen has been examined. After what we have learned of late respecting the distribu- tion of plants and animals, and the Continental affinities of various Hibernian forms, we may not unnaturally look for some further interesting illustrations from the Emerald Isle. I shall esteem it a favour if correspondents will furnish me with supplies from all parts of the country packed in soft moss. They should be sent alive in tin boxes, the moss being intended to keep them in health. My address is Idle, Bradford, Yorkshire. I may add that it is best to send such packages by Parcels' Post, marked "Naturai, History Specimens only," as the authorities seem to eye them carefully, and more than one valuable consignment has been lost en route. Fh. A cli t7>. cl^ At.p. Fig. I. Fig. Fig. Fig. 4. ff^M 3. Fj\ Diagram of head of Lumhricns. pr. prostomium, or Hp. per. peristomium, or first segment, without set^e s. setae. Diagram of head of Allolohophora. Girdle or cUtellum of Ltanbriais. cl. clitellum extending over six segments. t.p. Utberada piibertalis in the form of a band over four innermost segments. ^imciuiubL Diagram of L. rubellits, Hoff. m. p, male pores. Other letters as in fig. i, 3. (TO BE) conTinue;d.) [ II ] THE FI,ORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH. BY R. I^LOYD PRAEGER, B.E., M.K.I. A. District io of " Cybele Hibernica," including as it does the counties of Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh, Monaglian, and Cavan, may be termed the north-central botanical district of Ireland. The north-eastern maritime district of Down, Antrim, and Derry (No. 12) lies between it and the North Channel, and the north-western maritime district of Donegal (No. 11) cuts it off from the Atlantic; district 10, the largest of the twelve Irish botanical regions, having a surface of over 3,700 square miles, is entirely an inland area, touching estuarine waters only for a few miles at Newry in the south- eastern extremity, and near vStrabane in the north-west. This large tract presents a considerable diversity of character, both geological and physical ; extensive bogs and lakes are some- what numerous, and yield a fairly representative flora ; several mountain ridges rise to over 2,000 feet, but they are remarkably poor in alpine and montane species ; the poverty of the maritime and mountain floras will probably keep the total flora of district 10 below that of districts 11 or 12, even when it has been thoroughly worked out. The tenth botanical district has not claimed by any means a great amount of attention from Irish botanists, and a glance at *' Cybele Hibernica " shows a very large number of blanks in the " district 10 " column of the table of distribution, many of even the most widely-spread species being unrecorded. Since the publication of "Cybele," however, Messrs. S. A. Stewart,^ R. M. Barrington,^ H. C. Hart,^ and others, have wiped out many of these blanks, and have added a number of interesting plants to the flora of the district. Their obser\'a- tions having been made chiefly in the western portions of the region under consideration, it appeared to me that further examination of the eastern part might be desirable, not the less so since a number of old records of rare plants existed, the confirmation of which would alone be of some importance ^ Report on the Botany of the mountainous portion of Fermanagh and C2i\s.n.— Froc. R. LA., iS^2. r, r a qc 2 Report on the Flora on the shores of Lough Erne.— /"r^^. R. A A., ibf)3. 3 Notes on the Plants of some of the mountam ranges of Ireland.— Proc. i?. /. ^., 1883. Rare Plants from Co. Tyrone, Jour, of Bot., ibby. 1 2 The Irish Naturalist. With this end in view, I found time during the past season to spend some three weeks botanising in Co. Armagh, the most easterly county of district lo, and the results of my investiga- tion I now lay before the readers of The Irish Naturalist. The County of Armagh has an area of 512 square miles. Its surface presents a considerable variety of petrological characters, which influence the flora to a greater or less degree, as I shall endeavour to show. The whole northern boundary of the county is formed by lyough Neagh, in itself an interest- ing botanical region. Stretching along its margin is a broad belt of low, flattish land, characterised by extensive peat bogs which overlie lacustrine clays supposed to be of Pliocene age. In the north-east, a tongue of the basalts of Antrim penetrates into the county as far as Richhill, where it is met by a corres- ponding tongue of Carboniferous lyimestone, the'north-eastern extremity of the great limestone area of the Central Plain. North of the city of Armagh, a triangular patch of New Red Sandstone intervenes between the Pliocene and the Carboni- ferous. South of the basalt and limestone, the lyower Silurians cover the whole centre and south-west of the county, as they do a great portion of the adjoining counties of Down, Monaghan, and Cavan. In the south-east, a mass of ancient granites and basalts, the continuation of the Carlingford mountains, extends and rises in a series of rugged isolated hills, culminating in Slieve Gullion (1,893 feet). These are the only important highlands in the county, the rest of the surface being low, undulating, and (with the exception of the northern bogs) well-tilled; north of Newtownhamilton the Silurians rise in broad ridges to a height of 1,200 feet, but are cultivated almost to their summit. To the south of Keady, and also orth-west of Crossmaglen, groups of lakelets occupy deep hollows in the Silurian rocks ; other small lakes are scattered through the county, so that with the addition of lyough Gullion and I,ough Neagh on the north, the waters of the Blackwater on the west, and the Bann and Newry canal on the east, the conditions for aquatic plant life are favourable. In the extreme south-east the estuary of the Newry river affords for a few miles a habitat for the characteristic flora of the salt-marsh. Probably the earliest records of Armagh plants are those in Sir Charles Coote's "Statistical Survey of the County of The Flora of County Arma[rh. i^ Armagh" (Dublin, 1804), i" which a few of llie more striking species are quoted, not always with accuracy. Dr. Mackay's *' Flora Hibernica" (1836) supplies some better authenticated notes, which are, however, very few in num])er. In the "Irish Flora" (1846) Co. Armagh is almost entirely overlooked. The first contribution of importance to the flora of the county is contained in Mr. More's paper "Localities for some Plants observed in Ireland," read before the Dublin University Zoological and Botanical Association, in May, i860, and published in the Natural Histoiy Review for that year. The first part of this paper enumerates the rarer plants " noticed in the County of Armagh during April and May, 1854," 'i»d is the result of observations made by the author during a stay at I/OUghgall, in the northern portion of the county ; a number of the characteristic plants of lyough Neagh and the northern bog district are here recorded for the first time. Dr. Dickie's "Flora of Ulster" (1864) gives some interesting notes of Mr. John Templeton's, dating about the beginning of the century, and also some good finds made in the county by Rev. George Robinson, and by Messrs. G. C. Hyndman, William Thompson, and the author himself. More's notes are here republished, but with the addition of an unfortunate mistake. Mr. More, writing from I,oughgall during his visit there, sent to Dr. Dickie a "London Catalogue" with all the plants observed by him in Co. Armagh checked off. The author of " Flora of Ulster " assumed that the plants named had all been found at Loughgall, and published as growing there, for instance, such rarities as Calamagrostis stricta and Lathyrus palustris, which Mr. More had seen on an islet in Lough Neagh, and as subsequently transpired, not in Armagh at all, but in the adjoining county of Tyrone. In " Cybele Hibernica" (1866) these errors are for the most part rectified, and the proper stations given ; some further records by Rev. Mr. Robinson appear, and some valuable notes by Dr. D. Moore. One or two additional notes are gleaned from Mr More's " Recent Additions to the Flora of Ireland," published in the Journal of Botany for 1S73. Stewart and Corr>''s " Flora of the North-east of Ireland " (1888) though dealing with an adjoining district, contains references to one or two rare Armagh plants. From the Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, 1863-92, are gathered a number of 14 The Irish Naturalist. records of plants obtained by members in the county during the excursions of that society ; an appendix to the Report of 1885-6, ''The Ferns of Ulster" by Mr. W. H. Phillips and the writer supplies a number of stations for the rarer Filices. So far as I am aware, this completes the enumeration of the published records of Armagh plants. Of unpublished material, a considerable amount has been forthcoming, and I am deeply indebted to several good friends for their hearty co-operation and willing assistance. Mr. A. G. More and Mr. S. A. Stewart have, with their usual kindness, helped me considerably with notes and advice. To Rev. H. W. I,ett, M.A., and Rev. W. F. Johnson, M.A., my best thanks are due for kindly placing at my disposal their herbaria of Armagh plants. The former collection was made principally about Ardmore Point, on lyOUgh Neagh, between 1865 to 1885, the latter in the neighbourhood of Armagh during 1880; from both collections a large number of valuable records were obtained. Mr. I^ett also assisted me by forward- ing a bundle of fresh Rubi, collected in the parish of Bally- more or Tanderagee, and Mr. Johnson by sending up several gatherings of Carices. Rev. Geo. Robinson kindly supplied me with some additional notes ; the herbarium of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society yielded one or two Armagh stations, and my own note-book from 1881 to 1892 added a few notes of plants observed in various parts of the county during that period. To the above material, which would in itself have formed a very respectable local list, I have been able to add largely by my recent observations. The flora of Co. Armagh, leaving out of account such plants as have no claim to be considered native, and those which, though recorded from the county, do not appear to now exist in their former habitats, numbers 615 species and 20 varieties. The total species enumerated in the present paper is 665, made up as follows: — indigenous plants, 593 ; possibly introduced, 12 : probably introduced, 10; certainly introduced, 40; recorded from the county, but not now to be found, 10; total, 665. There is a poverty of maritime and of mountain plants. The former is to be expected. As regards the latter, although Slieve GuUion overtops any of the Antrim hills, the hard and sterile nature of the primary basalt of which it is composed, so different from the rich friable basalts of Antrim, and the The Flora of County Arnnn^Ii. le absence of projecting rocks and cliffs, sulficicntly account for their absence. I did not find a single llawkweed (except- ing, of course, the ubiquitous //. pilosclla) cm the Armagh mountains, while at least fifteen different forms flourish on the adjoining granite hills of Down. Comparing the Armagh flora with that of the counties comprising district 12, we find that the flora of Down numbers about 710 species, Antrim, 750, Derry, 670. The flora of Donegal, I am informed by Mr. H. C. Hart, comprises about 720 species. All these counties possess a fair share of mountain plants, and have a wide extent of both rocky and sandy seashore, inhabited by many species which affect such situations. The area of each of the north-eastern counties is from one and a-half times to twice the area of Armagh, and Donegal is nearly four times as large, so that when the small size of the county is taken into consideration, the flora of Armagh is decidedly a rich one. The adjoining western counties cannot enter into this com- parison, their floras being so little known, except perhaps, Fermanagh, to which the combined lists of Stewart,' Barring- ton," and the writer assign a flora of some 450 species ; here mountain plants are rare, and maritime species absent. Of Mr. Watson's Atlantic type, Co. Armagh possesses only five out of forty-one Irish species— 5t'^^^?;^ anglictim, Cotyledon umbilicus, Pinguicula lusitafiica, Lastrea cemula, Hymenophylluni tunbridgense. Out of eighteen Irish Germanic plants, one only, Orchis pyramidalis, grows in the county. Equally poor is the alpine flora, only four of the forty-seven Irish plants of Highland type occurring— (?^/^^^;;^ boreale, Vaccinitun I'itis- idcea, Selagi^iella spinosa, and Isoetes lacustris, and none of these are confined to alpine situations in the county, Galium grow- ing on the shores of I,ough Neagh (50 feet elevation), Vacciniiun being recorded from the northern bogs (under 100 feet), Isoetes ranging from 286 to 444 feet, and Sclaginella growing from 700 feet upwards. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Another Irish Field Clutt. "Thecryisstillthey come." Limenck has followed the excellent example of Cork, and we coiiKratulate our friends most heartily on the successful formation of a Naturalists ImcI. I Club in that city. Limerick is the centre of a highly mterestniK district, which can still bear with advanta-e much ^eyeful investigati^on and nsx have no doubt that the new Club will soon make its influence felt in Irish scientific circles. 1 Ci?. dt. * 0:p. dt. ^ Irish Naturalist, 1892, p. 113- [ i6] DENUDATION AT CUI.TRA, CO. DOWN. BY MARY K. ANDREWS. (Read before the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, December 20th, 1892) Tradition, history, and geological evidence all bear testimony to the continued interchange, within certain limits, of land and water. Although the deep depressions of the ocean and the main trends of the land seem, from the very earliest geo- logical periods, to have preserved their same general positions on the globe,' yet a careful comparison of the upheaved strati- fied formations, with the layers of gravel, shells, sand, and mud deposited in the comparatively shallow seas around our coasts, leaves little doubt that very large portions of our land areas, were, at one period or another, laid down upon the floor of the sea. Subject to the action of internal forces they have experienced many oscillations of level, insular conditions at one period predominating, continental at another; crustal movements, modified by denudation and deposition, govern- ing the relative levels of land and sea. It was a fundamental proposition of the Huttonian Theory, " That in all the strata we discover proofs of the materials having existed as elements of bodies, which must have been destroyed before the formation of those of which these materials now actually make a part." ^ One portion of the earth's sur- face is slowly and constantly wasted, denuded, and transported to the sea, whilst another portion, formed from similar ma- terials of pre-existing land, is as constantly consolidated and raised to take its place. In this sequence of events, protracted through an indefinite period of time, Hutton recognized one general constant order in nature, the ruins of an older world always forming the foundations of a newer. In the decay of ^ " Geographers must, for the present, be content to take the world as they find it. What we do know is that our lands are distributed over the surface of a great continental plateau of irregular form, the bounding slopes of which plunge down more or less steeply into a vast oceanic depression. So far as geological research has gone, there is reason to believe that these elevated and depressed areas are of primeval antiquity — that they antedate the very oldest of the sedimentary formations." — Address to the Geographical Section of the British Association^ 1892, by Professor James Geikie, Lly.D., etc. -Playfair's "Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory," p. 23. Denudation at Cultra^ Co. Down. 17 the solid rocks, and the transportation of their material, he also saw the source of our beautiful systems of mountains and valleys, of hills and fertile plains. He thus opened up the border land between geology and i)hysical geography, and gave an impetus to the fascinating study of those epigene or surface agents, which in the present, as in the past, arc altering and moulding the scenery of our globe. Their work is constant; denudation and erosion are always in progress. Each mountain rill, each wave that beats against our coast, each shower of rain, leaves a mark upon the surface of the earth. The effects may be too faint for our obser\'ation, or for the observation of generations, but the geologist sees the accumu- lated results in the deep fissures of the mountain, in the indented shore with sea- worn cave and isolated stack, in the pinnacles and hillocks that lend such varied form and beauty to the undercliff. And further still, along great lines of coast, far above the highest tide-level, caves, escarpments, and suc- cessive gravel-capped terraces bear testimon}- not only to the erosion of former periods, but also to vast movements of eleva- tion, interrupted by long periods of rest, probably also by periods of temporary subsidence. From the raised beaches of our own coasts to the great terraces of Patagonia, rising like mighty steps one behind the other, we see the effects of the same co-operating actions — erosion, deposition and upheaval. So also in the present, we know that some regions of the earth are relatively rising, others are gradually sinking; the sea is making encroachments on certain coasts, it is receding on others. As a general rule, where the rocks are hard, erosion is slow, where they are soft and more easily disintegrated, it is rapid. Striking illustrations of marine erosion might be drawn from the tunnelled caves and imposing sea-stacks of our Irish coast, but the encroachment of the sea at Cultra Bay, on the southern side of Belfast lyough, to which I wish to draw attention in the present paper, has left no such impressive features. Much land has been washed away, of which no trace would have remained, had it not been for one insignificant land-mark, and before it too disappears, I have made a few notes of the encroachment of the sea to which it testifies, which I hope may not be devoid of interest. The landmark to which I refer is a shaft of crown Memel pine. 1 8 The Irish Naturalist. about twenty-three feet high, standing on the beach opposite Cultra Point, a mile north-east of Holywood, It formed part of a windmill pump, which was erected, I am informed by Mr. John lycnnox, in 1824 or 1825, to remove the water from an old quarry. The upright standard above the much decayed suction-pipe of the pump still remains, with a loose iron rod attached to a small handle at the top. Although fifty feet distant from present high water-mark, and surrounded by the sea to a depth of three feet at high tide, this old pump (Plate i) marks the centre of a sandstone quarry, opened in what was formerly known as the Point Field. An inhabitant of Holywood, Mr. William Nimick, who re- members the locality since 1829, informs me that the sea was at that time fifty feet distant from the centre of the quarry, and that the fields, through which a broad carriage drive passed to Cultra Quay, and in which he saw numerous tents pitched, and large crowds of spectators assembled, to watch one of the celebrated regattas' of the Northern Yacht Club, have now completely disappeared. He estimates that about five acres of land have since been washed away between Cultra Point and Cultra Pier."" Disintegrated by the action of rain, frost, and other sub- aerial agents, portion after portion ofthe low cliffs have slipped down, an easy prey to the warfare of wave and current ; the destruction of the land being still further aided by the re- moval of sand and gravel from the beach below. And now, at ebb tide, instead of the vanished fields, we see low denuded reefs that carry us back through vistas of time immeasurably vast. Here in this one small bay we find represented each great division of the geological record. Shales that carry us back to the Palaeozoic era, and recall the gradual submergence of the Devonian continent, beneath the waters of the Carboni- ferous ocean ; sandstones that bring us to the Mesozoic era and restore for us the vast Triassic lakes ; dykes that link us with the great basaltic sheets of Tertiary time, and covering the low surrounding cliffs, drift deposits that bring us to Post- Tertiary periods and gradually forward to the time we are considering. ^^^ ^^ conci^ude^d.) iThe Belfast Regatta of 1829 lasted for nine days — See "The Belfast Newsletter," June igtli, 1S29, and following Nos. ''The extremities of Cultra Bay, scarcely a quarter of a mile distant from each other. [ 19 ] THE MACRO-I.KPIDOPTERA OF THE EONDONDI-RRV DISTRICT. BY D. C. CAMPBEI,!,. Thk district surrounding the old historic city of Derrj' is most interesting to the student of nature. Of course every district, be it never so barren and seemingly unfruitful to the casual observer, is full of interest to the naturalist. I think, how- ever, we can claim a special interest for Derry, lying as it does with Eough Foyle and Eough Swilly almost at its doors, and having all the varied beauties of river and wave- washed shore, and of woodland, mountain, and moorland, within reach. Such a land, of course, provides a wide field for the entomologist. The localities I include in the district are almost all within some ten to fifteen miles of Derry city. One or tw^o favourite spots such as Magilligan, at the mouth of Lough Foyle, and Ballycastle, on the Antrim coast, are farther removed. The entomological work, of which the following list shows the results, was done by ni}^ brothers, Messrs. W. Howard Campbell, M.A., and Thomas V. Campbell, M.B. (both now of Cuddupah, Madras), and myself. We were ably assisted by our friend, Mr. James N. Milne, of Culmore. Our col- lecting days extended from 1875 to 1884, and during these years we explored and hunted almost every accessible locality in our neighbourhood. The list may not be very large, yet it contains many species of some rarity, and some of extreme interest, as new to Ireland. In 1878 w^e captured Hcliothis scutosa, a moth so rare in the British Isles, that Newman omitted it altogether in his work on British moths. This specimen was, of course, the prize of our collection. We also took the very interesting species Nyssia zonaria on the Antrim coast. The fact that the female is wingless, and that the species had previously only been taken on the coast of Cheshire, adds additional interest to the discovery. I am con- fident that a careful entomological investigation of Donegal would bring to light many rare, and as far as Ireland is con- cerned, new species. I have to acknowledge our indebtedness to the late Mr. Birchall for his kindness in identifying speci- 20 The Irish Nahtralist. mens for us, also to Mr. W. F. de V. Kane. The advice we received from him from time to time greatly helped us ; the interest he took in our captures, and his unfailing kindness in identifying specimens stimulated our ardour for further in- vestigation. RHOPAIvOCERA. The butterflies we found form a small company. The number of species is only about half of that in Mr. Birchall's list of 1868. Many of the absent species should occur here, and probably on further investiga. tion will be found. The beautifully- situated, warm, sheltered woodland about Rathmullan, on the Lough Swilly shore, must harbour many butterflies, and should yield some interesting kinds. Picris brassicae, Linn.'j P. rapac, Linn. j- All very common. P. napi, Linn, J Euchloe card amines, Linn. — Fairly common. Colias cdusa, Fab. — This beautful butterfly appeared here in some numbers in 1876. We had never seen the species before, and I have never noticed it in this district since; I find the dates of capture in our note-book, 27th June, 15th July, and 9th September, 1876. Argynnis paphia, Linn. — Not very common, but to be met with in almost all wooded localities. In 1879, I noticed it in some profusion in the glades of the beautiful woods of Ards, near Dunfanaghy. A. aglaia, Linn. — Common on the coast. Vanessa urticae, Linn. — Common everywhere. V. io, Linn.— We never found this richly-marked species, but Mr. Wni. Hart took it in Innishowen, and Mr. John Cowie reports its occur- rence near Derry many years ago. V. atalanta, Linn. — Not abundant, but in every district. V. cardui, Linn. — We took a few specimens only of this pretty, cosmo- politan insect every season. In 1880 and 1884, however, it was very abundant. Pararge egeria, Linn. \ _ ^ . \ Very common. P. megaera, Lmn. ) "^ Satyrus semele, Linn. — Common on the coast. Mr. Milne reports having seen this butterfly sivarming at Castlerock, between 4 and 5 a.m., on an August morning, although throughout the day only a small number, comparatively speaking, were seen. Epinephile Janira, Linn. — Very common. E. hyperanthcs, Linn.— Rare and local in this district. We found it abundant at Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. Coenonympha pamphilus, Linn.— Common. C. tyption, Rott. — I met this species for the first time, on 22nd July, 1892, on the moors between Gartan and Glenveagh, Co. Donegal, and again at L. Salt, on 23rd July. The specimen I secured is similar to the English variety of the insect {rothlicbii). Polyommatus phlasas, Linn— Common. Lycaena icarus, Rott.— Found everywhere, but especially abundant upon the coast. i The Macro- Lcpidoptera of the Londonderry District. 2 1 S 1' II I N G U S . Acherontia atropos, Linn.— Several specimens of the " Death's Head" have been found here, l)ut we have never l)een so fortunate as to take one. Mr. Mihie secured a fine one at Hallycastle, Co. Antrim. Smerlnthus populi, Linn.— Very abundant. We have met witli some very beautiful varieties. IVIacroglossa stellatarum, Linn.— Occurs in most localities, more abundant on the coast. We took the larvie, feeding on Galium, on Magilligan sandhills. Zygaena filipendulae, Linn.— Very common on the shores of Lough Swilly. W'e took a strange variety, having six spots on one wing, and only five on the other. We never saw any Sesiidis in the Londonderry district. B O ]M B Y C E vS . Nola confusalis, Herr-Schaif.— One specimen. Nudaria mundana, Linn.— Common. Euchelia jacobaeae, Linn. — Common. Nemeophila plantaginis, Linn.— Generally distributed, but not common. Arctia caia, Linn. — Common. Spilosoma fuliginosa, Linn.— Common. We found the larvae swarm- ing on the Magilligan sandhills. S. lutoricipcda, Esp. ) ^j ^ ' ^ i^ I Very common. S. mcnthastri, Esp. ) Hepialus hectus, Linn. — Common in the wooded localities. H. velleda, Hiib. — Common, but seemed to be abundant only in alter- nate years, during some seasons, hardly a specimen appeared. H. humuli, Linn. — Very common. Orgyla antiqua, Linn. — Fairly common. Eriogastcr lanestris, Linn. — Larvae very abundant on the stunted blackthorn on Magilligan sandhills. W^e found much difficulty in rearing the larvae, and only succeeded in bringing out a few imagines. Probably they missed the fresh sea-air of their original home. I believe E. lanestris sometimes remains as long as six or seven years in the pupal state, although three years was the longest period with us. Poecilocampa populi, Linn. — Two specimens. Mr. Milne has taken the larv^. Bombyx rubi, Linn. — Common B. quercus, var. callunas, Palmer.— Common. We found the larvce in thousands on the Innishowen moorlands. Unfortunately a large proportion of them were attacked by ichneumons. Odoncstis potatoria, Linn.— Common. Saturn ia pavonia, Linn. — Common. Drepana laccrtinaria, Linn.— Pretty common at Buncrana. We found the larvae in some numbers in the young birch woods. Dicranura vinula, Linn. — Common. D. bifida, Hiib. — One specimen. D. furcula, Linn.— Rare. 22 The Irish Naturalist. Phalera toucephala, Linn.— Very'common. Pygaera pigri*a, Hufn. — Common on the shores of Lough Swilly. We took the larvae plentifully on dwarf sallow at Rathmullan. Lophopteryx camelina, Linn. — Common. L. dlctaea, Linn. — Common. L. dictaeoidcs, Bsp.— We took two larvae on birch at Rathmullan. L. ziczaC) Linn. — Common. L. dromcdarius, Linn. — Common. Thyatira derasa, Linn. — Common. T. batis, Linn. — Common. Cymatophora or, Fab.— We took a few larvae on birch on Lough Swilly shore. We never found any of the Lithosiida: near Londonderry. It seems strange that they did not turn up at Magilligan, as lichens grow very abundantly upon the dwarf blackthorns on the sandhills. (TO BE CONTINUED.) NOTES . BOTANY. MUS C I. IVIosses and Hepatics of the Ben Bulben District. Since I sent the note of Ben Bulben Mosses {Irish Naturalist, vol. i., p. 194), I came upon a packet which had been overlooked, containing the following species, which I would like to add to the other list : — At Bundoran, Hyimum lutesccns, Hudson, with old fruit, and II. inter- oncdium, Lindb.; in ravine on Seafin Mountain, Ortliothecium intricatum, Hartm., growing with 0. rufescens; in Slish Wood, H. horreri, Spruce, Georgia pelludda, L-, and Lepidozia reptans, L- — C. H. Waddei^I/, Saintfield, Co. Down. Sphagrnum austini (SuU.) in Ireland. While collecting mosses in 1889, on a mountain about two miles south of Glenariff, in the County Antrim, I found a large tussock oi Sphagnum austini, Sull. I am not aware that it had previously been collected in Ireland, and in September, 1892, while moss-hunting on a part of the Bog of Allen, in the parish of Geashill, King's County, in company with the Rev. Canon C. D. Russell, I discovered a very large clump of this same rare moss. In this last case the whole of the bog for hundreds of yards round had, some months previously, been burned over, and every scrap of heather, bog plants, and moss, cleared off by fire, except this big colony of Sjjhagnum austini, showing how much water it must have contained when the surface of the bog had been blazing. And since then Canon Russell has sent me another specimen of the same moss, which he found in another bog not far from Geashill railway station. — H. W. LETT, Aghaderg, Co. Down. F£JiNS. Polypodium calcareum, at Carlingrford, not indigrenous. The editorial note in the December number of the Irish Naturalist (vol. i. p. 195), on Professor Hart's note concerning Vanessa io at Howth, reminds me of my own transgressions. In 1878, my brother and I planted a quantity of Polypodium calcareum on Carlingford Mountain. I had forgotten all about it, when, in 1889, the Rev. G. Robinson asked me, as I was thinking of Notes. 23 going down to Onieath, if 1 wouUl look on Carlingford .Mountain for 7'. calcarcum, as it had been found there by some gentkinen from Rostrcvor, and he could not understand its presence there. I was, of course, able to explain the matter, and I write this note to let it be known, thr'ouKh the medium of the Irish NaturalisL, that /'. calcarcum, if found on Carling- ford Mountain, is not indigenous. — W. V. Johnson, Armagh. P//A N£ J^ 0 GAA/S. Plants Still Flowering in IVlid-Novembcr.—OnNovember 13th, Dr. Scharff and I went for a ramble along the Upper Dodder, between Tallaght and Fort Bridge, ;through the Ballinascorney Ciap, and across Mount Seskin to " Embankment." We found quite a surprising number of species still in flower at that very advanced time of year, long after the end of the ordinary flowering-period. The following is the list : — Ranunculus bulbosus, H. Jlammula, licscda luteola, Barharca vulgaris, Nasturliuui officinale, Capsclla bursa-jMstoris, Sisymbrium officinale, Brassica nigra, Carda- mine hirsuta, Polygala vulgaris (purple flowers), Arenaria scrjyylUfulia, Cer- astium semiclecandrum, Rubus fruticosus, Putcntilla reptans, Alchcmilla vulgaris, Ulex europmus, Trifoliuni procumbcns, T. minus, T. pratcnsc, Fimpinella saxi- fraga, Daucus carota. Geranium robertianum, Sherardia arveiisis, Varduus Ian- ceo/atus, G. palustris, Matricaria inodo7'a, Hieracium sp., Achilkca millefolium, Bellis perennis, Scnecio jacoboea, S. vulgaris, Gentaurea nigra, Erigcron acre (ex- tremely abundant), Lapsana communis, Sonchus oleraceus, Jasionc montaiui, Chloraperfoliata, Origanum vulgare,Lamiumalbum, Teucriumscorodonia, Veronica chamcedrys, V. montana, Erica cinerca, Anagallis arvensis, Myosotis versicolor. The continuance in flower of such a strikingly large number of species is really a fact of much interest, and a striking commentary on the character of our climate. — B. J. M'\Ve:e;ne:y, Dublin. Allium scorodoprasum, L. in Co. Cork. — As this is one of the rarest of Irish plants, and hitherto recorded only from Killarney and Foaty ("Cybele Hibernica "), it may be w^orth noting that in the summer of 1890 1 found it plentiful in the woods at Castlefreke, Rosscarber}-, and again this year whilst botanising with the Cork Naturalists' Field Club on ist August, it formed the "find" of the day, growingin great profusion in the woods near Bantry.— R. A. PHII.1.IPS, Ashburton, Cork. Orobanche minor, L. in Co. Cork. — This plant is recorded in "Cybele Hibernica" as an introduced plant in two stations rather close together, i.e., Aghada and Trabolgan. From observations made during the last few years, I am inclined to think that, though it may not be entitled to rank as a native plant, it certainly deserves a place among the established species. It occurs in many widely-separated districts in this county, plentiful in some, and scarce in others. In the district around Clonakilty it seems to be most abundant, occurring not alone in recently- cultivated clover fields, but almost as plentifully in pastures which have not been ploughed for many years. It also occurs in old pastures near Bastferry, Midleton, and at Youghal. Last year it was most luxuriant in a newly-planted field of Trifolium p)ratense near Cork, but although the clover had not been disturbed, the Orobanche did not appear this year.— R. A. PHII.1.IPS. White Centaury (Erythraea centaurium). As noticed in the Irish Naturalist (vol. i., p. 168), this is rather an uncommon plant, but nu- merous specimens may be found on the headland of Currabenny, Cork Harbour, along with that beautiful little plant the ISIilkwort {Polygala vulgaris), which grows here in great abundance in July and August.— A. N. Abbott, Cork. I believe white Centaury is local rather than rare. There is a small mill-stream at Ballyhyland, along the lower part of whose l)anks all the Centaury is white, while that which grows in the field above is of the usual pink. Not far away are some dry, stony fields, m which both pmk 24 The Irish Naturalist. and white Centaury flourish abundantly. The latter ground is also pro- ductive of great variation in the colouring of Prunella vulgaris (Self-heal), of which, besides specimens of the ordinary purple hue, large quantities of white, marjoram-pink, and faint lavender- tinted blossoms, may be gathered every year. — C. B, MoFFAT, Ballyhyland, Co. Wexford. White Bug-Ie (Ajuga reptans)« This summer I counted fourteen plants of Ajuga reptavs, all bearing white flowers, under one tree, in a wood at Ballyhyland. Within this circumscribed space I saw no spike whose flowers were of the normal colour. The ground, though shaded, was not perceptibly more so than throughout the rest of the wood, where the Ajuga is uniformly blue. — C. B. MoffaT. ZOOI.OGY. C R US T A C E A. Crustacea from Upper Lough Erne arsd Lough Corrib. The following list of species captured by me in Upper Lough Brne, in the 3^ears 1886-88 may be of interest. Several of them were identified by Professor G. S. Brady: — The Phyllopods comprised — Daj^hnia pulex com- mon near the shores ; D. galcata, on two occasions at surface in centre of lake, when the sun was shining; Sida crystallina, common in the bays, especially amongst the weeds, often adhering to lower surface of leaves of water-lilies, etc. ; Leptodora hyalina, common; BythotrcpMs sp. taken in large %■ numbers at the surface in centre of lake, on a hot afternoon in August, 4 1886 : it was then so plentiful that a tumbler dipped in the lake would bring up three or four specimens. I have since obtained it on other oc- casions, but never in such profusion ; Bosmina coregoni. The Copepods were — Cyclops coronatus, Diaptomas castor, Tenura velox, and Argulus foUaceus, the last very common, both free-swimming and on perch, etc. Ponto- porcia ajinis represents the Amphipods; two specimens only were found amongst weeds in a sheltered bay; the importance of this form (together with Gammarus neglectus and Mysis oculata, var. relicta^ lies in their being looked upon as relics of an old marine fauna. I have heard that Mysis occurs in Lough Neagh. If any reader of the Irish Naturalist comes across it, I should be extremely obliged for specimens. From the "Proceedings of the Dublin Microscopic Club," reported in Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science, vol. xii., we learn that Mr. Arthur Andrews found the following species in Lough Corrib : — Pholyphemus pe- diculus, on one occasion whilst fishing in Lough Corrib with a small muslin net, hundreds were taken at a single dip in a sheltered sunny creek, while further search along the same shore failed in procuring a single specimen ; Lynceus elongatus, Sida crystallina, Daphnia mucronata, and Acantholehris curvirostris, Lilly, {acanthoceocus, Scholl.), plentiful in most small bog pools. Lynceus elongatus and Bosmina longirostris are reported from Clonhugh lake, near Mullingar. — R. N. CrEIGhTon, Bally- shannon, Co. Donegal. INS E C TS, Lepidoptera at Armagh.— Last year I picked up a larva of Lo- phopteryx camelina on oak, and a fine specimen emerged last May. From Mr. Halbert's note, Irish Naturalist, vol. i., p. 195, I see that it has hitherto only been recorded from the south. It may interest him to know that I took Zanclognatha grisealis here in 1889, vide Ent. Monthly Mag. (2) vol. i. p. 140. In August Melanthia ocellata flew into my house, and on Septem- ber 23rd, I saw a specimen of Vanessa atalanta flying up the road. It was remarkable that this butterfly and V. cardui should appear here this year, for it has been about as bad a year as possible for Lepidoptera. I took a specimen of Stigmanota regiana in June sitting on the wall of the Cathedral. Fcroneoe were very scarce. I got only one P. perplexana, and a couple of P. variegana. Besides these, the only captures worth mentioning are A71- Notes. 2C choceUs jyestachia and Tlimcra j^cnnaria. Sugar was a total failure producinir nothing but disappointment, and a dissipated specimen of XvlovluisUt monoglypha,—W . F. Johnson, Armagh. " FISHES. Sharks In Irish Waters,— Mr. W. F. dc V. Kane conlrihutes to the i'V/(/ of loth December, 1S92, an interesting article on this sul)iect giving accounts of the capture of the Great Basking-Shark (S>l„.-U nnaxima) off the west coast, and discussing the economic value of the fishery. B IR D S . The Birds of Lougrh SwIIIy — Having an intimate acquaintance with Co. Donegal generally, and those parts south and west of Lough Swilly more particularly, I was greatly interested in Professor Leebody's paper on the "Birds of Ivough Swilly," but must take exception to his statement [Irish Naturalist, vol. i., p. 175), as to Wigeon flying to inland waters at dusk, and to sea or saltwater at dawn. They may do so at Inch, but they do exactly the opposite on the western side of the lough, where often m flight-shooting I have brought down Wild Duck, Teal, and Wigeon, at night on their way /rom Lough Fern to Lough Swillv, and in the morning have frequently seen them return. Within the last few years Cormorants have come in great numbers from Lough Swillv to Lough Fern in the evening. Formerly they did not do so, although' there were always a few about the lough, both by day and night. Lough Fern is a sheet of fresh water about one and a-half miles long by one mile broad, some four miles as the crow flies, west of Lough Swilly'—J. H. H. SwiNEY, Belfast. Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) and Grey Phalarope (Ph. funcarius)'near lYluIIing-ar. It may interest readers of the//- /.v/( X'. " BeIvEast Naturai^ists' Fiei,d Ci,ub. November 22nd.— The President (Mr. John Vinycomb), delivered his Opening Address on the subject of "The Origin and Significance of our National Emblems." The Senior Secretary (Mr. R. LIvOYD PRAEGER)sub- mitted the report of the sub-committee appointed to investigate the glacial gravels of Ballyrudder, near I^arne, Co. Antrim. The report gave a detailed account of the interesting bed in question, and lists of the fossils found in the different zones ; the following are the conclusions of the sub-committee : — "The deposits at Ballyrudder consist of a bed of stratified gravels under- lying a thick layer of unstratified Boulder Clay. There is no clear line of demarcation between the two beds, the one merging gradually into the other. The fauna of the gravels shows that they were deposited during a period of intensely arctic conditions. The gravels represent a former shore-line, which a subsequent submergence has covered with marine Boulder Clay. The clay, and all the zones of the gravels yield flints derived from the Chalk. These are frequently broken, and flakes and core-like objects are the result. The flakes are usually quite shapeless, and only one was found b}^ the committee bearing a bulb of percussion. None of the flints found bore any character which might lead the sub- committee to suppose that they were formed by human hands." Mr. \Vm. Gray, M.R.I. A., then presented his report as a delegate from the Club to the 1892 Meeting of the British Association, dealing par- ticularly with the destruction of native plants and birds' eggs, and the work of the ethnographical and geological photographs committees. Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S., then made some remarks on rare local foraminifera recently found, of which he exhibited diagrams. He said that on the dredging cruise which the Club had some years ago in the steam-tug "Protector," one of the hauls was taken in deep water, a hundred fathoms, about midway between Belfast and Portpatnck. This material, which has only recently been examined microscopically, has yielded a large number of foraminifera, several of them being rare and in- teresting species; the most noteworty are TechniteUa legumen, J/wteramnn'mi arborescens, H. elongata, very large in size, Wehbina clavata, and W. Iiniii- spherica. The last of these is a very simple organism, of great rarity, and hitherto only known from three specimens — one fossil from the Sutton Crag, the other two from dredgings taken by Messrs. Norman and Robert- son, off the Durham coast. In a dredging recently taken by a member, Mr. Hamilton M'Cleary, in Strangford Lough, no fewer than eighty-five different species of foraminifera were obtained, two of them, Ammodiscus shoneanus and Discoj-hina parisiensis, being very rare forms. Dubinin Naturai^ists' Fiei,d Ci,ub. November 15th.— Dr. E. J. M'Weeney, President, in the chair. Prof. A. C. Haddon, M.A., gave an account, illustrated by lantern views, of his visit to the Aran Islands with Dr. C. R. Browne, for the purpose of ethnological research. The physical characters, dress, occupations, and habits of the people of the island were described with much interesting detail. Rev. M. H. Close, Dr. C. R. Browne, Mr. J. Shackleton, and Mr. H. Wigham, took part in the discussion. 28 The Irish Naturalist. Mr. T. Chandi.ee exhibited models, made by himself, of a cromlech at Glanworth, Co. Cork, and of a stone cross at Moone Abbey, Co. Kildare. Armagh Naturai. History and Phii^osophicai, Society. November 21st. — Rev. W. F. Johnson, President, in the chair. The President gave his Annual Address on "The History of the Society," in which he traced the course of the Society from its first origin in October, 1S39, to the present day. December Sth. — The President in the chair. After the ordinary business had been concluded, the President exhibited a case of British Butterflies. Among these was a North American species, Danais archippus, which Mr. Johnson informed the meeting was endeavouring to establish itself in the south of England, after spreading from Canada to the Amazons, and across the Pacific Islands to New Zealand, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island. Cork Naturai^ists' F1E1.D Ci^ub. November 2nd.— The President, Prof. M. M. HarTOG, D.Sc, in the chair. The Secretary gave an account of negociations carried on with various committees with the object of obtaining for the club space in the Crawford Municipal Buildings in which to form a museum. The matter had not been finally arranged, and further meetings were to take place. Prof. HarTOG then gave his Inaugural Address, entitled the "Life of a Cell," dealing with the formation and gradual development of the cell in vegetable and animal tissues, illustrating by numerous diagrams, and by the manipulation of pieces of dough, the various shapes assumed, the manner of absorbing food, and the curious process of cell-division. November i6th. — The President in the chair. The Secretary stated that the use of a large corridor in the Crawford Municipal Buildings had been granted to the club for museum purposes. Mr. G. P'oster read a paper entitled, "Scale Wings," in which he treated the subject of our butterflies and moths very fully, giving details of each group, the likely food-plants on which to find the larvae, and the best modes of catching and rearing them. He illustrated the paper with a large number of specimens collected by himself, including Bupalus pini- aria from Co. Wicklow, believed to be the second recorded capture in Ireland, also Mamestra persicaricc from Co. Down, a very rare moth in Ireland. Mr. CopEMAN (Hon. Sec), also exhibited a box of insects collected du ing the club excursions. December 7th.— Mr. D. J. O'Mahony, in the chair. Mr. J. Sui,- I,IVAN gave a paper on "Rare Irish I^ichens." Having dealt very carefully with the structure, classification, and means of identification of these in- teresting plants, he exhibited and described a large number of specimens, being a selection from 159 new species added to the flora of Cork since the publication of Dr. Power's work on that subject in 1844. Many of the specimens shown are quite new to Ireland. Mr. Sullivan also showed a list of the new species which he is preparing for publication in the Irish Naturalist. At the close of the paper a discussion took place, and many questions were asked relative to the collecting, preserving, and identifying of these lowly, though, in many cases, beautiful and inte- resting plants, all of which were fully answered by Mr. Sullivan. Limerick Naturai^ists' Fiei.d Ci.ub. December 13th. — This Club was organised at a meeting held at the rooms of the Protestant Young Men's Association, when twenty-five members were enrolled, and the following officers were elected: — Pre- sident, Mr. Murray; Vice-President, Dr. Fogerty; Hon. Trecasurer, Mr. Stewart; Hon. Secretary, Mr. F. Neale. Irish Naturalist, Vol. II.] r Plate 2. ^ Y n O jy ^ THE COUNTY OF AK M A G H , cLiidxieQ, into GEOLOGICAL ^ BOTANICAL P(5TRICT5. z: o w T J-{ 0 I % i i^ f 6 I I I I I I 1 IEri.ylisfv Miles H.Ll.FrQ.catf J-c^t-. eV < .^ (^ ^Ije |Lrt$lj Jlrttitralt^ Vol. II. FEBRUARY, 1893. No. 2. AMERICAN BIRD-VISITORS TO IRELAND AT HOME. BY W. B. PRAEGER, OF KEOKUK, IOWA. (Associate Member American Ornithologists' Union). I. The American Robin {Turdus viigratoritis). The capture of an American Robin in County Dublin was recorded in the Irish Naturalist, April, 1892 (vol. i page 4). There is some probability that the example in question may have escaped from confinement, but as no evidence is forth- coming on the point, the bird is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. While the Robin is one of those that would be likely kept as a cage-bird, being nearly omnivorous, and of attractive appearance, and exceptional vocal powers ; yet, on the other hand, it is so abundant on the American continent, performs such extensive migrations, and is at the same time able to endure such extremes of temperature, that if American land- birds ever do cross the Atlantic — and some undoubtedly do— the Robin would be one of those most likely to accomplish the journey. The Robin is the most abundant, conspicuous, widely distributed, and best known of the North American thrushes. It is distributed all over the continent, but migrates out of the more northern portions in winter. It has no very near allies on the eastern side of the Rocky mountains, but on the Pacific coast there are several species not distantly related ; none of these are likely ever to reach Ireland in a wild state, though individuals have crossed the continent and been obtained on the East coast. In the locality in which I am situated, the Robin is a abundant migrant and summer resident, and an occasional winter resident ; indeed Robins have been known to remain \o The Irish Naturalist. much farther north, and to endure even the rigours of a Dakota winter without apparently suffering; but such cases are rare. If the weather be mild, a few Robins are likely to be seen with us during February. However, it is not till the middle of March that they really arrive ; the first warm south wind after the loth of that month is sure to bring them. Where there w^ere no birds the day before, now from every grove of trees can be heard the Robin's cheerful notes, and on every law^n from which the snow has hardly melted, they are busy in the pursuit of the early w^orm. In his exquisite description of an American spring, the author of the "Biglow Papers" says:— "Then gray hossches'nuts leetle hands unfold Softer'n a baby's be at three days' old; That's Robin-redbreast's almanick; he knows That arter this ther's only blossom-snows; So, choosin' out a handy crotch an' spouse, He goes to plast'rin' his adobe house." For the benefit of Irish readers it should be explained that "adobe," is the dried earth of which houses in Mexico and some of the south-western States (where there is a partly Mexican population) are built. Mud, indeed, enters largely into the composition of the Robin's nest. The nest is that of a t3^pical thrush, consisting of the three layers seen in the Blackbird's or Missel-thrush's nest, and it is somewhat between the nest of those two in structure; there are more sticks than in a Blackbird's, and less moss and wool than is usually found in a Missel-thrush's. In building, the rough outer framework is put up first, then the layer of mud is put in, and then the finer lining of roots and grass, much as in the two Irish species already mentioned. The nest is placed in the fork of a tree, or on a horizontal bough, usually at between ten and twenty feet from the groiind; it is better concealed than a Missel-thrush's, being among the thinner branches where there are more leaves. The trees with which the streets of our American cities are lined are favourite breeding-places for these birds, and it is thus common in our streets through the summer. On a July evening, after the first brood of young had left their nests, I once counted twenty-seven Robins on a single tennis-court which was quite surrounded by houses. American Bird- Visitors to Ireland at Home. 31 The eggs of the Robin are four or five in number, and of a very beautiful pure greenish-blue, unspotted, their average size being about the same as Blackbirds' eggs. The Robin's food consists chiefly of insects and worms; especially in the spring and summer months, when the young are still in the nest, the numbers of grubs destroyed by these birds is enormous, and the benefit to agriculture almost incalculable. It is doubtful if a young Robin ever indulges in anj^ vegetable diet. When in the nest, the birds seem actually to require more than their own weight of food daily to keep them in good health; a nestling Robin has been known to eat as many earthworms in twelve hours as laid end to end, would measure fourteen feet. But grubs, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and beetles, probably form a greater part of their diet than earthworms, as in the hot summer the ground is mostly too hard and dry to obtain the latter. In the autumn, berries and fruits form a considerable part of the bird's food. A curious part of the Robin's life-history, only recently noticed by naturalists, is its habit of forming large "roosts" in the late summer and autumn. These "roosts" are often frequented by thousands, or even tens of thousands of birds which come from all the surrounding country to spend the night together. The reason of this habit is not fully under- stood yet, if it ever will be; but it seems to be formed, -at a time when the females are busy with their second broods, by the males and young of the first brood, which thus meet every night in some convenient and safe thicket for mutual protection. The song of the Robin consists of but few notes, but these are strong, pure, and singularly buoyant and cheerful, and are the most welcome to me of all the voices of the American spring; the bird also utters a "cluck-cluck" as it flies from the lawn to take refuge in the nearest tree; both in flight and on the ground, the movements and attitudes of the bird are noticeably like those of the Irish Blackbird. That the Robin not only looks a bold and powerful bird, but can take good care of himself and nest, was proved by a fight between one and a marauding Blue-jay, witnessed by a friend of mine, in which the Jay was left a corpse m the fiela, or rather tree of battle, and the skin of the vanquished after- wards added to my owni collection. ^ 32 The Irish Naturalist. The Robin bears no resemblance to any British bird, further than the Thrush family-likeness. The red breast, black head, white throat, grey back, with darker wings and tail, are very distinctive. The female differs but little from the male, but the young, when they first leave the nest, are more brown, with the breast spotted. IRISH KNTOMOI.OGY. BY W. F. Ti% V. KANK, M.A., F.K-S. Untii, quite recently we have been almost wholly indebted for any published information on the subject of Irish Entomology to English naturalists. For although Haliday made some collections of Diptera and Coleoptera, chiefly in Ulster ; and Tardy, Greene, and Bristow, of I^epidoptera in Wicklow, and Mrs. Battersby in Westmeath, and Mr. Fetherston-H, in Mayo, yet their captures were not at all comparable to the results of the labours of Birchall, Bouchard, Wollaston, Bar- rett, and numerous occasional collectors, who from time to time crossed the Channel to test the capabilities of this country for supplying English museums and private collections. Of late years, however, a recrudescence of zeal in this branch of natural history has been displayed by Irish naturalists, and a host of contributions have swelled the lists in the pages of entomological serials. But our knowledge is still scanty in nearly all the groups, and unfortunately it cannot be said to rest upon reliable data, for the earlier collections, notably those of Tardy and Birchall, have disappeared, or been merged with British ones, so that in most cases it is now impossible to refer to their original specimens. It is also undeniable that a large amount of error has crept into the lists published from time to time, owing to the acceptance of unreliable statements without enquiry. One of the latest of these lists of Irish captures appeared in the British Naturalist of December, 1889, on the authority of Mr. Gregson of I^iverpool, whose name should be a sufiicient voucher for scientific accuracy. This list purports to be a record of Mr. Curzon's captures in Ireland during the preceding season. It so happens, however, that I have letters and data of Mr. Curzon, which throw some doubt Irish Entomoloiiy. xx on the authenticity of the list. I think Mr. Grcpson must have fallen into the error of taking for granted that all the in- sects in Mr. Curzon's boxes were Irish. It is very probable that English larvae and pupae may have accounted for some of the specimens, as was the case with Mr. Curzon's collections both in 1890 and 1891. I should much like to know did Mr. Curzon correct and authenticate the list which Mr. Grcgson compiled before publication ? The capture of Hccatcra chry- sozona, Anchocelis rufijia, A. littira, Hadcna protca, Ephyra Ihiearia and Ennychia cingidata would be interesting if Mr. Curzon would state the localities and number of specimens of these species he took. However, as I have a disclaimer written by Mr. Curzon of the capture of another of the species noted, it shows the necessity of greater caution in accepting second-hand evidence. I may mention that the DianthcecicB taken by him were not exclusively from Howth, as stated by Mr. Gregson, but partly from Gal way. In addition I would call attention to what I believe to be an erroneous record of Epunda hihdaita in Co. Antrim, contained in a later paper by Mr. Gregson in the same journal of May, 1890. The larvae sent from that locality were of E. nigra, as Mr. Gregson at first rightly sus- pected, and I saw imagines bred from them; but the ova of E. lutulenta sent him subsequently in September were from a wholly different locality, namely Sligo. His de- scription of the larvae of the latter rare moth is, therefore, valuable, and if he can supplement it, which I hope is the case, with a record of the ultimate results, and what varie- ties of the imago he obtained, it would be of much interest. Mr. Curzon told me that, in his experience, the greater proportion of his E. nigra lar\^ae never completed their metamorphosis, dying in numbers from some inex- plicable cause when almost full-fed. In the case of a large number he took again in 189 1, none came to perfection. Was this the case with Mr. Gregson's larvae of E. lidulciita'f In writing the above criticisms, my chief object is to appeal to Irish naturalists to assist in the work of verifying our lepi- dopterological data, by making collections with localities marked on their labels. The condition and setting are of minor importance. If these were from time to time sent to the Science and Art Museum in Dublin, or to myself for 34 The Irish Naturalist. identification, it would secure accuracy. The researches of Mr. J. F. X. King, of Glasgow, into our Neuroptera have much advanced the study of this group, and I am glad to find increasing interest developed in that of our lyCpidoptera. Unfortunately the more prolific fauna of Great Britain tempts our entomologists to neglect that of their own country, and the want of respectable quarters in our out-of-the-way districts hinders systematic exploration. Nevertheless it is extremely probable that very valuable results still await the more careful examination of our marshes, coasts, and woodlands. From time to time I hear reports of insects having been seen or taken, but not preserved, which warrant the belief that most interesting additions still await us. Meanwhile let us have no more doubtful or careless items foisted upon our record to puzzle and confound our speculations as to the origin and development of our indigenous fauna. Although extremely interesting from a scientific point of view, Ireland is not rich enough to tempt the regular visits of the professional col- lector. A few occasionally drop down upon Howth to secure a few Dianthcecia barretii, but Mr. Meek's unprofitable ven- ture some years ago in the Co. Kerry is not forgotten. We are thus left to our unaided resources, a matter not wholly without its advantages, and Ireland still offers virgin tracts for exploration, and it is to be hoped that her sons and daughters will increasingly add to our store of knowledge in this branch of natural science. THE FI,ORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH, BY R. I,I,OYD PRAKGKR, B.A., M.R.I. A. {Coniimied from page 15.) During the course of my observations, I endeavoured to trace variations in the flora corresponding with differences of petrological conditions, hoping that I would find on the Tertiary basaltic area, plants characteristic of Antrim and Derry ; on the Carboniferous lyimestone, species of the lime- stone plain ; on the Silurians, a repetition of the Co. Down flora ; and on the granite hills, a similarity to the flora of the Mourne mountains. Some of my expectations were fulfilled, The Flora of Coimty Armagh. 35 others were not ; but Armagh may certainly be divided into several botanical regions, defined by physical or geological conditions, and characterised by the presence or absence of certain plants. (See Map, Plate 2.) 1. lyOUGH Nkagh and Rivers.— Includes shores of Lough Neagh, and the banks of the Bann, Newry canal, Blackwater, and Ulster canal. Ciaita, Qinanthe fishdosa, Buloimis, and Sagittaria are abundant throughout these waters, all of which are in direct connection with Lough Neagh, and with the exception of a single station for Cicuta, none of the species mentioned are found in any other lakes or rivers in the county. A group of much rarer plants occurs at and about Lough Neagh only — Ra7i2C7icuhcs cinci7iatus, Typha ajigustifolia, Potamogeton filiformis, Calamagrostis hookeri. 2. Northern Bogs. — Embraces the extensive bogs that cover the district, chiefly Pliocene, lying south of Lough Neagh, from Maghery to Ardmore Point. Confined to this district, and occurring in some abundance therein, are Drosera afiglica, D. intermedia, Vaccinium oxycoccos, Rhynchospora alba, Osviu7ida regalis. These bogs have an elevation of fifty to a hundred feet; among their rarer plants are A7idro7}icda polifolia, Vacci7iiu77i vitis-id^a, Spira7ithes ro7na7i20via7ia, Lis- teju cordata. Ulex gallii is conspicuously absent. 3. Limestone Region.— Includes the area of Carboniferous Limestone that stretches from Richhill and Castlerow westward through the city of Armagh to Benburb and Middletown, and also the patch of New Red Sandstone which adjoins to the northward, and which yields a similar flora. Surface low and undulating. Carduus aca7ithoides, Vero7iica a7iagallis, LamiuDi albimi, Orchis pyra77iidalis, /uncus glaucus, Briza i7iedia, are characteristic of this district, most of them being abundant here, and all very rare in, or absent from the rest of the county. 4. 'sii^URiAN Region.— The lower Silurian grits extend over the whole of the central portion of the county. Surface well tilled, undulating, and hillocky, rising to 1,200 feet near Newtownhamilton (the Fews mountains), cultivation being car- ried nearly to the summit. Its flora is uninteresting generally, but it was in this region that Carex rhy7ichophysa was obtained. Lcpidium siJiithii, unknown further north, is common on this area. Li7iaria vulgaris becomes much more frequent ; Ul^ gallii haunts the neighbourhood of the higher grounds; Ve- ro7iica a7iagallis and poppies are conspicuously absent. 36 The Irish Naturalist. 5. H11.1. Rkgion. — Includes the granite and basalt hills of the south-east, and the adjoining portion of the Silurians in the south-west. The hills are somewhat isolated, with flat stretches of poor land between. There is, as before remarked, a poverty of mountain plants, Selagi7iella spinosa being the only species confined to the higher grounds. Compared with the northern bog district, we find Ulex europcuus replaced by U. gallii, and Myosotis paltistris by M. repeals. The higher cultivated ground is full of Raphaiius 7^apha7iistrum, Lotus major, Chrysantheuizmi segetzcvi, which are not abundant north of the Silurian area. Viola tricolor, Teucrium scorodoiiia^ Jasione montana, Lepidium smithii, are also characteristic plants. The fine mountain mass of Slieve Gullion is dis- appointingly poor in highland species. The following is a list of the plants observed on the summit (1,893 feet) : — Poteyitilla tormentilla, Galium saxaJile, Vacchiiimi viyrtillus, V. vitis-idosa, Callufia, Erica cifierea, Empetrum, Luzula erecta, L. maxima, /uncus squarrosus, Eriophoruni vaginatu77i, Scirpus ccespitosus, Carex pilulifera, C. bi7iervis, Aira fiexuosa, Agrostis ca7ii7ia, Festtica ovi7ia, Nardus, Lastrea dilatata. The Tertiary basalts of the north-east appear to effect no change in the flora. This is accounted for by the fact that the characteristic plants of the Antrim and Derry basalts are all, or almost all, hill plants, flourishing on the steep escarp- ments which fringe the plateau. The low fertile surface of the basalt in Armagh furnishes no habitat for these. The shores of the estuary of the Newry River yield, of course, a group of maritime species not found elsewhere in the county. Oiih.es^ Beta viariti77ia, Obio7ie portulacoides, and Lepturus filifor77iis, are the only plants worthy of note. While the lists which follow have no claim to be considered exhaustive, for it is not possible to examine five hundred square miles of ground in three weeks, I believe they convey, never- theless, a pretty accurate idea of the nature and extent of the flora of Co. Armagh ; and while there can be no doubt that additional stations will in time be found for a number of the rarer plants, I do not anticipate that more than thirty or thirty-five species will ultimately be added to the flora of the county. I am well aware that the brambles, roses, willows, and pondweeds require further study, and in the sedges there are yet still some blanks to be filled. Among the plants which The Flora of Cotmiy .Imiai^h. yj are still unrecorded from the county, a few of the most likely are Arabis hirsuta, Hypericum clodes, Geranium lucidum, Gcntiana campestris, Salix rcpeus, Habenaria bijolia, Ilymenophyllum wilsoni ; the first four of these maybe expected in the lime- stone district. A few rare species recorded from the county I failed t(j re-find. Of these, several have (or had) their habitat on the shores of lyough Neagh. There can be little doubt that the drainage works, completed about 1855, which reduced the mean level of the lake by some three feet, and the winter floods to a greater extent, are the cause of the disappearance of some of these previous inhabitants. To this change is probably due the apparent absence now of Szcb2tlaria aqicatica, Elatine hydropiper^ and Pilularia globulifcray and I am inclined to set down to the same cause the disappearance of Lathyrus pahistris, Cladium 7nariscus, Carex eloiigata, and C.filifortnis, on the adjoining Antrim shores of the lough, and possibly also of Carex buxbaumii, and of Calamagrostis hookeri in some of its stations. Of the plants enumerated in the lists which follow, 104 are additions to the flora of District lo of "Cybele Hibernica" : — Ranunculus peltatus. R. minor al is {^"sa) R. circinatus, R. villicaulis. Papaver argemone. R. lindlcianus. P. dubiicm. R. macrophyllus (var.) Fumaria pallidiflora. R. salteri. F. densiflora. R. pyramidalis. F. muralis. R- Icucostachys. Sisymbrium thalianum. R. viucronatus. Cochlearia officinalis. R. anglosaxonicus. C. danica. R. borreri. Diplotaxis mtiralis. R. drejeri. Silene noctiflora. R. radula. Sagina maritima. R- scabcr. Arenaria serpyllifolia. R. rosaceus. A. leptoclados. R- coryllifolius. Cerastium tetrandnmi. \Rosa rubiginosa. Spergularia rubra. Myriophyllum spicatuvi. S. media. Seduni angliaim. Scleranthus annuus. *'S. rupestre. Hypericum dubium. Apium graveolans. Radiola linoidcs. Daucus carota. ^^Trifoliiwi hybridum. Tor His nodosa. Rubus plicatus (var). Chcerophyllum tcmulum. R. rhamnifolius. Galium mollugo. 38 The Irish Naturalist. Aster tripolium. Anthemis nobilis. ^Matricaria chamomilla Arctium majus. "^Crepis nicceensis. Jasione montana. Myosotis repcjis. Linaria vulgaris. L. repens. ■^Mentha piper a ta. Lamium amplexicaule. L. intei'mediimi. Stachys arvetisis. Glaux maritima. Statice bahusiensis. Armeria mariti7na. Plantago coronopus. P. mariti??ia. Sueda maritijna. Beta maritima. Salicornia herbacea. A triplex erecta. A. deltoidea. A. has lata. A. babingtonii. Obione portulacoides. Polygonum lapathifolium. "^-Humulus lupulus. Euphorbia exigua. Callitriche autumnalis. Salix alba. S. smithiana. Spiranthes romanzoviana Triglochin maritimum. /uncus maritimus. J. gerardi. Typha angustifolia. Sparganium natans. Eleocharis multicaulis. Scirpus maritiinus. S. tabernce?nontani. S. fluitans. S. savii. Car ex dioica. C. vulpina. C. rhynchophysa. Schlerochloa maritima. S. distans. S. rigida. Hordeum pra tense. Lepturus filiformis. Chara polyacantha. C. hispida. C. vulgaris. C. contraria. Nitella translucens. Of the above, three were first gathered in the county by- Mr. lyCtt; eight more go to the credit of Mr. Johnson; one is added by Rev. G. Robinson; and the remainder are the result of my own collecting. Among the more interesting plants which I found in the county are Carex rhyncophysa, which is an addition to the British flora; Spiranthes romanzoviana, whose only other European station is in Co. Cork; Calaviagivstis hookeri, which in Britain is found only around the lyOugh Neagh shores, where it is now extremely rare; Rzcbics 7ienioralis, R. Ihidei- anus, P. anglosaxonicus, R. borreri, R. drejeri, P. scaber, and ^'Crepis niccsensis, are additions to the Irish list; while Ptwtaria densiflora, XDiplotaxis muralis, Sileyie fioctijlora, Lcpigonum riibruvi, Galium inollugo, Chaerophyllum temulum, Linaria repens, Typha angitstifolia, and Potamogeton filiformis, have in Ireland a very limited number of stations. (TO BK CONTINUED.) [ 39 ] THE HARTHWORMvS OF IRiaAND. BY REV. HII.DERIC FRIEND, l-M^.S. (Continued from page lo.) The genus AUoIohophora is represented in Great Britain by some fifteen species. I vSliall, however, treat half-a-do/cn of them under the more expressive and accurate designation of De7idrobccna, or tree-worms, thus leaving about half-a-score for discussion under this head. So large a group is certain to present a considerable variety of forms, and by a systematic study of each species it is possible to separate the genus into two or three well-marked groups, thus enabling the student the more readily to identify the various forms. Before we proceed to this subdivision, however, it will be desirable to obtain a clear idea of the genus as a whole. It was exactly twenty years ago that Bisen, after a ver}^ ex- haustive study of the worms of Scandinavia, decided to split up the old genus Lumbricus into three. He retained the earlier name for the genus discussed in the first part of my paper; and adopted two new names for the genera he had separated therefrom. These names, if they lack meaning at first sight, and when studied independently of their histor>^, are found to be very expressive when their origin is recalled. As I have already pointed out, the genus Lumbricus is readily recognised by the complete mortise and tenon arrangement of the head. Some v^orms, however, were seen to have the lip but partially dovetailed into the first segment or prostomium, and they were at once set apart as "the worms with a different head," or in scientific language, Allolobophora. One or two worms again, had not only a different head from that w^hich characterised Lumbricus, they had further a differently shaped tail and differ- ently placed male ^ox^^ixom.ho'C^LiLinbricus^iwCiAUolobophora, and so merited the name of " the worms with a different tail " or A Hums. The genus Dendrobcena was an afterthought, and the name was invented to express the fact that the worms so named inhabited decayed trees and timber. Thus, while the genus Allolobophora agrees with Allurus in the manner in which the lip is inserted or imbedded in the first ring, it differs from that genus in the shape of the tail and the position of the male pores. Again, wdiile some of the Ao The Irish Naturalist. Species belonging to the genus Allolobophora closely resemble the true Ltwibrici, they may always be distinguished by the shape of the hinder part of the lip, or its mode of insertion. It may be well to give an outline of the leading characters of the genus. In Allolobophora the lip or prostomium only partially bisects, or is dovetailed into the first ring or peristo- mium (see page lo, fig. 2). The setae are arranged in four pairs on each segment except the first, the individuals of each couple being either close together or somewhat widely separated. The girdle or clitellum is composed of a variable number of segments — as few as four, and as many as eight or ten in the British species (even more in some Continental forms), commencing on the 26th or some more posterior segment. The clitellar papillae {tubercttla pubertatis) are variable, being sometimes on alternate, and at others on contiguous segments. They may appear either as pores, as in the Green Worm {A. chlorotica, Savigny), as a distinct band, or as prominent but continuous protuberances. One species {A. profuga, Rosa), forms a connecting link between this genus and the last, for it has the head of an Allolobophora, with the typical girdle and band of a Ltmibricus as already figured (page 10, fig. 3). The male pores are on segment 15 as in Lumbricus, and are, I think, without exception accompanied by papillae. The colour-range is very much greater than in the other genus ; we have green, steel-blue, clay, flesh, rose-red, red-brown, sienna-brown, and brindled forms, to mention no others. As a rule there is little if any iridescence. The first dorsal pore is either between segments 3-4 or posterior to this. Spermathecae are absent, or variable in number. Some of the species, notably the Green Worm {A. chlorotica, Savigny) carry spermatophores. This general outline will suffice for present purposes, a full tabular statement being reserved for a later stage. Our next business is to ascertain how the different species included in the genus are related, and what characters are best suited for separating the whole into a few natural groups. The work would be comparatively easy if we had to include the European species with those which are indigenous to Great Britain (all of which have now also been sent to me from Ireland). As it is, we have one or two instances in which well- defined groups are represented in these islands by only a soli- tary species, and thus the sections may be made almost as The Earth ivorms of Ireland. ^ i numerous as the species. This, however, in tlic present state of things cannot be avoided. The characters by which orroups nmy be formed are very various. Habitat doubtless affects species very largely, and I shall have to deal somewhat fully in another paper with this topic. At the same time there is a certain amount of con- stancy in the disposition of the setce, the position of the first dorsal pore and the girdle, the arrangement of the papillce, the colour, the presence or absence of turbid fluid, the shape of the body and other external features, to merit attention. Rosa has pointed out also that there is ground for improving our system of classification by observing the w^ay in which the receptacula seininis open from within outwards. In fact, so long ago as 1884, in his valuable little work on the Earthworms of Pied- mont, he divided this genus, including Dcndrobcena, into four groups, solely on the strength of this important character. Since then our knowdedge has increased, and new worms have been added to our lists, so that the analysis of the genus which Rosa adopted only partially answers our purpose. So far as it goes, however, it does not at all clash with that which I shall follow in the present instance. So far as we are able at present to tabulate our indigenous worms, the genus Allolobophora falls naturally into four well marked groups. Two of these groups have hitherto been re- presented in Great Britain by a solitary species in each instance. A third has only one representative in England, though two species belong to Ireland, while the fourth boasts five British species. In the following arrangement I shall simply extend that which I first submitted to the public in the Essex Naturalist y^vXy, \'^<^2. Group I. Lumbricoidea. The worms of this group are large, and closely resemble Lumbricus, so closely, in fact, as to have misled even Eisen himself, though he had been the pioneer of systematic helmintholog}% They are usually dark in colour, but may become lighter under the influence of their environ- ment; the set£e are in four couples, the individuals of which are nearly close together. The body is cylindrical in front and flattened behind, showing that the worm is wont to lie exposed from its burrow just as the Common Earthworm does. The first dorsal pore is usually well back, while the male pores are on papillae. They exude a slimy mucus when irritated, but no watery or turbid fluid, no coloured or pungent liquid. Usually found in rich soil, either arable or pasture, and not averse to manure; they reach their greatest dimensions in fat garden soil. 42 The Irish Naturalist. When found in lawns and meadows they are addicted to burrowing and making large worm-casts on the surface of the soil. The solitary British species is widely distributed. Group II. Disjuncta. In this group the most striking feature is to be found in the disposition of the setae. As in the genus DendrohcBna, they form eight more or less equi-distant rows. The British worms resemble Luinbricus in the arrangement of the band (tuhercula pubertatis) on the ventral sides of the girdle, but differ from that genus in the shape of the lip-insertion. The body is cylindrical in front, and somewhat octangular behind, owing to the arrangement of the setae. The male pores are on papillae on the fifteenth segment, and Rosa remarks that " I receptacula seminis sono in direzione della 3a setola."^ A small quantity of yellow fluid is exuded from the posterior or anal extremity when the worm is irritated, and the smell of garlic or some similar vegetable seems to pertain to the animals, as is the case with some of our univalves. They are not averse to poor, heavy soil in England, being most frequently found in ploughed land which is rough, uncultivated, and cold. Group III. lYIucida. Worms of medium size, exactly halfway between the true earth-worms and the tree-worms (Lumhricus and Dendrohcena), form the third natural group. They do not resemble either genus, however, in any other particular. The colour is very variable, and ranges from a delicate fleshy tint, through dull clay colour, to dirty green or yellow. The setae are in close couples, and the worms are cylindrical throughout. The first dorsal pore is usually about the four-fifth or five-sixth inter- segment. All exude mucus, which in some cases is thick, leaving a granular sediment, and disagreeable. They are not favourites with the angler and do not as a rule frequent rich soil. They are found under stones, in woods, or on the margins of ponds and ditches, and sometimes in arable or pasture land, especially in localities which are too poor for the more epicurean Luinbricus. As they are not usually found lying half exposed from their burrows, the hinder part is not flattened, this being a device for gripping the burrow. These form Rosa's second group. Group IV. Virgata. Under this heading I include the species which constitute the first group in Rosa's classification. My own system is intended to show the con- necting links between the genus Lumbricus on the one hand and the genus Dcndroboena on the other ; and this is done in more ways than one. There is a beautiful gradation to be observed in size, colour, shape, arrangement, and disposition of parts, habits, and habitats, and the like, between the two extreme points, when studied systematically, as here presented. In the present group we find worms of which the principal types are banded. They exude coloured fluid, their setae are wider apart than in the foregoing, and "I receptacula seminis si aprono lantano delle . * " The spermathecae open in the direction of the 3rd row of setae " (counting from below upwards). The Ea rth worms of Ire I a nd. 43 setole presso alle linea mediana dorsalc." ' The species afTcct rich decaying manure and vegetable matter, and even haunt decaying trees like the true Dcndrohoincc. It is but right to state that each of these groups more or less overlaps the other, so that no hard and fast line can be drawn between them ; but the characters given are such as to make their identification very simple and easy. Every system breaks down if pressed too closely, and even among earth- worms we find that Nature takes no freaksome leaps, but progresses on regular and well-marked lines. I purpose in my next paper taking the four groups of worms here specified in the order in which they stand, beginning with that which has the nearest affinities to the old mother- genus. This is the more desirable as up till the present time the lumbricoid species of Allolobophora have been persistently confused with the true earthworm {Lttmbricus), resulting in the greatest possible chaos in the nomenclature and diagnoses of our terrestrial annelids. (TO BE CONTINUED.) THE MACRO-IvKPIDOPTERA OF THE I.ONDONDERRY DISTRICT. BY D. C. CAMPBKI.I.. {Continued from page 22). NOCTU^. Demas coryli, Linn. — Common in the woods on the shores of Lough Swilly. Acronycta psi, Linn. — Common. A. rumicis, Linn. — Common. We reared many of the beautiful larvae of this moth. We noticed a strange habit of the larva. Having partially formed its cocoon on the side or in the corner of a box, it descended to the mould below and attached its threads to many small particles of earth, it then ascended again, and, ensconsing itself in the cocoon, drew up the little particles around it by means of the threads. I have watched the process from beginning to end. Diloba caeruleoccphala, Linn.— Larvae very abundant on the stunted blackthorn on Magilligan sandhills. We never found it m any other locality. Leucania littoralis, Curt— Not uncommon at Magilligan; a few specimens inland. L. itnpura, Hiib. ) ^ [ Common. L. pallens* Linn. ; ' " The spermathec^ open near the setae in the region of the median dorsal line" (almost on the centre of the back). 44 The Irish Nahcralist. Tapinostola fulva, Hlib.— Common. We took some beautiful varieties of a bright brick-red colour. We took the larvae in the root- stems of the Cotton-grass and succeeded in rearing many specimens. We published full description of the larvae in the Entomologist, November, 1883. Hydroecia nictitans, Bork.— Rather rare. H. micacea, Esp. — Common, Axylia putris, Linn. — Common. Xylophasia rurea, Fab.) ^ X. lithoxylea, Fab. ) X. monoglypha, Hufn. — Very common ; the black variety occurs but not commonly. Chardsas gram in is, Linn. — Common. Mr. Milne carefully observed this species and noticed that the males fly in large numbers in the early morning while scarcely a female is to be seen, and that on the other hand the females abound at night when hardly a male is to be seen. I suppose the females, after spending the night upon the wing, rest upon the herbage in the morning when the males are flying. Cerlgo matura, Hufn. One specimen taken at Giant's Causeway. Luperina testacea, Hiib. — A few specimens. lYIamestra albicolon, Hiib. — One specimen at Magilligan. IVI. furva, Hiib. — A few specimens at Ballynagard. M. brassicse, Linn. — Common. Apamea basilinea, Fab.) Common. A. gremina, Hiib. > A. Icucostigma, Hiib. — We always found this species at Ragwort flowers. We found it abundant only in certain seasons, usually alternate years. We took many beautiful varieties. A. didyiYia, Esp. — Very common. We took some abnormal varieties which Mr. Birchall identified for us. IVIiana strigilis, Clerck \ WI. fasciuncula, Haw. > Common. IVI. literosa, Haw. J IVI. bicoloria, Vill. — Rather rare. M. arcuosa, Haw. — This species was not included in Mr. Birchall's list. We took a few specimens at the Giant's Causeway, also a few here at Ballynagard. Mr, Milne has also taken it here. Celaena haworthil, Curt. — Common in the bogs. We took the larvae in the root-stems of the Cotton-grass, and published description in Entomologist, November, 1883. Stilbia anomala, Haw. — Common on the coast: Giant's Causeway, Magilligan, and Buncrana. Caradrina alsines, Brahm — Rather rare. C. quadripunctata, Fab. — Very common. C. morpheus, Hufn. — One specimen at Magilligan. AgTotis vestlgrialis, Hufn. — Common on the Derry and Antrim coasts. A, suffusa, Hiib. \ A. saucia, Hiib. / ^ \ Common. A scgctum, Schiff". A. cxclamationis, Linn. Macro- Lcpidoptcra of the Londondcny District. 45 A. corticea, Hub. — One specimen. A. nigricans, Unn.— Occurs, but not commonly. A. tritrici, Ivinn. \ A. cursoria, Bork. J Very abundant at Mai^illi^ran. A. praecox, Linn. ; A. aquilina, Iliib. \ ^ ,^ . ^ ,, .,,. ( Both species at Majnlhtran. A. obclisca, Hiib. } "^ ^ A. agathina, Dup. — Not common; we succeded in rearing some beautiful specimens by keeping the larvae in a large flower pot, covered with gauze, in the open air. A. strigrula, Thunb.— Common. Noctua glareosa, Esp.— Fairly common. N. augur. Fab. \ N. plecta, Linn. / ^ > Common. N. c-nigrum, Lmn. i N. fjrunnea.. Fab. / N. triangulum, Hufn. — One specimen reared from larvae. N. f estiva, Hiib. — Fairly common. N. dahlii, Hiib. — Common at Magilligan and on Lough S willy shores. N. umbrosa, Hiib. j N. baia. Fab. ; Common. N. xanthographa, Fab. / Triphaena ianthina, Bsp. T. fimbria, Linn. , ^ > Common. T. comes, Hiib. T. pronuba, Linn. Mania typica, Linn.-Rare. We reared one specimen from a lar\-a. Mr. Milne has taken it once or twice. IVI. m aura, Linn.— A few specimens. Pachnobia rubricosa, Fab.— Rare. Teeniocampa gothica, Linn. —Common. T. incerta, Hufn. i ^ [ Common. T. stabilis. View . 3 T. populeti, Fab.— One specimen from pupa. Orthosia Iota, Clerck— Rather rare. O. macilenta, Hiib. ) ^^^^^^,^ Anchocelis pistacina, Fab. ) Cerastis vaccinii, Linn.— Common. Scopelosoma satellitia, Linn.— Common. Xantliia fulvago, Linn.— Common. X. f lavago, Fab.-Common. Mr. Milne took a beautiful variety, with the forewings of a uniform brick-red colour. X. circellaris, Hufn.— Common. Calymnia trapezina, Linn.— Not_common. Dianthoecia capsophila, Dup.-Very common on Lough Swilly shores and on coasts wherever Silcne mariiima grows. D. capsincola, Hub.-A few specimens from larv^ at Lough Swilly. 4^ The Irish Naturalist. Dianthoecia cucubali, Fues.— A few larvae on Bilene infiata, at Inch, Lough Swilly. D. nana, Rott. — Common on Antrim coast at Portrush and Bally- castle, also at Magilligan. We found D. capsopMla very abundant on the lyough Swilly shores, and D. nana rare, whereas we found the latter abundant on Antrim coast, and D. capsopMla rare. Polia Chi, Linn. — Common. Epunda lutulenta, Bork.— One or two specimens. Miselia oxyacanthas, Linn. — Common. Ag-riopis aprilina, Linn.— Two specimens from pupae. Phlogophora meticulosa, Linn.— Common at ivy-bloom. We only once took a specimen of the June brood. Euplexialucipara, Linn.— Common. Aplecta occulta, Linn. — One specimen. Hadena adusta, Bsp. — Fairly common. H. grlauca, Hiib. — Rare. In 1879, we sent Mr. Birchall a very light- coloured variety. This species was not in Mr. Birchall's list. Mr. Kane reports it from Co. Westmeath. H. dentina, Bsp. — One specimen at Magilligan. H. dissimilis, Knoch. \ H. olcracca, Linn. v Common. H. thalassina, Rott. j H. pisi, Linn. — Rather rare. Xylocampa areola, Ksp. — Common. Calocampa vetusta, Hiib. ) qqujujoji, C. cxolcta, Linn. ) CucuIIia umbratica, Linn. — Common. Conoptera liHsatrix, Linn. — Common. HalOrostoIa tripartita, Hufn. — Rather rare. H. triplasia, Linn. — Common. Plusla chrysitis, Linn, v P. festucae, Linn. P. iota, Linn. 1 Common. P. pulchrina, Haw. I P. gramma, Linn. ] P. Interrogation is, Linn. — Local. We took both larvae and imag- ines abundantly at Kilderry, some six miles from Derry. Euclidia mi, Clerck — Very common on Magilligan sandhills. Heliothis scutosa, Schifif.— My brother took a single specimen, flying in the sun, about 4 p.m., 19th August, 1878, near Buncrana, Lough Swilly. Mr. Birchall identified the insect, and wrote to us on 19th vSeptember 1878 : — " Yours is, so far as I know, the first authentic British specimen ; at least, all the previous ones have been doubted." The food plant, Artemisia campestris, grows on the shores not far from the spot where the specimen was caught. If any brother naturalist wishes to try for this very rare species, I shall be happy to direct him to the exact locality. Anarta myrtilli, Linn.— Common. (TO BE conci,ude:d.) L 47 J DENUDATION AT CULTRA, CO. DOWN. BY MARY K. ANDRKWS. ( Concluded from page 1 8.) (Read before the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, December 2otli, 1892.) Encroachments of the sea, similar to those described, have taken place on the adjacent coast. Although no landmark survives, it is estimated that within living memory the sea has advanced more than 150 feet at Cooper's Bay, near Holy- wood ; and Cooper's Green, once a favourite resort for rural games, has now, with part of an inner adjoining field, com- pletely disappeared. In confirmation of the foregoing notes it is interesting to trace the changes recorded on successive maps of the Ordnance Survey. On the six-inch map, surveyed and engraved in 1834, we find both the quarry at Cultra Point and the road leading to Cultra Quay, while on the same map, revised in 1858 and engraved in i860, Cultra Point has a more smoothed and rounded appearance, the quarr}^ is no longer marked, and all traces of the road are gone. A comparison of successive Admiralty charts gives indica- tions of somewhat similar interesting changes in Belfast I^ough. In the chart for 1883, corrected up to 1891, the three- fathom line (close to the end of the new cut recently opened in continuation of the Victoria Channel) is more than 800 feet nearer to Belfast than in the chart for 1841, corrected up to 1856. Within the same period the three-fathom line has also approached more closely to Holywood and to Carrickfergus.' As geological structure has an important bearing on the rate of erosion, it is necessary now to consider more closely the nature of the strata near Cultra. The first rocks that crop out on the beach a little north of Holy^vood belong to the upper mottled sandstone of the Bunter formation ; further east, near the low cliff in the illustration, we find reddish- iMr. Moore (Harbour Office, Belfast) kindly drew my attention to the changes on the Ordnance maps, and to the approach of the three-fathom line towards Belfast, indicated on successive Admiralty charts. This latter observation has been confirmed by Mr. S. A. Stewart, F.B.S.E., who further observed the general advance of the sea towards Holywood and Carrickfergus. 48 . The Irish Naturalist., brown, grey, and yellow sandstones, passing up into thinly bedded micaceous, rippled sandstones, and sandy marls referred to the lyower Keuper series of the midland counties of England.' The strata near Cultra Point are traversed by trap dykes, striking out to sea, which have greatly indurated the sandstone. The Triassic rocks, overlain by Post-Tertiary gravels, ex- tend round the curve of the bay till, about 200 3^ards south- west of Cultra Pier, a fault brings up the lyower Carboniferous shales.^ A little east of the pier interesting beds of magnesian limestone are visible near to low water-mark. These were first described by Dr. Bryce, F.G.S., in 1835,3 and from the evidence of the fossils they contain, were referred both by him* and by Professor Kings to the Permian system. All these strata are traversed by trap dykes, mostly small ; a considerable one, however, occurs near Cultra Pier, where it has greatly indurated the shale, and converted it into flinty slate and hornstone rock.^ Here then, at the points where the strata are most hardened and altered, the resistance has been the greatest, while along the intervening curve of the bay where the cliff is softer, it has fallen an easier prey to denuding forces. But the difference, as we have seen, is only one of degree ; the whole area has receded rapidly before the wasting influences to which it has been exposed. The sandstones and shales could offer but feeble resistance to the action of the sea, and small landslips have hastened the destructive work. Winds and currents have aided, more especially under certain conditions. A strong southerly wind increases largely the rise of tide in Belfast lyough, and often blows at night accompanied with rain. If the wind then veer round to east or north-east a strong ground-swell sets in and undermines portions of the cliff, already loosened by rain and other sub-aerial agents. The material thus dislodged is 1 Geol. Survey Memoir to sheet 29, p. 19. 2 Ibid. ^your. of the Geological Society of Dublin, vol. i., part 3. * Report of the British Association for 1852. 5 Ibid. ^ I have to thank Mr. S. A. Stewart, F.B.S.B. for his kindness in examining specimens of the altered shale. Demidation at Ciiltra, Co. Dcncu. 40 drawn away in large quantities as the tide el^bs, with tlie sand and gravel of the bay." As very complete sections of Triassic strata are laid open in Cheshire, it may be interesting before concluding to give an example of the denudation to which they have been subjected. Mr. Woodcock informs me that at Hilbre Island, off the north-west side of Cheshire, the formation exposed belongs to the pebble beds of the Bunter series. Although at low water easily approached from the mainland, Hilbre Island is at high tide exposed to the full sweep of the waves. The result of the action of the sea, aided by subaerial agents, such as sand- charged wind, rain, spray, frost, and heat, has been to wear down and wear back the land area, so that what was originally a tongue of land stretching out into the sea is now three islets. The process of denudation which has separated them is at present distinctly operating upon the larger one, so that at its south-east end a small portion has become totally detached and this at high water forms another islet smaller than the rest. I have only to add that much of the low cliff around Cultra Bay is now concealed behind a strong sea wall, which, for years to come, may offer effectual resistance to the inroads of the waves. We may regret the picturesqueness it has marred, the interesting spots now covered over, but we cannot close our eyes to the necessity of preserving the land, nor to the important bearing which the alteration of a coast-line may have on the maintenance of a harbour. We have glanced at the apparent destruction of a small land surface, we have seen its materials loosened, disintegrated, falling a prey to the energy of waves and currents, but the destruction is not ultimate. The sea not only grinds down, it sorts and arranges the fragments and lays them down to form new strata on its floor. Consolidation and ultimate upheaval will surely follow, but the processes by which these stages in the earth's architecture are effected remain obscure. We await further light, satisfied if we have illustrated one small link in that marvellous cycle of order and change traceable throughout the whole Geological Record. 1 1 am indebted to Mr. James Shannon, boatman, Holywood, for the above information. He has further observed that the water in CuUra Bay has, within his own memory, become decidedly deeper. I 50] PROCKBDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIKS. RoYAi, Zooi^oGiCAi, Society. Recent donations include a Badger from W. A. Robinson, Bsq. ; four Rabbits from Master Moloney; a Squirrel from W. Despard, Esq.; a Goat from W. Dick, Esq. ; and a Syrian Rat from H. Napier, Esq. Two Black Swans have been acquired by exchange. Dubinin Microscopicai, Ci,ub. December 15th.— The Club met at Dr. E. J. M'WeEney'S, who showed — Sections of the Swimming Bladder of Barbels affected with disease due to the presence of parasitic Protozoa. The wall of the bladder contains numerous small cyst-like cavities, stujEfed with peculiar boat-shaped bodies, psorosperms of parasitic Protozoa belonging to the class Myxo- sporidia. These arise in the interior of the shapeless masses of amoeboid protoplasm which constitute the fully-developed parasite. The nuclei of the sarcode-mass arrange themselves in groups of three ; each of these groups becomes surrounded by a wall, and forms a psorosperm. Two of the nuclei are symmetrically placed at one end of the psorosperm and give rise to the so called pole-capsules ; the other occupies a mesial position towards the other end. When the psorosperm germinates, this latter nucleus creeps out, with a little protoplasm, in an amoeboid form and coalesces with others to form the huge, shapeless, perfect condition of the parasite. The specimens exhibited had been kindly sent by Dr. L. P. Peiffer of Weimar, the greatest European authority on parasitic Protozoa. Special attention is being at present directed to them as the probable producers of cancer. Sections of Carinopora hindei, a polyzoan from the Devonian rocks of Ontario, lent by Dr. G. J. Hinde, F.G.S., were shown by Prof. C01.E. This genus resembles a Fenestella with greatly developed keels along the ribs, indicating how Hemitrypa may have arisen by an extreme extension of this structure, intermediate genera being now known. Triticella hceckii, G. O Sars, a species of Polyzoa new to Britain, was ex- hibited by Mr. J. E. Duerden. The species was founded by G. O. Sars, who obtained specimens from Christiana Sound growing on the carapace and appendages of Geryonis tridentis, and this is the only locality from which it has been recorded up to the present. In his description of Triticella korenii, Sars, in the "British Marine Polyzoa," p. 546, Hincks mentions that it is possible T. hceckii may occur on our coasts, and he therefore gives one of Sars woodcuts of its shape. On examining the crustaceans obtained from Berehaven by the Royal Irish Academy Survey in 1885 a specimen of Portunus depurator was found with its eye-stalks and front carapace almost entirely covered with Triticella. On examining these under the microscope it was at once seen that they were different from T. korenii, which has been found ver}^ abundantly on the west coast of Ireland. They agreed fully with the figure and characters of T. bceckii given by Hincks, and with the more detailed description given by Sars himself in the Forhandlingcr Videnskabs-Sclskahet, Christ, for 1873. The west coast of Ireland has proved itself very rich in forms belonging to the rare and peculiar polyzoan family TriticcUidcc, being the only place in Britain from which Triticella bosckii, Sars, has been recorded. Hippuraria cgertoni, Busk, is only known to science from one locality — namely Berehaven. Triticella korenii, Sars, has been found by him abundantly, and more rarely T. pedicellata, Alder. Both these latter species have only previously been recorded from one British locality each. Prof. Johnson's exhibit at the November meeting {Irish Nat. vol. ii, p. 26) should have been described as follows: — JVildmania miniata, f. amplis- sima Fosl. (Diploderma amp)lissimum, Kjell). This sea- weed differs from Por- phyra in being two-layered, as Ulva does from Monostroma. Proceedings of Irish Societies. 51 Bei^fast Naturai, History and Pirii.osopniCAr, Society. January 3rd.— The President (Prof. FiTzGKRAi.n) in the chair Mr Wm. Gray, M.R.I. A, gave a lecture on "The Tracings of Primitive Miii in the North of Ireland." Mr. S. F. Miij^igan, M.R.I. A., exhil)itcd some Irish and Mexican antiquities. BEI.FAST Naturalists' Fiici.n Cijin. December 20th.— The President in the chair. Mr, Ivdward McCo.v- NEI.1. communicated a paper entitled, " Notes on New Zealand (ieology." Miss M. K. Andrews communicated a paper on " Denudation atCuUr'a, Co. Down," which appears in full in the Irish Naturalist, for this and last month. Mr. R. Li.oyd Praeger, contributed " Local Botanical Notes, 1891 and 1892," exhibiting specimens of each plant mentioned. Among the recent additions to the flora of district 12 which were shown were Ranunculus circinatus, Barharca livodcox, Potcr ium saivjuisorlja, Rahtis cluinunino- rtis, Hieracium hibernicum (new species), //. friesii var. stcirartii (new variety), H. ruhicundum, H. eiqrreijes (not previously recorded from Ire- land), and Cai'cx aquatilis. New stations in district 12 were mentioned for Papaver hybridtwi, Hypericum dubium, Agrimonia odorata, Ligustucum scoti- cum, Myosotis collina, Trjplia angustifolia, Carex limosa, and Chara contraria. Dubinin Naturai^ists' Fiei^d Ci^ub. December 13th.— Prof. Haddon in the chair. Prof. W. J. Soi^las, F.R.S., exhibited a fine series of Volcanic Rocks from Co. Waterford, and gave an account of them illustrated by views and sections shown in the optical lantern (a paper on the subject will shortly appear in the Irish Naturalist). Rev. M. H. Close, Prof. Cole, and Mr. W. W. Watts took part in the discussion which followed. Prof. Coee showed a series of rhyolites from Hungary for comparison with the Waterford specimens. Mr. G. H. Carpenter showed a live water-spider {Argyroneta aquatica), which he had received from Mr. Milne, of Londonderry. Mr. J. M. Browne showed beetles from the Aran Islands, including Thiamis suturaUs (new to Ireland), and Calathus melanocepJialus var. niibigoia (a northern and alpine form). Mr. J. J. Dowi^iNG showed, in the lantern, photographs of the junction of the granite wntli the Ordovician schist at Killiney bay. Mr. H. L. Jameson showed a weevil, Cionus thapsus, and a rove-beetle, Quedius cncentis, from Loughgilly, Co. Armagh, both new to Ireland. Mr. J. N. HaebeRT showed Malachius bipustulatus from Lucan (see Irish Naturalist, vol. i., p. 125). Mr. W. F. de V. Kane showed Testacella scutulum from Kingstown, a new locality for this slug. He also exhibited a most remarkable melanic variety of Spilosoma lubricipeda from Yorkshire. January loth.— Dr. E. J/ M'WEENEY, President in the chair. This was the Annual General Meeting, and the report and statement of accounts were submitted and adopted. The following officers were elected for 1893 :— President, Dr. M'Weeney; Vice-President, Dr. R. F. Scharff; Hon. Secretary, J. M. Browne, B.A.; Hon. Treasurer, Prof. T. Johnson, D. Sc. Cork Naturalists' Field Club. January i8th.— The President, Prof. M. Hartog, in the chair. An interesting account of the Faroe Islands was given by the Hon. Secretar>', Mr. W. Bennett Barrington. Royal Irish Academy. November I4th.-A paper by Mr. A. BELL was communicated, en- titled " Notes on the Correlation of the Later and Postpliocene Tertianes 52 The Irish Naturalist. on either side of the Irish Sea, with a reference to St. Erth Valley, Corn- wall." This paper contains a valuable comparison of the shells from the Wexford gravels and other Irish deposits with those from beds of approx- imately the same age in England. A paper by Rev. H. Friend, describing a new species of earthworm, Allolohophora hibernica, was communicated. This worm will be noticed in Mr. Friend's papers on the "Earthworms of Ireland" in the Irish Naturalist. December 12th. — Prof. Haddon and Dr. C. R. Browne, gave a paper on the " Ethnography of the Aran Islands," and Proe. Haddon a paper entitled " Studies in Irish Craniology— the Aran Islands." He will lay some of his results before the readers of the Irish Naturalist in an article shortly. A paper by REV. H. Friend described another new worm [Luiiibricus papil- losus) from Ireland. It was noticed in the Irish Naturalist for January. RoYAi, Dubinin Society. November i6th. — Prof. T. Johnson read a paper describing a new Irish alga, Pogotrichum hihernicum (see Irish Naturalist, vol. i., pp., 5 and 6). He considers it possible that this plant may however prove identical with Litosiphon alliarice, Mr. G. H. Carpenter read a supplementary report on Pycnogonida from Torres Straits, collected by Prof. Haddon. December 20th. — Prof. W. J. Soi.i,as read a paper " On Pitchstone and Andesite from Tertiary Dykes in Donegal." He considers these dykes of Tertiary age, as they are similar to those of Arran. The pitchstone consists of a glass containing crystals of augite (which become smaller towards the edge of the dyke) and crystallites of an unknown mineral. The augite-andesite is crowded with glass. The same author also gave a paper on the " Variolite and Associated Igneous Rocks of Roundwood, Co. Wicklow." This is a new locality for the interesting rock variolite. It has undergone great Assuring, believed to be due to the diminution of volume caused by the formation of epidote. The alteration of augite into chlorite in volcanic rocks is discussed ; this change leads to expansion and the liberation of quartz, and thus gives rise to the association of chlorite with quartz so often observed in veins. Mr. H. H. Dixon read a paper "On the Germination of Seedlings in the absence of Bacteria." Seeds whose outer coats had been sterilized did not decay after growth had ceased, but remained apparently un- changed for more than twenty months. Prof. Haddon and Miss ShackIvETOn contributed " Descriptions of new species of Actiniae from Torres Straits." NOTKS. BOTANY. PHANEROGAMS. Ranunculus petiolaris in Ireland. — in t\\e Journal of Botany ior December, Rev. E. S. Marshall writes that a specimen of buttercup in the British Museum, collected on the shore of Lough Bofin, Drumod, Co. Leitrim, on 30th May, 1871, by Mr. Dyer, appears to belong to this new species, though it approaches li. flammula somewhat closely. Irish botanists will do well to be on the look-out for this plant, which very possibly occurs in Ireland. Notes. c ^ New Hawkwceds from Ireland, in tlic Jaunud of JiuUnn, for September, Mr. F. J. Hanbury, F.L.vS., describes as a new species-//// m- cium hihcrnicum, Hanb. — an interesting plant found by Mr. II. C. Hart first in the Mourne mountains, and subsequently in Donegid, an(b at tlic time, referred to a form of //. arycntuvi. 11. ccnnlhifonnr, Hackli., var. Iiartii, Hanb., is a new variety found by the same energetic botanist on Slieve League, Co. Donegal, and published in Journal of Botany for June, 1892. In the December number of the same journal, Mr. Hanbury de- scribes as a new variety—//, fric^il, Htn., var. stnrartii, Hanb.- a plant obtained by Messrs. Stewart and Praeger atTollymore Park, and Hilltown, Co. Down; this form is enumerated in their paper on the Botany of the INIourne mountains, recently read before the Royal Irish Academy, as //. fricsii, var. latifolmm, to which it was at first referred by Mr. Hanbury. The Flora of Rathlin Island.— In 18S4 Mr. S. A. vStewart submitted to the Royal Irish Academy a report on the botany of this island, which lies several miles off the coast of Co. Antrim, and is an outlier of the basaltic plateau of the north-east of Ireland. Previous lists of the Rathlin flora had been published by Dr. Marshall {Trans, 11.1. A., 1837) and Miss Gage {Nat. Hist, lievieiv, 1870), both being more or less incom- plete. Perhaps the most important point in Mr, vStewart's report, which in- cluded 318 flowering plants and higher crytogams, was a negative result — the contradiction of Miss Gage's record of Eriocaulon scptangularc. In 1889 I added a few plants to Mr. Stewart's list as the result of a three-days' visit to the island in the spring of that year {Proc. B.N.F.C., 1889-90). They were Brassica campcstris, Baphanus raphanistrum, Droscra rotundifolia llonkencja pcploidcs, Gerastium tetrandrum, AUhcviilla arvensis, Buhus idceus, Scandix pectcn- veneris, Aster tripoUum, Veronica serpyllifolia, Fopulus tremula, Luzula viaxima, Sciipus cccspitosus, Carex prcccox, Equisetuvi arvense, E. nuiximum, Lastrca dilatata, Botrychium lunaria, as w'ell as eight others which had certainly been intentionally or accidently introduced. Three other plants — Veronica scutcllata, Beta maritima, and Scilla rerna — which were noted in Miss Gage's list, but not observed by Mr. Stewart, I refound on the island. Last spring a second visit to Rathlin resulted in a few further additions to its flora — Torilis nodosa, * Veronica huxhaumii, V. Jialerifolia, Scirpus lacustris, and Carex disticha. My friend Mr. Stewart has long been of opinion that the Tree Mallow, Bavatera arborca, is an original native of our maritime rocks, and on my second visit to Rathlin I obtained important confirmation of this point. The western and north-western portion of the island is fringed with huge cliffs topped by uncultivated and unin- habited heaths. Several isolated sea-stacks rise out of the water at a distance of some hundreds of feet from the shore. On one of these, a lofty rock called Stackaniskan, about a hundred feet in height, our guide — Paddy Morrison, the professional cliff-climber of Rathlin— pointed out to me a large clump of a tall plant growing in an inaccessible situation near the summit, which, he said, had " a wee pink flower, grew nowhere else on the island, and produced a seed on which the sea-birds fed"— the laststatementbeingpromptly contradicted by hisbrother-in-law, who accompanied us. With the aid of a glass, I made out the mysterious plant to be undoubtedly Lavatcra, and I had no doubt in my own mind that it was perfectly indigenous there, as I do not see how it can have possibly been introduced to such a station— unless the sea-birds carried it ! It grows sparingly also on the cliffs of the island, but I did not observe it in any cottage gardens in Rathlin.— R. Li^oyd Pr.\EGER. ZOOLOGY. INSECTS. Coleoptera at Ardara, Co. Donegal.— I was at Ardara from July 6th till August 12th. I found it a fairly-good locality for Coleoptera There is great diversity of surface ; mountain, lowland, estuary-shore, and 54 The Irish Naturalist. coast-saudhills. The last-named locality proved about the best, but as it entailed a ten-mile walk, I could not visit it as often as I could have wished. The following are my captures : — Carahus dathratus, a pair on mountain among cut turf; C. catenn/atus, common on mountain ; C granu- latus, a handsome green form ; Nehna gyUenhaUi, N. brevicolUs, Nottophilus higuttatus, N. substriatits, N.palustris, N. aquaticus, Elaphrus cupreus, E. riparius. These Elaphri I got on the estuary-shore and on the sandhills, but they were not plentiful, and none appeared on the edges of the lakes, which is their usual locality here. Harpalus latus, H. ceneus, Pterostichus madidus, Pt. versicolor, Pt. minor, Pt. gracilis, Pt. strenuus, Pt. vulgaris, Pt. nigrita, Pt. striola, Pt. vitreus. The last-mentioned occurred freely on the mountain, under stones and bits of turf. Amara pleheia, under stones on the estuary- shore and on mountain; A. aulica, A. communis, Anchomenus albipes, A. jyarumpunctatus, A. gracilipes, I only obtained one specimen of this rare Anchomenus under stones on the estuary-shore. Bembidium ati ocoeruleum, B. mannerheimi, B. bipunctatum, B. pallidipenne, of this I took a few on the sandhills when looking for Bledii. On the mountain I took a single specimen of a Bembidium, which appeared to me most to resemble B. schuppeli ; but Canon Fowler, to whom I referred it, considers that it is not that, though near it. Trechus minutus, T. rubens, a single specimen on the estuary-shore ; Loricera pilicornis, Olisthopus rotundatus, Clivinafossor. I had hoped to get some JJyschirii on the sandhills with the Bledii, but found them very scarce, and only succeeded in obtaining a few D. politus. Calathus cisteloides, C. micropterus, C. fuscus ; the latter two on the sandhills at roots of Ammophila. The Halipli were represented only by the two common species H. riificollis, and H. lineatocollis. Pools and lakes on the mountains produced a good many Hydradephaga, but I was unable to find Dytiscus lapponicus, which was taken in Donegal many years ago by Mr. Somerville. The following are those I took : — Hydroporus lepidus, H. litu- ratus, H. puhescens, H. morio, H. nigrita, H. obscurus, H. erythrocephalus, H. gyllenhalii, H. palustris, Agabus bipustulatus, A. sturmi, Rhantus exoletus, Dy- tiscus marginalis, Acilius sulcatus, Gyrinus natator, G. minutus. This last was common on the mountain lakes. Sphaeridiwn scarabceoides, Hydrobius fuscipes. Anacckna limbata, A. globula, Helophorus oineipennis, Laccobius sinu- atus, Philhydrus melanocepl talus, I got a number of this species in a little pool choked up with Sphagnum on the mountain. Cyclonotum orbiculare, Cercyon Jlavipes, C. lateralis, C. unipunctatus , C. melanocephalus, C. hcemorrhoidalis, Megasternum boletophagum, Aleochara fuscipes, A. lanuginosa, Homalota vestita, H. analis, H. longicornis, H. atramentaria, H. aterrima, Tachinus rujipes, T. marginellus, T. laticoUis, Tachyporus nitidicollis, T. hypnorum, Quedius ductus, Q. tristis, Philonthus succicola, Ph. politus. Ph. varians, Ph. agilis. Ph. quisquili- arius. Ph. puella, Ocypus cupreus, 0. morio, Stenus juno, S. tarsalis, S. latijrons, Bledius arenarius, B. pallipes ; these were burrowing in the sandhills ; the latter was much the most numerous. Platystethus arenarius, Oxytelus laque- atus, 0. tetracarinatus, Homalium rivulare, Necrophorus ruspator, N. mortuorum, in a dead crow on the mountain ; Silpha rugosa, S. suln'otundata, Anisotoma cal- carata, Cercus rujilabris, By-achypterus pubescens, Meligethes viduatus, M. ceneus, Cytilus varius ; Coccinella \n-punctata, C. xi-punctata. ; both plentiful on the sandhills. Geotrupes stercorarius; I was much disappointed at meeting with no other exponent of this family, for I fully expected to get G. vemalis on the sandhills. Aphodius rujipes, A. Jimetarius, A. depressus, with red elytra; A. foitidus, A. ater, A. rufescens, common and varying a good deal in colour A. lapponum, with red elytra; dead specimens of Anomala frischii were fre- quent on the sandhills, but I did not meet with it alive. Serica brunnea was of course abundant on the sandhills. Athous hoemorrhoidalis, A. niger, a single specimen in the Rectory grounds. Agriotes obscurus, Cryptohypnus riparius, C. dermestoides, on estuary-shore, under stones. Corymbites cupreus, Adrastus limbutus, Telephorus bicolor, Rhagonycha fulva, Anobixnn domesticum, Donacia sericea, 1). discolor, Panz. (comari, Suffr.), at Killystewart Lough, which is about 300 feet above sea-level. Chrysomcla stajjhylca, Phocdon turn- ididum, Crcpidodera transversa, Longitarsus lurichis, L. jacobccce, Wat. ; L. su- ■ turalis, L. Icevis, Cyp)hon variabilis, Helodes minuta, Apian bohemanni, A. apri- Notes. 55 cans, A. vicice, A. flavimamcm, A. luti, A. crucntattivi, A. violamim • Otior- rhynchus sulcatus, A. atroaptcriis ; Philopedon cxamtus, a larjali(stris. Lapsana communis. Hypochoeris radicata. Leontodon taraxacum. L. autumnale. Sonchus oleraceus. S. asper. S. arvensis. Crepis virens. Hieracium pilosella. Calluna erica. Erica tetrcdix. E. cinerea. Vaccinium myrtillus. Ilex aquifolium. Eraxinus excelsior. ErytJiroea centaurium. Menyanthes trifoliata. Convolvulus sepium. Symphytum officinale. Myosotis palustris. M. ccespitosa. M. arvensis. M. versicolor. Digitalis imrpurea. * Linaria cymbalaria. L. vidgaris. iScrophularia nodosa. Pedicnlaris palustris. P. sylvatica. Rhinanth as oris tu-galh . Bartsia odontites. Euphrasia officinalis, Veronica scutellata. V. anagaltis. V beccabunga, V. chainoidris. V, officinalis. V. serpyllifolia, V. arvensis. V. polita. The Flora of Counly .lrina<^Ii. 6i V. Iiederi J'olid. Mf.nllut aqiuUica. M. saliva. M. arvensis. Lycojtus eurnpa^Hs. Prunella ridgnns. Nejieta glcchoma. Lainiuin ])urpuretim. Galeopsis tetra/n'f. Stachys sylvatica. S. palustris. Tcucrium scorodonia, Ajuga rep tans. Pinguiada vulgaris. Utricularia minor. Primula vulgaris. Lgs imach ia v u hja i -is. L. ncmorum. Anagallis arvensis. A. tcnclla. Plantago lanccolata. P. major. Littorclla lacustris. Chenopodiu7)i album. Atriplcx august ij'olia. A. hastata. Ilunicx conglomcraius. R. sanguineus var. viri- dis. R. obtus if alius. R. crisjnis. R. acctosa. R. acetoscUa. Polygonum amphibium. P. pcrsicaria. P. hydropipcr. P. aviculare. P. convolvulus. EnqKirum nigrum. Euphorbia helcscopia. E. pcplus. E. cxigua. Callitriche verna. C. stagnalis. C. hamulata. Urtica uren. U. dioica. Salix pcntaiulra. S. alba. S. 2ncrpurea. S. viminalis. S. smithiana. S. cinerea. S. aurita. S. caprea. Myrica gale. Bchda ghdinosa. Alnus ghdinosa. Qucrcus robur. Corylu^ aoclldna. *Elodca canadnviis. Orchis mascula. 0. macidata. 0. i)u:arnala. Habenaria chloraidha. Listcra ovaia. Iris 2^scudacorus. Alisma plantago. A. ranunculoidcs. Triglochin palustrc. Allium ursinuni. Endymioii ntdans. Narthccium ossafragum. Juncus effusus. J. conglomcratus. J. acidijlorus. J. lamprocarjncs. J. supinus. J. squarrosus. J. bufonius. Luzula maxima. L. vernalis. L. campestris. L. erccta. Typha latifolia. Sparganiurn 7-amosum . S. simplex. Arum macidatum. Lemna trisidca. L. oninor. Potamogeton nutans . P. polygonifolius. P. perfoliatus. P. crispus. P. pusillus. Schcenus nigr icans. Elcocharis palustris. Scirpus lacustris. tS. cc6sp)itosus. S. setaccus. Erio2)horum vaginatum. E. polystachyoii. Carex 2ndicaris. C. remota. C. cchinata. C. leporina. C. goodenovii. C. panicca. ' C. 2)rcecox. C. pilulifera. C. glauca. C. flava. C. binervis. C. sylvatica. G. hirta. C. rostrata. 0. vcsicaria. Phalaris aruiidinnfai. A ntlitudnthuiii otlunUuia. Phlcuni praUutsc. Alojhxuriui 2>rrat€nsis. Glyccria jluHans. Cynosurus cristidu.i. Uactylus glomcrata. Festuca sciuroidcs. F. ovimi. F. rubra. F. gigantea. F gigantca var. trifiora. F. arundinacca. F. 2>i'(^tensis. Bronius as2)cr. B. mollis. Brachypodium sylvali- cum. Triticum rcpcns. Lolium 2)crenne. Equisctum arvcnsc. E. maximum. E. sylvaticum. E. limosum. E. limosum var. Jluoiatilc. E. palustrc. Polypodium vulgarc. Lastrea Jilix-mas. L. dilatata. Polystichum angularc. Athyrium fiUx-fonn ina. Asplcnium adiantum- nigrum. A. trichomanes. A. rida-muraria. ScoloiKudriuni vulgnrc. Blechnum spiaud. Ptcris aquilinu. In the annotated list of rarer plants which follows, the dis- tribution of species in the county is shown by reference to 62 The Irish Naturalist. three vice-counties — North, Mid., and South (N., M., and S.). North Armagh here means the district b'ing north of a line drawn through Middletown and Richhill, and includes the Plio- cene, New Red, Basaltic, and I^imestone areas. Mid. Armagh comprises the Silurian area as far south as a line joining Newtownhamilton and Goraghwood: and South Armagh comprises the Granite mountain district of the south-east, and the southern portion of the Silurians. These vice-counties, as well as the areas occupied by the various geological for- mations, are shown on the sketch-map of the county (Pi,ATK 2). The signs used to denote the claims of species to rank as natives are those usually employed — f, possibly introduced ; % probably introduced ; ^', certainly introduced . Square brackets are used for species which have occurred merely as casuals or waifs, and not in any way established ; round brackets for plants which have been recorded, but whose presence in the county is doubtful. The sign ! means that I have seen the plant in question growing in the locality described by the observer whose name is given ; the abbreviation "spec. !" signifies that I have examined a specimen from the station mentioned. The following contractions are used for authorities: — Cootcs Armagh— Sir C. Coote's " Statistical Survey of the County of Armagh," 1804. Flor. Hib.—Ma.ckay's "Flora Hibernica," 1836. More N.H.R. — A, G. More, " Localities for some plants observed in Ireland," Nat. Hist. Rcvicio, i860. Flor. Z7Zs^.— Dickie's " Flora of Ulster," 1864. Cyh. Hib.— Moore and More's " Cybele Hibernica," 1866. B.N.F.O. — Annual Reports and Proceedings of the Belfast Natu- ralists' Field Club, 1863-92. Herh. N. H. P. S. — Herbarium of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. G. E. — Rev. George Robinson, M.A., Armagh. TF. F. /.—Rev. W. F. Johnston, M.A., Armagh. H. W. X.— Rev. H. W. Lett, M.A., Loughbrickland, Co. Down. >S'. A. ^'.—Samuel A. Stewart, F.B.S.E:, Belfast. R. LI. P.— R. Lloyd Praeger. My best thanks are due to Mr. James Groves, F.Iy.S., for ex- amining and naming my series of CharacciE ; to Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, F.I^.S., who did the same with the Rubi\ to Mr. Arthur Bennett, F.Iy.S., who went through my pond- weeds and Bactrachian Ra^ttmaili, as well as a number of other critical plants ; and to the several local gentlemen mentioned above, to whom I am indebted for valuable and willing assistance. (TO BE CONTINUED.) [ 63 ] THE SIUCIFIBD WOOD OF LOUGH xXlvAC.II. BY WII.UAM SWANvSTON, K.G.S. " Lough Neagh hones ! Lough Neagh hones ! You put them in sticks, and you take them out sIoiks. Old Pedlar a Cnj. IrKLANd is rich in legendary lore, there being scarce a river or lake throughout its green expanse which has not associated with it some wierd tale; many of these relate to their origin, while others refer, perhaps, to the virtues of their sparkling waters. It is no wonder, then, that Lough Neagh — the largest sheet of fresh w^ater in the country — should have its strange stories. We have all heard how the mythical giant scooped the hollow which now holds the waters of the louirh, and dropping the material in the Irish Sea, formed the Isle of Man. The legend which Moore has embalmed in verse points to a different source, indicative of inundation or sub- sidence of the area, evidence of which the strolling fisherman is credited with seeing : "The round towers of other days In the waves beneath him shining." The virtue attributed to the waters of Lough Neagh of turn- ing wood into stone, dates from an early period, and it seems strange that, while those legends referring to the lake's origin are abandoned in this age of progress, there are still many w^ho would hesitate to pronounce the petrifying virtue of its w^aters a myth. Looking into the question of the origin of the Lough Neagh petrified wood, it is astonishing how many references have incidentally been made to it; in most cases the subject being touched cautiously, writers evidently not wishing to commit themselves to a decided opinion regarding it. It has been thought that a brief resume of these, bringing the subject in a measure up to date, would not be inappro- priate to the pages of The Irish Naturalist. First, ho^vever, we must briefly glance at the geological features of the district. Stretching along the southern and south-western shores of the lake, attaining an area of i8o square miles, and a thickness of several hundred feet, is a series of greyish and whitish clays, resembling pipe-clays. Boulder clay and soil are spread over their surface. To the westward these clays overlie rocks of Secondary and Primary B 64 The Irish Naturalist. age; to the eastward they are said to repose on Tertiary basalts. These last extend over the adjoining counties of Antrim and lyondonderry in vast level sheets, attaining a total thickness of some 1,200 feet, and containing between their successive lava-flows, deposits of earthy iron-ore with plant-remains, and occasional thin bands of lignite. The petrified or silicified w^ood has been found over the whole of the area occupied by these whitish clays which we have described, and fragments of it occur in boulder-drifts and other local Pleistocene deposits over a much larger area; but along the south-eastern margins of I^ough Neagh especially have these trunks and branches of wood, turned into hard flinty rock, been found. lyCt us now see what writers on Ireland and Irish geology have to say about the silicified wood. As early as the ninth century a writer states as follows: — "There is another lough that hardens wood into stone. Men cleave the wood and when they have fashioned it they cast it into the lough, where it lies to the beginning of the year, and at the beginning of the year it is found to be stone, and the lough is called Lough Bchach " (an early name for Lough Neagh). In a famous but somewhat rare book ''Ireland's Natural History," by Arnold Boate, dated about 1650, there is a section of a chapter devoted to this subject. In section 7, chapter 9, he writes: — " Before we make an end of this chapter we must say something of the wonderful property which generally is ascribed to Lough Neaugh, of turning wood into stone ; whereunto some do add, to double the won- der, that the wood is turned not only into stone but into iron ; and that a branch or pole being stuck into the ground, somewhere by the side where it is not too deep, after a certain space of time one shall find that peece of the stick which stuck in the ground turned into iron, and the middle, so far as it was in the water, into stone, the upper end which remained above the water keeping its former nature. But this part of the history I believe to be a fable." Harris, in his description of the Co. Down, 1744, goes very fully into this matter. After treating of the healing qualities of its waters, he writes: — " The second property ascribed to this Lake — viz., of petrifying and converting Wood into Stone, challenges some Attention ; and the more so, as Antiquity and universal Consent have conspired to give it this Quality. But Fable has been fruitful in adding a remarkable Particular to this Property ascribed to the Lough— viz.. That the Wood is turned partly into Stone and partly into Iron." The Silicificd Wood of Loiii>h Ncuirh. 65 Harris does not seem to have been convinced of this virlne said to be possessed by the water or soil of the lon^di, and in an ingenious manner tries to set it aside. After enunieratinK the arguments given in support of the belief, he thus reviews them : — "To the First We Answer, *It is now a determined point amon^ Natu- ralists, that Stones Vegetate as well as Plants ; it seems not impossible that these may be peculiar Stones, which thouj,di in the manner of their Growth they may resemble Wood, and especially Holly, yet are not from that Resemblance necessarily to be admitted such, any more than those Representations of the Shells of Cockles, Oysters, and Escalops, some forming and some formed, frequently observed in Ume-stone in the Peak of Derbyshire, are to be supposed ever to have been real Shells, or those exact Representations of Branches, of a Lion couchant, of a human Corps laid out; nay of several artificial Things, as Chairs, a Set of Organs, and innumerable other Sportings of Nature in the vegetating Lime- stone, are to be imagined to have ever been the real things they resemble." Many other such quaint quotations might be given, but no solid ground of investigation is touched till the publication, in 1 75 1, of Dr. Barton's famous lecture to the Royal Society on "The Petrifications, Gems, Crystals, and Sanative Qualities of lyOUgh Neagh." The learned, but very wordy Doctor quotes all that had been previously written on the subject; but his strong point is original research, and the collection of an extraordinary series of specimens which he describes in his work most minutely. The reader wdll kindly excuse my in- flicting upon him a few of the Doctor's paragraphs. Turning to his third lecture on metamorphoses, he describes a specimen upon which he had a I^atin inscription cut:— "This wonderful saxo-ligneous mass is extremely hard on the outside, emitting fire, on colHsion with steel, in great plenty. Yet has it wood, which is very soft, internally. . . . The weight of the specimen, before a small fragment was separated, was seven hundred pounds, being weighed at the public crane in a market town. "Specimen No. 2— A mass of wood and stone continuous is as much as two able men can lift in a frame whose joints are strengthened with iron. . . . It being the reverse of the former specimen— wood on the outside and stone within— it was necessary to frame it, that it might be fixed in so steady a manner as not to loose by friction the tender part of its substance which lay on the outside. Specimen No. 7— This stone is nearly twenty inches long and five broad ; one side is ground to a flat surface, is a firm black stone, and gives a knife a good edge; the other side is wood and may be cut by that knife in several places without spoiHng the edge. N.B.— There was a great quantity of wood whkh was broken off in the polishing." ^ 66 The Irish Naturalist. And so on I might quote from his descriptions of two hundred and seventy-one specimens. The point I wish specially to note in those I have quoted is, that \\\^y are part wood and part stone. Dr. Barton then describes minutely the locality — Ahaness, half a mile south of the mouth of the Glenavy river — where he found the petrifactions in the greatest abundance, remarking quaintly that: — "This place seeming to be the forge where these materials receive part of their form deserves a particular and accurate description ; because future reasoning concerning these productions must in a great measure depend upon it." : After a description of the surroundings, he says that : — "Upon digging a pit in this place (of which there are several made), the upper stratum of matter is red clay, three feet deep ; the second stratum is stiff blue clay, four feet deep ; the third stratum is a black wood lying in flakes, four feet deep ; the next stratum is clay, etc." In 1837, Dr. Scouler, of Dublin, was commissioned to ex- amine these deposits of clay and lignite, and did so most systematically, engaging men to bore and otherwise excavate for examples. The results of this survey is given in the Jourjial of the Geological Society of Irela7id, and the beds were in his opinion stated to be of Tertiary age,' and he further adds that " to Barton therefore is due the merit of being first to ascertain the relation of the Silicified Wood to the Lignites." Griffith wrote fully on these clays and lignites, and pointed out the probability of silicified wood found in the drift as having been derived from these beds.^ Portlock, in 18.43, states — "In respect to the connection of the Basalts and Silicified Wood more evidence is necessary."3 Two early members of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, in 1869, read a valuable joint paper before the Geological Society of London, on the *' Iron Ores associated with the Basalts of the North-east of Ireland." The iron nodules with plant-remains, found on the lough shores, are referred to, and considered identical in age with the then only known leaf- beds of Ballypallady, and all are grouped as of Miocene age. (to BB CONCIvUDKD.) ^ Dublin Geological Journal, vol. i., part 3. ^ Griffith — Second Report of Railway Commission, p. 22, ^ Keport of the Geology of Londonderry, 1843, page 76. [ 67 ] AMONG THE BIRDS ON STRANGFORD LOUGH. BY ROBERT PATTERSON. STRANGFORD LouGH anciently I,ough Cuan, is an arm of tlic sea some twenty-five miles in length by fonr in breadth, sitn- ated in Co. Down. It is generally shallow, and scattered over its surface are a large number of small islands— 366, so say the country-folk ; one for every day of the year and two for Easter Sunday. According to the " Annals of the Four Masters," Lough Cuan was formed in the year of the world 2546 (1654 B.C.) when there occurred ''an inundation of the sea over the land at Brena, which was the seventh lake- eruption that occurred in the time of Parthalon, and this is named lyOch Cuan ;" but the geologist sees in the low rounded hills of polished and ice-ground rocks that fringe the lough- shores, and in other local evidences of intense glaciation, a different origin of this shallow, island-studded inland sea. Strangford Lough is a capital place for the naturalist in sum- mer, as it is for the sportsman in winter. In the summer of 1890 I spent two daj^s there with my cousin, Mr R. Lloyd Praeger, and our friend Mr. A. J. Collins, and the present sketch is compiled from our note books ; our chief object was to investigate the breeding birds of the Lough. We started on June 21st in an early train to Newtownards, armed with provisions for two days, extra rugs, to enable us to sleep on the islands if weather was vSuitable, boxes, vas- culums, field glasses, etc. We breakfasted at Newtownards, and drove to Cunningburn, a small village about three miles down the lough, where we found our boatman, William Armour, waiting for us, and were on the water by 11 o'clock. Just as we started a Sheldrake {Tadorna cornutd) flew past at some little distance. On asking the boatman if Sheldrakes bred there, he replied that he believed they did, but lower down the lough. He stated that a pair or two were always to be seen in summer, and that he could get me one at any time, which statement was amply proved about a week later by the arrival in Belfast of a fine male Sheldrake in breeding plumage, and quite uninjured. The weather looked unsettled, and rain began to fall as we sailed down to Long Island and Boretree Island. As we approached, clouds of Terns rose from tlie 68 The Irish Naturalist. islands and circled round us, keeping up a continual shrieking that was almost deafening. On landing, we found great quantities of Terns' eggs, spotted with dark brown and black, lying in twos and threes in slightly- formed hollows in the grass, seaweed, or pebbles (Pi,ATK 3.)- "^^^ seaweed fringe which marked last spring tides seemed an especially favoured place. From among the hundreds of eggs of both Arctic and Common Terns {S. macrura and 6". fiuviatilis) which lay scat- tered over the ground, we selected a few for our cabinets, and then beat the tall groves of Alexanders f Smyr?iiumJ with which the islands were covered, drenched with recent showers, in the hope of getting Mergansers', but without result. A tremendous shower now came on, which no waterproofs could keep out, and which left us and our food pretty well soaked. But we searched through it all, and found two clutches of Ringed Plovers' f^gialitis hiaticula) . The nest and eggs of the Ringed Plover, or " Dotterel" as it is called in the north of Ireland, are as pretty as the birds themselves. The nest con- sists simply of a neatly formed hollow in the dry shingle, often containing a few bright yellow shells (Littori7ia obtusata), laid there perhaps to draw attention away from the eggs. These latter are buff-coloured, speckled with black, and as they lie in the nest with the four pointed ends neatly set together, the general effect is very pleasing. Salt Island was searched in vain, and we sailed on to Gab- bock Island, near which we had a very narrow escape from being upset. During a momentary lull in the westerly wind which prevailed all day, a most extraordinary little puff came from the eastward, without the slightest warning, causing the boat to suddenly heel over, and one of our party found himself unexpectedly vsitting in the sea ; but the good management of our boatman saved us from a capsize, and after a hearty laugh at the expense of the wet and unfortunate third, we safely reached Gabbock. Here we camped and had lunch ; the stony shores of the island 3delded more nests of Terns and Ringed Plovers. We sailed on to I^ong and lyittle Sheelah, which are in close proximity. And here the Terns' eggs were a sight ! We had to pick our way among them most carefully, or we would frequently have tramped on them. They lay scattered in the utmost profusion over shingle, grass, and the flotsam and jetsam that fringed high- water mark, as if they Amo7ig the Birds on Sfmjigford Lougli. 69 had been sown broadcast over the islet. As the cloud of Terns, with much screaming and fluttering, settled down on the island after we had left it, we could not help wondering w^hether each bird was able to identify its own eggs among the hundreds that lay around, or whether each simply annexed the first clutch it came upon. On lyittle Sheelah we found our first Oystercatcher's nest ( Hoimatop2is ostralegiis). Like the Ringed Plover's, tlie nest was a slight hollow scraped in the shingle ; the eggs are of a duller hue than the Ringed Plover's, are spotted and streaked all over with dark brown and black, and are much larger. The parent birds, whose brilliant black and white plumage, and scarlet legs and beak render the Oystercatcher one of the most showy birds of the seashore, were flying uneasily around. Then away south to Bird Island, which however belied its name, as the only eggs that we saw on the island were a clutch of Ringed Plover. It was now getting late, and repeated heavy showers had made us very wet, so we stood away for the point of Mahee Island, on the western side of the I^ough, and landed on a second Bird Island close by. When we drew near, one Red- breasted Merganser {M. serrator), nine Oystercatchers, and five Redshanks {Totanus calidris) rose off the island, but we only came upon some broken Merganser's eggs in a clump of brambles — evidently last year's eggs— and a broken Oyster- catcher's ^%%, Cold and hungry, we made for Mahee, and claimed hospitality for the night at Stewart's farm, where we were kindly received. We got our wet things out of the boat and soon had them drying at a huge fire in the kitchen. With the help of our obliging hostess, we got out our provisions and had a great tea— Mrs. Stewart being evidently much im- pressed by the extent of our appetites. Three collie dogs, each answering to the name of ''Sheelah," that had been rather suspicions of us at first, we pacified with huge lumps of tinned meat. After a chat with our host, and writing our notes, we three turned into one small bed— the only one avail- able—and tried to sleep, but as one of us had put over him a rug which he found in a corner of the room, and which we discovered in the morning belonged to the dogs, the result was not quite as satisfactory as could have been desired. But those who did sleep dreamt of islands where the ground was paved yo The Irish Nahiralist. with eggvS, and the air filled with the musical din of a thousand feathery things that dashed around like snowflakes in the eddy of a winter's gale. Our boatman, fearing a shift of wind, stayed out in the boat all night, and slept soundly, with the hard boards for a bed and the sail for a blanket. The following morning we were up at half-past six, and after a snack of bread and a glass of warm new milk, forced a few shillings on our unwilling host, and were on the water by seven. The weather was still gloomy, but looking rather better. We ran southward and landed on Calf Island, which was barren. Then on to Sketrick Island, where we examined the ruins of the old castle, on the top of which we stood at eight o'clock, seriously disturbing the peace of a colony of Jackdaws established in the ruins. Though a large portion of the landward wall has fallen outwards, the massive square keep still stands, frowning in picturesque decay over the causeway which connects the island with the shore. How much more peaceful was the scene on which we gazed from its moSvSy rampart that summer's morning, than that which the O'Neill saw four hundred years ago, when having marched with his army into Clannaboy to assist his fellow chief McQuillan, he took and plundered the castle of Sgath Deirg (Sketrick), and handed it over to the keeping of his ally. We next visited Trasnagh Island, Craigaveagh Rock, Roe Island, and Partan Island. On the latter we had good fortune, finding an Oystercatcher's, some Terns' among the seaweed, and a Merganser's with seven eggs, built among long grass and nettles at the foot of the wall of a ruined cottage. We saw the beaten track among the grass, and soon came upon a mass of down and bents ; upon parting the down the beautiful drab- coloured eggs were found underneath. We could not help admiring the clever way they were concealed ; the female was ;5een in the sea a short distance off. Then on to Darragh Island, where we landed about eleven, and had our breakfast. From this we tried Drummond Island, which was barren, as was also Great Minnis Island. Next visited Dunsey Rock, and another I^ong Sheelah, which yielded a few Terns', Oyster- catchers', and Ringed Plovers' nests, and then stood away to Black Rock, off Ringdufferin, where we found another Oyster- catcher's. On several of these islands we found numerous nests of Terns and Plovers, but the eggs had been taken. Among the Birds on S Iran g ford LouQ^h. 7T Now we turned northward again and sailed before a gentle breeze up Ringhaddy Sound, and landed under the trees below the ruined church, which crowns the hill above. Here dinner engaged our attention for some time, and when we were ready to start it was half-past six. The wind now completely died awa}^ and a steady rain came on. There was nothing for it but to make our belongings as weather-proof as possible, and pull all the way back ; so we set out on our long row of nine miles through the mist and rain, and against the tide, and slowdy came up through the islands, past the point of Mahee, where we could see our hospitable farmhouse, across the lough, and reached Cunningburn as darkness was setting in, at half- past nine. It was dead low water, and as we could not have been much w^etter, we just waded ashore as we were, carr}'ing our belongings on our backs. We left all we could in our boatman's cottage, and taking our bags and our precious eggs, set off at ten, and tramped back into Newtownards, where, to- wards midnight, we made night hideous with frantic efforts to awaken the people of the Ulster Hotel. A man in a .state of hilarious inebriation, who happily turned up, advised us to tr}- the lyondonderry Arms instead, where after a lengthened solo on the knocker, we effected an entrance, and lost no time in getting to bed. The following morning we returned ta Belfast by an early train. During our two days on the water, which, in spite of un- settled w^eather, were most interesting and enjoyable, we saw many Cormorants, Herons, Curlews, Green Plover and Black- headed Gulls, but I have no notes of any importance. The only eggs we found in addition to those already mentioned were one Rock Pipit's and one Land-rail's. The Rock Pipit's ^%% was lying among bare gravel, without a trace of nest ; the lyand-rail's w^as in a grove of Sviyrnium, also without nest ; the Ringed-plover's and Oystercatcher's, were, as before stated, among gravel, in a slight hollow, in which a few bright shells had been laid— some of the former were overhung by grass. We observed that all the Oystercatchers' eggs were laid at a point on the islands ; never in the middle of a straight stretch of shore. The Lesser Tern (S. vmizttaj, we did not see at all, although a close watch was kept; later on in the summer, however, I saw specimens which were procured on Strangford Lough. We made enquiries also about the Roseate Tern fS. dougalli), but without result. 72 The Irish Naturalist. By the kindness of my friend Mr, R. Welch, I am enabled to give the illustration (Pi^ate^ 3) which accompanies this paper. It is a photograph of the nest and eggs of a Tern (Arctic or Com- mon) on Mew Island, at the entrance of Belfast I^ough ; here the birds usually lay in slight hollows which they form in the short turf which covers the rocky surface of the island. THE MACRO-I.EPIDOPTKRA OF THE I.ONDONDERRY DISTRICT, BY D. C. CAMPBE^I,!,. {Conchided fro77i page 46.) GEOMETRY. Uropteryx sambucaria, Ivinn, — Rare. Mr. Milne has noticed that the conspicuous swallow-tail often falls a victim to bats, probably owing to its large size and pale yellow wings. This beautiful species was one of the prizes of our early collecting days. Epione apiciaria, Schiff. — Common at Ballynagard ; we took it on Ragwort. Rumia luteolata, Linn. — Very common. Wletrocampa margaritaria, Linn. — Common. Ellopia prosapiaria, Linn. — Local. Very common at Kilderry among Scotch firs. We found it very easily attracted by light. Selenia Itsilunaria, Esp. — Common. Odontoptera bidentata, Clerck > ^ Common. [ Crocallis eling^uaria, Lmn. Eugronia qucrcinaria, Hufn.— One or two specimens at Ballynagard. Himera pennarla, Linn. — A few specimens. Ptiig'alia pedaria, Fab. — Fairly common. Nyssia zonaria, SchifF. — In June, 1883, we discovered this interesting species near Ballycastle, Co. Antrim. Mr. Milne found the first larvae on the short grass on the wind-swept shore. We found the larvte very abundant and succeeded in rearing a large number. Their favourite food was Lofjus corniculatus. Amphidasys betularia, Linn. — Common. Cleora lichenaria, Hufn. — We took one perfect specimen and four or five larvae at Rathmullen. Boarmia repandata, Linn. — Common. Cnophos obscuraria, Hiib. — One specimen at the Giant's Causeway, Ccomctra vernaria, Hiib. — Rather rare. lodis lactcaria, Linn. — Common at Buncrana. Venusia camDrica, Curt. — One or two specimens at Innishowen. ) The Macro- Lcpidoptcra of the Londonderry Districf. Acldalla ditnidiata, Ilufn. \ A. bisetata, Ilufn. \ A. trigcminata, Haw. ' Comnu.n. A. aversata, I^inn. Cabera pusaria, Linn. ) r> *i. * o I Very common. C. exanthemata, Scop. ) ■' Halia vauaria, Linn. — Rare. Numeria pulveraria, Linn.— Buncrana. Scodiona beli^iaria, Linn. — Rare. Ematurga atomaria, Linn. — Common. Abraxas grossulariata, Linn. — Common. Lomaspilis marginata, Linn.— We have only foun.l it in rjiie locality — Kilderry, six miles from Derry. Hyberniarupicapraria, Hub. ) ■ - -n 1 ( Common. H. marginaria, Bork. ) H. defoliaria, Clerck — Fairly common. Cheimatobia brumata Linn.— Very common. Oporabia dilutata, Bork. — Common. O. f iligrammar'ia, Herr.-ScliafF. — We reared one specimen from larvie. This species was not included in Mr. Birchall's list. Larentia didymata, Linn. — Very common. L. multistrig-aria, Linn. — Distributed, but not abundant. L. caesiata, Lang — Common. L. salicata, Hiib. — Not common. L. viridaria, Fab, — Common. L. olivata, Bork.— Two specimens at Buncrana. Eminelesia alchemillata, Linn. } Common E. albulata, SchifF. > E. unifasciata, Haw. — One or two specimens. Eupithecia venosata, Fab. — Common on coast near Magilligan. E. pulchellata, Steph. ^ E. obIong:ata, Thunb. ) E. castigrata, Hub. j o m n. E. vulgrata, Haw. ' E. rectangulata, Linn. Kt 4^ _ ' ( Not common. E. virgaureata, Dbl. j Lobophora sexalisata, Hub.— A few specimens. L. carpinata, Bork. — Two specimens. Thera variata, Schiff.— Very common. Hypsi petes trifasciata, Bork. ) ^ ^ , r Common. H. sordidata, Fab. > IVIelanthia bicolorata, Hufn. ) IVI. ocellata, Linn. I Common. IW. albicillata, Linn. ^ lYIelanippe hastata, Linn.— One specimen. lYI. sociata, Bork. ) ^ / Common. IVI. montanata, Bork. ) IVI. grallata, Hub. — Magilligan, rather rare. 74 '^I^Jic hish Naturalist, Melanippe fluctuata, Linn. — Common. Anticlea badiata, Hiib. — Not common. Co rem i a munitata, Hiib.— Common, but local. C. ferrtigata, Clerck | Common. C. unidentarla, Haw. ) Camptogramma )t>ilincata, Linn.— Common. C. f luviata, Hiib.- -One male specimen at Cushendall, on Antrim coast. Phibalapteryx vittata, Bork.— Rare. Triphosa dubitata, Linn.— Two specimens. Cidaria sitcrata, Hufn.— One specimen at ivy. C, miata, Linn. — Not common. C. corylata, Tliunb. — A few were taken by a friend in Co. Derry. C. truncata, Hufn. ^ C. iiYimanata, Haw. > Common. C, sufTumata, Haw. 5 C. silaceata, Hiib. — Strabane. C. prunata, Linn. j Common. C. tcstata, Linn. ) C. populata, Linn. — Abundant on Innisliowen mountains. C. fulvata, Forst.— Common. C. dotata, Linn. — Common at Magilligan. Pelurga comitata, Linn. — Common. Eubolia limitata, Scop. — Common. E. plumlbaria, Fab. — Two or three specimens. Anaitis plagiata, Linn. — Common. Chesias spartiata, Fues.— Common. Tanagra atrata, Linn. — One specimen. Mr. Milne has seen it in numbers in Co. Tyrone. CORRIGENDA. Choerocampa cipcnor, L. should be added to the Sphinges (p. 21). We took a few specimens near Derry. Mr. Kane has pointed out to me that Hadena dissijnilis was inserted by error among the Noctuae (p. 46). This species should have therefore been omitted. Mr. Leebody draws my attention to the fact that Arle??iisia cauipcstris (mentioned as the food-plant of Hdiothis sciitosa) does not grow at Buncrana ; it is ^. vulgaris which occurs there. Our list contains but 261 species and is, of course, very in- complete. If any of our Irish naturalists will investigate the I^epidoptera of the district about I^ough Swilly and I^ough Foyle, I feel sure he will be amply rewarded. The great stretch of sandhills w^hich runs almost across the mouth of lyough Foyle, at Magilligan, provides a splendid field for the naturalist, be he entomologist, botanist, or conchologist. If one wants a day of pure pleasure, let him choose a fine warm day in June or July, and stroll through the Magilligan valleys, where the exquisite grass of Parnassus carpets the ground, and the pearly white wild rose blooms close beside the beach where the Atlantic waves break unceasingly. [ 75 I NOTES ON THE FLORA OF Tlllv ARAN ISLANDS. BY NATHANIlvU COI.GAN. Smai,l insular areas have always had a peculiar attraction for students of Natural History, perhaps for this reason, anions other and weightier ones, that they present to the investi^^ator a field of inquiry clearly defined by unmistakable natural boundaries, and not so extended as to discourage minute and thoroughgoing examination. Just such an area is to be found in Galway Bay, in the group of three limestone islands known as the South Isles of Aran, a group which amongst botanists, at least, has made its attractions felt from an early period. The first investigator to visit the islands was Dr. Edward Lhwyd, that intrepid explorer of the Irish flora, who in his account of his plant-hunting " On the Mountains of Keri," in the year 1700, tells us how his scientific curiosity was "frustrated by the Tories."' To Lhwyd we owe the earliest record of the Maiden-Hair Fern in the Arans. A century later (1805), we find Dr. Mackay, author of the " Flora Hibernica," visiting the group and discovering 'Cii^x^^h.^ Hdianthcmum camtm; and after him, at more or less length}' intervals, comes a succession of botanists down to Mr. H. C. Hart, who made a careful surv^ey of the islands in the summer of 1869. Mr. Hart's results were published in 1875 in the form of a detailed flora carr^'ing up the number of species for the Arans from 159, recorded by Dr. E. P. Wright in 1866, to a total of 372. Finally, in 1S90, two English botanists, Messrs. J. E. Nowers and James G. Wells, visiting the islands at a season two months earlier than Mr. Hart, succeeded in adding no less than 42 species to his total. It will thus be seen that no great extension of the number of Aran species was to be looked for from further examination of the group ; and it was with no such expectation I visited the islands towards the end of last May (1892). My object was merely to make acquaintance with the peculiar Aran species, to re-discover, if possible, the long derelict Ajuga pyramidalis, one of the rarest of Irish plants, first found in Araumoie by 1 FUl. Trails., vol. xxvii., 1712. It need hardly be said that the 1 ones here referred to professed no definite pohtical principles, but were mere footpads who found in the fastnesses of the Kerry Highlands a favour- able field for brigandage. 76 The Irish Naturalist. Mr. David Moore in 1854, ^^^ to search for Neoti?iea intada, which had just been discovered in a new station on the neigh- bouring limestone of the Co. Clare, and in the opinion of my friend, Mr. A. G. More, was extremely likely to re-appear on the similar formation of the Arans. It was mid-day on the 25th May when I landed at Kilronan, in Aranmore, after a passage of three hours and a half by steamer from Galway ; and about mid-day on the following Monday I returned to the mainland, taking advantage of a favourable wind to cross by hooker from Inisheer, or South Island, to the nearest point of the lar-Connaught coast at Inverin. This stay of five days was insufficient for anything more than a hasty survey of the islands ; for short as the dis- tances are — Aranmore, the largest of the group, being only nine miles long with an average breadth of a mile-and-a-half — progression, off the highways, is made extremely slow and extremely trying to the temper and the muscles by the extra- ordinary wealth of dry stone walls which chequer the surface of the country. Bach of these walls is a triumph of equilibration, and except in parts of the South Island, where passages wide enough for a man but too narrow for a sheep are occasionally left, no breach can be found in these crazy ramparts. You can only pass from one field to another, to dignify by the name of field the areas of naked and crevassed limestone covering almost three-fourths of the surface, by climbing what is almost impossible to climb without imminent risk of bruised shins or heels. My first day's work amongst these stone dikes was so tedious and so disheartening that on the following days I engaged a stout native boy who proved very useful, rather as a dilapidator than as a guide and porter. He carried my camera and vasculum, and cheerfully threw down with a push of his shoulder any uncommonly difficult or dan- gerous wall that happened to lie in our path. I should have hesitated to do this for myself ; but the young islander, with an adroit touch of flattery, gave me to understand that though the natives would be loath to take such a short method with the walls for their own convenience, they would never dream of objecting to its use on behalf of a distinguished stranger. By this means I was enabled to examine a large part of the surface of the islands in my short stay. During the first day's ramble in Aranmore the prevalence of Notes on the Flora of the Aran Islands. 77 markedly limestone species such as Riibia peregrina, Aspcrula cynanchica, Galinni sylvestre, Poterium sanirnisorba, Asptcnunn trichomanes, and ^. ruta-nmraria made itself apparent. At the same time I was struck with the rarity of another apparently lime-loving species, Ceterach offichiartan so abundant on the limestone to the east of Galway. In Inisheer, or South Island, this fern seems quite as rare as on Aran more, though on Inishmaan, or Middle Island, Mr. Hart found it in great pro- fusion and luxuriance. Of species with a less strongly-marked preference for limestone, Geranium lucidiim, Rubus saxatilis, and Saxifraga tridactylites v^^r^w&ry abundant, the last-named frequently reaching to a height of more than six inches, while among ferns it would be hard to say whether the commonest species in Aranmore is Scolopcndrinm vulgare or Pteris aquilina. Both are extremely abundant, but whereas the Hart's Tongue, which seems to have a rather well-marked predilection for limestone, grows most vigorously in the rock-clefts, the Bracken is everywhere very stunted. Even more stunted in growth, as observed by Mr. Hart, was Eupatorium cannabinum, plentiful in the maze of rock-fissures below the grand old cyclopean stone fort of Dun ^ngus. where it con- tended for shade and moisture with the Maiden-Hair, only now beginning to send up its tender young fronds amongst the withered foliage of last year. At this season the most striking of all species, both in mass and brilliancy of flower, appeared to be Lotus corniculatus and Geranium sanguineum; while, perhaps, even more abundant, if less obtrusive, were Cerastium arvense and the form of h>-p- noid saxifrage, Saxifraga sternbergii (Willdenow), usually regarded as peculiar in the British Isles to Ireland. Having compared this Aran saxifrage with other hypnoid forms which I have gathered on Seafin, in the Ben Bulben district of vSligo, and at a height of 3,000 feet on Brandon in Kerry, I find that while the Aran plant is decidedly distinct from the typical Saxifraga hypnoides of Sligo, with bristle-pointed leaves and bulbiferous axils, it is hardly distinguishable by any important character from the Brandon specimens. The Brandon plant is evidently the same as that described by Mackay and Babington under S. hirta (Smith), but the dense hairiness and greater laxity of growth of this mountain form is all that separates it from the 5. sternbergii, which grows so 78 The Irish JVaturalisi. profusely down to sea-level in the Arans. And the Aran form, when growing in moist situations, frequently approaches in laxity of growth to the Brandon kS. hirta, so that the sole remaining distinction left between the two forms is to be found in the more profuse hairiness of the alpine plant. Under change of conditions all the forms of this bewildering group are probably highly flexible. A very weak straggling form which I gathered last July on Crookaline mountain, north-east of I^ough Currane, Co. Kerry, at a height of i,8oo feet, where it grows profusely in mossy rills, entangled with luxuriant Chrysosplenhtm, has developed, when grown in an open situation in my garden, into a cushion of dense even- headed rosettes. A serious attempt to reduce to order the Irish hypnoid saxifrages by a study of a full series of authentic dried specimens, and of plants under cultivation from Aran, Kerry, Ben Bulben, and Antrim, might, perhaps, give some positive results. The second day in Aranmore was given up chiefly to an examination of the sandy tracts around Killeany, towards the south-east of the island, and the most notable result was the discovery of a quantity of the elegant little Astragalus hypo- glottis, nowhere native in Ireland outside the Aran Islands, lyough Atalia, a brackish pool near the shore of Killeany bay, was carefully searched, and, though I failed to discover Meriyanthes, recorded from this station by Mr. Hart, I found here the only horsetail of the islands, noted but not determined by him in August, 1869. It turns out to be Eqiiisetuvi arvense. Close by the same pool a few plants of Lysimachia nemorum turned up, a species apparently not recorded from these islands since the visit of Dr. Wright in 1866. The stately Alliinn babi?igtonii was abundant, both in sandy places near the shore, and in deep clefts of the rock. This species, the " Inyon feechaun,'" or wild onion of the islanders, was formerly grown in small quantities in the garden plots of the Arans for use as an anthelmintic; but I could discover no certain tradition that it had ever been grown for culinary purposes. Allium ursinum, the ''Gaurlyoge" or Garlic of the natives, is thoroughly well-established in rock-terraces close by I^ough Atalia at a distance from ruins or dwellings. (a"0 BB CONCI.UDKD.) ' Throughout these notes I have endeavoured to represent phonetically the Irish plant names. [ 79] REVIEWS. Birds : The Elements of Ornithology. By vSr. C.i.oio.i; Mivart. F.R.S. Ivondoii : R. II. rortcr, 1S92, Mr. Mivart's book may briefly be descriljed as about the most com- prehensive science-primer which the student of ornitholoj^y is likely to have met w^ith. Its opening pages, indeed, scarcely prejjarc one to ex- pect this characteristic. Nearly the first half of the volume consists of a copiously illustrated introduction, in which, beginning with the Com- mon Fowl, our author passes in rapid review more than 200 species of birds, 140 of the kind referred to being also figured from original drawings. Though this chapter has in truth little apparent connection with the rest of the treatise, and is professedly written with a view to enabling the student to ol)tain a mental grasp of the outlines of Cuvier's arrangement of birds, it is not easy to regret the adoption of a course which has certainly embellished the volume, and contributed one popular chapter to a strictly scientific work. Still the reader who has gone to Mr. Mivart in due ignorance of Cuvier's classification will be somewhat i)er- plexed at finding himself required to learn, and retain in memory, for convenience' sake, to the end of the book, a system, against which he is at the same time gravely cautioned is not only superficial but obsolete. Here and there, in the course of this chapter, one drops on amusing instances of the modern tendency to speculation. Thus, in explanation of the remarkable habit acquired by the Kea Parrot {Nestor notabilis) of New Zealand, which, since the introduction of sheep into that colony, has taken to carnivorous practices, alighting on the helpless animal's back, and eating down into its kidneys, Mr. Mivart tenders the curious sug- gestion (due, it appears, to the ingenuity of Dr. H. Woodward, F.R.S. ), that this parrot, in pre-colonial days, was used to prey in similar fashion on the now extinct Dinornis ! The remaining chapters deal respectively with the external structure, internal skeleton, development, geographical distribution, and classifica- tion of birds. In the last-named department, Mr. Mivart seems to have been fortunate in securing the important assistance of Dr. R. Bowdlcr Sharpe, whom, indeed, we are asked to regard as responsible for the entire arrangement of the 53 families of Passeres. The arrangement of the orders is as follow^s :— (i) Passeriformes, (2) Coraciiformes, (3) Picifor- mes, (4) Coccyges, (5) Columbiformes, (6) Psittaci, (7) Raptores, (8) Ste- ganopodes, (9) Herodiones, (10) Alectorides, (11) Galliformes, (12) Lmii- coliformes, (13) Tubinares, (14) Pygopodiformes, (15) Lamelhrostres, (16) Impennes, (17) Crypturi, (18) Struthiones. The position of priority in the whole class is assigned to the Rook, dimly recognizable as To" panocoraxfrn^ilcgus. A little carelessness is noticeable in that part of the work dealing with geographical distribution. For example, INIr. INIivart makes (on pp. 117, 244, and 248) three statements respecting the range ol the Pycnonotidae, each of which contradicts both the others. But sucli occasional symptoms of hasty writing will not seriously detract from the value of this interesting and welcome publication. ^ ^ ^^ 8o The Irish Naturalist. The Hemiptcra Hetcroptcra of the British Islands. By Edward Saunders, F.Iv.S. London : L. Reeve & Co., 1892. 14s. (with coloured plates, 48s.). This is an excellent work on the British species of a comparatively neglected group of insects, and should lead many entomologists to take up its study. Mr. Saunders, who is a well-known authority on the Hemiptera, gives us an introduction on the anatomy of the order, with hints on collecting (we are glad to see that he insists on recording the locality of captures), and clear synopses, with full descriptions of the families, genera, and species found in the British Islands. The arrange- ment of the families is that of Puton, and the nomenclature has been brought well up to date. The cheap edition is without illustrations, except one good structural plate ; but the descriptions are so excellent that the careful student should not fail to correctly identify his captures. A list of known British localities is appended to each species. Records from Ireland are not very numerous. Our esteemed contributor. Rev. W. F. Johnson, is responsible for most of them. We notice that in the last issue of the Ent. Monthly Mag. (Feb., 1892) he enumerates 89 species of Heteroptera, and 13 of Homoptera, from the north of Ireland. We hope that other entomologists in the country will take up the study of these interesting insects, and so increase our knowledge of animal dis- tribution in the British Isles. Report on Some Species of the Genera Buccinum, Bucci- nopsisand Fusus Dredged off the South-west of Ireland. By Henry K. Jordan. Proc. Royal Irish Acad. (3) vol. ii., pp. 391-396. This communication has a certain amount of value to the systematist but scarcely any from a faunistic point of view. Of the twenty-eight records of species, the only locality whence they were obtained is that contained in the title of the paper; "Jars A-F," and "Boxes 1-7," are not edifying localities! Incidentally we learn that Box 4 was marked "Station 3, 1885," and Box 7, "Exp. 1886, log. 44, 108 fnis.," but no further reference is vouchsafed. This is slovenly work. The species recorded a.rQ Buccimun undatiun, Linn.; B. huinphreysianum, Ben., and its var. venCricosum, Kien. Mr. Jordan states that "the specimen under notice clearly connects the two species" [B. hiimphreysiamun andv?. ventri- cosiim, Kiener). Buccinopsis dalei, J. Sow.; Fusus antiquus, Linn., "interme- diate in form between antiqjius and dcspectus of Linn." F. despectus, Linn. ; F. islandicus, Chem.; F. gracilis, Da Costa; F. propinquus, Aid., "and at least two new varieties," — var. intermedia, Jordan (connecting F. propin- quus and F. jeffreysianus"), var. nana, Jordan, and possibly a third, var. incrassata; F. Jeffrey sianus, Fisch.; F. herniciensis. King (first Irish speci- mens); F. fcnestratns, Turt. "i>. ventricosutn of Kiener — a Lusitanian and Mediterranean form — is new to the British fauna, and its connection with B. hu77iphreysianu))i is established. Again, it is in company with F. islandiciis — a boreal and Arctic species." It is not quite clear what Mr. Jordan means by "in company," as the ormer was in "Jar C," and the . atter in "Jar A," and we are kept in the dark where either came from. A. C. H. t «I ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCII-TII'S. ROVAI. ZOOLOGICAL S()CI1:TV. Recent donations comprise a Peregrine Falcon from Miss Dennis; a Badij^er from K. Winter, Ksq. ; and a pair of Dormice from Dr. Kenny. An opossum, a Rinsj^-tailed Coati, two vSpider-Monkeys, and four mar- mosets have been purchased. 3,420 persons visited the (iardens in Januar}'. DuBUN Microscopical Ch'h. January 19th.— The Chib met at Dr. Frazkr's. Epithelial carciiuniia, from the liuinaii subject, \' {Argynnis ixqMa), from Cratloe, Co. Clare, one of them havin;,' the left wings marked as in males of the type, whilst the right wings showed as in the typical females. February 15th.— Dr. W. A. Fogarty, Vice-President, in the chair. Miss Bennis read a paper on "Plants, the vStructure and I- unctions of their Organs," illustrating the subject by diagrams and specimens. Mr. Belshaw, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Moroney and others took part in the discu.ssion which followed. Dr. Fogarty exhibited a piece of osier, showing '' fasciathu'''' to a remarkable extent. Mr. BEiySHAW showed the large fins or " wings " of a flying fish, Mr. F. Neai,E showed specimens of the Reed Mace {Typlut hdifulla) in the stems of which, when gathered last August, he found some pupa.*, the identity of these latter not being as yet established. NOTES BOTANY. FUNGI. Trichia chrysospcrma, DC. — Some moss which reached me from Valencia, Kerry, as packing for earthworms, was covered with very beautiful specimens of this fungus. This may be of interest as a record of distribution.— Hii^DERic Friend, Idle, Bradford. PHANEROGAMS. Plants still flowering in latter end of December.— On December 27th I went for a ramble in the Ballyhooley suburbs of Cork City, N.E., and found the following species :—6'^7/;5c/^a hursa-pa.sturis, Arahis hirsuta, Bellis perennis, SteUaria media, Trifolhtm praicnsc, Euphorbia pcplus, Petarsitcs vulgaris, Senecio vulgaris, Veronica cltamcedrys, Lamium pxupurcum, Vlex europceus, the six last mentioned very abundant. In a garden in the same district I gathered Primula vulgaris, P. vcris, P. clatior, Prngnnu. These all testify to the extreme mildness of our southern climate up to the above date.— Anna N. Abbott, Cork. A Sedge new to Britain — In the /oi/nw/ 0/ Bo/auj (or February. Mr. R. Dloyd Praeger announces the discovery in Co. Armagh, ol tne fine sedge Carex rhynchophysa, C. A. Meyer, a native of Russia and vScamli- navia, and not previously known to occur in the British Isles An ex- cellent figure ancl description of the plant by Mr. Arthur Bennett, I-.L.vS.. accompanies the paper. 84 The Irish Naturalist. Festuca sylvatica in Co. Cork.— Mr. R. W. Scully writes to the Journal of Botany that he has added this handsome grass to the flora of Co. Cork, having found it in 1891 growing in a rocky wood overhang- ing the Glanmire estuary. The Flora of Donegal— A Correction.— Mr. H. C. Hart, F.L.S., writes us, as follows: — "Kindly correct an error on page 15 of your last [January] issue. — 'The flora of Donegal, I am informed by Mr. H. C. Hart, comprises about 720 species.' I informed Mr. Praeger that I had not decided at what figure to place the flora of Donegal, as it depended on how far liuhi and Hieracia were to be admitted as counting towards the total. If I count each form of bramble and hawkweed as a ' species,' my total will very considerably exceed Mr. Praeger's estimate." — EdS. Mr. Hart wrote me, re flora of Donegal, imder date September 23rd, 1892 — " If I adopt new London catalogue, it would be a good lot over 700, if I adhere to Hooker it would reduce the total, but certainly not below the 700." The figure I quoted {720) was based on this statement, coupled with Mr. Hart's numerous published papers on the Donegal flora ; I regret if it is below the mark. My phrase "I am informed by Mr. Hart," should read " I infer from information supplied by Mr. Hart." — R. Li^oyd Prae;ge;r. ZOOLOGY. MOLLUSCS. Additional Localities for Irish Land and Freshwater Mol- lusca. — I record a few localities in which I have taken Land and Freshwater Mollusca, not included in Dr. Scharfif's most interesting articles (/. N. vol. i.). I am much indebted to Dr, Scharff for help in identifying specimens of which I did not feel sure. Vitrina pdlucida occurs in Districts I. and XI. From my experience of the variety of surround- ings in which this is found, I am sure District III., the only blank at present, will speedily be included in its distribution; Hyalinia cellaria is abundant in XL; H. crystal! ina occurs not rarely in XL ; H. fidva, abun- dant in certain localities in II.; H. excavata occurs in II.; Arion hortensis is abundant in X., the blank districts of this widely-distributed slug almost certainly indicate simply that it has not been looked for; A. intermedins occurs in II. on Waterford side of river Suir; Li max Jlavns I found in my lodgings in X., a decidedly unpleasant fellow-lodger; Amalia so7.verbyi is not uncommon in X. ; LLelix pnlc]iella occurs in District X., as usually, in my experience, on sand-hills; H. aeuleata, half a dozen specimens in Stra- bane Glen, X.; H. lamellata is abundant in one small glen in X., similar glens close by seemed destitute of it; LL. hortensis occurs abundantly as a recent fossil in marl in District II, I have taken it alive in XL, which Dr. Scharff marks (?); Bulimin^is ohsciirits, I saw and examined one speci- men of this taken in IL, but entirely failed to procure specimens myself; Balea pej-versa is widely distributed in IL; Snccinca elegans is, I think, quite as common as S. pntris in II. ; CarycJiinm minimum occurs in X. ; Limmca stagnalis abounds in Co. Tipperary (II.) in certain small isolated ponds, it also occurs in River vSuir; L. auricularia is found in one pond in Co. Tip- perary (IL), it abounds (or used to) in the water-lily tank in Glasnevin Botanic Gardens; Bythinia teniaculata occurs in Killarne}^ lower lake (I.) ; Valvata cristata in several running streams in II. ; and Fisidiu?)i ajunicu?n is common in River Suir (IL). From my own experience I have little doubt that close search would show that the distribution of Irish mol- luscs is by no means as local as the present state of these records would imply. For example, it is surely rather from lack of observation, than poverty in molluscs, that District III. makes so few appearances in these lists. I hope that a series of papers may appear ere long in The Irish Naturalist dealing with our marine mollusca. Such if written in a popular form would be a great boon to collectors who are unable to procure the expensive authorities on this subject. — A. H. Dei' move like other spiders, but when swimming they turn on their backs, and paddle with their legs, the hairs on which must assist this process. They look very funny when thus swimming, as they appear to be making vast exertions to walk upon nothing. They are able to remain below the sur- face, without renewing their stock of air, for a considerable time. I timed the smaller spider one day, and it was forty- five minutes without renewing its stock of air. During the most of this time it was running about on the bottom of the aquarium. This, coupled with their habit of remaining motionless in one spot for an hour or more, would account for the difficulty usually found in meeting with them. On 22nd December, the big spider was very busy with a new web, which it was filling with air. To introduce the air from its sac into the web, it applied the apex of its abdomen to the opening in the lower part of the web, and pressed the air backwards with its two hindmost legs so as to pass it into the web. It spent from 7 p.m. till 7.30 in this occupation, and then after a great rubbing of its legs against each other, got into the web, and sat there evidently in a great state of con- tentment. I have discovered the abode of the smaller spider. It is in a hole in one of the stones, from whence it is very difficult to dislodge it. It seems probable from what Mr. Carpenter tells me, that the large spider is a male, and the small one a female. This will, of course, account for their amiabilit}^ and as they are at the present time (March) .still well, I may have an opportunity of seeing them rear a family. [ I02 ] THE SII.ICIFIKD WOOD OF I^OUGH NEAGH. BY WII.I / NS £ C 7\V Sirex&ig:as in the North of Ireland. This fuK Saw-Ih. though not yet known as a permanent resident in the Nortli of ifehmd, is apparently on the increase in that district, owin^ cither t(} a }i 35- 'I^iis colour varies from dirty green to dull yellow, and from clay-brown to fleshy-red. Occasionally a bright emerald green is met with. It lurks under stones and refuse, moves indifferently, and exudes an unusual amount of dirty yellow, turbid matter. Distribution in Irei^and. Cork, Dublin, Tipperary, Louth, and wherever specimens of worm-fauna have been collected. AiSoIotoopiiora camforjca, Friend. — Weesh Worm. Has the colour and general appearance of the Mucous Worm, and the girdle arrangement of the Green Worm. To determine its specific character dissection is necessary, when it will be found to present features w4iich differ from each of its nearest allies. First found in 1891 in Wales, and recently received from Ireland. I'robably fairly distributed, but apt to be confused with one or other of the better-known species. Distribution in Irei*and. Blackrock, Co. Dublin (Miss Kelsall). (TO BE continued.) [ ^23 ] THE SELBORNE SOCIETY. BY GKORGK A. MUSGRAVR, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S. It is rather a bitter satire on our civilisation that a society for the protection of the harmless objects of wild nature from un- necessar}^ destruction should be "a want of the day." Yet such is the fact. With the facilities now afforded for locomo- tion, thousands of excursionists, in the place of half a do/.en quiet visitors, are hurled periodically upon a limited tract of country remarkable for its beauty or associations, and instead of doing their utmost, as intelligent beings, to preserve the objects, such as trees, flowers, ferns, birds, or architectural remains, enhancing the beaut}^ or giving additional interest to the spot, they destroy them. The evil thus wrought, in great measure thoughtlessly, is a novel one, hence the necessity for seeking to overcome it by a novel method. Those who founded and built up the Selborne Society felt that individual protests made against the evil were a mere w^aste of strength, w^hich could only be obtained in ful- ness by the united action of representatives of all classes, and by the free use of the local knowledge and tact possessed by members of branches. The adherence of sjmipathetic members w^as not difficult to obtain, because the objects of the associa- tion are such as interest the naturalist, the artist, the poet, the wise lover of nature, and the archaeologist ; whilst the co-opera- tion of owners and occupiers of land, gamekeepers, w^oodreeves, and others engaged in rural occupations, was not wanting. Such, in brief, is the history of a union for the protection of harmless birds and other creatures, a society for the preserva- tion of trees and plants, a coadjutor in the good w^ork of the Kyrle, Footpath, Ancient Buildings, and other kindred Associa- tions. One fact concerning the society is peculiarly interesting, and that is, that several of the collateral descendants of Gilbert White, the author of "The Natural History of Selborne," in whose honour the society is named, take an active part in promoting its objects. Primarily its energies were chiefly devoted to the collection and circulation of reliable information respecting the excessive destruction of birds for ornamental purposes, with the result, that the Audubon Society was founded in the United States, 124 The Irish NaUtralist. and, recently, the Birds' Protection Society in England, under the patronage of the Duchess of Portland ; and also that a more willing and hearty support was given in the Colonies and else- where to the Birds' Protection Acts. The Society has based its appeal for preservation on scientific, aesthetic, and economic grounds, and has a due regard for sentiment, without which our daily life would be a dreary and monotonous toil. Still, appeals to uninstructed persons do not always prove successful, therefore, in order to obtain voluntary co-operation, it seemed desirable to encourage the study of natural history. If an interest can be excited in young people in the structure and habits of an animal, or plant, by hedgerow and field, then one long step in the right direction has been taken towards creat- ing in them a lasting taste for a pursuit demanding no costly appliances, and dealing with an inexhaustible store of material always at hand. With the acquisition of a certain amount of elementary knowledge, the habit of accurate observation and careful in- vestigation is fostered ; thus a faithful follower of Gilbert White is developed, ever on the alert for note-making, and al- ways capable of writing an intelligible and truthful account of some occurrence likely to interest the readers of the Society's organ. Nature Notes. This magazine is like the sisters' only doll in Pjiiich — "it's all of our magazine," containing, from its most learned articles to the shortest paragraphs, in "stuff" voluntarily contributed by members of all sorts and conditions, and of all ages. The Editor, Mr. James Britten, F.^.S., a well-known botanist, is especially grateful to persons who will, without regard for fine writing, send him short accounts of what they themselves see and hear. We live in an age of close observation, looking forward to a time when much valuable knowledge will be de- rived from collections of even the humblest notes, provided that they have been recorded simply and truthfully. In almost every branch of the Society there are members who, being expert naturalists, find time in which to give short addresses to children or unskilled members, as well as to the general public, and there also gradually arise ladies and gentle- men who, with an aptitude for imparting information, try to fol- low successfully in the direction so ably indicated by Kingsley in his lectures, and in " Madam How, and I^ady Why?" The ScUwrnc Society. 125 The progress, however, of such a society must be neces- sarily slow, so great, alas! is the indifference, even amongst educated people, to anything demanding a little attention and mental effort. University extension lecturers find subjects which are not "amusing," fall very flat. Take it altogether, however, the vSell)orne vSociety lias steadily increased in influential and numerical strength, and branch after branch has been formed, and the area of voluntary guardianship of the fauna and flora of fresh neighbourhoods secured. There is no reason why branches should not (juickly fill up, swarm, and make others in the same way in Ireland. Unfortunately, obscured by political storm-clouds, Ireland, one of the most delightful countries in the world for the tourist, artist, and sportsman, with all its capabilities for rapid development, with its winter and summer health-resorts derelict, or checked in healthy growth, has almost dropped out of the list of the playgrounds of Europe. But the day will come when it will be "fashionable," and then the Irish Selbornians will rejoice that they have protected all that material which once made man}' a favourite spot in England so attractive, and which has been sacrificed to greed and stupidity. The first step is to get a few kindred spirits to agree to form a branch, and then to direct the secretary jZ^r(9. tcvi. to write to the Secretary of the Selborne Society, 9 Adam-street, Adelphi^ London, W.C, for the leaflet " How to form a Branch," and a form of application for a warrant. When the branch is formed, it is useful to get some local land-owner to follow the example of Mr. Skrine, of the Bath Branch, Lord of the Manor of Claverton, by giving a "Selborne at Home," when local botanists, naturalists, and archaeologists, can improve the occasion, and do a great deal towards directing usefully the energies of the members. Ireland being particularly rich in rare plants, a voluntary guardianship of their habitats will, of course, suggest itself. The great thing, however, to impress on old and young is that, true to Gilbert White, the Society is essentially an ob- serving rather than a collecting one. The minimum subscription has remained the same as when the writer of this article and his wife originated the Society; for those who assisted in the organization hoped that 126 The Irish Nahirali St. half-a-crown would be within reach of National and Board School teachers, factory hands, and others. Unfortunately, however, it has been found to be not low enough for persons receiving small incomes, and not large enough to comfortably bear the cost of issuing the Society's organ, Nature Notes, which, of course, considering the limited circulation of all scientific periodicals, is absurdly cheap — 2d. per part! Owing to larger subscriptions and donations from wealthy people and the contributions from the branches, the Committee have been enabled to defray the cost of the magazine, the rental of office, and the honorarium of the Secretary, but not to print leaflets for free distribution broadcast in the way originally contemplated. This is a pity, because cyclists, fishermen, and other wanderers, could do a great deal amongst people prone to kill every rare bird, uproot rare plants for sale, and otherwise do mx is chief. Every year it is getting more difficult to obtain specimens of particular birds for local museums, and what makes it more annoying is that the birds are shot and carried away by private persons for the pure love of acquisition, and eventually lost in some distant auction. A capital plan in starting an association such as the Selborne Society, is to get each member to secure ten others, and then the society "snow-balls" on in that way, and cheereth the hearts of the Committees. Amongst the very earliest adherents of the society were I^ord Cork's sister-in-law, the Hon. Mrs. R. C. Bo3de, well known as E- V. B., without whose artistic and literary powers and influence very little progress would have been made. Through her, H.R.H. Princess Christian became chief Patroness, and the lamented lyaureate, President. Eouisa, Marchioness of Waterford, a lady of extraordinary abilities, Eady Muncaster, Professor Haddon, Mr. Burbidge, and others also lent a helping hand. The Committee in England cordially wish every success to the efforts now about to be made in Ireland to establish branches of a society which admittedly is not only doing a good work, in the prosecution of its various objects, but offers a common ground of fraternization between resident naturalists and visitors from distant parts, who are sure of finding in a Sclbornian, a guide, philosopher, and friend. [ 1^7 ] THE FI.ORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH. BY R. 1,1,0 YD PRAEGRR, B.R., M.K.I. A. ( Continued from pa<^c 95). Hypericum dubium, Leers., var. macu latum, H.ib. N. M. R. Throughout the county, and as common in Armagh as //. /< v- foratum. Ardmore, H. W. L. spec! By the railway near IvUrgan station, old quarry two miles vS.W. of Lurgan, roadsi. Hib. this tree is'admitted as a native at Loughgall. I did not find it anywhere in the county in such situations as to justify an un- questioned admission to the indigenous flora. *A. pseudo-platanus, Linn. N. M. S. Occasionally apparently wdld, and frequent in hedges, etc., but not native, R. LI. P. *Ceranium phceum, Linn. — ^^- ~ In a hedge near Mullaghmore lake, escaped, R. LI. P. *C. nodosum, Linn. ^' " ' On a hedge-bank by roadside near Linenhill House south of Armagh, quite naturalized, R. Ll. P. (*C. percnne, Huds. ^' ~ ~ "A few plants only on the roadside, by the hedge-bank, not lar from a cottage a little north of Loughgall; not, I believe, wild here," More i\\ H. R. I could not find the plant at the spot in- dicated, and it w^as apparently an escape which did not maintain its hold). X Radiola linoides, Dc. u n ij Abundant on a bog two miles south of Portadown, K. U. 1 • '^ "NI 8 Ulex gall if, Planch, , ^1 t • i ' ',, i Abundant on the southern mountains, and on the high ^'rouiui around Carrigatuke and Deadman's Hill, in the centre of the county; absent from the northern bogs and the rest of Armagh, R-I^l-P- . >, Trifolium medium, Linn. i;«;,,i,^,,r loi-p Very rare. Only observed at Navan Fort and the adjoining lake- let of Loughnashade, R. Lb P. . , , ^ N ^I o *T. hybridum, Linn. , fi^^^^rrii'^niit the In fields of grass and pastures occasionally throughout the county; R. Ll. P. Not considered a native in Britain. T. filiforme, Linn. , ^ ^r ta r^ ,c„., oi-.!^i ' tSSq • One station only. Tynan Abbey, B N.F.C., '^1\^'}'^2^ also Herb. N. H. V. S. (S. A. S.) ! The plant grows sparingl> here on law^ns near the house. 128 The Irish Naturalist. *IVIecIicag:o sativa, Linn. N. Fields near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Field near Richhill, R. LI. P. Introduced with grass-seed. [IVIcIilotus parviflora, Desf. S. Waste ground at Newry docks — a casual; R. LI. P.] Anthyllis vulncraria, Linn. N. — S. Very local, but frequent by the estuary of the Newry river, and on limestone about Armagh,"R. Ll. P. Lathyrus palustrls, Linn. N. Islets in the Closet river (Lett), Flor. N. E. I.\ I saw the plant in abundance on these islets, which lie w^here the river debouches into Lough Neagh, and also obtained it on the reedy banks of the stream half a mile from its mouth. More's note on Rev. G. Robinson's authority (A^. H. R. and Cyb. Ilib.) is a mistake : Scawdy Island in Tyrone is the spot intended ; the plant formerly grew there, but is now extinct. fPrunus cerasus, Linn. N. M. S. In iield hedges about Loughgall, but not wild. More N. H. R. ! In hedges, copses, and thickets throughout the county, as com- mon or commoner than/*, avium, and, although frequently planted, having equally the appearance of a native, R. Ll. P. *Spiraea salicifolia, Linn. — M. — Abundant in hedges between Newtownhamilton and Ballymyre, but planted, R. Ll. P. Alchemilla vulgaris, Linn., var. minor, Huds. N. Near Tynan, B. N. F. C, 1889. Abundant on a lawn in Tynan Abbey demesne, R. Ll. P. Rubus plicatus, W. and N. N. Church Hill, R. Ll. P. "Perhaps best under var. hemistemon^ P.J. Muell"— W. M. R. R, rhamnifolius, W. and N. N. Near Armagh, R. Ll. P. R. nemoralls, P.J. Muell., var. pulcherrimus, Newm. 1 N. M. — My specimen was gathered, I think, in North Armagh ; the label bearing localit}' was unfortunately lost. One of Mr. Lett's Ballymore Rnhi belongs here also. R. villicaulis, Koehl. N. M. S. Ballymore, H. W. L. spec. ! At Derryadd bay on Lough Neagh, and at Newry, R. Ll. P. R. lindleianus, Lees. N. Near Lurgan and Armagh, R. Ll. P. R. rusticanus, Merc. N. M. S. "Armagh; Prof. Oliver," Cyb. Hib. Perhaps the commonest bramble in the county, being abundant nearly everywhere. Speci- mens from Tartaraghan and Armagh were confirmed by Mr. Rogers. R. inacrophyIIus,W. andN., var. schlcctendalii, Weihe. S. Near Newry, R. Ll. P. "Or between this and R. macrophylliis, W. and N. Panicle exceptionally weak." — W. M. R. R. saltcri, Bab. S. Newry, R. Ll. P. " Probably best under R. salteri, Bab., though in that the leaves are usually less rounded and more deeply cut, and the fruiting sepals erect." — W. M. R. R. pyramidal is, Kalt. N. M. — Ballymore, H. W. L. spec! Roadsides near Lurgan, R. Ll. P. "Armature of panicle -rachis unusually mixed." — W. M. R. Of another Lurgan specimen Mr. Rogers writes : — " Probably R. pyra- mid alls, Kalt., groioinq in sunshine y The Flora of County Arvwirh, i ^c) Rubus Icucostachys, Schkich. N Near Lurgan, R. U. P. R. mucronatus, Blox. jsj Near Armagh, R. U. P. R. ang^Iosaxonicus, Gelert. js; _ j^ Tartaraghan and Newry, R. 1,1. p. Of the latter plant Mr Rogers writes:— "Not a typical specimen," and of the former, "or between R. anglosaxonicus and R. cchinatus; near my \-ax. radii- loides, vide Joitni. Bot. 1892, p. 269." R. borrerl, Bell-Salt. 55^ Beside a rivulet by the Dundalk road, a mile from Newrv* R. U. P. " True R. borreri, Bell-vSalt, beyond a doubt. I have before seen it only from Dorset and vSomerset (abun«lant), Cdost. and Wight, so this extension of it to Ireland is very in- teresting. "_W. M. R. R. drejcri, G. Jensen. _ m. — Ballymore, H. W. L. spec! "Must go to R. drejcri, G. Jenson, I suspect, but that, lohcn typical, has the leaves almost simply serrate and the sepals patent or clasping in fruit. In colouring, armature, etc., however, this just fits."— W. M. R. R. radula, Weihe. Ballymore, H. W. ly. spec. ! "Apparently."— W. M. R. R. scaber, W. and N. N. — S lyurgan ("apparently the typical plant." — W. M. R.), Armagh ("?" — w. M. R.), and Newry ("apparently a strong form, with hirsute panicle and leaves softly hairy beneath."— W. M. R.), R. U. P. R. rosaceus, Weihe. — M. — Ballymore, H. W. L. spec! "Apparently a rosaceiis form, but not typical."— W. M. R. R. coryllifolius, Sm. N. Near Armagh, R. LI. P. Apparently not so common in Co. Armagh as in Co. Down. R. coryllifolius, Sm., var. cyclophyllus, Lindeb. N. Tartaraghan, R. LI. P- *R. laciniatus, Willd ? N. In a lane near Tartaraghan glebe, R. LI. P. " A garden escape; I think the name has been given to divers laciniate-leaved forms." — W. M. R. This plant grows quite away from cultiva- tion ; I took it to be a wild sport of R. rtisticanus. Rubus saxatilis, Linn. S. North side of Slieve Gullion at 1,500 feet, R.Ll. P. Ceum intermedium, Ehr. S. Copses in the park at the Manor, Loughgall, accompanied as usual by G. rivale and G. ttrbanmn. More N. H. R. C. rivale, Linn. Loughgall Manor, More N. H. E. IMullinure meadows and Loughnashade. W. F. J. spec. ! Rare in Co. Armagh. Rosa spinosissima, Linn. — M. — Very rare in the county; observed in one spot only near Poyntz- pass, R. LI. P. R. mollissima, Willd. -^.- T ^• Frequent on the limestone about Armagh, where I noted it in a number of spots ; shore of Lough Ross near Crossmaglen, R. LI. P. fR. rubiginosa, Linn. . 1. ui 1 Occurs mostly as stray bushes, and sometimes probably escaped but apparently native on Lough Neagh shore. By Ulster canal 130 The Irish Naftcralist. near Eglisli, and between Charlemont and Blackwatertown ; shores of Lough Neagh west and south of Ardmore point ; road- sides south of Markethill ; by the canal below Newry, R. 1^1- P. R. arvensis, Huds. ^ — M. — Extremely rare ; a single bush in the hedge by the roadside close to Scarva bridge, R. LI. P. Peplis portula, Linn. — M. S. Rare. Shores of Camlough and Lough Ross ; marsh at base of Carrigatuke, R. l^. P. *EpiIolt)iuim angustifolium, Linn. N. M. S. Frequent in cottage gardens, and occasionally escaped. Perhaps originally a native. Circaea alpina, Linn. N. Shore of Lough Neagh south of Ardmore point, H. W. L. spec. ! MyriopJiyllum spicatum, Linn. N. Frequent in the northern portion of the county ; noted from near Lurgan, Portadown, Armagh, and in pools along the Lough Neagh shore, R. LI. P. tSedum telephium, Linn. N. Copse in Armagh Palace demesne, R. LI. P. *S. album, Linn. N. M. — Occasionally on old walls, etc., no doubt escaped, R. LI. P. *S. dasyphyllum, Linn. Co. Armagh, Flor. Ulst. Supp.—2.n escape. S. anglicuiYi, Huds. S. Very rare; rock at western base of Slieve Gullion, and rocks on a hill near Milltown chapel west of Camlough, R. LI. P. S. acre, Linn. N. Near Navan Fort, W. F. J.! (only as an escape here, R. LI. P.). Sandy banks by Lough Neagh west of Ardmore point, R. LI. P. ; this was the only native station I observed for this species; it is occasionally grown in cottage gardens. *S. sexangulare, Linn. N. Sandy spots on Lough Neagh shore at Raughlan, H. W. L. spec. ! *S. rcflcxum, Linn. N. M. S. On limestone rocks by the Dungannon road three miles from Armagh ; planted on cottage roofs in various parts of the county, R. LI. P. *S. rupcstre, Huds. — M. — Old walls near Keady— escaped, R. LI. P. Saxifraga granulata, Linn. N. Sparingly on the mound at Rathtrillick, near Middletown, B. N. F. C, 1873, and Herb. N. H. P. S. spec. ! Parnassia palustris, Linn. N. "The parnassia, or grass of parnassus, a plant of extreme ele- gance and beauty, grows in the vicinity of Lough Neagh, and on the banks of the Tynan river, — Coote's Armagh. Loughnashade and Mullinure meadows near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Cicuta virosa, Linn. N.M.S. Near foot of Blackwater (Templeton) ! and shores of Lough Neagh (G. R. ) ! Flor. Ulst. Closet River, H. W. L. spec. ! Several places along Lough Neagh shores from Lagan Canal to Maghery, in the Newry canal and pools near, at many spots between Porta- down and Goraghwood, Mullaghmore Lough, Lough Gilly, R. LI. P. Apiumgravcolans, Linn. S. By the river at Newry, and by the canal below Newry, R. LI. P. The Flora of County Armagh. 131 Apium inundatuiYi, Reich., var. moorel, Syine. N. In the Blackwater at Maghcry ; near month of Closet River ; and in a marsh near Morrow's Point in the S.K. corner of Longh Neagh, R. LI. P. Confined to the Lough Neagh borders. *Carum carul, Linn. S* Common on the G. N. railway for several miles south of Bess- brook ; apparently naturalised here, R. LI. P. CEnanthe fistulosa, Linn. N. M. — Moyntaghs bogs (Hyndman), and Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Uht. Closet River, H. W. L. ! By Lough Neagh near Maghery, Mill- town, and Lagan Canal, and abundant in Newry Canal between Portadown and Tanderagee, R. Lb P. *PeucccIanuin ostruthium, Koch. N. M. S. Roadsides and hedgebanks — no doubt introduced or escaped. Noted near Lough Gullion, Ballymyre, Camlough and Jones- borough, R. LI. P. Torilis nodosa, Gaert. N. — S. Sparingly by the roadside at Drumintee chapel west of Jones- borough, and on bridge over the Bann on the borders of Down and Armagh, R. Lb P. Chaerophyllum tciYiuIum, Linn. N. M. — Dry hedgebanks, chiefly along the Lough Neagh shore. Close to Maghery ferry, roadside quarter mile east of Milltown, roadside a short distance S.W. of Ardmore church, in a lane by the main road at Derryadd Bay, and roadside south of Temple national school near Keady, R. LI. P. fSmyrnium olusatrum Linn. N. — S. Near Loughall, but, as in most of its habitats, liable to suspicion, More A''. H. R. ! Ardmore Glebe, H. W. L. ! Near Newry, very rare in the county, R. LI. P. *IVIyi'rhis odorata, Linn. N. M. S. Tanderagee (G. R.), I' lor. Ulst. Roadsides near Bglish chiirch, at base of Camlough mountain, and at Ballymyre, R. LI. P. (*Cornus sangruinea, Linn. On a small islet in the Loughgall lake. More N. H. R. Is not there now, and as it does not grow elsewhere in the county, I have no doubt it was planted, R. LI. P.) tSamlsucus cbulus, Linn. N. About the ruins of an old building close to Lough Neagh, More N. H. R. Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Near Eglish church, and road- side east side of Loughgall demesne, R. LI. P. Galium boreale, Linn. N. Lough Neagh shore only. Banks of Lough Neagh, More N. E. R. ! Ardmore Glebe, H. W. L. ! Bird Island, R. Lb P. C. mollugo, Linn. N. M. — Near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! In several places in Tanderagee upper demesne, R. Lb P. Valerianella dentata, Poll. N. — S. Corn-field between Armagh and Loughgall, W. F. J. spec. ! Gravel-pit east of Grange, near Armagh; fields near Beech Hill House, Armagh ; fields east of Middletown, and at Lough Ross near Crossmaglen ; and on the Warrenpoint railway below Newry, R. Lb P. Eupatorium cannabinum, Linn. N. Loughgall manor grounds, by the lake, W. F. J. ! Astertripolium, Linn. — — S Estuary of Newry river; abundant and luxuriant by the stream in the town of Newry, growing in groves four feet high, R. Lb P. 132 The Irish Naturalist. Solidago virgaurca, Linn. S. Sparingly on Slieve GuUion, R. LI. P. tinula helenium, Linn. N. — S. Derryacld, H. W. L. spec. ! In a lane west of Goraghwood, R. LI. P. Filag'O s^ermanica, Linn. N. — S. Shore of Lough Neagh at Raughlan, H. W. L. spec. ! On a ruined cottage at the western base of Slieve Gullion, R. LI. P. F. miniiTia, Fries. N. Sandy ground near Lough Neagh, More N. H. R. Shore of Lough Neagh at Raughlan, H. W. L. spec. ! Sandy shore of Lough Neagh near Charlestown, R. LI. P. Cnaphalium sylvaticum, Linn. N. — S Derryadd, H. W. L. spec. ! Frequent among the hills south of Newry, R. LI. P. Antennaria dioica, Gaert. N. Raughlan Point and Croaghan Island, Lough Neagh, H. W. L. spec. ! Stony Hill near Retreat N.E. of Armagh, R. LI. P. Anthcmis nobilis, Linn. N. Near Maghery, W. F. J. spec. ! Near Tartaraghan Church, but cul- tivated, R. LI. P. Matricaria inodora, Linn., var. salina, Bab. S. Kstuary of Newry River, R. LI. P. :}:IVI. chamomilla, Linn. N. — S. Roadside at Woodview post-office near Richhill, and on railway at Newry, R. LI. P. *IVI. parthenium, Linn. N. — S. Near houses, escaped. Tartaraghan, S. A. S. Portadown and Newry, R. LI. P. *DoronicuiTi pardalianches, Linn. N. Roadside near Tynan, B. N. F. C. 1889. Roadside from Armagh to Tynan, W. F. J. spec. ! Roadside between Tynan and Middle- town, R. LI. P. Apparently naturalised about Tynan. :!:Tanacetum vulg'are, Linn. N. — S. •' If a stubble-field should be left a year in cashier fallow, which is very seldom the case, the crowfoot and tansy soon overspread it, and are very difficult to be eradicated," Coote's Armagh. Derryadd Bay, H. W. L. ! Near Loughgall, Blackwatertown, Charlemont, Portadown, and Camlough, but not having the appearance of a native, R. LI. P. Senecio sylvaticus,, Linn. N. Ardmore, H. W. L. spec. ! On the Lough Neagh shore, at Maghery, Milltown, and Charlestown ; on bog east of Lough Gullion ; by Dungannon road three miles from Portadown, R. LI. P. *S. saracenicus, Linn. — M. — Banks of a stream i| mile N.W. of Keady — an escape, R. LI. P. Bidens tripartita, Linn. N. M. — Armagh (G. R.), Floy. Ulst. Lough Neagh shore, west of Bann- mouth ; bogs by Bann below Portadown ; shores of Lough Gullion, Marlacoo Lake, Ballynewry Lake, and Mullaghmore Lake, R. LI. P. B. ccrnua, Linn. N. M. S. Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Canal at Portadown, S. A. S.. Mul- linure meadows, and Maghery, W. F. J. spec. ! Ardmore, H.W. L. spec. ! Frequent on the northern bogs ; shores of Portnelligan and Mullaghmore Lakes ; canal near Tanderagee ; bog south of Portadown, and bog near Forkill, R. LI. P. Arctium ncmorosum, Lej. N. Near Tynan, B. N. F. C. 1889, Nuar Navau Fort, R. LI. P. Mr. The Flora of County Armagh. it^^ Bennett writes of my specimen ".7. ncinorosniii Bab. non Lej ; the plant Dabington names as ncniorosuin (= your plant!) is not the A. intermedium Lange, with which Lange says A. nemorosum, Lej. is synonymous." Arctium majus, Sclik. N. Roadside two miles east of lyoughall, R. LI. P. {Jide A. Bennett). [Ccntaurca scabiosa, Linn. In County of Armagh, Flor. Ulsf. Supp. A mistake.] Carduus crispus, var. acanthoides, inn. N. Common in the limestone district, and occasionally on the New Red Sandstone ; absent from the rest of the county, R. LI. P. C. pratcnsis, Huds. S. Sparingly on the N.W. slope of Camlough mountain, R. LI. P. *SiIy)fc)um marianum, Gaert. In small enclosures, waste ground, etc., always near buildings. More N. H. R. Maghery, W. F. J. ! Seagoe, H. W. L. spec. ! Lcontodon hirtus, Linn. N. Frequent in the northern portion of the county, on boggy and wet gravelly ground; noted from Loughadian near Armagh, lakeside at Loughgall, shore of Derrjdileagh Lake, bog two miles south of Portadown, gravel pit two and a-half miles N.E. of Armagh, and abundant on a stony hill near Retreat between Armagh and Richhill, R. LI. P. tCrepis biennis, Linn. N. Abundant in a field at Armagh workhouse, about 1886, A. G. More in litt. I found it growing plentifully on the lawn of the Shiels Memorial Buildings, adjoining the workhouse, which is no doubt Mr. More's station ; it does not appear to have spread. In- troduced with seed } C. paludosa, Moench. — M. S. Observed at one or two spots in the centre and south of the county, but rare, R. LI. P. *C. nicaeensis, Balb. N. Sparingly on railroad track south of Drummanmore Lake, near Armagh, R. LI. P. The specimens w^ere poor and apparently not characteristic. Mr. Hanbury w^rites of my plant "I have little doubt but that it is C. niccrensis, Balb. ; it agrees well with my specimens." Mr. Bennett says: "Your plant differs from t3'pical niiceejtsis by the want of pubescence on the stems, etc., w^hich is sometimes very marked, but I suppose it must go to it." This is a S. European species, and was probably introduced with grass seed; it has not been previously detected in Ireland, so far as I am aware. Lobelia dortmanna, Linn. N. — S. Junction of Lagan canal and Lough Neagh (Hyndman) Flor. Ulst. ; this is on the borders of Armagh and Down. In Lough Neagh at west side Raughlan Point ! and shores of Derrylileagh Lake, H. W. L. In Lough Neagh north of Bird Island, and abundant at the east end of Lough Ross, near Crossmaglen, R. LI. P. Jasione montana, Linn. S. Abundant in the southern hill district; not seen elsewhere, R. LI. P. Campanula rotundifolia, Linn. — M. vS. Centre and south of the count}'; not common, R. LI. P. Andromeda polifolia, Linn. N. Bogs in Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Tartaraghan (G. R.), Cyb. Hib. "Bog near Tartaraghan, Rev. G. Robinson, spec!" More A^ H. R. Must be very rare ; I passed over miles of likely ground without seeiusr it. I -2 < The Irish Nahcralist. Vaccinium vitis-idaga, Linn. N. — S. At south end of Lough M eagh (Templeton), Flor. Ulst. Summit of Slieve Gullion (1,893 feet), and for several hundred feet down- wards, R. LL P. The Loughgall record oi Flor. Ulst. was an error; V. oxycoccos was the plant, and Tartaraghan the station intended. I did not succeed in refinding this plant on the northern bogs, although I kept a look-out for it, in view of Mr. More's recent re- marks in Journal of Botany (1892, p. 88); these bogs lie at an elevation of only fift}^ to one hundred feet, but to judge from the pre- sence on them of such mountain plants as Listcra cordata and Lyco- podiitm selago, the occurrence of V. vitis-ido^a does not appear unlikely. V. oxycoccos, Linn, N. Bog near Tartaraghan, More N. II. R. Bog at Annaghmore (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Bog between Annaghmore and Magherv, B. N. F. C. 187 1. Wet bog, Annaghmore (S. A. S.), Herb. N. H. P. vS. Montiaghs bogs, H. W. L. spec. ! Abundant on bogs south of Anna- garriff Lake, north of Lough Gullion, and near Ardmore Point, sometimes forming a dense mat on quite dry turf, R. LI. P. *LigustruiTi vulgare, Linn. N. M. — Common near Armagh, W. F. J. spec! Occasionally in wild-look- ing stations, but no doubt escaped, R. LI. P. Convolvulus arvcnsis, Linn. N. — S. County Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Mullinure near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Lanes west of Armagh, railway near Richhill, road- side near Loughgall, and rather common in the Newry neighbour- hood, R. LI. P. C. scpium, Linn., grows abundantly in the Closet river in one to two feet of water, twining up the stems of Scirpus lacustris, among such plants asNuphar, Armoracia, and Cicuta. I do not find any notice of this aquatic habit in the text-books. *Anchusa sempervircns, Linn. — M. — Tanderagee, Flor. Ulst. Siipp. Lithospcrmum officinale, Linn. N. — S. In hedge banks in several places near Loughgall, but sparingly, More iV^. H. R. ! Where I observed it was on roadside between Lough - gall and Richhill, R. Lb P. Grange near Armagh, W.F.J, spec! Ruins of Killeavy church near Slieve Gullion, H. W. L. spec. ! L. arvcnse, Linn. N. Tartaraghan, in cultivated ground. More N. H. R. lYIyosotis rcpcns, Don. S. Abundant in the southern hill district; absent from the rest of the country. The distribution of M. palnstris is just the reverse of this, that species being abundant on the northern bogs, and by the low-lying lakes, streams, and canals of the north and centre of the county, and extremely rare in the south, R. Lb P. Solanum dulcamara, Linn. N. Shores of Lurgan lake, H. W. L. spec. ! Armagh Palace demesne, R. LI. P. Frequently grown in cottage gardens. Hyoscyamus niger, Linn. N. Near Armagh Cathedral (Thompson), Flor, Ulst. Not seen re- cently, but is a very uncertain plant. Lathraea squamaria, Linn. Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst.; this record refers to the succeeding station. In a small copse within the park at Loughgall manor, More N. H. R., and subsequently, G. R. (TO BE CONTINUED.) [ 135 ] THK MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE OF THE CORK DISTRICT. BY THOMAS FARRINGTON, M.A., F.C.S., F.I.C. [Read before the Cork Naturalists' Field Club, March 15th, 1893. J The beds of dolomite, or magnesian limestone, existing in the neighbourhood of Cork, though inextensive, are not alone important in connection with our local manufacturing indus- tries, but as having also considerable interest from a geological point of view. Almost the whole surface of the county is oc- cupied b}^ the various subdivisions of two formations, viz., the Old Red Sandstone and the Carboniferous limestone ; anything, therefore, that opens the door for a wider study of the science ought to be welcome to its students here. The presence of dolomite, in association with the Cork lime- stone, has been somewhat of a puzzle to geologists, and one eminent exponent of the science, Professor Harkness, has at- tributed its origin to the action of sea-water upon the ordinary limestone. In a paper on "Jointing," read before the Geo- logical Society of lyondon, June 9th, 1858, he says : — " The mode in which the magnesian limestones make their appearance in the district under review leads to the inference, that the dolomites were not deposited by the ordinary action of water as sedimentary rocks, but that they are superinduced structures, which have not only arisen from the action of forces operating subsequent to the deposition and con- solidation of the limestones in which they occur, but have had their origin after the operation of that force which has produced joints among these limestone strata.'" The object of the present communication is to adduce some facts which seem inconsistent with a portion of this statement, and to bring forward another theory which seems to accord better with all the facts of the case. As the greater part of the above quotation fits in as well with this latter theory as with the Professor's own, the only portion of it directly traversed is that which asserts " that the dolomites were not deposited by the ordinary action of water as sedimentary rocks, but that they are superinduced structures." So far from confirming this view, my observations have led me to an opposite con- 1 Quarterly Journal Gcol. Soc, London^ vol. xv. (1859), p. lOO. 135 The Lis/i Naturalist. elusion, viz., that the dolomites of this district, iiistead of beifig superinduced structures^ are the remnants of sedime7itary 7vcks of the Permian formation, resti^ig 2cnconformably on the denuded, fissured, and excavated limestone. The principal grounds on which this opinion is based are as follows : — 1. The dolomitic bands which have come under my notice have a general east and west direction ; this is such an evident fact, that it has been customarj^, in connection with the magnesia manufacture, to search for the rock in a direct line east or west of the points at which it had been previously found. 2. These deposits invariably show at the top surface of the rock-formation, either overlying the limestone, or being wedged in between masses of that rock which also show at the surface on either side of them. 3. Though in many cases the}^ penetrate the limestone for a considerable depth, there is a general diminution of breadth downwards, the horizontal section meanwhile widening or Figure i, a shows the narrowing in an irregular manner. Txa 1 trf. plan, or horizontal section; fg. 2, the longitudinal section; andfo; 3, the cross section of a small quarry which was The Magnesian Limestone of the Cork District. i\ Ol worked for the "Magnesia-stone" only, the space left by the stone removed consequently representing the original dolo- mitic deposit. 4. The upper surface of both the limestone and dolomite is found to be eroded by the action of water or ice, and is often covered, by deposits containing sand, gravel, or rounded stones. I have obtained a sample of gravel from over a long band which was found to the westward of the fault, but not in line with it {^fig. i, ^) ; it has not 5'et been ascertained whether this is a continuation of the aforementioned strip {a) or no ; at present it seems more in character with another {c) which runs parallel a short distance to the south. 5. The line of demarcation between the magnesia and lime- stone when found in juxta-position is always sharp; even when the minerals are nearh' of the same colour and general appearance, it is plain to a practised eye : and while the}* often adhere, so that a hand-specimen containing both may be obtained, the}*, on the other hand, can in general be readily separated at the surface of junction. The following anah'ses of samples taken from the same stone, not a 3'ard apart, will illustrate the great difference of composition between rocks which an ordinary' obser\'er would take to be identical: — Dolomite. Limestone. Foreign matter. 2.5 1.7 per cent Magnesinm carbonate, 42.9 1.7 Specific gravity, 2. S3 2.71 » 6. The dolomite is generall}' less pure than the limestone. This point is also shown b}' the above anah'sis (although the sample of dolomite is an exceptionally pure one), there being nearh' fifty per cent, more foreign matter present in the latter than in the sample of limestone. In man}' cases the amount of foreign matter is much greater, and often there is so much iron present as to produce a ver\' dark-coloured stone. 7. In the ca\'ity left b\' the removal of the band of dolomite last mentioned {^fig. i, r), there appear adhering to the lime- stone on each side, slatj' scales — some light-coloured and some of darker colour, and greasy to the touch, — which will pro- bably repay a careful examination. Apart, however, from their composition, they form a strong link in the chain of evidence which goes to prove that the magnesia-stone was 13^ The Irish Na he ra list. deposited in its present position, and that the latter is not the result of the tilting-up of strata originally horizontal. In addition to denudation, it seems as if the strata had been subjected to a degree of heat sufiQcient to weld them together without such fusion as would completely destroy the previous arrangement of their parts. The presence of large crystals of iron pyrites in the magnesia-stone seems to favour this view, as also its crystalline structure. Prof. M. M. Hartog, of Queen's College, Cork, who has kindly examined for me a mounted section of the minerals in juxta-position, says the dolomite is in the form of saccharine marble, while the lime- stone is not nearly so much metamorphosed. To ascertain the character of the organic remains will, no doubt, help much in elucidating the question of the common or distinct origin of these rocks. This is, however, rendered somewhat difficult by the consideration just alluded to, and it is only rarely that distinct fossils are obtained from the dolo- mite-bearing limestone of the district. In only one or two cases have I found signs of life in the dolomite — viz., some small crinoids, and some tiny shells in a few weathered speci- mens. More distinct and larger fossils may be found in the pure limestone, but not to anything like the extent that obtains in other parts, the I^ittle Island quarries for instance. Judging from these limited materials, the palaeontological evidence is not adverse to my theory, but it can hardly be of much value until a closer examination has been made. The theory of the origin of these deposits to which the fore- going among other facts have led me, may be briefly stated as follows : — After the deposition of the Old Red Sandstone, the Carboniferous limestone, and the Coal Measures, these strata were distorted by terrestrial disturbance, and thrown into the succession of parallel hills and valleys which we find now forming an important feature of our southern Irish scenery. A period of denudation then set in which cleared away nearly all the Coal-MeasurCvS, carried off the limestone from the hill- tops, and exposed the Old Red Sandstone over most of the countryside. As the result of upheaval, long cracks and fissures may have been formed in the limestone, in a direction parallel to the lines of hills, i.e., east and west, or rapid streams running down the valleys, and possibly charged with solvents, may have The Magncsian Limestone of the Cork District. 139 made deep channels in this soft and easily-solved rock. Then succeeded the so-called Permian period, with its lagoons of concentrated sea- water, from which the dolomite was deposited over the limestone still remaining, and also down deep in the parallel cracks which scored its surface. Later on, another period of denudation ensued, viz., the Glacial epoch, which has left such enduring marks upon the geological features of the district, and the soft Permian strata were all cleared away, with the exception of that portion deposited in the limestone fis- sures, and which, under the name of the Magnesian lyimestone of the Cork District, forms the subject of these notes. ^ THK COLBOPTKRIST IN IRELAND. BY W. E. SHARP. Dubinin County — North Coast. To the present writer, whose misfortune it is to be a native of the larger of the islands of the United Kingdom, Ireland had always seemed, viewed from an entomological stand-point, to be a land not so much of definite promise as of vague possi- bilities. In earlier days we had no authentic list of Irish Coleoptera (a want, now how well supplied as regards the north, by the Rev. W. F. Johnson, the readers of this serial know). What might be discovered in a land which cultivation had so little altered — a land of undrained bogs, wild, rough mountains, lakes, and moors, and wildernesses, and one withal of so singularly mild and equable a temperature — it was im- possible to conjecture. There were the theorists, who suggested that the remnants of that arctic, or glacial fauna, restricted in England to the highest altitudes, whose places had been occu- pied by newer races from the Continent, adapted to a more temperate era, had been driven ever westward by that incur- sion from the east, and might even now be found, perhaps, more abundantly in the west of Ireland than anywhere on this side the channel. Then there was that idea of a former land- ^ Since the above theory was conceived, it has received confirmation, by the discovery that the observations of others in the North of Ireland had led them to the conclusion that Permian beds existed there also. See Hull's Phys. GeoL and Gcog. of Ireland, second edition, pp. 67-70. 140 The Irish Naturalist. connection between Kerry and the Spanish peninsula, to which the occurrence of the spotted slug, Geomalacus maculosiis, among the rocks of the south-west, gave some colour ; and our imagination was fired by the fancy of ancient Iberian forms still lingering on among the sheltered valleys of the Kerry hills, or sporadic among the ivSlands that fringe that tumul- tuous coast. Thus Ireland, to the young and imaginative coleopterist, became an enchanted island, where might lie buried unheard of rarities, archaic types of the days of the retreating ice — species new to Britain, or even, exciting thought, new to science, and only describable in the most formal I^atin. Nor, indeed, are such dreams even now proved to be of the ivory gate. It is true we have in the north and east of Ireland observers who are unlikely to leave much undiscovered. We have also many records from Cork and Waterford by the late Dr. Power ; but all the extreme south, and the best part of the west, and the region of the midland bogs, are still virtually a terra incognita, and among these mountains and fens, doubtless there still lies hid much worth the capture. After this exordium, we fear the reader will experience some disappointment in discovering that the following notes chronicle no exploration into these wilds, but merely a simple walk along the northern coast of Dublin county, and that of the species captured on that occasion, not one can, by any stretch of credulity, be called rare, and that nearly all are probably well known as occurring in Ireland as well as in England. Not far southward from the town of Drogheda are certain islets called by the generic term of Skerries, and hard by, on the mainland, is a village, perhaps more properly a town, of the same name. The derivation of this word seems interesting, and we hazily conjecture that it may possibly be akin to Skel- ligs, as similar rocks on the west coast seem to be called. The point, however, is undetermined, and the town of Skerries not particularly interesting. On this bright, windy. May morning we are glad to get free from its long rows of white cottages, and strike the beach at the south end of the town. The shore here is vShingly high up, rocky lower down, and a low cliff terminates the cultivated land beyond. If you are a geologist, you may notice there exposed a section of drift, sandy or gravelly in The Colcoptcrisf in Ireland. 141 some places, and you may see, in scratched stones and pebbles, tokens of the long since melted ice. But being more especially of the coleopterist's cult, a dead gull on the shore proves more attractive, and we proceed to investigate the corpse. Alas, it is but a skeleton, and tenanted apparently only by multitudes of a species of Homalhun, that the long elytra and shining chesnut colour at once declare ; but the species is another matter, so we convey a few of them to the laurel-bottle for further examination with a lens. Now, it is this delightful uncertainty which lends such a fascination to the coleopterist's outdoor work. So many of the species are so minute and so obscure, that not even the most ex- perienced veteran can feel absolutely sure what Homalota, Hovialium, Atoinaria, or Trichopteryx\iQ. may have got. Prob- ably patient investigation will ultimately disappoint our hopes, and resolve our unknown into the commonest of the genus; but there is always the chance of the prize, and although this uncertainty entails a vast amount of superfluous labour in securing almost everything small from likely localities, yet it invests them all with the interest of their possible value. So it was with these Homalia shaken out of this skeleton sea-fowl ; they looked goqd, but they turned out nothing better than H. rivulare, probably the most frequent member of the group. Strewn about among the shingle are bunches of tangled, sand-coloured seaweeds, and moister olive-green masses; beneath the former we find a small Aleochara, ashy-grey, instead of shining like the so common A. langidnosa, and this proved to be A. algancm, a species of exclusively maritime habits; we also found a few specimens of Cercyon littoralis, a form which a beginner might readily mistake for C. hcemoiT- hoidalis, the most plentiful of this group, but besides the completely different habitat, if the two insects are held up on a level with the eye, so that one can view their contour in profile, this C. littoralis is at once distinguished b}^ its flattened back as contrasted with the boldly convex profile of C. hoemorr- hoidalis. Under the heavier and wetter masses were great numbers of Cafiiis xantholoma and C.fiicicola, the latter rather a rare, or at any rate, a local insect. All the members of this genus of Cafitcs inhabit seashores and the margins of tidal rivers, and, indeed, seem to be met with nowhere else. There is a 142 The Irish Naturalist. peculiar look about these insects which renders them un- mistakable after being once seen. Probably their food con- sists of the small, or immature sandhoppers, which rise up in a cloud from beneath these masses of tangled Fuais when they are moved. Proceeding onward along the shore, we cannot but notice those unfamiliar rocks which run out in points and masses opposite I^ambay island. Had we at that time read Professor Cole's series of articles which have appeared in The Irish Nattcralist, in "Co. Dublin Past and Present," we should have examined these rocks with more curiosity, and looked out for some of the silicified fossils, the brachiopods, gastropods, and the rest, which the Professor describes as occurring along this part of the coast; as it was, with undiscerning eye, and to avoid the wet and contorted surface which those interesting Ordovicians present, we left the actual beach, and mounting the low cliff, continued our way by a path through the meadows which there border the shore. Scattered along by the side of this track were many boulders and fragments of stone. These being inverted, disclosed a few beetles, mostly, however, valueless. There were the common Philojithics varius, P. polittis and P. marginat^ts; a Quedius or two, such as Q. tristis and Q. molochifius ; Lathrobrium fulvipenne, and Xa7itholi?ucs linearis. These one finds everywhere, but this shining brown Silpha, which tumbles into the cavity exposed by the uplift- ing of one of our stones, one does not find ever3^where. In fact, this is the first insect which tells us that we are in Ire- land, and nowhere else. The thing is generally described as a variety of Silpha atrata, under the name subrotundata, and to the present writer is a beetle of considerable interest. It differs so materially from the t3^pe-form common in England, that there seems no good reason to deny to it the rank of a separate .species. That is to say, the two differ not only in colour (which is comparatively unimportant), but also in structure, and there are among the Geodephaga many diffe- rences apparently smaller and less distinct, which are held to divide true species, such are Notiophilus biguttatus and N. S2cbstriat2ts, Nebria brevicollis, and A^. gyllenhali, Bembidium tibiale and B- at7vccerzileiiin. Again, there are no connecting links so far in evidence between S. atrata and 6*. subrottmdata, although, perhaps, the var. bntnnea, found amongst the Welsh I The Colcoptcrist in Ireland. 143 hills, might suggest a common origin; hnV bnc?inca does not differ in structure at all from afrata, while this s^tbivtundata does. Of course, we all know how difficult — nay, impossible, it is, accurately to define what we mean by " a species," and whether we call any particular form a species, or a racial variety matters but little; the really interesting point about this oily-looking light-brown St/pha, which lies kicking in our laurel bottle, is, that the form is almost exclusively re- stricted to Ireland and the Isle of Man. There are a few, possibly doubtful, English records, as the form brunnea might easil}^ have been mistaken for it; whether the type-form has ever been taken in Ireland we cannot say,' but if it had never been discovered, that is no proof that it does not exist there ; but whether it exists or not, roughly speaking, 5*. atrata is the English, and 5*. subrotttndata, the Irish form, and the question at once arises — w^hy should this be? Has the insect been differentiated since the complete disruption of Ireland from Great Britain ? or was S. S7cbjvt7tndata the original form which in England has been supplanted, and, indeed, extermi- nated by a younger rival, 5^. atrata ? And where does our mountain kS. britujiea come in? Can that be older than either of the other two, or have all three been synchronously diffe- rentiated? Such are some of the problems which this small beetle suggests. It may possibly also occur to us that this insect is rather a stumbling-block in the way of current theories of melanism. Upland forms being presumably relics of the age of the passing glaciers, ought according to such theories to be black, or at least, darker than exclusively low- land forms; and many Geodephaga, such as Carabtis arvcfisis, Notiophilus aquaticus and N. palustris, and Calathus melano- cephalus, by their melanic alpine variation are consistent evidences of such a principle, but here we have a beetle whose lowdand form is black, and upland {briinnca^ form pale! Such questions as these can only be answered by careful record of the occurrence of the particular species we may be investi- gating, its varieties, and allied species, over the whole Palae- arctic zone, and such records seem at present too fragmentary and indefinite to be of much service, while such as do exist ^ Both Silpha atrata (type), and its variety hrunnca, occur in Ireland, It is worth}' of remark that S. siibrotundala, though generally brown, is sonie- thnes black. — Eds. 144 '^^^^ Irish Nahiralist. are too often inaccessible to tlie ordinary student. With our present knowledge, questions such as these are clearly in- soluble, and so having taken a sufficient number of this engaging insect (and they seem rather plentiful under these stones), let us note some of the other species which occur there. (TO be: CONCI.UDED.) REVIEWS An Account of British Flies (Diptera). By F. V. TheobaIvD, M.A., F.E.vS. Vol. i. London : KlHot Stock, 1892. los. This is the first volume of a work which will be valuable to students of this most difficult order of insects. It contains chapters on fossil Diptera, the classification of the families of the order, and descriptions of the British genera and species of the PuUcidce (Fleas), CecidoinyidcB (Gall- Gnats), Mycdophilidci: (Fungus-Gnats), Bibionidce, Siiiiuliidiv, and CJiironoiiiidce (Midges). There is often great difficulty in determining what species really occur in Britain; Mr. Theobald has given to the commoner and cer- tain species the longest descriptions. Tables of genera and their species are given in some families but not in all ; the localities in which species occur are rarely indicated. The larval and pupal stages of the flies are, however, dealt with fully ; the book in this respect contrasts most favour- ably with many entomological works, whose authors consider the perfect insect alone worth consideration. Agriculturalists will be interested to know that species which injure crops are described in special detail. In the earlier decades of the century, the great Irish naturalist, Haliday, was a pioneer in the study of Diptera. We hope that some of our pre- sent-day entomologists may be induced to work at this obscure but mosi interesting order. Blue, White, and Blue. Edited by John CharIvES Benson. Vol. ix., No I. Dublin, February, 1893. 6d. We have received the current number of the Rathmines School Magazine, and note with pleasure the prominence given to natural history subjects. There are some interesting "Bird Notes" by the head master. Rev. Dr C. W. Benson, and we believe that the record of our latest visitor, the vSerin Finch, appeared earlier here than in any other journal. In an article on "Dublin in 1805," there is a reference to the introduction of the FVog, and the writer evidently agrees with Mr. Kane rather than with Dr. Scharff. We are a little surprised to read, in an article on the Bailey Lighthouse, of the Su^arloaf and " its volcanic glories of a bygone age." We thought it generally known that this mountain is not an extinct volcano, and that its conical shape is due to the even weathering of the quartzite of which it is composed. It is gratifying to know that a taste for observing natural objects is being so well developed in Rathmines School, and we confidently look for new recruits from its pupils to the ranks of Irish naturalists. [ H5 ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. ROYAIy ZOOI^OCxIC-Vr^ SOCIICTV. Recent donations comprise a Sparrow-IIawk from Master Phillips; two gulls from A. M. Harper, Esq. ; a Guinea-Fowl from Mr. Brady; a Golden-headed Marmoset from Miss S. Roberts; and some freshwater fish from A. Godden, Esq. A Bactrian (two-humped) Camel, an Axis Deer, and a Nylt^haie, have been purchased. 7,500 persons visited the Gardens in March. Armagh Naturat^ History and Phii^osopiiicaIv Society. March 20th.— The President (Rev. W. F. Johnson, M.A., F.E.vS.) in the chair. Mr. R. L1.0YD Praeger, M.R.I. A., delivered a lecture on "Botanical Rambles in Co. Armagh." The results of Mr. Praeger's in- vestigations are at present appearing in these pages. BEI.FAST NaTURAI^ISTS' FlElvD C1.UB. March 21st.— The President (Mr. John Vinycomb) in the chair. The evening was devoted to a display of microscopical objects and apparatus. This being the second Annual Meeting of the Microscopical vSection, the Secretar}^ (Mr. H. M'Ci^EERY) presented the report of the section, which was adopted. The microscopes then claimed attention. The exhibitors were — Miss C. M. Patterson, Messrs. J. J. Andrew, S. Cunningham, Henry Davis, W. D. Donnan, \Vm. Gray, M.R.I.A. ; P. F. Gulbransen, W. Hanna, B.A.; Adam Speers, B.Sc; Alex. Tate, C.E.; R. Welch and Joseph Wright, F.G.S. At nine o'clock a short business meeting was held, at which a number of new members were elected. Aprii^ 5th. — The President in the chair. The evening was devoted to Irish folk-lore. The following papers were read: — " Pishogues from Tip- perary," Miss LiIvY S. M01.1.AN ; "A Notice of Irish Fairies," Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A. ; " Notes from Co. Down," Mrs. Bi,air. Dubinin Naturai^ists' Fiei.d Ci.ub. March 21st.— The Rev. Maxwei.1. C1.0SE, M.A., in the chair. Dr. VAI.ENT1NE Bai.1., C.B., F.R.S., gave a lecture entitled, " Notes on some Animals and Plants observed in the Valley of the Nile." Having de- scribed the natural features of the country, its geology, climate, and irrigation, and illustrated his remarks by means of limelight photo- graphs, which included many views of architectural ruins and animal life in the Nile Valley, Dr. Ball referred to the influence which the inroad of the Camel has had on the nature of the soil in destroying the herbage, and rendering the land a desert. He then alluded to the customs of the ancient Egyptians, and showed how certain animals, such as the Ibis and the Cat were worshipped, only by certain sections of the people — one creature being held sacred in one region, and another in a different one. The Chairman having thanked Dr. Ball for his lecture, discussed several points of the geology of Egypt, and then spoke of the worship of the ancient Egyptian peoples, showing that it is ver}- probable that they possessed other obscure religious ideas than those commonly credited to them. Mr. H. Lyster Jameson exhibited a variety of the Swallow {Hiriindo rustica) as an example of albinism. Mr. D. M'ArdIvE exhibited specimens of Saracenia flava maxima, a hybrid, being the first production of this variety in Ireland, and having been grown in the Glasnevin gardens. 14-6 Th c Irish Na hi ra list. Mr. DuERDEN exhibited a mounted specimen oiCrisia raniosa, Harmer, a polyzoon new to Ireland, from Dublin bay; the species has recently been described by Mr. S. F. Harmer, who obtained it abundantly at Plymouth. Aprii, nth. —The President (Dr. M'Weeney) in the chair. Mr. H. K. G. CuTHBER'T read a paper on " Some Destructive Weevils," giving an account, illustrated by lantern diagrams, of the more im- portant species of Weevils which , injure garden plants, fruit and timber trees, and stored grain. The President, Mr. G. H. Carpenter, and Mr. J. M. Browne, took part in the discussion. Mr. H. Lyster JAME.SON read a paper on " vSome Coleoptera from Lough gilly, Co. Armagh," and exhibited specimens in illustration thereof. Mr. J. N. Hai^berT exhibited Hcenwyiia appe^idicidata, a chrj^somelid beetle new to Ireland (see note, p. 148) from the Royal Canal. Dr. M'Weeney exhibited a fungus, Cordyceps entomorrhiza, new to Ire- land, from Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow. This remarkable fungus was growing on the two-winged fly Polietes lardaj-ia. Rev. M. H. Ceose showed a piece of coal with fracture-planes re- sembling the faces of a rhomboidal crystal. NOTES. BOTANY. FUNGI. Fungi from Wood en bridge, Co. Wicl^Iow. — In company with Dr. Scharff I spent several hours collecting in the above locality during the Kaster vacation. The following is a list of the chief species met with. They would doubtless have been much more numerous had the weather not been continuously dry for nearly a month previous to our excursion, dryness being, as is well known, unfavourable to the development of most Fungi : — Three agarics, all belonging to the indistinct purple-spored groups, Psilocybe and Psathyra. As there was only a single specimen of each species to be found, complete identification was quite impossible; Poly- porits armeniactts, Berk., or some closely-allied species, on dead fir-trunk ; Dcedalia quercina, Fr. ; Stej'ciwi hirstttwji, Fr. ; Peronospora pygvicca, Ung., and Urocystis anemones, Pers., both abundant on A. neinorosa, which was ver}^ plentiful along the banks of the Aughrim river; the two parasites some- times occurred in company, the epidermis raised up and blistered by the Urocystis, being covered with a thin grey coating of /'t7w/6'j^6i;'(^; sections through these places showed the oospores of the Peronospora lying in the parenchyma-cells close to vvdiere the spore-groups of the Urocystis were in process of differentiation; Uromyccs poce, Rabh., tecidiospores ever}^- where abundant on Ranunculus ficaria; Puccinia phalaridis, Plow., aecidio- spores and pycnids on Arum maculatum (scarce) ; P. gloina-ata, Grev. on Senccio jacobcca ; Peziza stercorea, Vr., aii^ Ascobolus furfuraceus, Pers., on cow- dung; Keticularia ztmb7-ina, Fr. ; Arcyria cineera, Schum.; Rhyisina acerinum in itst3^pical ascigerous condition; Acrospermum graminum, Lib., in its only recently-recognized ascigerous state (kindly identified for me by Mr. Massec) ; Cordyceps entomorrhiza{}), Dicks, ^row'm^^fromSiAe^d. Polietes lardaria, Fab. (a dipterous fl}', for the identification of which, I have to thank Mr. G. H. Carpenter). The two last-mentioned Fungi are new to Ireland, and of the highest interest. I do not know that this Cordyceps has ever been observed growing from a fiy. Dr. Cooke in his recent work on these entomophagous fungi, states — " The only perfect Cordyceps yet recorded on Diptera in Buroj^e is one Cordyceps forquii^noni which has occurred in Notes. ^^1 France on a dnng-ily, Miisca nifa or Dasyphora fin Wasps," etc., p. 224).— K. J. McWeenky, Dublin. France on a dung-fly, Musca nifa ox Dasyphora praloricm:' (" Vctictable c LIV EKWOR TS. Irish Liverworts. —To t\\^ Journal 0/ Jh>hxny {or April, Rev. C. 11. Waddell, li.D., contributes a short paper on the distribution of Ay, v/«cvc' in Ireland, remarking that in his opinion the extensive felling of tind)er and draining^of land which have been carried out in recent times has had a marked effect on the moisture-loving species, and quoting some in- stances of the recent disappearance of such plants owing to these causes. He adds some new stations for North of Ireland Lejeunetc. ZOOI.OGY. ARACHNIDS . Argyroneta aquatica in Captivity.— It is with much pleasure that I have read Mr. Johnson's most interesting article on this subject (p. 99). I m3-self kept a water spider for some time ; but it did not live sufficiently long for me to make many notes on the subject. My aquarium consisted of a tumbler with a little fine gravel on the bottom, and a flat pebble supported on two others, under which the spider constructed a web after the manner described by Mr. Johnson. During its short period of captivity it killed a water-boatman (Xotoncda glauca) which it pulled into its web. After the Aorjyronda had died I removed the stone under w^hich the web was constructed, and discovered that some small pebbles were attached to the edge of the web, and I at first thought that they had been suspended there by the spider to weigh down the edge ; but I afterwards concluded that it had been originally attached to the bottom, and these pebbles had been buoyed up when it was filled with air. — H. Lyster Jameson, Killencoole, Co. Louth. INSE^C TS. A New List of Irisli Lepidoptera.— In the EntoDwIoglst for Februarj^ Mr. W. F. de V. Kane commences a new list of the Butterflies and Moths of Ireland, which w^ll be of the greatest use to naturalists, and meets a long felt want. We hope to record the progress of Mr. Kane's work, and to give a summary of his results in each group as it appears. Lepidoptera of Londonderry.— Mr. Kane has pointed out an error in my list, the species Gcoinctra vernaria must be deleted. Mr. Milne informs me that he reared a specimen of Scsia iipidiforDns last June. — D. C. Campeei.i., Londonderr}-. Lepidoptera at Ardara, Co. Donegal.— Though I paid most attention to the coleoptera at Ardara, I did not altogether neglect other orders, and managed to pick up a few butterflies and moths. Of the latter I should have probably taken more species had not the cold that I caught prevented night work. The butterflies were represented by the three "Whites," viz.: Picris hrassic(t:, P. rapa-, and P. napi; Vanessa ■iiriiccv ; Satynis scuiclc, fairly common on the sandhills, but only just coming out when I left ; dcnonyinpha typhon, a single specimen on the mountain ; C. paviphilus, common on the mountain ; Polyonirdatus pklcvas, and Lyccvna icariis. I almost forgot to mention the ubiquitous Epinephilc janira which abounded in the meadows. Among the moths the following occurred; Sincrintht(s popiili, a single male on the shore of the estuary ; A'lidaria vmndana ; Cyviatophora duplaris, a single specimen at the Rectory ; Xylophasia nwnoolypha, a couple of nice dark forms ; Chancas graminis, on Ragweed ; Caradriiia qtiadripunctata; Apatnca didyma; the paucity of Noctua^ is to be laid to the 148 The Irish Naturalist. blame of the cold inentioned above. Cidaria incncala, C. i/nmanala, both varying a good deal ; C. testata, common on the mountain ; Larcntia didyiiiata ; L. cccsiaia, among heather ; Hypsipctcs soniidata ; Emnielcsia albulata, very abundant ; E. adicqiiata and E. aic/iemillata, vSingle specimens of each by beating hedges ; Melanippe viotitanata ; i\I. fliictiiala ; Canipto- gra/mna bilineata ; Anaitis plagiata ; Eiibolia liinitata ; Metrocampa niar- garltaria ; Heniithea strigata ; Acidalia diniidiata ; Eiidorea atoj/ialis, among heather ; Stenopieryx noctiiella ; Pionea forjicalis ; Aphoinia socidla ; Crambiis tristellus ; C. perldliis, some small varieties; C. pratellus ; C. cuhiiclliis ; Tortrix vibiirnana, a pale form ; Dichelia grotiana ; Catoptria cana ; Pa/nplusut viercuriana, I got this beautiful little moth on the top of one of the highest mountains, but it was difficult to catch owing to the wind and the broken nature of the ground ; Grapholitha triinaculana ; Lita viarniorca, very plentiful on the sandhills at the roots oi Aiiunophila. I am indebted to Mr. C. G. Barrett for kind aid in determining several species with which I was unacquainted. — W. F. Johnson, Armagh. A Beetle new to Ireland,— Haemonia appendiculata, Panz. in Co. Dublin. — While exercising the water-net in the Royal Canal, near Dublin, on the 8th April, I was fortunate enough to take a specimen of this beetle which is apparently of great rarity, I cannot find any re- cords of its recent occurrence in Great Britain, and there are very few British records of any kind, all are from the south of England. The species is chiefly south European in its distribution. — ^J. N. HAi^BiiRT, DubHn. ■ MOLLUSCA. Some Notes on the Irish SIug:s. — It is to be hoped that by the publication of Dr. Scharff's monograph on the Irish Slugs, and his more recent series of articles in The Irish Naturalist for 1S92, an impetus will be given to Irish conchology, and that a deeper and more careful stud}^ will be the result. With the exception of Dr. Scharff's admirable and exceed- ingly useful work, comparatively little or nothing has been done amongst the Irish slugs, and this is the more surprising when one considers the many interesting problems connected with the country geographically. Some of my friends, of a very sanguine nature, see in the systematic study of Irish Conchology a host of new and rare forms. Westerlund has recorded several species oi Sph(vriidce peculiar to Ireland. Regarding the slugs, I think future careful and systematic studies of their distribution will reveal a number of forms not as yet known to occur in any of the British Isles. I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Scharff for many interesting consignments of Irish slugs, amongst which the following have been found : (i) forms very nearly allied to Arioii celticus, Poll, (which species I now regard as a variety of ^. hortensis^ Fer.) ; (2) a very interesting Arion, much smaller than A. empiricorum, Fer., of a silvery-grey colour ; possibly this may be only a colour- variation of a young individual. It might easily be mistaken for the British form o{ A.fuscatus^ Nils. [A. boiirguignaii, Mab., and A. ci^-cnmscnptiis, Johnst.). I had only a single specimen, but from what I could make out by dis- section it was closely allied to A. eiiipiriconini. The reproductive organs were but slightly developed. In Dr. Scharff's work (p. 539) he makes mention of some Arions from the west coast, in which the retractor muscles of the oviduct and receptacular duct have their point of attach- ment on the upper poj'tion of the oviduct and close to the receptaculum seminis. I have suggested to Dr. Scharff that this form may possibly be the A. hisitanicus, Mabille, in which species the muscles are so situated. This species has been found in England, and I can see no reason why it should not occur also in Ireland. It is quite possible that man}^ of the slugs which, from external appearances, we at present regard as varieties of J.. //^^r/d'wjzj-, Fer., may by careful anatomical investigations prove to be referable to some of the more northerly distributed conti- nental forms. I hope, at no distant date, to jjublish in the pages of this Notes. 149 Journal, an account of the Irish Shigs I have examined, together with a hst of the species and varietie.s, and shall much esteem any assistance from Irish malacologists. — W. E. CorvijNGiC, Mason College, Birmingham. lYIoIIusca from Woodenbridgc, Co. Wicklow.— I s])ent a few days after ICaster in the dcptlis of the Co. Wicklow, at Woodcnl^ridgc, which I can strongly recommend as a promising collecting-ground. The weather was as fine as could be desired for collecting both land and fresh -water mollusca. Towards the end of my visit I was joined by Dr. INI'Weenef , whose great power in detecting microscopic organisms enal)led him to find many of the smaller Helices. Of the two rarities, Helix lamcllata and H. fusca, we obtained a good number. I was most anxious to get some fine specimens of the fresh-w^ater pearl-mussel {Unio margarifi/cr), which, although absent in some of the Wicklow rivers, is abundant in a few favourable spots in the Aughrim river. It has been stated that one pearl is found on an average in a hundred shells, and that only one in every twenty is of an}- value as an ornament. But this is a general average wdiicli is possibly much exceeded in the shells found in many of the Irish rivers, as I discovered several small pearls in aljout a dozen specimens. I am not aware that any organised pearl fisheries have ever been established in Ireland, but in Scotland the river pearl industry was of some importance in the 17th century, and British pearls were even spoken of by Tacitus and Pliu}'. The following were the species we took at Woodenbridge : — Vitrina pellucida, Hyalinia cellaria, H. alUaria, H. nitidula, H. inwa, H. radiatula, H. crystallina, H.fulva, Avion ater, A. suhfuscus, A.hortcnsis, A. circumscri2)tus, A. inter medius, Liniax iiiaxiiiius, L. margiiudus, Agriolimax agrcstis, A. hcvis, Amalia sowerbyi, Helix pygvicea, H. rotundaia, H. laniellata, H. hispida, H. fusca, II. nemoralis, Cochlicopa lubrica, Pupa cylindracea, Vertigo edcntula, V. substriata, Claicsilia bidentata, Succinea putris, Canjchiiim minimum, Limiuea percgra, L. truncatu/a, Ancylus fluviatilis, Unio margaritifer. The following species were obtained on the sand-hills at Arklow, Co. Wicklow : — Vitrina pellucida,, Hyalinia radiatula, Arion ater, A. subfuscus, Agriolimax agrestis. Helix rotundata, H. pulchella, H. hispida, H. intersccta, H. cricctor2ivi, H. acuta, H. asp)crsa, Cochlicopa. lubrica, Pupa cylindracea, P. muscorum. Vertigo pygmaea. — R. F. SCHARFF, Dublin. Planortois ri pari us— A Correction. — I recently received genuine specimens of this species from Germany, and on comparing these with the Irish forms alluded to in The Irish Naturalist (vol. i., p. 192), I regret to inform the readers of this Journal that the latter do not belong to PI. riparius. They are large specimens of PL crista, var. nautilcus. — R. F. SCHARFF, Dublin. AMPHIBIANS. Arrested Development of the Frog's Tadpoie.— Referring to Dr. Scharft's very interesting paper on Frogs in the January number, I should like to mention that I have in my possession some Tadpoles wdiich have remained as such all through last summer and winter, and as I never before knew^ of the Frog remaining so long in its primitive form, I should be glad to hear if au}^ of your readers have ever observed this peculiarit}^ and if so, under what conditions. In the case of mine, there is no hindrance to their getting out of the w^ater when ready, as they are in a rough rock-built basin, with the water always nearly to the lip, but the water is not stagnant — a trickle of Vartry water alw^a3-s run- ning into it, keeping it more or less fresh, but not so much as to prevent duckweed growing freely. Could it be possible that the freshness of the water might have such an effect upon their breathing apparatus as to retain them in their fishy state, and retard their otherwise natural de- velopment ; or may it be the case that a number do remain over un- observed every year in the ditches without change.? for what I have are only a small remnant of the number hatched out from the spawn. They lie in the mud at the bottom, but are quite lively when stirred up. Most of them have the two hind legs developed.— H. M. Barton, Dublin. i^o The Irish Xaturalist, BIRDS. Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) breedingr in Co. Armagh.— Mr. Georgx? D. Bexesibni, of Castle Dillon, Armagh, iufonus me that he has on the 2Slh March seen a pair of mature Crossbills captannl near Castle Dillon, by a boy, who on the 6th March found their nest containing four voung onek covered with down of a dark-grey colour < characteristic of the unhedged nestling Crossbill". He put them into a cage, on which plentiful here* at Cappagh firom 1SS9 to 1S92, have now become ver\- scarce. — R- J. Ussher, Cappagh, Co. Wateiford. [We hope naturalists will discourage the useless slaughter and capture of these most interesting birds, which would breed freely with us if un- disturbed.— E DS-~ Early Arrivals. — The Chiff-Chaff iPkyllasi-iiifMs cellybUa) was noted st Comragh in this county on the 19th March. I heard one on the 2Qth, and at Michelstown. Co. Cork, one was noted on the 21st. A Swallow {H. nts^!\-a) was seen at Comragh on the 19th March, and up to the 30th it has been still observed there daily Sying about the yard. etc, though only the one bird has as yet appeared- — R. J. Usshek. Cappagh. In Land cutd irai^r for April isu the Chiff-Chait is recorded as having been heard in the Downs, Wicklow, on March ajrd, and in Tyrone ou the 2r±. Abundance of Wild Swans in Mayo. 1832-3.— I subjoin an extract on this subject Erora a Iciier I have received from Dr. Burk:::. late of Waterford. now in his eighty-sixth year, residing at Beliuul-L,. He was the correspondent of Yarrell and Thompson, and collected birds at Waterford since iS3a where among the number of specimens that he preserved were the Waterford Great Auk. given by him to Trinity College Museum, the Gold- vented Thrush, and the South African Eagle-Owl, all obtained bv him in the nesh from the locality. Of late years he has added to the Irish list the Barred Warbler, which he obtained at Bel- mullet, in September, 1SS4- This with a County Waterford specimen of Baillon's Crake he has given to the Science and Art Museum. — R. J. USSHER- "I had intended mentioning to you as an astonishing fact the un- precedented migration of swans during the winter 1S92 to this district. This last winter has been mild, little or no frost or snow, but murky. fo«^v. wet or stormy, a damp miserable season, elsewhere reported as about the most intensely cold and severe winter on record- From about the middle of November swans appeared, frx>m time to time, to visit this district *the Mullet , until the second week in February, in enormous numbers, ^im Outumwis reported. Generally swans visit the Mullet in winter, in detached bodies of five, six, eight, or so, amounting to the total number of fifty to a hundred during the winter, but this season on the lake of Cross,' about three miles from this, upwards of a thousand were seen together ^most daily, for weeks in December and January-. and some used occasionally to fly from it to a smaller lake about tw<:> miles fixwn this, Turmon Carra, and if disturbed there go back again to Cross. This Turmon Carra, although a very small piece of water, was alwavs a favourite resting-place for ducks, g,^^^^, and swans in hard weather, when they migrate to this district. '• The vast majority of these swans were C. bctcvcl-i. This bird has the receptacle in the sternum for the windpipe as the Whooper has, but not nearlv so large nor deep. Mr. Moran shot one on February 6th, a young bird, some grevish feathers being on the head. Is was in fine condition being verv fet-— Robert J. Burkitt." I Irish Naturawst, Voi.. II.] [PI.ATE 4- The YEI.I,OW-bii.i.ED ShEAThbh.!, {Chionis alba, Lath.) (Shot at Carlingford Lighthouse, 2nd December, 1892.) [See p. 151.] , \^From a Photograph by Mr, Greewwood Pwi^\ ©Ije^ gtrt^lj Jlatttralt^t. Vol.. 11. JUNE, 1893. No. 6. THE YEI.LOW-BILLED SHEATHBII,!, (Chionis alba, Latham) ON THE IRISH COAST. BY H. LYSTKR JAMESON. Op the many rare birds that have within the last few years been added to the Irish list through the energetic researches of Mr. R. M. Barrington and his correspondents at the Irish lighthouses, none has caused more interest among ornitho- logists than the Yellow-billed Sheathbill {Chionis alba). The specimen, of which a plate is given in this number, was shot by Mr. Richard Hamilton, lighthouse-keeper, Carling- ford, Co. Down, on December 2nd, 1892. Mr. Hamilton describes the capture in his letter to Mr. Barrington (Decem- ber 9th) as follows : — "At 8.30 a.m. on the 2nd, I was at the Blockhouse (a small island about 800 yards from the lighthouse) shooting ducks, and saw the bird walking about on the highest part of it, which is not more than ten feet. I at first took it for a tame pigeon, as it seemed to take no notice of me, but observed that it walked differently, at an angle of about 45°, and was not picking at anything; so fired at it about thirty yards, and was surprised to see it go off. It took a half circle of the rock, and again alighted a few yards from the water. I again fired at about forty yards, still the bird stood steady as if not touched — and I consider myself a fair shot,— so I sent the dog to fetch it, and when about two yards from it, it again took to flight, as it seemed quite strong, but fell about fifty yards from the rock. I picked it up with the boat, and from its attitude on the water, I dare say it was a land bird. The wings were partly opened, par- ticularly in front. The shot used was No. 2." Mr. Benjamin R. Jeffers, assistant-keeper, who watched the proceedings from the lighthouse with a telescope, described the bird as being quite at ease on the water until the b*bat came up, when it assumed the attitude described by Mr. Hamilton.' He also said that it had a very "proud, bold For this information I am indebted to Mr, Barrington. A 152 The Irish Naturalist. walk," and that the flight resembled that of a Puffin, the motion of the wings a little less rapid. The opening of the wings on the approach of the boat was only natural, for the bird was evidently wounded, as its feathers bear traces of the shot, and it was incapable of rising from the w^ater, one tarsus being broken. Different systematists have placed the genus Chionis in widely different families and orders. Gray ("Genera of Birds"), places the family Chionididcc in the order Gallinae ; Cuvier (" Regne Animal "), between the genera Fiilica and Glareola; while Audouin & Co., in their " Dictionnaire d'His- toire Naturelle," rank it among the web-footed birds. The researches of Professor Blainville have, however, now set the matter at rest, as he has shown its structural and anatomical affinities to the Oyster-catchers {Hcematoptts^ ; and Mivart (''Birds: the Elements of Ornithology"), places Chionis 2iVi\Q>n% the Charadriidce, not even assigning to it a sub-family in common with Thinocorus and Attagis. Of the genus Chionis there are two species, — Chionis alba and C. mijior; the average dimensions are as follows: — Chio7ii$ minor. Chionis alba. Black-billed Sheathbill : Yellow-billed Sheathbill : Total length, 13 inches. 17 inches. Bill from point, 1.2 ,. r.4 ,, Height at base, .7 ., .8 .. Breadth at gape, -65 ., •75 •' Wing, 9 10.5 ,, Tarsus, i.io ,, 1. 11 ., Middle toe, 1.8 „ 2.1 ,, Bill black, sheath turned up in Bill yellow, sheath flat like cere. ' front like pommel of saddle. The bill is very strong and convex ; on the cheek there is a bare spot, covered in the adults with yellowish papillae ; wing armed with a blunt knob at carpal joint; second primar^^ longest ; tail strong, nearly square ; legs reddish-brown (colour seems to vary considerably according to age ; and judging from the two specimens I have examined, becomes dull lead- colour after death) ; hind toe elevated from ground ; claws black, short, channelled on under side ; irides ( ? species) dull lead-colour; plumage all over pure white. ' For these dimensions, furnished by Professor Newton. I have again to thank Mr. Barrington. The Yellow-billed Sheathbill ov f he Irish Coast. 153 The specimen taken at Carlingford was, doubtless, moulting, as the wing and tail feathers were uneven, but according to my friend, Mr. K. Williams, the old feathers, some of which were not yet cast, showed no signs of captivity. The young differ from the adults in having the papillae on the face absent, or rudimentary. Not having had an opportunity of consult- ing a series of specimens, I am unable to say whether the Carlingford specimen had arrived at full maturity. Many voyagers have remarked on the extraordinary odour of the flesh and entrails of this bird, but the smell does not seem to be an essential attribute, as others have not noticed it ; Mr. Williams did not think it different from that of other aquatic birds, whereas Mr. Tank declares that a specimen taken on board a ship during a storm, when seventy miles off the coast of Patagonia, and brought to him in a half-skinned condition, had a most remarkable .stench, w^hich he compared to that of a seal, and which was retained by the skin some time after mounting. Both Mr. Williams and Mr. Tank affirm that there was a quantity of fat under the skin, a peculiarity shared by most birds inhabiting cold regions. Voyagers differ as to the quality of the flesh ; some com- paring it with that of a duck, but others considering the odour sufficient to condemn it. Mr. Williams remarked that it was coarse and rank like that of an Oyster-catcher. The ^%% has been described by Prof. Newton in the Proc. Zoo I. Soc. London. I regret that I have not had an opportunity of consulting his paper. Chionis alba lives like our Oyster- catcher, singly, or in small flocks, on the shores of antarctic islands; it feeds on moUusca, carrion, seaw^eed, and eggs. The mollusca in the vStomach of one opened by Darwin, at Falkland, consisted chiefly of Patellce. Can the odour exhaled by some specimens be due to their carrion-feeding propensities, like that of our Hooded Crow? Chionis alba inhabits the coast of Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia; while eastward C. minor \,^k<^s\\s place, inhabiting Kerguelen, the Crozettes, and Prince Edward Island. Darwin and other voyagers remark the great distances from land at which the bird is to be met wdth in the open ocean, and, according to Prof. Newton, the most northerly B 154 '^^^^ Irish Naturalist. record is latitude 44° S., 260 miles off the coast of Patagonia, which is very remarkable for a wader ; 44° S. lat. is also about the northern limit of drift ice, which the Sheathbill is said to frequent, and from which it takes one of its trivial names (Ice- bird). Is it altogether improbable that a bird which has been found occasionally so far from land, should wander still further from its usual limits ? and once having reached the West Indies, it would be no more unlikely to fi}^ over the Atlantic than any other of our American visitors, and the natural tendency would be to seek a climate vSimilar to its own for breeding purposes. If the Sheathbill had escaped from any European aviary, the fact would probably have been published before now, and Mr. W. Cross, Liverpool, the well-known importer of wild animals, has not had one alive for several years. Moreover, it is not a bird a sailor would bring home b}' choice, as it would require more liberty than the finches and parrots which are usually to be seen in the forecastle of a merchant ship, while if left at liberty to run about the decks it would probably soon escape, and if pinioned would be drowned in the first heavy sea, as happens to many Guillemots, Razorbills, and even occasionally Fulmars off our coast. The ships which visit antarctic islands are usually small vessels, such as sealers and whalers, from which a Sheathbill would have ample opportunities of escape. If on the other hand it flew on board a large merchant ship on a passage round Cape Horn, the majority of seamen would do their best to secure it for the pot. I write from experience, having seen the breast of an Albatross served up by the apprentices on a first-class London merchant ship. Of the many birds that came on board our ship during my voyage round the world, no attempt was made to tame any except a few finches captured in European waters. I will not quote as similar instances the many petrels and terns, whose breeding limits are antarctic and circumtropical, as they are purely oceanic, some of them breeding in the extreme south, as Wilson's Petrel, the Sooty Shearwater, and the " Cape Pigeon," which is supposed to have occurred in Ireland, but which Mr. A. G. More and Mr. E. Williams inform me was too hastily accepted on faith of evidence, which at that time seemed sufiicient, but which has since been The Yellow-billed Sheathbill on the Irish Coast. 155 discredited. Much interesting information on the antarctic and circumtropical species which visit the British shores, will be found in Mr. Henry Seebohm's "Geographical Distribution of British Birds." Books containing information on Chionis alba : — Darwin, " NaturaHsts' Voyage." " Zoology, Voyage H.M.vS. Beagle (Birds)." Dumeril, " Vo3-age de I'Uraine." ,, "Voyage de la Bonite." Gray, " Genera of Birds." Shaw, "Naturalists' Miscellany." ,, " General Zoology." Pagenstecher, "Die Vogel slid Georgiens." THE FI.ORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH. BY R. LLOYD PRAEGKR, B.E., M.R.I. A. {Continued from page 134). *Verbascum thapsus, Linn. N. Near Armagh, but escaped ; apparently not a native of the county, R. LI. P. Linaria repens, Ait. S. Sparingly on and beside the Greenore railway near the canal locks below Newry, R. LI. P. Its only other station in Ulster lies six miles to the south-east, on the opposite (Co. Down) shore of Carlingford Lough. (Scrophularia aquatica, Linn. [N.] " The water figwort or 6'o-£'//^z//a;7« a^z^a/zV« . . . grows on the banks of the Newry water." — Cootis Armagh. The determination may be correct, but I saw this species nowhere in the county.) lYIelampyrum pratense, Linn. N. M. — Mullinure near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! On bogs south of An- nagariif lake, and between Lough Gullion and Lough Neagh ; in a wood a mile S.E. of Tanderagee, and by the Cusher river near Clare Castle, R. LI. P. IVI. pratense, Linn., var. montanuin, Johnst. S. Summit of a rocky hill a mile south of Fathom mountain, at about 800 feet elevation, R. LI. P. Veronica montana, Linn. N. M. — Copse wdthin the park at Loughgall Manor ! and banks of Lough Neagh, More N.H.R. Tynan Abbey, and upper and lower demesnes at Tanderagee, R, Ll. P. V. airi*estis, Linn. N. Grange, near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! *V. buxbaumii. Ten. N. A weed in the flower borders at Loughgall Manor, More N.H.R. I did not observe it in the county; it is now quite common in dis- trict 12. *IVIcntha rotundifolia, Linn. N. M. S- Occasionally, but only as an escape, R. Ll. P. 156 The Irish Naturalist. JIVI. piperata, Huds. N. Near Tartaraghan and Killylea, but probably an escape from cul- tivation (form M. officinalis, Hull), R. LI. P. Orlgranum vulgarc, Linn. N. Lougligall (More), Flor. Ulst. and Cyb. Hib. ! Abundant on a high grassy bank a little north of Loughgall; lanes at Derryhaw, east of Tynan, R. Ll. P. Thymus serpyllum, Linn. S. Apparently very rare in the countv, and only once observed, R. Ll. P. Scutellaria gralericulata, Linn. N. Lough near Killilea (Templeton), Flor. Ulst. Loughgall (More), Flor. Ulst. ! Derrymacash in Seagoe parish, H. W. L. spec. ! Near Armagh, S. A. S. Shores of Annagariff lake, R. Ll. P. Lamium amplexicaule, Linn. N. — S. Grange, near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Loughgall, Navan Fort, railway two miles south of Portadown, and on ruin at western base of Slieve Gullion, R. Ll. P. L. f ntertnedium, Fries. N. Grange, near Armagh, W. F. J. spec! Maghery, R. Ll. P. (L. hybridum, Villars. [N.] — — Loughgall (More), Flor. Ulst. Not in Mr. More's N.H.R. paper nor in Cyb. Hib., and presumably omitted for a reason. I did not find it in the county, but noticed cut-leaved forms oi L. purpuretwi, resembling this species, in the north.) L. album, Lmn. N. — S. Common in the limestone district, whence there are numerous records and notes of it; its only occurrences beyond this limited area are Silverwood near Lurgan, H. W. L. spec! and roadside south of Crossmaglen, R. Ll. P. (Caleopsis speciosa, Miller. — [M.] — Tanderagee (O'Meara), Cyb. Hib. Not seen since at Tanderagee or elsewhere in the county; many of the older records for this species are unreliable, large-flowered forms of G. tetrahit having been mistaken for it. ) Stachys betonica, Benth. N. County Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. On an old fort near Tar- taraghan (G. R.), Cyb. Hib. In considerable abundance at Crowbill, B. N. F. C, 187 1. These notes all refer to one station, which is an old wooded rath near the road at the south side of Crowbill, where it was first found by Mr. Robinson. Seen here also by S. A. S. in 1877, but very sparingly. I visited the place both in July and August, 1892, and searched for it without success, but I can hardlj- believe it has died out, as the ground has been in no way disturbed or altered for many years. S. palustris, Linn., var. ambigua, Smith. N. Roadside at Silverwood near Lurgan, H. W. L. spec! There are two hybrid forms in the North of Ireland; one, the S. ambigua of Smith, a coarse form with sub-cordate ovate-lanceolate leaves, tapering to a long point, and nearer to S. sylvatica than to .S". pahistris ; the other, a smaller plant with narrower leaves, not cordate below, and with a shorter blunter point, and nearer to S. pahisti-is than to S. sylvatica. To the former {S. ambigua^ belong the Armagh plant, and a plant found by S. A, S. near Belfast; the latter is the com- moner form, and to it all the records of .5". ambigua in district 12 refer. S. arvensis, Linn. — M. — Extremely rare in Armagh : a few plants observed in one spot only, in a field near Clare, S.W. of Tanderagee, R. Ll. P. The Flora of County Arma^^Ii. 157 Plngulcula lusltanlca, Ivinn. S. On Caiiiloui^h iiiouutain, and west side of Slieve Gullion, R. IJ. P. Utrlcularia vulg:arls, Linn. N. Montiasj^hs bou^s, II. W. L. spec. ! Loughadian west of Armagh, Drnninianinore Longh near Armagh, by Longh Neagh at Derryadd Bay, and drains on IDcrrywarragh Island at IMaghery, R. LI. P. :{:PrIinula verls, Linn. N. Park at Lurgan (Ilyndman), and Loughgall (More), Flor. Ulst.; recently seen in the former station by H. W. L., and in the latter by W. F. J, Armagh Palace demesne and Castle Dillon demesne, W, F. J. spec! Raughlan Point on Longh Neagh, H. W. L. spec! Perhaps introduced in all these stations, but may be a native on the limestone. Lyslmachia nutnmularia, Linn. N. M. — In a limestone quarry at Grange, near Armagh, W. F. J. spec, ! Lawn in Tanderagee upper demesne, R. LI. P. Claux tYiarltlma, Linn. Abundant by estuary of Newry River, R. LI. P. Samolus valcrandl, Linn. N. ■ Shore of Lough Neagh by entrance of Lagan Canal, H. W. L. spec! Centunculus minimus, Linn. N. Shore of Lough Neagh south of Bird Island, and in a gravel-pit on west side of Derryadd Bay, R. LI. P. Sta ticc bahusiensis, Fries. — • — S. F^stuary of Newr}' River, common, R. LI. P. Armeria maritima, Willd. ^ Plantago coronopus, Linn. ^^.^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ P. - -^ S. P. maritima, Linn. 1 Suaeda maritima, Duni. ^ Ciicnopodium toonus-hcnricus, Linn. N. — S. Benburb-bridge (Hyndman), Flor. Ulst. Roadside at east end of Lough Ross near Crossmaglen, R. LI. P. Beta maritima, Linn. S. By brackish streams in Newry, R. LI. P. Sallcornia herbacca, Linn. S. Rstuary of Newry River, R. LI. P. Atriplex deltoidea, Bab. S. P^stuary of Newry River, R. LI. P. A. crecta, Huds. ^» Field near Narrow-water, R. LI. P. A. babingtonil, Woods. S. Shore near Narrow-water, R. LI. P. Oblonc portulacoides, Linn. S. One plant on shore at County bridge near Narrow- water, R. LI. P. It is abundant on the opposite (Co. Down) shore of the estuary, which is its only station in district 12, and further southward on muddy shores at Dundalk, in district 5. tPoIy&onum bistorta, Linn. N. Waste ground at Ardmore Glebe, H. W. L. spec. ! P. lapathifolium, Linn. ....„, ^' ~ T Occasionally on the northern bogs; shore of Killybane Lough, near Crossmaglen, R. LI- P. C 158 The Irish Naturalist , P. minus, Huds. — M. — By the canal between Scarva and Tanderagee, S. A. S. Shores of Clay Lake near Keady, and of Lough Neagh at Raughlan Point, R. LI. P. P. avicularc, Linn., var. N. A form resembling P. littorale, Link, with long diffuse stems and thicker glaucous leaves, occurs on gravelly shores of Lough Neagh, R. LI. P. IVIercui*iaIis pcrennis, Linn. — M. — County Armagh (G. R. ), Fior. Ulst. A single locality near Tar- taraghan (G. R.), Cyb. Flih.; " Tartaraghan" is here a slip or mis- print, Tanderagee being the place intended. Several extensive patches by the Cusher river in Tanderagee lower demesne, and at a number of spots in Tanderagee upper demesne, R. LI. P. Callitrichc autumnalis, Linn. N. M. — In Ballylane lake south of Markethill, and dredged up in Lough Neagh at Derryadd Bay, R. LI. P. Parietaria officinalis, Linn. vS. Abundant on walls at Newry, R. LI. P. "^Humulus lupulus, Linn. N. In hedges near the Callan river west of Loughall, R. LI. P. *UInius suberosa, Sm. N. Occasionally, but planted, R. LI. P. *U. montana. With. N. Planted in Co. Armagh (More), Cyb. Hib. Populus tremula, Linn. N. M. S. Loughgall (More), Flor, Ulst. In hedges and copses throughout the county, in the N.W. especially — probably an original native, R. LL P. *P. alba, Linn. N. Occasionally, but only planted or escaped. Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Linn. N. Bog drains by roadside half a mile south of Derryadd bay, H. W. L. ! In its only present station in district 12 (Portmore, Co. Antrim) it has never been known to flower. On visiting the Co. Armagh station, I found the plant in abundance where described by Mr. Lett; the time of my visit (September) was too late for flower but Mr. Lett's specimen obtained here has a blossom on it, R. LI. P. Orchis pyramidalis, Linn. N. Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Near Loughgall, S. A. S. Castle Dillon, Loughgall, and Pavilion grounds at Armagh, W. F.J. spec. ! Around the north end of Loughgall lake, and at quarries at the western extremity of the Manor demesne, R. LI. P. Confined to the lime- stone district. Gynnnadenia conopsea, R. Br. N. Between Armagh and Loughgall, B.N.F.C, 1877. Near Loughgall and at Mullinure, Grange, and Drummanmore, all near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Llstera cordata, R. Br. N. — S. Montiaghs bogs, H. W. L. spec! On Camlough mountain (1,300 feet), summit of Clermont (1,462), and north side of Slieve Gullion (1,500), R. LI. P. Neottla nidus-avis. Rich. — M. - One plant in a copse at south end of Gosford Castle demesne. R. LI. P. Th e Flo7-a of County A rm agh . 159 Splranthcs romanzoviana, Cham. N. On a wet workcd-out bog in the northern portion of the county. R. LI. P. I have already {Journal of Botany, 1892, p. 272) published the facts relatini^ to the discovery of this extremely rare plant in Co. Armagh. Previously known in the Old World only in the widely separated stations of Co. Cork in Europe, and Kamtschatka in Asia, a habitat in the north of Ireland has now been added, and it is with perhaps pardonable pride that I am able to enumerate it, and Carex 7-hynchophysa as the results of my exploration, made on behalf of the "Irish Naturalist," of the flora of Co. Armagh, I think it better not to publish the exact locality, lest the plant should suffer, at the hands of over-enthusiastic collectors, the penalt}' of its rarity. Epipactis latifolia, All. N. M. — Castle Dillon, W. F. J. spec. ! Ardmore glebe, H. W. L. spec. ! Abundant in Tanderagee upper and lower demesnes, and at Gosford Castle : also seen at Clare, and Tynan Abbey, R. LI. P. Mr. More's doubtful note (N. H. R.), no doubt refers to E. latifolia. lYIalaxis paludosa, Sw. N. Moyntaghs bogs (Hyndman), Flor. Ulst. There is plenty of likely ground on the northern bogs, where I looked for this little orchid, but without success, R. LI. P. X Iris fOBtidissima, Linn. N. County Armagh (G. R.), Flor. Ulst. Near Tartaraghan, S. A. S. Hedgebank in Armagh Palace demesne, R. LI. P. Sagrittaria sag^ittifolla, Linn. N. M. In the Bann near Portadown, Mackay Rar.\ Moyntaghs bog (Hyndman), Flor. Ulst.\ Maghery, W. F. J. spec! Closet River andScarva, H.W.L.! Newry Canal,S.A.S.! Abundant in sheltered places along the Lough Neagh shore, and in the Blackwater, Ulster Canal, Bann, and Lagan Canal as far south as Goraghwood, R. LI. P. Butomus umbellatus, Linn. N. M. — In the Blackwater near Maghery (G. R.), and in the canal near Tanderagee, and upper Bann (Jones), Cyb. Hib. Ulster Canal between Moy and Benburb, B. N. F. C, 1S80. Maghery, W. F. J. spec. ! Montiaghs bogs, H. W. L. spec. ! The distribution of this plant is exactly the same as that of the last species. I found it abundantly along the Lough Neagh shores and in the waterways which connect with it; it is absent from the other lakes and streams of the county, R. LI. P. Triglochin maritimum, Linn. S. Estuary of Newry River, common, R. LI. P. (Colchlcum autumn ate, Linn. [N.] "The Colchicum, or Meadow Saffron, grows on the borders of the Blackwater and the Callan, and is highly ornamental . . the flowers are of a variety of shades, of red, yellow, white, and purple; it grows in low meadows," Cootes Armagh. Probably an escape from cultivation ; not seen by R. LI. P. Juncus marltiiYius, Smith. S. Brackish places below Newry, R. LI. P. J. g^laucus, Sibth. N. Very abundant throughout the limestone area ; quite absent from the rest of the county, R. LI. P. So sharply is its distribution defined, that one could almost determine the boundaries of the limestone district by observing the presence or absence of this rush. J. gerardi, Lois. S. Abundantly by the estuary of the Newry river, R. LI. P. (TO BE CONCI^UDED.) C* [ i6o ] THE COIvKOPTBRIST IN IREI^AND. BY W. K. SHARP. ( Conchided from page 144. ) Dubinin County — North Coast. There are, of course, the usual ubiquitous Pterostichus 7nadi- dics, Ft. 7iiger, and Pt. melanarms, and in wet places, Pt. nigrita and Pt. diligens; Amara trivialis is also very common, and among them appears a specimen of a larger ^w^ra, which proves to be A. ovata. This is a species we have only taken in England among river shingle, and it is curious to meet it here in a grass field. It is not a very common species any- where. Under another stone lurks a still larger A^nara, A. aulica, or A. spi7iipes, as it used to be called. We also add to our list of A77iarce, A. similata, under a stone close down by the shingle. The only Be77ibidiu77i we get besides the com- mon B. littoralc and B. la7npros, is B. fe7?ioratu77i. Then there is that pretty little Badistcr bipustulatiis, and a specimen or two of Notiophilus aquaticus. Among the Staphyli7iidce nothing noteworthy occurs, and by this time we have reached and passed the little fishing hamlet of lyoughshinney, and can see, not far beyond, the harbour and straggling cottages of Rush. To avoid these we make a detour among the fields. The springing oats are just now turning to green the flattened brown tillage land, and we soon notice a dead scarecrow rook. The robber bird lies prone now, his gibbet having been over- set, and in his half -dried body we find that handsome beetle, Crcophilus fTtaxillosus, with his great sickle- like jaws, two or three of the black Necrophorus hu77iator, and quite a swarm of Silpha rugosa. The aforementioned Silpha subrotu7idata, although common under stones, etc., does not appear to share the generic love of carrion. We expected some C ho leva, Hister, or Sapri7tus, but nothing of the kind appeared. In the lane which led through these fields were moss- covered stones, and a little globular steel-blue beetle settled on them, basking in the sun, proved to be Ph. mascula), white and pale flesh-colour in field at Holy- wood Waterworks; Fragrant Orchis {Gynadeviia conopsed), white, on heath on Conlig hill, Co. Down; pale pink at Garron Point, Co. Antrim. Red AND Pink FI^OWERS:— Ragged Robin {Lychnis flos-cuculi), white, in marsh at Hol3'svood; Musk Mallow {Malva nioschata), frequently white, as on stony shore at Ram's Island, in Lough Neagh, on bank near Newr}^ etc. ; Smooth-leaved Willow-herb (^Epilobiuui niontamini)^ white, at Shane's Castle, Co. Antrim; Ling {Calhina erica), white, on bogs and mountains in Down and Armagh; Cross-leaved Heath {Erica tetralix), white, on Antrim and Mourne mountains, and on bogs in Armagh; Centaury (see p. t68, 1892); Red-rattle [Pedicidaris sylvatica), white, on heath near Holywood ; Spotted Persicaria {Polygonum pcjsicaria), W'hite as frequently as red. There are also, of course, some well-known examples, such as Milkwort (blue, pur- ple, white). Downy Rose (red, white), Comfrey (purple, white), English Catchfly (red, white), and Timothy Grass (anthers purple or yellow), which affect two or more colours indifferently, and are as common in one shade as in another. Others, again, affect a gradation of colour, as Orchis f/iacnlata, which varies from white by degrees to deep purple. From the instances quoted above, it would appear that white flowers vary (very seldom) to red and purple (Mr. More found a deep purple form of the Wood Anemone in Armagh) ; of yellow flowers, the Primrose is the only example, varying to red and white ; blue flowers generally turn to white, occasionally to purple or pink; purple flowers to pink or white ; pink and red flowers to white. If other observers will contribute any notes they may have on the subject, we may gain more definite information. I can- not say I have noticed more blanching of colours at high than at low elevations, as mentioned by Mr. Colgan. — R. L1.0YD Praeger. ZOOLOGY. INS E C TS. Lepidoptera of the Londonderry District. — I have been greatly interested in Mr. Campbell's list of Macro-lepidoptera from the Derry district. I was at Kilderry at Easter, and took a Panolis piniperda at sallow. This is an addition to his .list. The only place I had taken it before was at Howth. I found Pachnobia riibricosa abundant, and Lobophora carpinata plentiful. I was surprised at the scarcity of Toeniocampa stabilis, but T. goihica and T. incerta were as common as usual. Larentia jnulti- strigaria was still on the wing, and hibernated Calocampa vetusta and C. exoleta were at the sallows. I may mention that in March, 1891, I took Eu- pithecia abbrroiata in the same locality. — GEORGE V. HarT, Dublin. Lepidoptera at Woodenbridgre, Co. WickIo^AA. — Collecting at Woodenbridge last month was spoilt rather perfectly in two ways — firstly, by the catkins being nearly over; and, secondly, by cold, dry nights. The best insect taken was Amphydasys strataria, which I do not know of from Ireland before. I also took a Tccniocampa immda, which turned up for the first time, I believe, last year at this time in the same place, when Mr. Hart and I secured one each. Two Lobophora carpinata, some nice varieties of Toehiocatnpa gothica, and one or two other things, make up our catch.— Maurice FiTzgibbon, Dublin, [A. strataria was recorded from Wicklow by Birchall, — Eds.] 176 The Irish Naturalist. Early Spring Butterflies. — The small Tortoiseshell {Vanessa ur- iicce), is usually the first Butterfly observed in spring, as it comes out of its winter-quarters on the first warm days. This year, however, it has been anticipated here by the Small Cabbage White {Picres rapce), a speci- men of which appeared in my garden on starch 29th. V, urticcc did not appear till April 7th, when I captured a specimen in very fair order. The Orange Tip {Etichlo'e cardaniines), was seen by Mrs. Johnson on April 19th. If the season goes on as it has begun, it should be a splendid insect year, and I hope the " brethren of the net " will keep their weather eyes open for rarities to swell Mr. Kane's Irish list. — W. F. JohNvSON, Armagh. Two specimens of Va7tessa atalaiita were seen by me at Tullow, Co. Dublin, on April 22nd, and another in Rathmines on the following day. They were all in fine condition, and appeared quite fresh. — Wm. Starkey, Junr., Rathmines, Dublin. MOLL uses. Pleurophyllidia loveni, Bergh., in Ireland.— Among some specimens trawled in Bantry bay this spring by Mr, A. R. C. Newburgh, and sent up to the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, I lately discovered six specimens of PleiirophylHdia loveni, Bergh., the sole British representa- tive of the family Pleurophyllidiidce of the order Nudibranchiata (Sea Slugs). Dr. J. G. Jeffreys in " British Conchology," vol. v., gives only two British localities for this species, — viz., Shetland and Whitehaven, Co. Durham. In Leslie and Herdman's " Invertebrate Fauna of the Firth of Forth," a specimen is recorded as having been taken at Dunbar by Prof. F. M. Balfour. Prof. Mcintosh records a specimen from off Aberdeen in 1884; Mr. Holt, two specimens from St. Andrews; Mr. Cunningham, one specimen from off the Bddystone; and Mr. Bles, six specimens from l/och Striven, Clyde area, but it has not hitherto been recorded as Irish. T. loveni is a north Atlantic form, occurring off the coasts of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. — A. R. Nichoi^s, Dublin. FLSHES. A Fish New to Ireland, IVIotella cimbria, L.— Mr. A. R. C Newburgh last month secured the first Irish specimen of the " Four- beard Rockling," in Bantry bay. As its name denotes, this fish has four barbels on the snout, whilst the two common species of rockling have five and three barbels respectively. This species may also be recognized by the dark blotch on the posterior portion of the dorsal fin. It is a northern fish, ranging as far south as Cornwall, where it is extremely rare. — R. F. Scharff, Dublin. AMPHLBLANS . Arrested Development of the Frog's Tadpole.— Mr. Barton's remarks on some cases of arrested development of the Frog's tadpole are of very great theoretical interest, and I believe he is perfectly correct in attributing them to the fact of the tadpoles living in running water containing plenty of food. I am not aware of any experiments having been conducted with the view to prevent the larva or tadpole from re- linquishing its fishy garb, but there are some instances on record that newts have had their transformation forcibly retarded for some seasons by similar methods to those adopted by IVIr. Barton. But in these newts, transformation, although delayed, did. finally occur. Perhaps the most interesting case known of arrested metamorphosis is that of the Mexican amphibian called Axolotl. In its own country the animal always re- mains in the fishy state, that is to say, breathing by means of gills, but in confinement it has been successfully transformed into a land animal N'olcs. ij-j by gradually depriving it of the water in which it lived. Theoretically Ik -se instances are of great value as illustrating experimentaUy the origin of species. —R. F. Scharff, Dublin. Frog Remains from Baliynamlntra Cave— In bis paper on the "Frog in Ireland," in your April number, Mr. Kane refers to the bones of a Frog found by Prof. A. Leitli Adams and myself, in the deposits of this cave as a convincing proof of their antiquity "if the stratum in which they were found was extremely ancient." It was not so, being the surface deposit, termed in the Report " No. i." At page 207 of the 1 ransactions of the Royal Dublin Society for April, 1881, which contains the report on Ballynamintra cave, we read, — " In No. 1 the pellets (?) of rapacious birds, possibly of owls, contained fragments of bones of frogs." \\'liether these masses of frog-bones were accumulated by owls or iieiil- mice,. there was certainly nothing either in their position or condition to (knote their great antiquity.— R. J. USSHER, Cappagh, Co. Waterford. BIRDS. Sprlngr IVligrants at Armag-fi. — The Chiifchaff arrived on March 22nd. Sand Martins were seen on the Callan on March 29tli, and the first Swallow appeared on April 3rd ; the main body of Swallows, however, did not arrive till May. I heard the sweet song of the Willow Wren for the first time on April 6th, and the harsh note of the Corncrake saluted me as I strolled into Mullinure on April 20th. The Cuckoo arrived on April 23rd, but I did not see either House Martins or Swifts till May 5. Why the House Martin should have been so long after the Swallow in its arrival I do not understand, and should be glad to know if the same difference of time of arrival was observed elsewhere. — W. F. Johnson, Armagh. Early arrival of IVIigrrants in Co. Cork,— Chiffchaff, 26tli March ; Sand Martin, ist April ; Swallow, 9tli April ; Willow- warbler, 9th April ; Cuckoo, 24th April ; Swift, 2nd May ; Landrail, ytli May ; Sedge-warbler, 7th May ; Whitethroat, 7th May ; Sandpiper, 9th May. These dates are not extraordinary, but when compared with those of last } ear tend to show that the general wave of migration has been decidedly earlier this year here. Had I greater opportunities of being in the country and of visiting likely haunts, I am sure I should have been able to give a much earlier record, as on most of the dates which I give, I either saw or heard the birds plentifulh^ and they appeared to have arrived some time. — Wm. B. BarrinGTON, Cork. Hoopoe (Upupa epops) in Co. Wexford. — Mr. Wheelocke, the birdstuffer, Wexford, has a Hoopoe in his shop, which, I am informed, was shot at Drinagh, two miles south-east of Wexford, on Good Friday. — G. E. H. Barrett-Hamii^TON, Cambridge. Black Redstart (Ruticilla titys) in Co. Wexford. — A female specimen of the Black Redstart was shot at Ballygeary, near Wexford, on Feb. 22nd, and is now in my collection. — G. K. H. Barrett- Hamii^TOn, (Cambridge. Occurrence of the King Duck (Somateria spectabilis) in Achill Island. — On December 12th, 1892, I fell in.with a male speci- men of this fine duck, and as it is of such rare occurrence in Ireland, 1 thought an account of its capture in the west of Ireland might be of in- terest. I find Thompson only mentions four specimens having been taken in Ireland. One shot at Kingstown, October, 1837. One shot at Dornane, Co. Kerry, 1843. One shot in Tralee bay, Kerry, 1845-46. One in Belfast in 1850. And according to Mr. A. G. More, our great authority, there is no record of any being taken in Ireland for the last forty-three years. The bird was not in full plumage, but judging from the round white patch on the sides behind the legs, and the mottled white on breast, and the black scapularies and flanks, the bird must 178 The Irish Nattiralisi. have been in the second year of plumage. It was tame and easy of ap- proach, as I find all these northern stragglers, as was the case when I fell in with the Surf Scoter, and some of the white-winged gulls some time ago, I am now of opinion that if a good look-out were kept along our bold headlands in the autumn and winter, many rare stragglers could be found as they straggle down from the far north and mix up with the migratory birds which frequent our bays in winter. Barnacle, Brent, and many diving ducks. The bird is now in the possession of Edwin Bayles, Esq., of Birmingham, whose collection will be one of the finest in the kingdom. The bird in question was examined by Dr. Bowdler Sharp, of the British Museum, and by Messrs. Seebohm and Saunders.— J. R. vSheridan, Dugort, Achill Isle. Iceland Gull (Larus Icucopterus) at Londonderry. — On nth April at 11.45 a.m., I saw an Iceland Gull hovering about the quay here along with some Herring Gulls. The birds were feeding on some gar- bage thrown from one of the vessels. I noticed the lighter colour of the Icelander and watched it until it circled above and below me, within ten yards. I noted the following particulars on the spot. About the size of large Herring Gull, but body heavier, back and wings very light grey, tips of wings for some inches quite white, bill pale yellow, legs and feet (lull red. The bird had lost the second and fourth primaries and one or two of the secondaries of right wing, so that I was able to spot it among the other gulls one or two days afterwards. — D. C. CampbeIvTv, Ballynagard, Londonderrv GEOLOGY. Loug^h Neagh Petrifactions. — In connection with Mr. Swanston's valuable paper on the "Silicified Wood of Lough Neagh," the following very early and very circumstantial version of the popular fable may be read with interest. It is found on one of the descriptive scrolls of Fra Mauro's famous Mappamondo, a projection of the sphere executed in 1459 by a monk of Camaldoli, and preserved in the Archaeological Museum at Venice. Having made a careful transcript from the original many years ago, I give a rendering here of so much of the passage as clearly relates to Lough Neagh, from which it will be seen that this version of the fable corresponds very closely with that quoted by Mr. Swanston from Boate: — "In this island of Hibernia, which is passing fertile beyond measure oltra modo eferiilissitnd), 'tis said there is a water, in the which if a man putteth wood, the part thereof that sticketh i' the earth becometh in time iron, and that that is rounded with water becometh stone, and that that is above water remaineth wood .... and they that desire to be made copious of these and other marvellous matters let them read in Albertus Magnus." Albertus Magnus flourished about the middle of the thirteenth century, more than fifty years after Giraldus Cambrensis had written his "Topo- graphy of Ireland," and one would naturally expect to find that the fable had reached the Continent through Giraldus. But the petrifactive virtues of Lough Neagh are not amongst his Irish marvels, though he mentions a spring in the north of Ulster which by its excessive coldness turns wood into stone, after seven years' immersion. Perhaps Mr. Swanton, having so fully explored the archaeology of this subject, could point us out the source whence Albertus drew his knowledge of what we may call the ferrifactive properties of Lough Neagh water. — N. Coi^GAN, Dublin. ^Ije girt^lj |laturaltJ$t. Vol. II. JULY, 1893. No. 7. THE BEAUTY AND USE OF IRISH BUILDING STONES. BY PROF. GRHNVIIvLK A. J. COI,]^, M.R.I. A., F.G.S. (Substance of a Lecture delivered in Dublin before the Irish Industrial Leaoiie, iTfth Febj-uaiy, 1893.) {Concluded from page 171.) Foreign competition demands the cheapening of the carriage of some of the central and west Irish stones ; perhaps more favourable terms might be made if a constant supply could be guaranteed. So much, however, for generalities. When we consider particular stones, we see how Ireland, at any rate, has little need to import either her structural or ornamental materials. The homogeneous firm grey limestone, that of Ballinasloe for example, is capable of extensive use in our street architecture. Mr. Drew's handsome Ulster Bank in Dublin, with its rich Roman carving, shows how this stone may be used either massively or for elaborate ornament. Though by tradition we may respect the Portland stone of the Parliament House or Trinity College, there can be no question as to the possi- bilities of native limestone. As an easily worked structural material, the commoner limestones, both grey and "calpy," have been largely utilised, as in the railway-bridges, or in such massive blocks as Messrs. Boland's Flour Mills, on the Grand Canal. The latter building is an example of the simplest severity ; practical stone-cutters will know how much or how little it would have cost to run one or two string-courses round it, with good hand- carving in them, just sufficient to remind Ringsend of the possibilities of commercial architecture, and A i8o TJic Irish Naiiiralist. that after all, the souls of gas-workers and dock-hands are as worthy of artistic surroundings as the city-clerks of College- green. The chimney of the pumping-station at Grosvenor-road in I^ondon is an example of what may be done in this direc- tion ; and a love of the plain Irish limestone, arising from a scientific insight into its qualities, may yet end in beautify- ing many structures in our poorer districts, and in employing artistic labour in quarters where, at the present time, life seems invited to be ugly. Where the colder grey seems undesirable, Ireland provides a superb pale-yellow building-stone for cities in the sand- stones of Fermanagh and southern Donegal. The Mount- charles stone, as used by Sir Thomas Deane in the Museum in Kildare-street, Dublin, will serve as an example of the sharp edges that can be cut out of this hard material. No doubt it may be more costly to work than Portland stone, but any chemist or mineralogist will predict for it remarkable freedom from decay. London, in particular, is seeking for materials that will retain their form and colour despite the penetrating rain and fog. Though the smoke of such an atmosphere clings to almost everj'-thing but polished granite and terra-cotta, a fine-grained, pale-coloured, well-cemented sandstone should be able, by its durability, to drive limestones out of the field; and these Carboniferous sandstones of north- west Ireland seem to be more reliable than many English varieties, especially than the red, while they are, at the same time, not too difficult to work. Granites require careful selection, as the Provost's wall at Trinit}' College shows; but the National Bank in College- green illustrates how even somewhat delicate caps of columns can be cut in this material. It will be interesting to note whether the light-coloured granites or the Mountcharles sand- stones discolour more readily in a city atmosphere. For polished blocks, the grey granites of Newry are well known ; and it is possible that, when people have enough of the ubi- quitous Peterhead, the red and green granite of Galway, and the red of Donegal, may have a fair chance of public favour. The brick-and-marble architecture of Italy suggests how two Irish industries might be pleasingl}^ combined ; but a white marble gives the most pleasing contrast when laid , alternatel}' with the courses of red brick. The real use of The Beauty and Use of /risk B nil din f^ Stones. 181 marble in the British Isles, as now in America, lies in internal decoration. There is a most satisfactory taste for marble panelling of walls, even in the palaces of nitrate-kings and the sober haunts of stockbrokers. A splendid exhibit of Irish marbles is formed by the entrance-hall of the new museum in Dublin; while the green " ophicalcite " of Con- nemara can be seen in perfection throughout the staircases of that building and the National I^ibrary. When we consider that the latter stone is practicall}^ unique, its nearest ally being the Eozoonal limestone of Canada, it may be hoped that in due time the quarry at Recess may be kept permanently active. The rock seems, like the olivine-bearing masses on Monte Somma, a product of contact-metamorphism ; and the hydration of the olivine gives us the beautiful and varied green of the serpentinous streaks and patches. This stone requires to be cut up into slabs, from w^hich suitable ones must be selected to be placed together; but its great charm is its infinite variety — one cannot grow tired of it as one can of Shap granite, or even of the beautiful Italian "Pavonazza." There are more rocks in Donegal also than have ever yet come out of it, and some of its marbles with silicates de- veloped in them may in time prove attractive for ornamenta- tion. Though the foregoing notes have, in the nature of the subject, been somewhat utilitarian, I have endeavoured to show that the beauty and utility of a building-stone are in reality inseparable ideas. It is the business of practical men to demonstrate the utility of the materials in which they deal ; and to do this they must thoroughly appreciate and under- stand them. This is, I take it, one of the aims of technical education — to teach a man to get the best and noblest out of the materials placed at his disposal. Such education should be within the reach of every man who handles a crowbar in a quarry; but with it comes a stimulus to better and firmer work, such as no considerations of pounds, shillings, and pence can ever give. The toiler among the rocks will learn to feel the beauty of them, and of the long processes by which they have finally come to be ; his work will become daih' more true, more thoughtful, less mechanical ; and he will take care that his use and handling of the stone shall be alwa5\s for the perfecting of its beaut}-. [ I82 ] THE FLORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH. BY R. I.I.OYD PRAEGKR, B.K., M.R.I. A. ' Continued from page 159). Typha angustifolia, Ivinn. X. Lough Gullion! and Closet river, H. W. L. Bami-mouth (Davies), S. A. S. Along the southern shore of Lough Gullion, and in some abundance at the mouth of the Lagan canal, R. LI. P. " Among the ornamental aqueous plants (of Co. Armagh) are . . . the typha angustifolia, or narrow-leaved catstail, which produces a fine down, and certainly might be turned to some useful account, as stuffing cushions," — Coote's Armagh; the cushion-stuffing suggestion rather points to T. latifolia as being the plant referred to. Sparganium natans, Linn. N. M. S. Bog drains half-a-mile inland from Derryadd bay on Lough Neagh; Ballylane lake south of Markethill; abundant at Clay lake near Keady; Drummuckavall lake near Crossmaglen, R. LI. P- S. minimum, Fries. N. Loughnashade near Armagh, W. F.J. ! Bog drains two miles south of Portadown, R. LI. P. Lemna g^ibba, Linn. N. — vS. Brackish drains below Newry, and very abundant in the Closet river near its entrance to Lough Neagh, R. LI. P. Potamogcton alpinus, Balbis (Z'. rufescens, Schrad.) N. Abundant in stream in Tynan Abbey demesne, R. LI. P. P. alpinus X hctcrophyllus ? N. In Lough Neagh at Maghery, R. LI. P. ("A very interesting speci- men,"— A. Bennett). P. hcterophyllus, Schreb. N. — S } In Lough Neagh off Ardmore, H. W. L. spec. ! Lough Ross near Crossmaglen, (" ? A puzzling plant, oE hetcrophy litis towSirds nitens,'" — A. Bennett) R. LI. P. P. angustifolius, Presl. [P. zizii, Roth.) N. Lough Neagh off Deriyadd bay, H. W. L. spec. ! Lough Neagh near Kinnegoe, R. Ll. P. P. lucens, Linn. N. — S. In the canal at Goraghwood (S. A. S,), Herb. N. H. P. S. spec. ! Lough Neagh off Raughlan, H. W. L. spec. ! Lakes at Tynan Abbey and Loughgall Manor, and in Lough Neagh at Kinnegoe, R. Ll. P. P. obtuslfolius, Koch. N. M. S. Ditches communicating with Lough Neagh near Lurgan (Moore), Cyb. Hib. (as P. gramineiis). Drummuckavall lake, Mullaghmore lake, lake at Carnagh near Keady, and abundant at the mouth of the Closet river, R. Ll. P. P. ci*ispus, Linn. var. Of a curious pond-weed, without fruit, which I obtained in the canal between Caledon and Battleford Bridge, Mr. Bennett writes : — "This is P. crispiis, L., /, perhaps a modification of yar. serratus. It might eventually prove a cross with one of the linear-leaved species, but the apex of the leaves, stem, and venation are crispus. It is an even more reduced form than that from Stirling." P. pectinatus, Linn. N. — S. Lough Neagh at Derryadd bay, H. W. L. spec. ! In Lough Neagh at east side oi Ardmore Point, and in great abundance at the en- trance to the canal at Magherv; brackish pools below Newry, R Ll. P. The Flora of County Armagh. 183 PotaiYiogcton filiform is, Pers. N. 111 shallow water in Lough Neagh on east side of Ardmore Point, R. LI. P. This rare pond-weed was long known in Ireland as con- fined to a limited area in Co. Mayo. More recently Mr. Barrington found it in Lough Krne, and Mr. Hart in Donegal; a station on the eastern side of Ireland is now added. P. fluitans (auct), Roth } In Lough Neagh at Maghery, R. LI. P. ("This \s P. Jluilatis q>{ English authors and of continental, but whether of Roth is difficult to say, as no one has ever seen a specimen named b^him," — A. Bennett). Cladium tnariscus, R. Br. N. All around Loughgall lake. More N. H. R. ! Grows now chiefly on the western and southern sides, R. LI. P. Rhynchospora alba, Vahl. N. Bog at Annaghmore (G. R.), Flor. Ulsi. ! Maghery and Portadown, S. A. S. Montiaghs bogs, H. \V; L. ! Of frequent occurrence on the northern bogs, often in abundance, R. LI. P. Eleocharis multicaulis. Smith. N. Frequent on the northern bogs, and noted from a number of stations there ; Loughadian near Armagh ; not seen on the southern mountains, R. LI. P. E. acicularis, Linn. N. Banks of Lough Neagh, More N. H. R. Ardmore Glebe, H. W. L- spec. ! Banks of Closet river, R. Ll. P. Sclrpus maritimus, Linn. S- Estuary of Newry river, abundant, R. Ll. P. S. sylvaticus, Linn. N. M. — Damp meadows near Loughgall, More N. H. R. Riverside near Newry, H. W. L. spec. ! By the Blackwater at Maghery, by Cusher river at Clare, at Tynan Abbey, and in several spots between Armagh and Castle Dillon, R. Ll. P. S. taUcrnaeiTiontani, Gmel. S. Brackish drains below Newry, R. Ll. P. S. pauciflorus, Lightf. N. Occasionally on the northern bogs, but rare, R. LL P. S. fluitans, Linn. N. M. — Wet bog at Maghery (S. A. S.), Herb. N. H. P. S. spec! Marsh by Lough Neagh south of Morrow's point, Derryw^arragh island at Maghery, bog south of Portadown, and margins of Clay lake near Keady, R. LL P. S. savii, S. and M. S. Salt-marsh by the sea-wall below Newry, R. Ll. P. Carex dioica, Linn. ^• Rare, only observed on Slieve Gullion, R. Ll. P. C. disticha, Huds. , , ?' By the lake at Loughgall, More yV. H. R. Loughnashade near Armagh, S. A. S. ! Lowry's Lough near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! C. vulpina, Linn. ^ . ^ ^; Loughnashade near Armagh, and by the canal below New^ry, R. Ll. P. C. paniculata, Linn. r. a o ?' ~ ^ Near Maghery, B. N. F. C, 1871. Tartaraghan, S. A. S. Lough- gall, Loughnashade, and Mullinure, all near Armagh, W. F.J. spec! Croaghan island in Lough Neagh, H. W. L. spec! Kmnegoe by Lough Neagh, R. Ll. P. C. cancscens, Linn. ,,„,«■ ,r tt^' 'a "Near Tartaraghan, Rev. G. Robinson,!! ' MorQ N. H. R.; and 184 The Irish Naturalist. subsequently, S. A. S. Bog between Annaghmore and Maghery, B. N. F. C. 1 87 1. Ardmore, H. W. L. spec. ! Bog near Annagarriff lake, R. LI. P. Carex stricta, Good, N. M. — By the lake at Loughgall abundantly, More A^. H. R. ! Mr. More believes that the variety mentioned in his paper was, as suggested, only a starved state of the plant. Ardmore, H. W. L. spec. ! In some quantity by Lough Neagh at east side of Raughlan Point, and abundant on margins of Lough Gilly S. W. of Poyntzpass, R. LI. P. C. acuta, Linn. N. By Lough Neagh at Raughlan, H. W. L. spec. ! C. pallesccns, Linn. N. Mullinure near Armagh, W. F. J. spec! Ardmore, H. W. L. spec. ! C. strigosa, Huds. N. Ardmore, H. W. L- spec. ! C. pendula, Huds. — M. — By the Cusher river in Tanderagee lower demesne, H. W. L. ! C. oederi, Ehr. X. Loughgall, and islet in Lough Neagh, More A^. H. R. The latter station is possibly in Tyrone. C. hornschuchiana, Hoppe. S. On Slieve Gullion, R. LI. P.; apparently rare. C. xanthocarpa, Delg. N. This supposed hybrid I obtained on the boggy shores of Derryadd lough in the N.W. ; the determination was made by Mr. Bennett. C. laevigata, Sm. N. Near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! C. pscudo-cypcrus, Linn. N. Tartaraghan (G. R.), Herb. N. H. P. S.! On visiting the spot described by Mr. Robinson in answer to inquiries — the streamlet below the glebe house — I found about half-a-dozen fine plants, with abundant fruit stems three to four feet high; Mr. Robinson has also given me "near Lurgan" as a station; R. LI. P. C. rhynchophysa, C. A. Meyer. ~ M. — Sparingly in a deep drain on the margin of Mullaghmore lough near Markethill, R. LI. P. This fine sedge, which resembles C. rostrata [ampullae ea) in general habit, is an addition to the British Flora. For full details of its synonomy, bibliography, and European distribution, the reader is referred to Journal of Botany for February, 1893. Suffice here to say that it is a native of northern Europe, inhabiting Scandinavia, Russia, etc. I suc- ceeded in obtaining one specimen only, which, after a careful examination by Mr. Arthur Bennett, F.I/.S., and comparison with continental examples in his own and the Kew herbarium, is re- ferred unhesitatingly to C. rhynchophysa, C. A. Meyer. By the kindness of the editor and publishers of the Journal of Botany I am enabled to reproduce the figure of the Armagh plant which appeared in the Journal (Plate 5). Since the above went to press I have visited the locality (June 9th) and obtained several specimens, but the plant appears to be very rare in its only station. C. paludosa. Good. N. Lakeside at Loughgall, More N. H. R. ! Abundant and very luxuriant in the lake of Tynan Abbey demesne, B. N. F. C, 1873!; plentiful by streams and at the margin of the lake, ibid., 1889 ; a specimen from this station is in Herb, N. H. P. vS. In a marsh a mile N. E. of Loughall, R. LI. P. (TO BE CONCLUDED.) [ 185 ] THE BREEDING OF THE GARDEN WARBI^ER IN THE SHANNON VALLEY. BY R. J. USSHKR. It is an experience of high interest to the ornithologist when he first makes acquaintance with a vSpecies new to him, especially if he finds it in haunts previously unrecorded in his native country. Thompson's correspondents found the Garden Warbler (^Syl- via hortensis, Bechst.) in Antrim, at Ballybrado, in the south of Tipperary, and near Cork. The late Sir Victor Brooke ob- served several pairs frequenting the natural woods at Castle Caldwell on lower Lough Erne, where, as Mr. J. C. Bloomfield informs me, he is well acquainted with these birds, and ob- served them last spring. I first heard the song of the Garden Warbler on one of the naturall}^ wooded ivSlands of Lough Enie, on 9th June, 1891. I again heard the song on 7th June, 1892, uttered from a thicket of blackthorn on Nun's Island in the centre of Lough Ree, and caught a glimpse of the bird, but failed to get a shot at it. My further acquaintance with it is due to Mr. Anthony Parker of Castle Lough, whose beautiful demesne, on the Tipperary side of Lough Derg near Killaloe, contains many vestiges of natural wood. He sent me, on the loth May last, for determination, a fine male Garden Warbler shot there, which is now destined for the Science and Art Museum. He subsequently discovered the nest of another pair, which on the 26th May I had the pleasure of seeing. It was in a secluded corner of his grounds, but not far from the house and approach, and was placed in a mass of loose briars about two or three feet from the ground, a few trees, saplings, and elder bushes standing round. It was composed of dried stems of grasses and other plants, and lined with a few root-fibres and hairs. It contained five eggs in the first stage of incubation. I saw the female quit it, and soon dis- cerned her threading her way through neighbouring bushes, uttering her warning note, which consists of the repetition of a sound not unlike the slow winding of a clock. To obtain full proof of the species, I shot this bird after seeing her leave the nest, and she also is in the hands of Messrs. Williams & Son. Before approaching the nest I heard in its vicinity the song of 1 86 The Irish Naturalist. the male, which was continued in the same place the day after he had lost his mate. Another male sang habitually in a group of hazels between the flower-garden and the lake, and others in different parts of the demesne, but always about spots where there were masses of briars and a variety of shrubs and deciduous trees, not in a dense compact mass, but open between. Mr. Parker had noted eight or nine places where he had recently heard this species, and since my depar- ture he has heard it elsewhere, but always in his demesne. The same bird might be heard throughout the day, and day after day, repeating his song at intervals about the same spot, where probably the nest was situated, as in the case of that which I took. If one approached, the song would stop, and soon recommence from a neighbouring tree or bush, but the bird secluded itself so carefully among the foliage as to be very rarely and briefly seen. It was a powerful and sweet song that might be heard dis- tinctly at a considerable distance, and contained some deep notes, recalling those of a Blackbird, but were not dwelt on with the emphasis of a Blackbird's song. This was uttered in a volley, high and deep notes struggling as it were to get out. In a few seconds it stopped, to recommence presently, after the manner of a warbler's. It is far sweeter and deeper than the brief chattering song of the White- throat, which I had opportunities of comparing with it, and it is uttered for a longer period at a time. On ist June I revisited Nun's Island, in I^ough Ree, Co. Westmeath, and in the same bush where I heard it last year, a Garden Warbler was again singing, while another was rivalling his song on a diflerent part of the island, which is encircled by a belt of tall Blackthorns. Next day I visited the extensive woods of Castle Forbes, Co. lyongford, which stretch for miles along L,ough Forbes, an enlargement of the Shannon, and are evidently mainly of natural growth. Here I soon recognized the now familiar song, and as I wandered on came to a spot where a Garden Warbler was singing, close to a path, yet so closely did he seclude him- self, that he sang again and again unseen, always changing his whereabouts, while I watched for nearly an hour. I then came to another place where I heard a similar song, and while moving about I was met by the alarm note of the female. The Breeding of the Garden Warbler. 187 The male presently arrived, with a green-drake fly in his mouth, and both birds being excited about my proximity to their nest, gave me opportunities of seing them perfectly — the olive brown head and back, the slightly paler mark over the eye, the buff tinge on the throat and breast, and the white underparts. They used to come into a Wild Cherry when I withdrew, and I was convinced their nest was in the briars near, but I failed to find it until I had been absent for a while. On returning, I saw the bird in the cherry bush, and then alighting among the briars at a point where I believed these to be too low to hold the nest : but here it was, composed of grass stems exclusivel}^ and containing four partially fledged young, which on my nearer approach quitted the nest, and it was with much difficulty that I secured one for the Museum by searching among the herbage on the ground. I heard the Garden Warbler's song in four places at Ca.stle Forbes, evidently uttered by different birds, each of which keeps to his own haunt. I subsequently heard a bird of this species singing repeatedly for a long time from a neighbouring bush, while inspecting the picturesque ruins of the Seven Churches on Innishcleraun or Quaker Island, belonging to Co. I^ongford, in the northern part of lyough Ree, and in a different part of the same island, where great masses of Hawthorns and briars formed towering fences, I heard both the song and the warn- ing note. After this I heard a Garden Warbler singing in a plantation near the house at Derrycarne, in the Co. Leitrim, on another of the lake expansions of the Shannon. The farthest point I reached was Hollybrook, in Co. Sligo, on lyough Arrow. This beautiful demesne, lying between the mountain and the lake, contains the most picturesque and varied natural jungles, mingled in places with rhododendrons, and introduced species of trees. Here I heard the Garden Warbler's song in two places, in each of which it was as usual repeated, morning and afternoon, day after day, leaving no doubt that the birds were settled and breeding there. Mrs. Ffolliott writes on the 17th June: — ''The Garden Warblers have been singing continuously the last few days, up near the house." During my several observations of them I have seen the birds at different times, and they always agreed with the specimens shot at Castle lyough, and were not Blackcaps, 1 88 The Irish Naturalist. which I could have easily distinguished had I seen them ; but it has been remarked by Mr. Howard Saunders that the two species are not found commonly in the same resorts. I have thus identified the Garden Warbler in five counties from Tipperary to Sligo, having met with it in large demesnes, or on islands where some remnants of the natural growth have b^n preserved I have not found it in woods of Fir and Ivarch except where these were mixed with the indigenous wood. Its range is known to extend to Fermanagh, and it was formerly observed in Cork, and there is some reason to think it has been met with in Mayo. It should be looked for in all parts of Ireland where suitable haunts occur. Its song, however, uttered in May and June, is the chief means of recog- nizing it, and this is so little noticed that no one I met with, except Mr. Parker, had appeared to distinguish it or to know the bird. The warblers, from their skulking habits, and the brief period of the year that they sing, are among the least known of our land birds. The Wood Warbler should also be carefully looked for. Mr. R. B. Dillon has shown me a skin and ^'aba verna, Ranuncuhis Jluitans, and Cerastiitni a?-vense, were noted. Road was then taken for Muckaniore, a halt being made at Boghead to inspect a fine sou terrain recently dis- covered there. On the route thither, Carex strigosa, C. paniculata, Geinn intermediu/71 , and Ophioglossiim vulgatiim were noted. After tea at Antrim, a business meeting was held, when a motion was passed congratulating the senior secretary (Mr. Praeger) on his appointment to the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, and expressing regret at his consequent re- signation of the secretaryship of the Club. The party returned to Belfast by the 5.53 train. Dubinin Naturai^ists' Fiei,d Ci,ub. May 27th. — The exciirsion to Skerries, attended by forty members, was not very productive botanically, but Mr. Cuthbert collected the follow- ing Hymenoptera on the low walls and sandbanks to the north of the village: — Terebrantia, Tenthrenopsis sciitdlaris ; Chrysis ignita in great abundance, and various Ichneumons; Aculeata, Odynenis pictzis, and Pe7n- phredon lethifer. Thirty-six species of Coleoptera were taken by Mr. F. A. O'Brien. Two of these, OiiorrhyncJms maurus, and Rhync kites aneovirens, are new to the Dublin list; whilst a third, Tachinus intricatus, has been once before recorded from Chapelizod. Cork Naturai^ists' F1151.D Ci.ub. May 17th.— Excursion to Myshall, where a most interesting day was spent. May 27th. — Excursion to Pota, where Mr. Osborne very kindly con- ducted the members through the grounds, and showed them the choice collection of trees and shrubs. About thirty-five availed of this excursion. May 31st.— Mr. J. H. Bennett in the chair. Mr. Dii,i,on read a paper on "The Earthworms of Co. Cork" compiled from notes kindly lent by the Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.Iv.S. The structure of worms w^as first dealt with and the distinguishing characteristics of the two classes into which they are divided. The results of experiments made with light were given as showing the apparent absence of the organs of sight and hearing, and Mr. Dillon then gave some interesting facts as to the mode of life and habits, and a description of the different species to be found in the county and their haunts. June 14th. — Excursion to Glenbower Woods, where a most enjoyable evening was spent. Some specimens of Hyinenophylhun tiinhridgense were found, and a good number of entomological specimens. Royai, Irish Academy. Aprii. loth.— Mr. F. W. Moore read a paper for Mr. McArdi^E on " The Hepaticae of the Hill of Howth." The list is important, and shows that the locality is rich in this class of plants; thirty-seven species are enumerated, many of which are very rare and interesting. Two are new to Ireland — Cephalozia francisci, Hook, and Anthelia juratzkana, Limpr. A third species, Cephalozia denudata, Nees, which grows abundantly on Howth hill, had previously only been known to grow in the Co. Mayo. Mr. McArdle claims the following fourteen species as being also new to the Co. Dublin, additions to the last list of that county published by the late Dr. D. Moore {Sci. Proc. R. D. S., 1878): — Cephalozia fluitaiis, Nees; C. divaricaia, Smith; C. elachista, Jack, (rare); C. cin-vifolia, Dicks; C. mtilti flora, Spruce; C. catemdata, Huben; Blepharostoma setacea, WQh.;JimgerjJiama 7?iinuta, Crantz (rare); /. incisa, Schrad.; Pellia calycina, Nees; Metzgeria conjugata, Ray, (Lindb.). The list is provisional only, and is the first attempt at a de- tailed account of these plants that has been made by any person for this locality so far as we are aware. From the number of species it will be 498 The Irish Naturalist. obvious that Howth is by no means below the average of any other similar locality on the Irish coast. May 8th. — Prof. W. J. Soiyl,AS read a paper on " The relative age of the Igneous Rocks at Barnavane, Carlingford." The intrusion of the granite into the gabbro at Barnavane was noted by Dr. Haughton and by Mr. Traill. There is no doubt whatever as to the accuracy of their conclusions; but we find in places the two rocks most intimately mingled, a fine plexus of granite veins, even on a microscopic scale, penetrating the gabbro, which becomes reduced to isolated flecks and fragments. Certain specimens, treated apart from the field evidence, would have been considered as gabbro containing mere segregation-veins. The indepen- dence of the two magmas is, in the surface-phenomena, at any rate, completely demonstrable, despite the actual fusion of portions of the gabbro by the invading granite. A good discussion followed, in which Dr. Haughton, Dr. V. Ball, Mr. G. H. Kinahan, Prof. Cole, and Mr. J. Nolan, took part. Mr. J. E. DuERDBN read a paper " On some new and rare Irish Polyzoa." The contribution dealt with the known British species of Retepora, Crista, Trittcella, and Ascopodaria. Examples of the finest British species of Retepora, R. conchii, Hincks, were exhibited. Prof. AUman's dis- covery of Retepora beaniana. King, from the west coast was confirmed. The six British species of Crista were recorded from Dublin bay, in- cluding the newly-described C. ramosa of Harmer. The occurrence of three species of Triticella was described. Two, T. horenii, G. O. Sars, and T. pedicellata. Alder, have been only once recorded from English waters, and T. boeckii, G. O. Sars, is recorded for the first time from British waters. The abundance in which these rare forms occur on the west coast of Ireland has enabled the author to show the presence of a horny crest in all the three known species of this genus. The recently described species Ascopodaria nodosa, Lomas, was found by Mr. Duerden in material from Killiney bay. RoYAi. Dubinin Society. June 21st. — Prof. G. a. J. Coi,e in the chair. Mr. R. J. Moss read a paper "On a Graphitic Schist from Donegal." An analysis showed that graphite was not present in sufiicient quantity for the rock to be commercially valuable. Mr. G. H. Carpenter read a paper "On some Pycnogonida from the Irish Coasts." The cruises of the "Fingal" and "Harlequin" and other collections, examined by the author, have yielded the following species : — Nymphon gracile. Leach, Dublin, Queenstown; N. rubrum, Hodge, Dublin; N. gallicum, Hoek, west coast ; F/toxichilidiujn fejnorattim , Rathke, east and west coasts; Anoplodactyhis petiolatns, Kr., west coast; Phoxichilus spinosus, Mont., west coast; P, Icevis, Grube, Dublin and west coast; Pycnogonuni littorale, Strom, east and west coasts. Only the first, fourth, and last of these are recorded in Thompson's list in the "Natural History of Ireland" ; the other six species in that list must probably remain of doubtful iden- tity, except ChcBtonymphon spinosum, Goods. The form now called Phoxichilus Icevis, Grube, has been recorded in the Irish Nat. (vol. i., pp. 42, 168) as P. spinosus. The two forms are distinguishable, but it may be doubted if they can be regarded as distinct species. Mr. GiiyBERT C. Bourne contributed a paper on "The Post-embryonic Development of Fungise." The budding and separation undergone by these corols is suggestive of an alternation of generations. SE1.BORNE Society, Ferns Branch. We are glad to learn that a branch of the Selborne Society has been formed at Ferns, Co. Wexford, under the presidency of Dr. G. E. J. Greene ; Miss M. Kenny is the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. The new society intends to devote itself especially to the study of Natural History; we heartily wish it success, and hope to record the results of its work. [ 199 ] NOTES BOTANY. Earllness of the Season.— I found the Din.s^le mountains covered with Pinguicula gratidijlora, o\\ Whit Monday, May 22nd. I also found wild Strawberries ripe on the same day, — ErneST H. Bennis, Limerick. On June 9th, Meconopsis canibrica was in splendid bloom on the Comeragh mountains. I also found Hy/nenophyllmn tiinbridgense in fruit. Scdiuin rhoiiiola was not in bloom. — ^J. ErnesT Grubb, Carrick-on-Suir. The Royal Forest of Clencree. — At a meeting of the Royal vSociety of Antiquaries, recently held in Kilkenny, Mr. Mills read a paper on this subject which had been prepared by Mr. T. P. Lefanue, B.A. From it we learn that as early as the nth century Irish Oak was known, as would be seen by the request of William Rufus for Irish Oak for Westminster Hall. As soon as the English had obtained a firm footing in the country a Royal forest was started, and the portion of the country more especially set apart w" as the valley of Glencree. In 1244 eighty deer w^ere sent over from the Royal Park at Chester, and the existence of some kind of enclosure was evident. That the deer were watched was plain from the fact that in 1291 a neighbouring abbot was attacked and accused of taking game with "nets and engines," and with "taking beasts and working his will with them to the injury of our Lord the King." From the foregoing springs the question : what kind of deer were introduced .^ the Fallow Deer seems not to have been intro- duced into England at the above date, so we must conclude that Red Deer were sent; that they were very numerous in this country at a very early date, is proved by the frequent "finds" of their bones in large quantities. — ^J. G. Robertson, Dublin. ZOOLOGY. IN S E C TS. Irish Wasps— Vespa arborea, Sm. at Bray. — Mr. R. M. Bar^ rington kindly sent me during May and June a number of queen wasps taken near Bray. The vast majorit}^ proved to be Vespa vulgaris ; there were also twelve specimens of V. riifa, seven of V. norvegica, one of V. syl- vestris, and three of that very scarce form V. arborea, which has hitherto been recorded only from Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Scotland, and Switzerland. My identification has been kindly confirmed by Mr. E. Saunders, who, however, informs me, that he considers it possible that this wasp may be merely an aberration from one of the other species ; its male and w^orker are at present unknown. Edgeworth in his paper on "Irish Vespidae" {Proc. N. H. S. Dub. vol. iii. 1864), records V. germanua, so that w^e now know all the British species of the family in Ireland, except the Hornet ( V. crabro), which in all proba- bility wdll not be found here.— G. H. Carpenter. TiiYiarcha tenebricosa, Fab. in Co. Waterford. — AVhile on a visit to Mr. R. J. Ussher, I had the good fortune to secure a series of this interesting chrysomelid beetle, hitherto unrecorded from Ireland, though it has been taken by Mr. G. Garnett of the Newtown School, near Water- ford. The specimens were taken on sea-cliffs near Stradbally. In Great Britain this species is, I believe, restricted to the southern counties. Irish coleopterists may expect some interesting discoveries when the south coast has been systematically worked. — H. Lyster Jameson. Killencoole, Co. Louth. 200 The Irish Naturalist. MOLLUSCA Additions to the Shell-fauna of Cork.— Judging from Dr. Scharff's useful and interesting list of Irish Land and Freshwater Mol- lusca (/. N. vol. i ) the records of additional species from this district since the publication of Mr. Humphrey's list in 1843, must be few and far between. I, therefore, record the following species, taken by myself during the past year within a radius of twenty miles from Cork city, none of which were included by Mr. Humphrey's in his enumeration of fifty- nine species: — Hyalinia ch-aparnaudi occurs in my own and other gardens. I had taken it to be a large form of H. cellaria, until, on my sending a specimen to Dr. Scharff, he identified it at once as //. drapamaudi. H. ptira, H. crystallina, and H. fulva, are plentiful in the woods at Glanmire. H. nitida occurs in a marsh at Whitegate. H. alliaria var. viridula occurs in some plenty near Roche's Point, at which station the type seems to be absent. Helix pygniaa and H. aaileata are frequent in the neighbourhoods of Whitegate and Glanmire. Vertigo pyomcEa, at Roche's Point, Cork Beg, and Ovens. V. mitivertigo, in a marsh at Whitegate. ( V. angustior and Succinea oblonga have both been recorded from the south of the county). Carychium minimwn is abundant in woods and marshes. Linincea auricii- laria was recorded doubtfully by Mr. Humphreys; my specimens, taken from the lough of Cork, have been verified by Dr. Scharff. Planorbis crista occurs in Bennett's lough, near Mayfield, and in streams in Cork Park, along with Valvata cristata already recorded (/. xY., vol. ii., p. 112). The variety alba of Acme lineata seems as plentiful in Lota wood, Glan- mire, as the type. I hope, later on, when time permits me to study our slugs and bivalves, to make at least a few other additions to our local list. — R. A. Phii,i,ips, Ashburton, Cork. Testacella scutulum, Sow.— Mr. W. F. de V. Kane has recently discovered this rare species in his garden at Kingstown. This is the first record for the County Dublin, and the third for Ireland, it having pre- viously been found in Louth and Waterford. Mr. Kane mentioned to me that he had also found specimens of a Testacella in Drumreaske de- mesne, Co. Monaghan, but he was not sure what species it belonged to.— R. F. Scharff, Dublin. FISHES. Baskingr-Shark (Selache maxima) on the Sligro Coast.— On the 5th inst. a splendid specimen of the Basking-Shark became en- tangled in the salmon-net of Mr. Kilgallan, at Aughriss, Co. Sligo, a short distance off the pier, and after a desperate struggle, in which it caused great damage to the net and ropes, was, by the united efforts of four boats, turned into shallow water on the sandy beach, where it was killed. The great fish was evidently full-grown, for it mea,sured thirty feet in length. — RoBKRT Warren, Moyview, Ballina. BIRDS. Continental White Wagtail (iviotacilla alba) in Co. Mayo.— On the 29th of April, when on the Island of Bartragh, Killala Bay, with Mr. H. Scroope, Junior, and his brother, we observed a Wagtail, having such a large patch of white on the sides of its neck and throat as to attract our attention, and on a nearer approach, the light grey back proved it to be the rare Motacilla alba. It flew off and joined another some yards distance, and having my gun, I secured one, which proved to be a fine adult male in perfect plumage. Mr. H. Scroope, who visited Downpatrick Head a few days after, saw another bird near the ruins on the Head.— ROBERT Warren, IMoyvicw. Ballina. N'o/cs. 20 1 Our Summer lYIIg-rants. -Rev. R. 'SI. .Milk-r kindly sends us a copy of an interestins^^ and popular article, on our summer mi<(rants, which he contributed to the Clonniel Chronicle for May 20th. vSuch attrac- tive expositions of natural history should do good work, by increasing the number of those who know something of the feathered denizens of our woods and hedgerows, and therefore find pleasure in observing and protecting them. Spring Migrants at Londonderry.— The very fine spring brought man}' of the migrants some days earlier than their usual dates. The earliest to reach us was the Chiffchaff, which was first heard on 26th March. Then the Willow-Wren appeared on 3rd April. The first Swallow WdS seen here on 5tli April, although I did not notice them in any numbers until some ten days later. A few Sandmartins arrived on 4th April, and I noticed them in great numbers on the 6th, at one locality. The Wheatear was first seen at Inch on 9th April ; I saw and heard the IVhitethroat on 23rd April, and I heard the Sedgewarbler on same date. The Cuckoo appeared on 19th April, and I heard the Corncrake for the first time on the 20th April, but it was reported to have arrived here on 14th. The Swift arrived a week before its usual time. I saw a large flock of about thirty hawking over Derry quaj- on 5th May. Al- most all these arrivals are earlier than last year's dates. The Cuckoo was very scarce here last year, not more than a quarter seemingi}^ of the usual number reaching us. This season it is more than usually abundant. — D. C. Campbei.i<, Londonderry. Arrival of Spring: IVIIgrants. — Seeing some notices in last month's /. N. of the early arrival of spring migrants, I wish to record that the Cuckoo was heard at Giants' Causewa}^ on Easter Sunday, 2nd April, which seems to be exceptionally early for this bird. In Wm. Thompson's " Natural History of Ireland" the earliest mention of the arrival of the Cuckoo seems to be the loth April. I saw the first Swallow this season on 5th April in Co. Derry. — Arthur J. CoIvI^ins, Belfast. On 24th April, the Night Jar ( Capriniulgiis ejiropceiis) was heard, viuch earlier than usual ; it is abundant in this neighbourhood upon the hills, and can be heard before sunset simultaneously wdth the Thrush, Blackbird, Cuc- koo, etc. — ^J. Ernest Grubb, Carrick-on-Suir. Occurrence of the Osprcy (Pandion haliaetus, L.) and the Quail (Coturnix communis, Bechst.) in Co. Cork. — Mr. Rohu, taxidermist, Cork, has now in his hands for preservation a fine immature female specimen of the Osprey, shot at Old Dromore, Co. Cork, on the nth May ; also an adult female specimen of the Quail, shot at Trabulgan, County Cork, on the 7th May.— W. B. BarringTON, Cork. Quails in County Dublin.— On the 6th June rny heart was gladdened by hearing the well-known note of a bird which I had not heard in a state of liberty for several years. I refer to the call of the Quail. In recording the arrivaf of this bird, I bear in mind the possibility that the birds which I heard may have been imported and liberated in the neighbourhood. Of course there must always be this element of doubt in recording the occurrence of a bird which is annually imported in large numbers by game-dealers. I have made careful inquiries in the neigh- bourhood, however, and have failed to obtain any evidence of birds hav- ing been liberated, and, having regard to the number of birds that may be heard calling in districts far apart, I have arrived at the conclusion that a true migration of Quail has occurred. It is well known that these birds were obtained in several parts of England last year, and I have good authority for stating that some were obtained in the County Wicklow at the same time. On looking up old shooting diaries, I find I shot my last Quail in the vear 1876, which is probably the last year they were with us. I trust that 'after this long absence from our shores, they will be protected by both naturalists and sportsmen.— J. J. Bowling, Foxrock. 202 The Irish N'aiuralist. Rc-appearancc of Quails near Londonderry. — After an ab- sence of many years the Quails have visited us once more. They have been calling all over this district for the last ten days, and Mr. John McConnell reports them also from Inch. So far as I know, they have not been seen or heard for upwards of twelve years, except in July, 1892, when Mr. Milne heard the call-note once. I have not heard of their breeding in this neighbourhood since 1874. In that year we obtained eggs from two nests. I believe they are nesting with us this year. — D. C. Campbei,!., Londonderry. Stock Doves (Columtoa aenas) in Co. Wicklow. — Mr. B. C. Barrington writes {Zoologist for May) that he has observed a pair of Stock Doves among some rocks about six miles south of Powerscourt Waterfall, presumably nesting. We are glad to know than these birds are main- taining their ground in Co. Wicklow. Supposed Iceland Gull at Londonderry. — From Mr. D. C. Campbell's description of the gull, seen by him on the nth April, the bird was evidently a Glaucous Gull. He says "about the size of a large Herring Gull, but body heavier." The Iceland is altogether a larger- winged, lighier-btdlt bird than the Herring Gull, and when seen together the difference of build is ver}^ obvious. The legs of the Glaucous and Iceland are the colour of those of the Herring Gulls. — Robert W\\rren, Moyview% Ballina. The Puffin (Fratercula arctica) in the Irish Midlands. — On Monday evening, the 22nd May, a lad brought me a living specimen of the Common Puffin, which he said had walked into a cottage beside a lake close to this demesne, called Quig lough, and though tame enough in its demeanour, it would not eat the food offered. They had kept it for some thirty hours before they decided to bring it to me ; unfortunately before I could get any small fish it died. I have sent it up to the Dublin Museum, as it is a remarkable instance, I think, of a sea-bird so far in- land. I presume it was making for its breeding haunts. — W. F. DE V. Kane, Drumreaske, Monaghan. Chionis alba, Lath. — I am interested to see a paper in the June number of the Irish Naturalist on the occurrence of Chionis alba on the Irish coast, as I had an opportunity of witnessing the bird in its native haunts in the Straits of INIagellan, between twenty and thirty years ago, and I published a short paper on some points in its anatomy in the "Journal of Anatoni}^ and Physiology " for 1869. The flight of the bird, as I saw it, was not unlike that of a pigeon, and the Blue-jackets, the first time we encountered it, mistook it, not unnaturally, for a pigeon. Like some other observers who have handled specimens, I did not ob- serve anything peculiar as regards its odour. The capture of a specimen on the coast of Ireland is certainly a ver}' odd circumstance, and I cannot but think that the individual must have escaped from captivity some- where.— Robert O. Cunningham, Belfast. MAMMALS. A Marten (Mustela martes) in Co. Antrim. A few days ago a fine specimen was trapped near Portglenone, Co. Antrim, by Mr. R. A. Alexander. The specimen is a male, and measures 2ft. gin. in length. The "Marten Cat" asit is popularly called, is getting so rare in Ulster that the capture is worthy of record. — J. A. B. in Land and Water, April 22nd. Vol.. II. AUGUST, 1893. No. 8. AMERICAN BIRD-VISITORS TO IRELAND AT HOME. BY W. K. PRAKGER, OF KKOKUK, IOWA. III. The YE1.1.OW- bulled Cuckoo (Goccyszis americayius). Long will my first spring in America be the best remembered of springs to me. I had spent the winter in Iowa, an unusually severe and long-continued winter, and at last the hot sun had melted the snow, and the thick ice on pond and river had broken up, and rapidly the lately silent land was filled with sights and sounds, to me new and strange. And so, week after week it continued ; daily new flowers, insects, and reptiles sprang into life again, while from the south the great stream of migration brought the birds in ever increasing number and variety. It can well be imagined what surfeit of surprise, wonder, and interest, the shortest country walk afforded under such circumstances. Perhaps the most noticeable sound to me was a note heard in the woods and resembling the word "cow," often repeated, at first rather slowly, gradually getting quicker, but the last three or four notes suddenly becoming longer drawn out than any of the preceding ones. It sounded as if it might be the note of some gallinaceous bird, but it was no more like any bird's note that I had ever heard, than were those of many of the insects and frogs that made the woods resound with their extraordinary spring love-songs ; and indeed I have since read that the note in question is very similar to that of the Bur- rowing Owl of the western prairies, and also of the Spade- footed Toad. After awhile I caught occasional glimpses of the mysterious originator of the sounds, and was told that they A 204 The Irish Naturalist. were the notes of the "Raincrow," but this did not enlighten me much until I shot one of the birds from the upper branches of a tall hickory tree, and picked up what I easilj- recognised to be a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The right of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo to a place on the Irish list rests on the occurrence of two examples shot many years ago, in Co. Cork and Co. Dublin. The bird has also occurred four or five times in England, and also in Continental Europe, so that we have an unusual number of instances of this American bird crossing the Atlantic. This bird's breeding range is the United States ; it hardly passes north of the Canadian boundary line, and is found from ocean to ocean, though rather scarce west of the Rocky moun- tains. It probably leaves this country altogether in winter, and comes north in the spring after the trees are in full leaf, arriving in this latitude during the first week of May. Like the European Cuckoo, its presence is chiefly known by its note, for the bird is very shy, and manages to conceal itself among the densest foliage of the larger trees ; but wherever there are trees, it is sure to be found, even round farm-houses, or in the city parks, or tree-lined streets. Looking at the stuffed skin in a cabinet, one can hardly believe how inconspicuous the bird is in its native haunts. The long slender build and brown colour make it look like one of the many branches with which it is surrounded, and seen from below, the white breast and spots on the tail feathers become mere glints of sunlight among the foliage. Not infrequentl}^ after the observer has been peering into a tree in search of some nois}^ warbler in the upper branches, a slight movement will betray to him a "Raincrow" close at hand, and the bird will likely remain, with unusual composure for one that can boast of a stature of over twelve inches, and give plenty of time for mutual obser- vation. It is always more secretive than sh}^ ; a proof that it knows its colours are protective. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo builds its nest in a bush or low tree ; it is a slight affair of sticks, not well made nor concealed with much art. The eggs are from four to six, rarel}- eight in number, and of a pale greenish-blue. They are usually laid in June, but oviposition is curioush^ irregular, eggs in all stages of incubation, and even young birds in various stages of development, being often found in the same nest. A satisfac- American Bird- Visitors to Ireland at Home. 205 tory reason for this habit seems unknown as yet, as with the still more curious parasitic habits of many of the Old World Cuckoos, with which it has probably some connection. Though not parasites, there seem to be well authenticated instances of an 0.%% of the American Cuckoo being slipped into the nest of some other bird. During the nesting season, both birds are very solicitous as to the safety of the nest, and in caring for the young. The favourite food of this bird seems to be caterpillars, and most stomachs I have examined were well filled with them ; it also eats other insects, and may sometimes be seen on the ground picking up grasshoppers ; in the fall it occasionally indulges in fruit, and berries of various kinds. It has been accused of robbing other birds' nests, but whether with an}' more justice than in the case of Cnculus canorus I do not know. The common name for both our species of Cuckoo is " Rain- crow" because their call is said to foretell rain ; such wide- spread popular beliefs are apt to have a basis of truth, but the call is heard during dry weather as well as wet, and the mating season, when they are most noisy, is also the most showery time of year. From the call, the name " Cowbird," is some- times given to them, but they must not be confused with the true Cowbird, a member of the American famil}^ IcteridcE, and which is, I believe, the only bird besides some of the cuckoos that is known to be parasitic in its habits. Above, this bird is a bright olive-brown, with a peculiar satiny gloss showing a greenish tinge in some lights ; below, pure white, excepting the two central feathers, which are like the back. The tail becomes almost black, w4th broad white tips ; the wings have a patch of light chestnut, not very noticeable till the wing is opened ; the bill is yellow at the base and below. IV. The B1.ACK-BII.1.ED Cuckoo {^Coccyzus erythrophthalmus^. The Black-billed Cuckoo introduced himself to the fauna of Europe by turning up at I^ucca, Italy, in 1858. On only one other occasion has his name appeared as a visitor to Europe, when he claimed for himself the right to an article in his honor in the Irish Naturalist, by appearing at Killead, Co. Antrim, on the 25th September, 1871. B 2o6 The Irish Naturalist. After what has been said above on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, our present subject can be dismissed with comparatively few words. The two species are so alike in appearance and habits that to point out some of the differences is all that will be necessar}^ The birds are commonl}^ confused b}^ unscientific observers, and cannot be distinguished except at ver}^ close quarters. The subject of the present sketch is rather the smaller of the two, he lacks the chestnut on the wings, and the black and white of the lateral tail feathers is restricted and obscure, with no bold contrasts between the colours ; the bill is plumbeous and black, instead of yellow and black ; the eye- lids are red, hence the unwieldy specific name. Otherwise the plumage of the two birds is alike, so that when the wings and tail are closed one has to be near enough to distinguivsh the colour of the bill or eyelid to be certain as to the species. In nesting habits the same close relationship is noticeable. The nest is similar, but the Black-billed more frequently builds in low situations, such as bushes. The eggs can usually, but not always, be distinguished with certainty ; they are smaller, rounder, and deeper-coloured than the Yellow-billed's eggs. For comparison we give the measurements of eggs of the two species: — C. a?nerica7ms, length i-io to 1-40, breadth -83 to '98, C. erythrophthahnus, length, 105 to 1.15, breadth *8o to '90. The same irregularity as to time of laying is noticed in both species. The cry of this bird is said to be less harsh and not so often repeated as that of its near relative. Its habits, such as flight, movements, food, time, and rapidity of migration, and localities it most frequents, are very similar. There is, however, a decided difference in geographical distribution, the Black-billed being found only east of the Rocky mountains ; but what it lacks in longitude it gains in latitude, as it ranges up into even I^abrador, and is the only species found through most of the BritivSh possessions. There is certainly a great absurdity in admitting a bird that has only once occurred in Ireland as a straggler, to the Irish list. While the occurrence is highly interesting, yet the in- clusion of such names in a fauna are confusing and misleading. Two species of the genus Coccyztcs are in the Irish list, and the same two in the Iowa list, and yet to sa}^ that the genus does .occur in Iowa, and does not in Ireland is nearer the truth. A in erica Ji l)ird VisUors lo Ireland at Home. 207 But absurd as the rule may be that entitles a bird once captured in a supposed wild state to a place in the fauna of the country, it seems to be the only rule that is workable. No two ornitho- logists would quite agree as to how often and under what circumstances a bird must occur to be admitted into the exclusive circle. And the probaljility of a l:)ird being aided by resting on ships should not affect its standing, even if it could be i^roved that it did so. A favourite wa}- of accounting for the present distribution of reptiles is that they or their eggs were carried to distant lands in hollow^ logs ; and what is your Atlantic liner but a hollow log somewhat developed and specialized. It is useless for naturalists to make laws as to the means and methods which organisms are to use in spreading their species on the face of the earth, and we might speculate long and use- lessly on what great results might spring from such accidental wanderings, and how^ they might affect the fauna or flora of a country, with all its sensitive interdependence. What small fortuitous occurrences often produce great results, and how little the means that brought them about matter. Is Ireland any less the land of saints because St. Patrick sailed over on a paving stone ? THE SHAMROCK : A FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EIX ITS SPECIES. BY NATHANIEL COLGAN. On the approach of last Saint Patrick's Day I was induced, chiefly by the kind off"er of assistance made me by the editors of this Journal, to take in hands once more the inquiry into the species of our national badge, begun some years earlier, with the results detailed in the issue for last August. A notice to subscribers was accordingly inserted in the March number of this year, so framed as to ensure that all specimens sent in response should be certified as genuine by competent authori- ties, while, at the same time, as a provision against a not im- probable lack of interest in the subject amongst the subscribers to the Irish Naturalist, some three dozens of circulars were prepared and sent by post to selected points in the Irish-speak- 2o8 The Irish Naturalist. ing districts, chiefly along our western sea-board. These circulars, in almost all instances, were addressed to Roman Catholic parish clergymen ; and, as I had fully expected, the percentage of replies they brought me was very much larger than in the case of the printed notice.' Of the circulars, twenty per cent, were answered, a proportion not far short of expecta- tion. As for the printed notice distributed through the agenc}- of the Irish Naturalist, I cannot presume to say exactly how small the percentage of answers may have been. Out of the whole body of subscribers, however, only eight forwarded specimens of Shamrocks ; but, of these, one sent no less than five, another, four, and a third, three specimens, each certified as genuine by a distinct authority. In addition to the plants thus secured, Mr. F. W. Burbidge, Director of Trinity College Botanic Garden, supplied me with a root, certified by one of his gardeners, a Tipperary man, as the real Shamrock, and part of the stock grown in the Gardens, and supplied as such to English inquirers ; another speci- men was bought from an advertiser in the Co. I^outh, who offered the plant for sale, at a not unprofitable price, "as the true Irish variety," and, finally, three specimens were bought in Dublin on the 17th March as real Shamrock, from three different itinerant vendors, each of whom was required to exercise the most scrupulous care in the selection of the genuine plant from the obviously miscellaneous collection in her basket.^ Altogether, thirty-five Shamrocks were secured and care- fully planted and labelled, after they had been provisionall}^ 1 I wish to express my thanks here to the following correspondents for their kindness in sending specimens from their respective districts: — Rev. T. O'Connor, Kilrosanty, Waterford (three plants); Rev. T. McGrath, Clogheen, Tipperary; Rev. P. MacPhilpin, Aranmore, Galway bay; Rev. P. Brennan, Corrigaholt, Clare; Rev. P. O'Keane, Easky, Sligo; Rev. P. Kelly, Ardara, Donegal (two plants) ; Mr. Michael Costello, Inisheer, Gal- way bay (two plants); Miss A. N. Abbott, Cork (three plants); Mrs. Delap, Valencia island, Kerry; Miss Garner, Dublin; Miss Kinahan, Dublin (plant from Ramelton, Donegal); Mrs. Leebody, Londonderry (four plants from counties Donegal, Derry, and Tyrone); Mr. A. J. Collins, Belfast; Mr. M. Comerford, Dundalk; Mr. T. Hunter, Ovoca, Wicklow (five plants); Mr. Owen Smith, Meath ; and Mr. J. J. Wolfe, Skibbereen, Cork. 2 These three plants matured into three distinct species, Medicago lupti- lina^ Trifoliuni rcpens, and T. minus. The Shamrock : a furihei- Attempt to fix its Species. 209 classified according to species. A stud}^ of the minuter distinctions of Trifolium rcpcns, T. viinus and Mcdicago hipidina, made it possible to carry out the classification with confidence even in the undeveloped stage in which most of the specimens reached me. In no single instance, indeed, in which the plant survived up to the flowering and fruiting season, (and onl}^ two out of the total of thirt3^-five succumbed to the extraordinary dryness of the remarkable spring and early summer of this year), was this provisional classification found in error; so that my Patrick's Day determination of these two as T. repens and T. mimes, respectivel}^ may be accepted as accurate.' Of the surviving thirty-three plants, all had flowered and many had fruited by the 23rd June, T. mimis in all cases keeping well ahead of T. rcpcns. By the end of June the entire crop of Shamrocks, or, at least, specimens of the thirty-three plants of which it was made up, was harvested and garnered, that is to sa3% dried, mounted, and labelled, for the satisfaction of obstinate adherents of Trifoli2C7)i repens. The results of this harvest may be most clearly shown in tabular form, thus : — 19 Shamrocks matured into Trifolium repens. T2 ,, ,, „ T. mimis. 2 ,, ,, ,, T. pratense. 2 ,, ,, ,, Medic ago lupitlina. It will be seen that the results of this year's inquiry shows, contrary to my expectation, a decided preponderance in favour of T. repe7is. But if we add in the results of the former in- quiry, the balance between the two species is almost redressed. Out of a total of forty-nine certified Shamrocks grown on the two occasions, twenty-four proved to be Trifoliitm repens, and twenty-one T. miiius, the remainder being equally divided between T. pratense and Medicago lupulina. Arranging the Shamrocks by counties so as to exhibit the area over which the use of the different species was found to prevail, we have the following table : — ' In the earlier stages of growth, the mucro to the leaflets of Medicago lupulina seems to me to afford the safest and readiest distinction between that species and T. viimis and T. repens. There is little difficulty at any stage in separating T. pratense from the three other competitors. C 2IO The Irish Naturalid. Tabi,e showing the species of Shamrock used in various Irish Counties. Trifolitmi repens is used in T, ininns is used in T. pratense is used in Medicago lupidhia is used in Armagh. Carlow. Armagh. Carlow. Cork. Cork. Cork. Derry. Dublin. Derry. Dublin. Dublin. Galway. Waterford. Galway. Waterford. Waterford. Wicklow. Wicklow. Wicklow. Antrim. Clare. Tyrone. Kerry. Donegal. Meath. Louth. Tipperary. Queen's Co. Waterford. Sligo. Roscommon. Mayo. Here again the employment of T. repens as the national badge would appear to be more extended than that of T. mimis, the former being used in sixteen, the latter only in thirteen of the Irish counties. But there is further evidence forthcoming on the side of T. minus ; for Mr. James Britten, editor of the Jour7ial of Bota7iy, gives the following strong testimony in its favour, in a valuable note on the Shamrock in the Dictionary of English Plant Names (p. 425).' " At the present day, Trifolium minus is the plant most in repute as the true Shamrock ; it is this species which forms most of the Shamrock sold in Covent Garden on St. Patrick's Day, and in Ireland it is used as such in the counties of Antrim, Down, Meath, Fermanagh, Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Westmeath, Wexford, Limerick, Waterford, Cork, and Kerry." When entering on this inquiry some five years ago, I was quite unaware of the existence of this interesting contribution to the subject, which only came under my notice so late as the April of this year. Had I known of these previous re- searches, by which the results recorded in these pages were so largely anticipated, I should probably have thought it unneces- » Published by Trubner & Co. (for the BngHsh Dialect Society), Lon- don, 1886. All who are interested in the obscure history of the Shamrock are strongly recommended to read Mr. Britten's note, which gives, in condensed form, the fruit of much antiquarian research. The Shamrock : a further Attempt to fix its Species. 21 sary to make further investigation, so that my ignorance of Mr. Britten's paper has had the result of strengthening the case for T. minus, which, as I believe, he was the first to make out. Though Mr. Britten does not tell us that T. minus is exclusively used as the Shamrock in the thirteen counties covered by his inquiry, the evidence he has brought forward, coupled with that given in these pages, fully warrants, in my opinion, the conclusion that T. rcpens can no longer claim pre-eminence as the true Irish Shamrock.' It must hereafter be content to share the honour, at least evenl}^ with its rival T. minus. Future writers and editors of English and Irish Floras, if they aim at accuracy in their popular plant-names, must bracket these two species of Trifolium under the name Shamrock and must give, too, to Mr. Britten the credit of having been the first to clearly discern and boldly advocate the strong claims of T. mimis. While conceding that in the present day the neater Trifolium minus is equally in favour with T. repens as our national badge, some may be disposed to argue that the true Shamrock of earlier times, before modern culture had spread abroad a taste for the elegant and the delicate, was, nevertheless, the coarser T repens. The fact that a decided majority of the specimens collected by me from the Irish-speaking districts of our island, where old national usages may be assumed to have the greatest tenacity of existence, belonged to this latter species, might be taken as lending a certain support to this view. But the discussion of such antiquarian aspects of the question, how- ever fascinating it might be as opening up wide fields of speculation and inquiry, cannot properly find a place in the pages of a natural history Journal. I must content myself, then, with this endeavour to place clearly before those interest- ed in the subject the available evidence as to the species of the modern Shamrock, leaving it to others, who may feel dis- satisfied with the mass and tendency of this evidence, to pursue theinquiry still further on the lines laid down.^ 1 There is no reason why the name should not be written shamroge, as it is pronounced by Irishmen, and written by many of the earUer Enghbh writers. 2 Taken together, Mr. Britten's inquiry and my own have covered twenty- five out of thirty- two Irish counties. The follo-s^dng counties still remain outside the inquiry :—Cavan, Kildare, Kilkenny, King's County, Leitrim, Lrongford, and Monaghan. [ 212 ] THE FI.ORA OF COUNTY ARMAGH. BY R. I.I,OYD PRAKGER, B.E., M.R.I.A. \Conchided from page 184.) IVIlIium effusuin, Linn. N. — S. Killooney near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Ivy Lodge near Newry, H. W. L. spec. ! Calamagrrostis hookeri, Syme. N. Abundant in a low meadow by the side of Lough Neagh, near the entrance of the Lagan canal, R. LI. P. The plant grows plentifully here, over an area of perhaps a couple of acres, among Lythriini, Lysi?nachia viilgaris, and Phragniites ; Avi a space of a few square yards I gathered 200 stems. Considering its very limited distribution, which in Great Britain is confined to Lough Neagh, its disappearance in some of its stations there, and its extreme rarity in the others, the discovery of a new locality in which it is abundant cannot but be highly satisfactory. More's note (A^. H. R), refers, as stated in Recent Additions ( Jour. Bot., 1873) to Scawdy island, in Tyrone ; the plant has not been previously found in Armagh. Agrostis vulgaris, With., var. pumila, Lightf. S. Dry field at Cam Lough, and on G. N. railway south of Newry, R. LI. P. A. alba, Linn., var. stolonifera. S. Muddy shores of Newry river, R. LI. P. Alra flexuosa, Linn. S. Frequent on the southern hills ; not observed elsewhere in the county, R. LI. P. TrisetuiYi flavescens, Beauv. N. A member of "the natural herbage of the soil," Cootes Armagh. Mullinure, W. F. J. spec. ! Armagh, S. A. S. Lurgan, Portadown, Retreat, Navan Fort, and Bglish, being frequent in the limestone district, R. LI. P. Avena pubescens, Linn. N. Quarries at Navan fort, R. LI. P. Poa comprcssa, Linn. N. Bank by roadside, half a mile from Portadown towards Lurgan (McMillan), More's Recent Additions {Jotir. of Bot., '1873). Schlcrochloa maritima, Lindl. S. Estuary of Newry river, R. LI. P. S. distans, Bab. S. Shore near Narrow-water, R. LI. P. S. rlglda, Linn. N. M. S. Gravel-pit east of Grange near Armagh ; on the Armagh and Goraghwood railway south of Drummanmore lough, and near Lough gilly; abundant on the G.N. main line and walls adjoining at and north of Wellington cutting near Newry ; wall of the platform at Goraghwood station, R. LI. P. Frequent in Armagh, growing chiefly on railway tracks, where no doubt the dry gravelly material is the attraction. It is extremely rare in district 12, common in district 5. Briza media, Linn. N. Loughgall \^Qx€),Flor. Ulst. ! and subsequently, B. N. F. C, S. A. S., etc, Mullinure, W. F. J. spec! Navan fort, S. A. S. ! Loughna- shade, Eglish church, Killylea, Middletown, roadside south of Armagh, R. LI. P. Frequent in the limestone district; not met with elsewhere. Th e Flo ra of Co it ii ty A rmagh . 213 Catabrosa aquatica, Reauv. N. M. S. Taiidcragee lower demesne, and l^y the canal near Newry ! H.W.L.; by the railway between Lurgan and Portadown ; Eglish crossroads ; ditch near Clare Castle S.W. of Tanderagee ; Strag- han's lough near Keady, R. Ll. P. Festuca sylvatlca, Vill. — M. — On steep banks by the Cusher river in Tanderagee lower demesne, R, LI. P. Bromus sterllis, Linn. N Ivoughgall (More) F/or. Ulst. ! Roadside near Navan Fort, R. LI. P. I:B. commutatus, Schrad. N. Tartaraghan, probably introduced with grass-seed, More N.H.R. MuUinure meadows near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! TriticuiYi canlnum, Linn. — M. — By Mullaghmore lake S. W. of Markethill ; rare in the county, R. LI. P. Hordcum pratensc, Hudson. N. Mr. Stewart's herbarium contains specimens of this rare grass, collected by G. R. at Tartaraghan in 1880. Lepturus filiforinis, Trin. S. By the canal locks below Newry, and on the shore abundantly at County bridge near Narrow- water, R. LI. P. Polypodium phegoptcris, Linn. S. Frequent on the N.E. slope of Slieve Gullion (Lett), Fe) ns 0/ Ulster (B. N. F. C. 1885-6, App.) Mr. Lett informs me that it was in the woods near Killeavy church that he found the Beech Fern ; I did not meet with it on the north or west slopes of Slieve Gullion. Lastrea orcoptcris, Presl. — M. S. On Ferry Hill above Narrow-water (R. LI. P.), Ferns of Ulster; I found it in the woods there in 1881, and saw it again in 1892. One fine plant in a wood in Tanderagee upper demesne, R. LI. P. L. demula, Brack. S. Plentiful on Ferry Hill above Narrow- water (R. Ll. P.), Ferns of Ulster. Polystichum aculeatum, Roth. N. M. S. Near Loughgall, but rare, More N. H. R. ! On Ferry Hill above Narrow- water (R. Ll. P.), and near Tynan (Phillips), Ferns of Ulster. Near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Castlerow near Loughgall, roadside at Beech Hill House near x\rmagh, Eglish cross-roads, lanes near Tartaraghan church, lanes east of Tynan, Marlacoo lough, and near Pointzpass, R. LL P. Cystoptcris fragilis, Bernh. N. Bridge near Armagh (McCrum), Ferns of Ulster. Recently seen on the bridge in question, which is at Tassagh near Keady, by W. F. J. Cctcrach officinarum, Willd. N. — S. Wall of Lurgan demesne, and near Bessbrook (Lett), Fu-ns of Ulster. Ballynahone House garden wall, and on the walls of Armagh observatory, courthouse, and gaol, W. F. J. spec. ! Bridge over Ulster canal two miles north of Caledon, R. Ll. P. Hymenophyllum tunbrldgensc, Sm. S. In a glen on Ferry Hill above Narrow- water (R. Ll. P.), Ferns of Ulster. Found there in 1881, and refound in 1892. The stream on whose banks it grows forms the boundary of Armagh and Louth, and the record strictly belongs to districts 10 and 5. 214 The Irish Naturalist. Osmunda regal Is, Ivinn. N. "The Rev, G. Robinson showed nie what might be called a small forest of this fine plant, not far from Magher}^ where it forms large tussacs, like those of Carex panicuhita ; drainage is, how- ever, gradually destro3dng it " (Dickie), Flor. Ulst. Bog at south end of Lough Neagh (Templeton), Ferns of Ulster. Near Maghery, B. N. F. C, 1871. "Near Tartaraghan, Rev. G. Robinson!!!" More N.H.K. Not now anywhere so abundant or luxuriant as described by Dr. Dickie, but still frequent on the northern bogs : I found it in a number of places on bogs from Maghery to Lurgan, and also thrown up by the waves on thcvshores of Annagarrifif lake, where it evidently flourishes in security on the islands ; also on a bog south of Portadown ; often in some abundance, but generally rather stunted, R. LI. P. Botrychlum lunaria, Sw. N. One plant on top of Navan fort, W. F. J. : I have not seen Mr. Johnson's specimen, which was not preserved, but he is satisfied that it was right : I failed to refind it at Navan, R. LI. P. Shore of Lough Neagh at Ardmore, H. W. L. spec. ! Ophiogrlossum vulgatuin, Linn. N. Loughgall near the lake. More N. H. R.\ Armagh (Kinahan), Flor. Ulst. Ardmore near Lurgan ; abundant in short grass on the shores of Lough Neagh, where it is under water for four winter months (Lett), Ferns of Ulster. Tartaraghan, B. N. F. C, 1877. Mullinure and Drummanmore near Armagh, W. F. J. spec. ! Bird island on Lough Neagh shore, R. LI. P. Isoetes lacustrls, Linn. — M. S. County Armagh, Cyb. Hih. In Cashel lake west of Slieve GuUion (444 feet elevation) ; and at the west end of Lough Ross near Crossmaglen (286 feet), and on east shore of Mullaghmore lough (200 feet elevation), June, 1893, R. LI. P. Lycopodium selago, Linn. N. M. S. Very rare ; one plant on bog north of Churchhill (under 100 feet) ; summit of Carrigatuke (1,200) ; and sparingly on Camlough mountain, R. LI. P. Selagrinella splnosa, Beauv. S. On Camlough mountain at about 700 to 1,000 feet, R. LI. P. (Pllularla griobulifera, Linn. [N.] Abundant in marshy ground two miles from the mouth of the Blackwater, near Lough Neagh (Campbell), Flor. Hib. and Flor. Ulst. This station may be in Armagh, or in Tyrone, but is not in district 12, as given in Cyb. Hib. I did not meet with the plant, and it is apparently one of these which the drainage of Lough Neagh has forced from its former habitats.) Chara fragills, Desv. N. Lough Neagh at Ardmore Glebe (f. dclicattila) and Bird island, H.W.L. spec ! In Lough Neagh at Ardmore Point (form approach- ing delicattila), and at Maghery ; pool beside Derrylileagh lake ; lake at Tynan Abbey; and bog-holes south of Portadown (form with prominent primary cortical cells), R. LI. P. C. aspera, Willd. N. In Lough Neagh at Derryadd Bay ; Ardmore Point (f. lacustris), and Maghery (f. subinennis) ; quarries near Navan fort, R. Ll. P. C. aspera f. lacustris and C. fragilis f. delicatitla grow abundantly in shallow water on the gravelly shores of Lough Neagh, where they may be observed covering the bottom with short bright green tufts. After storms they are cast ashore in large quantities, mixed with Nit el la opaca. The Plot a of County Armagh. 215 Chara polyacantha, Braun. N. Plentiful in Loiighgall lake near the boat-house and elsewhere, and in quarry-holes at the eastern extremity of Loughgall manor demesne, R. LI. P. This handsome plant has not been previously found in Ulster. C. hispida, Linn. N. Drains at Loughadian near Armagh, quarry-holes at Navan Fort (f. nidis), north of Loughgall (f nuiis), at Grange near Armagh, and at east end of Loughgall manor grounds (f. rudis) ; plentiful also in Loughgall lake (f rudis). C. vulgraris, Linn. N. — vS. Lough Neagh at Bird island, H. \V. L. spec. ! Pool at Mullinure near Armagh, quarries at Navan Fort (f. with prominent secondary cortical cells), quarry-hole at Drummanbeg near Armagh, shallow water by railway near Richhill, quarry-holes south of Armagh, lake at Tynan Abbey, quarry-holes north of Loughgall, and by the rail- way at Wellington cutting south of Newry, R. LI, P. The com- monest Chara in the county; it appears to be more amphibious than most of the species, frequently growing in water only a few inches deep, where it is never completely submerged. C. contraria, Kuetz. N. In Lough Neagh at Croaghan island, H. W. L. spec. ! Nitella translucens, Ag. S. Abundantly in Cashel lake near Crossmaglen (447 feet elevation), R. LI. P. Isoetes laciistris grows in the same lake. N. ficxilis, Ag. S. Abundant in the Camlough river between the lake and the vil- lage, R. LL P. Not hitherto recorded from Ulster. N. opaca, Ag. N. M. — In Lough Neagh at Bird island! and Ardmore Glebe! H. W. L. Plentiful along the Lough Neagh shore; quarry-holes north of Loughgall, in a well near Markethill, and in Clay lake near Keady ("probably"), R. LI. P. ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. Page 15. Mr. H. C. Hart writes (/. N. 1893, p. 84), that he considers the estimate of the flora of Donegal here given (about 720 species) to be too low\ ,, 37. Line 20. For 104 read 106, and in the list which follows add Elatine hexandra after Diplotaxis imtralis on p. 37, and C. bi- ennis after Crepis nicccensis on p. 38. ,, 38. Line 31. After the words " Rev. G. Robinson," add " one by Mr. A. G. More." ,, 94. After Elatine hydropiper add E. hexandra, DC. — M. — Eastern margin of Mullaghmore lake, R. LI. P., June, 1893. ,, 159. Line 31. For " Lagan Canal " read " Newry CanaL" yVi?/^_Montiaghs or Moyntaghs, pronounced "Munches" (Celtic Moin- teack, a boggy place), is the name of a parish bordering on Lough Neagh in the extreme N.E. of the county, but the name appears to be locally applied to the whole of the northern bog district. 2 1 6 The Irish Na turalisi. THE EARTHWORMS OF IREIvAND. BY RKV. HII^DKRIC FRIEND, F.I,.S. ( Continued from page 191. HiTHKRTO no attention whatever seems to have been paid by British naturalists to that group of worms whose principal habitat is the old and decaying stumps or trunks of fallen trees, and whose chief service consists in the breaking up of useless timber, and reducing it to a vegetable mould. When I com- menced the study of these animals two 3^ears ago nothing was known of the subject in this country, and I was therefore com- pelled to examine the works of such continental naturalists as Eisen, Rosa, and Eevinsen, in order to ascertain the character of those tree- worms which had already been made known to the scientific world. Thanks to their industry, it has been possible for me to identify every species hitherto discovered in Great Britain. So far as present research enables us to speak definitely on the subject, we have no tree-worms peculiar to this island. Every species hitherto examined is known to occur in one or other of the countries of Europe, from Russia and Scandinavia to Brittany and the Italian peninsula. But though it has not fallen to the lot of our countrymen to add any species of arboreal worm to the list of new discoveries, it must be admitted that foreign writers on the subject have, so far, almost without exception, failed to recognize the affinities of the group, and present us with any satisfactory sy.stem of classification. I purpose therefore, in the present paper, giving the whole subject a careful revision in the light of our indigenous species, with this proviso, however, that when our boreal and Irish species have been as carefully worked as I have worked those found south of the Clyde, it may be necessary to somewhat modify the characters of the group. Eisen was the first naturalist to show that the worms which were formerly included in the genus Lumbricus were marked by such differences as would justify the creation of new genera. He accordingly, in 1873, took the family Ltinibricidcs and split it up into four genera — Lumbricus, Allolobophora, Dendrobcena, Th e Ea rth ivo rm s of I re la nd. 217 and Alliuus. He has since added Tciragonuyus. The curious point to be noticed is, that though Kisen created the genus Dcndrobccna, he did not recognize the species which would naturally fall under that generic designation, and hence his perfectly natural and appropriate term has been quietly ignored. It is my purpose, therefore, to revive the term first introduced by Hisen, and to show which of the species hitherto placed under Ltivibriacs and Allolobophora must be transferred to the subgenus DejidrobcBua. In revising Bisen's genus, however, it will be necessary to extend the characters considerably, since he included therein only one species, and that, till now, a very badly described and little understood worm. His diagnosis is as follows : — Dendrobaena, 11. gen. Tuberada ventralia in segmento 14 [ = 15 Eng. method]. Setic uhiqne aequo intervallo distantes, exceptis duabus sunnnis, qiiarum intervalhim aliquanlo niajus est. Lobus cephalicus tres partes segmenti buccalis occupans. Referring to this subject, Dr. Benham says: — "Eisen was the first to subdivide the genus Lumbriciis into subgenera, according to the relative amount of dovetaihng of the prostomium into the peristomium. This is accompanied by certain other characters, which have been held sufficient to characterize genera in other cases. So that I have retained his sub- divisions Lumbricus and Allolobophora; but as his genus Dendrobcena is only distinguished from the latter genus in having all the setse equidistant, and as all stages occurring in the separation are found in Allolobophora, I agree with Rosa that we ought not to recognize it." Consequently the name has been dropped, and in Beddard's " Classifi- cation and Distribution of Earthworms," 1891, and Rosa's " Revisione (lei Ivumb.," 1893, is omitted from notice altogether. The statement of Benham to the effect that every degree of separation of the setae is found in Allolobophora is true till we remove the species which properly fall under the genus Dendrobcena. Almost without exception do we find that the species of Allolobophora, as classified by Eisen, which have the setae widely separated, are dendrobaenic in character. It is true that I shall have to deal with one exception, but this is due to the fact that we are not yet acquainted with all the species that exist, and cannot therefore assign those with which we are familiar their exact position. The characters of the group will be better understood when the different species have been discussed. Generally speaking, however, we may say that the worms are rose-red or flesh-coloured, small, with setae more or less widely separated, arboreal in character, or found usually in and about decaying timber or tree refuse. We may take Allolobophora celiica, Rosa, as a type. Rosa's original des- cription was based upon three living specimens received from Brest, in 21 8 The Irish Naturalist. Brittany, during the month of March, 1886. It may be here remarked that in England March is an excellent month for collecting earthworms, as the sexual organs are then becoming active and fully developed. Rosa states that the worms are about equal in dimensions to Lumbricus purpureus, Eisen ; being from 2 to 2\ millim. in diameter, and 35 to 40 in length. The form is cylindrical, with the posterior part somewhat attenuated. Colour violaceo-pallid dorsally, carneo-livid ventrally. Segments about 100 in number. Cephalic lobe or prostomium with a large backward prolongation which cuts or dovetails into the peristomium to about one-half its longitudinal diameter, the lobe being destitute of an inferior longitudinal groove. The male pore situated on segment 15, and extending from the second to the third seta, the two adjoining (14 and 16) being affected. Rosa terms these papillae carrying the male pore the atria, but Beddard disputes the strict accuracy of this desig- nation. I prefer for the present to state, when these glandular processes occur, that the male pore is carried by or borne on papillae. The female pore is well seen, says Rosa, as a small fissure on each side of segment 14 against the second setae, but on the side external to that occupied by the male pore. The girdle occupies six segments, extending over 31-36, slightly raised and not very closely fused. The Uibercula ptibertatis occur ventrally on segments 33, 34, in the form of a continuous ridge (not on papillae as in Allolobophora chlorotica, for example). Setae distant, the lateral increasing from below upwards, that is, the interval between 2-3 is greater than between 1-2, and less than that between 3-4 ; the ventral inferior (i-i) not greater than the lateral inferior (1-2); the dorsal interval (4-4) being about twice that of the lateral superior (3-4.) The setae on the ventral surface of segments 31, 32, 35 (before and behind the titbercula pubertals) borne on relieved papillae. An interesting note on the nephridiopores, which need not be reproduced in this connection, brings Rosa's account to a close. In 1890 I found three specimens of this worm a few miles north of Langholm, N.B., and the same year three others were discovered in an immature condition near Carlisle, when they were at first mistaken for the young of Lumbricus purptiretis, Eisen. More recently I have received specimens from, or collected them myself, in Devonshire, Gloucester- shire, Yorkshire, Northants, Lancashire, Lanark, Sussex, and several Irish localities. It is therefore evident that the species is widely distri- buted in Britain. It only needs that this species should be studied by the side of Allolobophora Boeckii, the type upon which Eisen founded the subgenus Dendrobcena, to show that they are very closely allied. I will not at this point inquire what relationship exists between A. Boeckii and Lwiibricus puter, Hoffmeister. Eisen says the girdle is usually composed of five segments (29-33), over three of which (31-33) the hibercula pubertatis extend. I give the figures according to the English notation, which makes the peristomium the first segment, and places the male pore on the 15th. Eisen's description, published in 1870, is faulty, owing to the inclusion of two or three species under one name. The generic title adopted in 1S73 was based upon the fact that the worm was found under the bark of The Ea rth worms of Ireland, 1 1 9 decaying trees. It has often been confused with another closely allied species which Eisen first differentiated under the title of Allolobophora subrubiainda. This worm is very widely distributed, and when once seen is not easily mistaken for any other, notwithstanding the fact that its girdle or clitellum occupies almost exactly the same position as that of one or two other species. It is true that the Gilt-tail {Allolobophora sub- rubicunda, Eisen) is by no means confined to woodlands, but its affinities are entirely with the Dendrobcence, and it specially delights to live among fallen and decaying leaves, dead branches of trees, and similar vegetable debris. I have found it depositing its egg-capsules quite under the bark of decaying trees. When Eisen established the genus Dendrobccna, it is remarkable that he did not place therein his new species Allolobophora arborea. It is described as an arboreal or dendrobaenic species, and its characters were in many respects so similar to those of his type of the new genus that at first we are astonished to find the two placed under different genera. The fault lay in the fact that Eisen placed too much stress upon one character, to the exclusion of the rest. With him, any worm whose prostomium cut the peristomium in two was a LuDibriciis, whatever other characters it possessed. In Dendrobmia the prostomium occupied about three parts of the peristomium, while in Allolobophora the prostomium onl)'^ slightly cut into or divided the buccal segment. It is now found that this is far too arbitrary and unnatural an arrangement, and that while undoubtedly every true Lumbricus has the peristomium completely divided by the hinder process of the prostomium, yet not every worm with this feature is a true Lumbricus. Want of attention to this fact has led to further confusion in the case of a recently discovered worm which Levinsen has described as Lumbricus eiseni. This worm, which was first described from specimens found at Copenhagen, has been obtained by Rosa in Italy, and by myself in various parts of Great Britain ; and is a true Dendrobcena, notwithstanding the fact that it has the buccal arrangements of a typical Lumbricus. In colour and in the disposition of the setae it somewhat closely resembles Lumbricus purpureus, Eisen, but there the resemblances end. The true Lumbricus has five or six girdle segments, in this worm there are eight or nine. In Lumbricus the tubercula pubertatis stretch across the four inner segments of the girdle ; here they are absent, or if present their position is abnormal. In Lumbricus there are two pairs of spermathecEe, in this worm they are entirely wanting. Lumbricus emits no yellow fluid ; this species does, though not always. Lumbrictis is a true earthw^orm, this is as truly dendrobaenic. Surely these are characters which cannot be ignored, and show conclusively that the mere shape of the prostomium is an insufiicient generic character unless accompanied by others which are permanent. We are now in a position to consider the several British species of the subgenus Dendrobcena which have so far been observed and described. Genus Allolottophora, § Dendrobaena = Group No. 3 of Rosa's Classification. I. A. (Dendrotoaena) celtica, Rosa.— Prostomium only partially dovetailed into the peristomium. Individual setae somewhat widely 220 The Irish Nahcralisi. separated. Length i to i^ inches, of a dark brown or violaceous colour dorsally, tending to iridescence ; lighter on the ventral side. Clitellum flesh-coloured, dirty yellow or grey, and depending considerably on the habitat, occupying 6 segments (31-36); tiibemtla picbertatis on 33-34- Male pore on segment 15, borne on papillae which extend to segments 14 and 16. In adult specimens segments 9, 25, and 26, also have glandular tumidities or papillae. First dorsal pore between 5 and 6. Copulatory setae on segments 31, 32, 35. About 100 segments. Synonym: Allolobophora celtica, Rosa, Boll. Mus. Zool. Torino, 1886; A. mammalis, Rosa, 1893, see Rev. dei Lumb. p. 39. Distribution in Irbi^and. — Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin (Dr. Scharff); Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow (Dr. Scharff"); Aghaderg, Co. Down (Rev. H. W. Lett); Holywood, Co. Down (Miss C. M. Patterson); Valencia, Co. Kerry, (Miss Delap); Carrablagh, Lough Swilly (Mr. Hart), etc. I have received some very suggestive varieties from Counties Down and Dublin, one of which I have in some of my papers called var. rosea, Friend. I find that this variety is in reality the tree-haunter, while the type is a terrestrial form. Here we have room for fuller investigation, that it may be ascertained to what extent the habitat affects the species. It would be profitable also to endeavour to ascertain something more respecting the question whether these species have adopted the dendro- bcenic mode of life from the terrestrial, or vice versa. [2. A. (Dcndrobaena) Ibocckii, Eisen. — This worm has rarely been taken in Great Britain. I have, in fact, up till the present only three abso- lutely reliable records. The species is well-defined, but there has been in the past endless confusion owing to the supposed connection between it and Liunbricus puter, Hoffmeister. Bisen's description is very brief, and I, therefore, describe the species from my own material. Prostomium more deeply imbedded in the peristomium than in the last species. Male pore on segment 15, on somewhat prominent papillae. First dorsal pore large, between segments 5 and 6. Girdle of 5 segments normally, covering 29-33, with tubercula pubertatis on 31, 32, -^t^. Anal segment somewhat pear-shaped, Length about i^ inches (Rosa gives 25-35 millim. for specimens in spirits). Total number of segments 80-100. Colour reddish-brown, with red clitellum and light, flesh-coloured ventral surface. Setae in 8 almost equidistant rows. Although Bisen and many others have regarded Lumbriais puter, Hoffm., as corresponding with this species, my examination of the subject negatives the idea,^ and I have no hesitation in referring Hoffmeister's worm to Bisen's Allolo- bophora siibrnbicitnda — a w^orm which is far more widely distributed than D. boeckii, and one which has been mistaken for the latter by many authors. I regard this species as being without synonyms, and take Bisen's description as the original account of a new species as well as a new genus. This worm is so much like Lninbricus pitrpureus, Bisen, that it might easily pass as a true Lit?nbricus. We may compare also L. /nelibceii-s, Rosa. Found in similar haunts to those chosen by the last species, but not yet on record for Ireland, where it ought to occur in the upland districts.] * I am glad to find niyvSelf supported in this view bj^ so reliable an authority as Dr. Rosa, of Turin. (TO BE continued.) [ 221 ] MAGNESIAN UMESTONE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CORK. BY JAMES PORTER, B.K- [At the Meeting of the Cork Naturalists' Fiekl Chib, before which Mr. Farrington read his paper on the above, Professor Hartog suggested that the criticisms of the writer should be embodied in the present com- munication.] Those who are acquainted with the state of geological science will not consider it remarkable that the revolutionary views put forward by Mr. Farrington in the May number of the Irish Naturalist should be promptly' challenged. If geological problems could be solved independentl}'-, without taking into account their mutual bearings, his theory might be accepted ; but as things are, I believe we must contintie to regard our Cork dolomite as simply altered Carboniferous limestone. Of the seven propositions which Mr. Farrington lays down as inconsistent with the theory of Harkness, I cannot see the adverse bearing of more than one, which refers to the abrupt- ness of the change from limestone to dolomite. But the Cork examples cannot be looked at b}' themselves in this way. There are numerous instances of transitions as abrupt as any to be found in Cork, in districts where the evidence of pseu- domorphic origin in the case of the dolomite, is too complete to leave any room for doubt. Professor Cole informs me that such instances are frequent in Co. Dublin ; and the expression "vertical dyke-like masses," used in the Geological Survey memoir to describe some portions of the pseudomorphic lime- stone near Mallow, would apply equally well to the aspect of those magnesian deposits whose origin is under discussion. Most geologists will regard the fact stated by Mr. Farrington that " the dolomite is generally less pure than the limestone," as a pretty clear indication that the magnesian bands mark the course formerly taken by underground water, which carried with it the products of its action on the overlying rocks, including ferruginous and other impurities as well as magnesia itself. If, instead of the expression of Mr. Farrington, "nearly fifty per cent, more foreign matter," we use his figures of 2.5 for the dolomite and 1.7 for the limestone as the percentage of J lie Irish Naturalist. foreign matter in each, they would suggest to our minds, not an utter want of connexion between the two as regards origin, but rather some such relation as that which I have just referred to. The sketches given by Mr. Farrington in the May number do not exaggerate the steepness of the walls of our local mag- nesian deposits. He supposes that the spaces now occupied by these were either carved out by the action of rapid streams, or opened by terrestrial disturbances. As regards the first supposition, we are met with the difficulty that there is no in- stance known of a natural open water-channel which could form the counterpart of these hollows in point of steepness of sides ; while their abrupt termination at both ends introduces a fatal objection to the cailon theory of their origin. On the other hand, the idea of earth-movements giving rise to widely- gaping fissures which remained open long enough to be filled by the necessarily slow process of chemical precipitation, will hardly appear a plausible one to an}^ observer of actual rock- forms. On Mr. Farrington's view of their origin, the magnesian deposits ought to show distinct traces of bedding other than that of the limestone around. It was perhaps his desire to account for the absence of anything of the kind, which led him to conclude, on what seems very slender evidence, that the dolomite had been always subjected to the action of heat. It would indeed be remarkable if the heat had rendered it crystalline without seriously affecting the limestone in im- mediate contact with it. But the mere fact of dolomite resembling saccharine marble does nottend to prove the action of heat at all. The structure of dolomite is usually distinctly crystalline ; and the difference between it and limestone in this respect is occasionally relied upon as a rough means of discrimination. The presence of iron pyrites in the dolomite suggests rather the reducing action of percolating water charged with organic matter than the action of heat. When we come to the history of our southern land-surface we reach he climax of difficult3^ The Permian theory requires that denudation should have been so rapid during the early part of the Permian period as to strip off" the Coal-measures and much of the Carboniferous limestone, leaving ample time for a series of crust-movements which extended over hundreds of Magncsian Limestone hi i lie Neighbourhood of Cork. 223 square miles and squeezed the rocks of Cork and Kerr}- into numerous folds. All this geological work would have had to be accomplished before the close of the Permian period, for time must of course be allowed for the newly-opened fissures to be filled with their magnesian contents. As regards the denudation, the most rapidly- working agencies with which we are acquainted could not possibly have done this ; and we have no particular reason to think that the monitors of the Califor- nian gold-miners were anticipated and dwarfed by any corresponding machinery guided by armies of lyabyrin- thodonts. The view generally held b}' geologists regarding the history of the Irish land-surface, assigns almost the entire interval between the Carboniferous and the present time for this denudation. Mr. Farrington's theor}^, how^ever, further requires that the fissured limestone surface which formed the bottom of the Permian lake, should have been preserved from complete removal during the long Secondary and Tertiary revolutions, with only a thin layer of '* soft Permian strata" to protect it ; a layer which when the time came was cleared away without difficulty by the glacial action which has been known to spare many softer deposits. The acceptance of all this is really impossible. The chemical part of the original theory of Harkness is cer- tainly open to modification. It would seem that the alteration of the Carboniferous limestone into dolomite was effected, not by the magnesian salts in sea-water, but by magnesia held in solution by carbonic or humus acids in the water which penetrated downwards through the surface rocks. I am inclined to think that in some cases a line of fault-rock furnished a readier passage for the water percolating through the limestone than its joints afforded, as the soft fissile layer between the dolomite and the limestone which Mr. Farrington has described looks very like a slickenside at times ; but this is a point which is better left to those who can examine a great development of the rock. I am quite convinced that nothing is likely to be adduced regarding the Cork dolomites which can seriously affect the main conclusion of Harkness, that they are products of alteration. [ 224 J RKVIKW. Guy's South of Ireland Pictorial Guide. Cork: Guy & Co., 1893. We have received a copy of " Guy's South of Ireland Pictorial Guide," which will supply visitors with an excellent and profusely-illustrated guide to the southern counties, and to Cork city and Killarney in par- ticular. The most novel feature of the hand-book, and the one to which we wish to draw attention, is the series of short articles on local verte- brate zoology, phanerogamic botany, and mineralogy, specially contri- buted by such well-know Irish naturalists as Messrs. A. G. More, F.L.S., R. J. Ussher, J.P., G. H. Kinahan, M.R.I.A., and R. A. Phillips. This is a department in which local guide-books are usiially lamentably defi- cient, natural history being frequently altogether ignored, or if men- tioned at all, being treated in a manner at once incompetent and inaccu- rate. In Messrs. Guy's production, however, the botany is from the pen of Mr. More, the recognised authority on the subject in Ireland, and his remarks take the form of a short and interesting essay on the peculiar and characteristic plants of the south and west of Ireland, and their origin and distribution. Mr. Ussher supplies excellent notes on the birds of the district, and Mr. More on the fresh-water fishes; Mr. Phillips contributes pleasantly-written articles on the orchids and ferns, and Mr. Kinahan discusses the mineralogy of the southern counties. Messrs. Guy are certainly to be congratulated on having produced the first Irish guide-book in which at least a portion of the natural history of the district treated of is given the prominence which it deserves, and is described with accuracy by competent naturalists. OBITUARY. ROBERT J. BURKITT. On the 3rd July, passed away at Carne Prospect, Belmullet, at the advanced age of eighty-six. Dr. Robert J. Burkitt, whose life-long devo- tion to ornithology may be inferred from the many references to him in Thompson's work, as well as from the specimens of unexampled rarity he preserved, and contributed to our museums from time to time. Resident as a physician in Waterford, he there collected and preserved birds with his own hands from 1830 until he left it about ten years ago, all of which he obtained in the flesh from that part of Ireland, and since he went to Belmullet he added to the Irish list the only recorded exam- ple of the Barred Warbler. During that long period he appears to have had no neighbours who sympathized in his pursuits. His generosity of disposition, so well known in Waterford by his gratuitous attendance on the poor, led him to bestow his Great Auk and other rarities on Trinity College Museum, and it is gratifying to know that his services as a naturalist, and his valuable gifts to the Museum, though long unac- knowledged, were recognized by the present Board of Trinity College, who, a few months since, did a graceful act towards Dr. Burkitt. Among the proofs of his friendship I have received, I may instance the gifts of his South African Eagle Owl and Baillon's Crake, both shot near Waterford, and now in the Science and Art Museum; also his set of Thompson's works, rendered doubl}' precious by being interleaved with letters written to him by Yarrell and Thompson. In Dr. Burkitt we have lost an Irish ornithologist who was a contemporary and friend of those men. Of a singular sincerity and simplicity of character, he abhorred shams of every description, and could not endure to owe money. Look- ing back on his long life, those closely related to him can remember no variance with him. He was ever the same true-hearted man. His intel- lect remained as clear as his handwriting to the last, a notice of his on Wild Swans having appeared in the Ma}^ number of The Irish Naturalist. R. J. USSHKR. L 225 ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. ROYAI. ZOOI^OGICAI, vSoClETY. A Seal, captured at Moy, Ballina, has been presented to the Gardens by George Shannon, Esq. Three I^ion cubs, and three Puma cubs, have been born in the Gardens. 9,460 persons visited the Gardens in June. Armagh Naturai, History and Phii^osophicai^ Society. Junk 6th. — Field excursion to Ballybrawley stone circle and Navan Fort. In spite of the great heat, the few members that assembled de- termined to carry out the programme. On arriving at Ballybrawley it was observed with regret that one of the large boulders forming the circle was being broken up. If this course be persevered in there will soon be no stone circle left. Proceeding from Ballybrawley to Navan Fort, the party took a line across the country. Arrived at Navan Fort, much speculation was indulged in as to the disposition of the ancient town, if such it can be called. On the way home specimens were met with, on the old road to Armagh, of Geraniiini pratensc, and its handsome purple flowers were much admired. On the railway bridge at Bally- brawley, a quantity of the pretty little Wall-rue i^Asplcnium ruta-murana) was observed. Various insects were captured, the most noteworthy being the Hemipteron, Calocoris roseoiiiaailatiis and the Orthopteron, Labia minor. Junk 24th. — Field excursion to the souterraiu at Drummanmore. This interesting relic of the early habitations lies about one and a-half miles north-east from Armagh. It does not seem to be well known to the inhabitants, and, consequently, it was hoped that a number would be attracted to the excursion. However, but few assembled, but these reaped the reward of their efforts. Mr. R. Pii,ifaL'/isc' var. nwuiamiDi, and I'ini;niii(Ia lusitaiiiia, on Slievc OiilHoii ; Cinica alpina and Trifolium mcdhun, base of Carlini^ford mountain; rolypodiutn phegopftris, HyDienophyJhim ivilsoni, and Scdum rhodiola, near summit of Carlingford mountain; CheiK^dinn bonics-hcnrkus and Malva rolundifolia, Carlingford town; Erynghwi^friaritimitm, Claiicium flavum, Torilis nodosa, Polyoomim raii, Atriplex arenaria, Silene anglica, Sinapis alba, Cyuoglossiin: oJ/icinaL; Linaria viinoy, Euphorbia exigiia, Papaver argetnone and Carduns crispus, at Greenore; Lastrea a'/iiula, L. oroptcn's, and Hynienophyllitm titn- bridgense, on Ferry-hill; Statice bahiisicnsis,an(\. Obionc portidacoidcs. Narrow- water ferry; and Thrincia Jiirta, on lawn at Narrow- water castle. The mosses, hepatics, and fungi are in the hands of Dr. McWeeney and Mr. M'Ardle, who will report on them later, when the material collected is worked out. In the department of zoology, the beetles taken include: — Noiiophilus bigiittattis, Ehtphrus citpreiis, Phicdon tumidulus, ErirrJiimis acridiihis^ Dundalk; Silpha siibrotitndala, Lochnicea suturalis. Fathom mountain; Cafhis xantholonia, Gastroidca polygoni, Ilypcra polygoni, at Greenore; Serica bninnea, Oiiorrhynchus iiiaiiriis, Carlingford; Barynotits schonhetri, Slieve GuUion: while among the rarer Ilcniipiera are: — Gerris costtc, in small pool near top of Slieve GuUion; Salda ortlwchila, Slieve Gullion; Pithaniis viaerkeli, Dundalk; Calocoris 7-oseoinaailaUis, Carlingford; Lygus liicoi-um, Duudalk and Fathom; N^otoncda glauca, in lake at 1,800 feet on Slieve Gullion. L,epidoptera were yer}- few in number, and of no special interest. NOTES BOTANY. FUNGI. Fung:! from the South -West. — On the Royal Irish Academy excursion to the neighbourhood of Castletown Bere, Co, Cork, I collected the following as well as other species : — Tremclla induratu, Sommerf., Dunboy Castle ; Coniophora, sp. indet., ibid. ; Marasmhis, sp. indet., ibid. ; Ceratium hydnoides, A. and S., abundant in Dunboy wood ; Dadylium roscum, Bk. ; Stachyhotrys atra, Ca., growing in conjunction with Chcetomium cJiartaruni, Khrb. ; Puccmia saxifragce, vSchlecht, on S. umbrosa. Hungry Hill; Melampsora helioscopice, Pers., on Eup)horbia hiberna, everywhere; Sphcerotheca castagnci, Lev., abundantly on Euphorbia hiberna. (As the con- ceptacles were not perfectly ripe, some doubt remains as to the identity of the species.) Nibrissea margarita, White, on dead heather stems in boggy places, at altitudes above 1,000 feet on Hungry-hill, Co. Cork ; Lachnea scutcllata, Linn., Dunboy; Arcyrca incarnata, P., ibid. In conclu- sion, it should be stated that two circumstances were especially unfavour- able to the collection of large numbers of fungi — the dryness of the weather, and the rapidity with which it was necessary to proceed, I have no doubt that had I been able to devote several days to Dunboy wood, I should have been able to record a much greater number of interesting species.— Ed. J. M'WeenEY, Dublin. Fungi from Altadore, Co. Wicklow.— Towards the end of June I paid a visit to this beautiful little glen along with Dr. ScharfF and Mr, Praeger, and found the following species : — A. (Pluteus) cervinus, ScharfF; A. (Myccna) cpi2)terygius, Scop,; Caluccra cornea, Fr. ; Hydniim ahdaceum, Fr. ; 3IoUesia discolor, Mont,; Lachnclla schumacheri, Fr., var. 228 The Irish Nahiralist. plumhea, Grev. ; Lachnella cerina, Pers. ; Calloria xanthostigma, Fr. ; Calloria vinosa, A. and S. ; Vibrissea guernisaci, Cronan ; Ccratium hydnoidcs, A. and S. ; a very curious sp., probably an Achlya, on dead flies lying on dripping Fontinalis antipyretica that had been exposed by the shrinkage of the stream. Trichia fallax, Pers. ; Arcyrea punicea, Pers. For the identifi- cation of some of the Discomycetes I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. W. Phillips, of Shrewsbury.— Ed. J. M'WeENEy, Dublin. FIIANEJ^OGAAIS. Spiranthes romanzoviana in Co. Londonderry. — On July 15th, while collecting plants on the Derry banks of the Bann, near Kilrea, I was struck by the appearance of an orchid, which seemed to be one of the HabenaricE. A second glance, however, showed me that it was some- thing with which I was unfamiliar, and I gathered the plants which I saw, six in flower, but only taking one root. I put them into my vas- culum, and continued my walk down the river, meeting with several other plants new to me. After getting back in the evening, I compared my specimens with the descriptions given in Hooker and Bentham, and came to the conclusion that I had been so fortunate as to find one of the very rare Spb'anthes, probably S. romanzoviana. I had read Mr. Praeger's description of it in the September number of Journal of Botany for 1892, but had not it at hand to help me. The flowers were most fragrant. I forwarded specimens to Mr. S. A. Stewart and Mr. Lloyd Praeger, and to my great delight they have confirmed my conjecture. The land in the vicinity of the place where I found the plant consists of worn-out and long-disused bog, as is proved by the portions of bog-oak projecting into the river. It apparently has been little cultivated, but kept for pasture or meadow. While writing I may add to this note that I refound Stachys betonica growing plentifully in the station given by Dr. Moore, not very far from the bridge at Kilrea. The field in which it grows has been long used for pasture, and the plants, owing, I presume, to their having been often cropped by cattle, are smaller and more stunted than those I gathered in Co. Donegal some years ago. — Mrs. Leebody, Londonderry. Helianthemum vulgare in Ireland. — In the Journal 0/ Botany for July, Mr. H. Chicester Hart records his finding of Helianthemum vulgare on the limestone between Donegal and Ball3^shannon. This very pretty plant, though abundant in many parts of England and Scotland, has not been previously found in Ireland. While congratulating Mr. Hart on his discovery, might we suggest to him the desirability of placing a specimen in the herbarium of our National Museum, where the Irish flora is receiving careful attention at the hands of Prof. Johnson. IVIalva moschata. — Rev. H. W. Lett writes us from Loughbrickland, Co. Down : — " I enclose a specimen oi Malva moschata from the seven-acre meadow lying between the glebe house and the lough. The field has been under my notice for the last seven and a-half years, and I never observed the plant until this summer, when it was very conspicuous among the short grass. The field where it grows has not been broken up within the last ten years, and there are no plants of this Malva in my garden, or anywhere else that I know of in the neighbourhood, nor have I had seed or plant of the same for seven and a-half years. At Ardmore [Co. Armagh] I found M. moschata in old pastures similar to the one here.'* This appears to be an interesting case of colonization : can any of our readers quote similar instances ? Flora of Co. Armagh.— To my enumeration of the flora, I may add the names of three additional species, all of which, however, must rank as casuals or escapes. Silcne armeria I found on the G. N. railway at Wellington cutting, along with Diplotaxis nmralis and Carum carui ; Notes. 229 Melilotus officinalis, Willd., on the railway at Bessbrook ; while Geranium jaratense grows in some abundance by the old road from Armagh to Killylea, where it was observed last year by myself, and the present year by Rev. W, F. Johnson ; it is no doubt an escape from a cottage-garden. The recent Field Club trip to Slieve Gullion added another station for Melampyrum, 2^mtcnse, var. montanurn ; several members obtained good specimens on the southern side of the mountain at 1,000-1,500 feet. — R. LivOYD Praeger. AzoIIa carolineana In fruit.— It maybe interesting to some to note that this curious little aquatic — albeit not a native of Ireland — is now producing its fruit abundantly in a shallow pond in Mount Usher garden, Co. Wicklow. I understand it has rarely been known to fruit in the open air in Great Britain or Ireland, although it does so on the Con- tinent of Europe. — Greenwood Pim. Colour-variation in Wild Flowers. — In reference to Mr. Praeger's remarks on this subject in the /. N. for June, I may add a species to his list — Silene acaiilis, of which I found patches with pure white flowers among others of the normal colour on Binevenagh, Co. Derr}-, a few years ago. — Mrs. Leebodv, Londonderry. Obione portulacoides, L. at Dundalk. — I mentioned in "Flora of Armagh" on p. 157, the occurrence of this local plant at Dundalk, but it may be well to make a separate note of it, as it is rare in Ireland, and apparently not on record from this locality. It grows in great abundance over the immense stretch of salt-marsh that fringes the sea south of Dundalk harbour, along with Staiice bahiisiensis. I first observed it there in January, 1889, — R. Li,oyd Praeger. ZOOLOGY. I N S E C TS. Sircx gigas and IVIacroglossa stcllatarum in Co. Louth.— On July 9th I received from Rev. R. M. P. Freeman a female ^irex, taken at his rectory (Collon, Co. Louth.) In the same consign- ment was a specimen of Macroglossa stcllatarum also taken at Collon, where it attracted Mr. Freeman's attention by its humming, while it hovered over some flowers outside his house. Sirex gigas is apparently not unknown to the country people at Cotton, who, according to Mr. Freeman, accuse it of stinging their cattle !—H. Lyster Jameson, Killencoole, Co. Louth. Coleoptera in Co. Dublin.— The following Coleoptera, taken by me, and identified through the kind assistance of the Rev W. F. Johnson, have apparently not been previously recorded from Ireland. Anisotoma pa^rvtda, Sahl., one specimen, Santry, by sweeping ; Malthodes mvsticus, Kies., occurred near Santry (in company with 31. margwaus, Latr.); Dasytcs a^rosus, Kies., Santry, one specimen, sweeping; Cis aim, Gyll found one specimen last January in a fungus on an elm in Phoenix Park' (with great numbers of C. nitidus, Herbst.) ; Anaspis garneysi, Fowler, rare, sweeping nettles, Royal Canal bank ; Apion uhcis Forst., Friarstown Glen, near Tallaght, by beating furze ; Hypera meles, F., I was fortunate enough to capture this rare species among the long grass on the railway bank near Sutton, by sweeping; Magdalis carbonaria, L., one specimen off birch, Santry; Hyleshms fraxiiii, Panz., Lucan demesne. With the exception of Cis alni, Gyll., all the above were taken during the months of April and May.— J. N. Hai^beRT, Dublin. 230 The Irish Naturalist. MOLLUSCA. Donegal IVIoIIusca. — The July number of the Journal of Concliology (vol. vii., No. 7, 1893,) contains an interesting article by Mr. R. Standen on the land and fresh-water MoUusca collected by him around Portsalon, Co. Donegal. The rejectamenta on the golf-links proved to be very productive. Large quantities of shells had accumulated in a sheltered hollow, and with painstaking industry Mr. Standen picked out a number of rarities. Although these were dead shells, he found them in re- markably good condition, and as fresh-looking as living specimens. The following deserve special mention : — Hyalinia draparnaldi : — this had never previously been taken in the north of Ireland ; Portsalon is pro- bably the most northern station of the species in Europe. Helix arbustorum : — one dead shell was found ; although it does not place the occurrence of this species at Portsalon beyond a doubt, it is extremely probable that it will be found living in the neighbourhood. Helix hortensis IS mentioned as being more plentiful at Portsalon than Helix nemoralis. Vertigo alpestris : — this arctic species, of which only a single specimen had hitherto been found in Ireland, is no doubt the most important discovery Mr. Standen made. Sixty-four species in all are recorded. A number of these are new records for the Co. of Donegal, but some of them had been previously found by Mr. Milne without having been recorded. FISHES, Ray's Bream (Brama rail) in Co. Waterford. — A specimen of this rare fish, caught about 3rd June last at Dungannon, was seen by me at Street's establishment, in the city of Waterford, on 6th June. I at once made a water-colour sketch of the fish, and forwarded it through a friend to Dr. Scharff, of the Science and Art Museum, Dublin. He identified the specimen from the sketch, as did also Mr. A. G. More, to whom it was shown. Unfortunately the eyes of this specimen were mis- sing when it arrived in Waterford. — C. P. Crane, Waterford, BIRDS. Quails (Coturnix communis) in Co. Wicklow. — On loth June, while walking through a meadow in the vicinity of Enniskerry, I flushed a Quail, and some hours later on the same evening, I heard its well-known note in the same place. On the 2nd July I visited the spot again, and found the meadow had been cut, and the Quail had located itself in the adjoining corn-field. A friend of mine, in Greystones, in- formed me that he heard the Quail frequently in June last among some corn outside Delgany. — E. C. Barrington, Dublin. MAMMALS. The Reddish -grrey Bat (Vespertilio nattererl) in Co. Louth. — A male of this species flew into a house in Dundalk, on June 16th, and was captured by Mr. T. Kerr, who brought it to me alive. I am indebted to Dr. R. F. Scharff for the identification of my specimen. — H. LysTER Jameson, Killencoole, Co. Louth. ©ije gvi&lj Jlatttrali^t. Vol.. II. SEPTEMBER, 1893. No. 9. THE BIRDS OF THE MIDI^AND I,AKES AND BOGS, CHIEFLY AS OBSKRVKD IN THE BREEDING-SEASON. BY R. J. USSHER. Before I had visited those parts of Ireland herein referred to, when I looked at the map of counties seamed with lakes and their ramifications, I imagined vast swamps must exist, where the w^aters lost themselves among extensive reed-beds. In reality, however, Ireland being an undulating, not a flat country, vast swampy solitudes are hardly to be found any- where in summer. The shores of Irish lakes usually rise rapidly into dry inhabited ground, often swelling into heights, so that, except in certain bays, and at the tail-ends of lakes, large reed-beds seldom occur. The humid boggy soil, how- ever, even on sloping ground yields abundance of rushes, Iris, Meadow-sweet, and other rank vegetation which affords to ducks, Redshanks, I^apwnngs, and Snipe, cover to nest in, and the numerous islands often contain scrub or natural wood. The open islands are, unfortunately for the feathered race, invaded habitually in the breeding season by persons fishing on the lakes, who, in pursuit of green-drake flies for bait, trample the whole surface. Elsewhere turkeys are fed on eggs of gulls and terns, until the latter are driven from their breeding-grounds. In certain shooting-preserves, however, as the marshes of the Erken on Eord Castletown's property in Queen's Co., at Barronston on Lough Iron in Westmeath, on Killeenmore bog near Geashill, the property of lyord Digby, and I^ough Key in Roscommon, which adjoins the demesne of Rockingham, great assemblages of birds of many species, breeding in peace, attest the benefits of protection. 232 The Irish Naturalist. The " red bogs" are tracts of countr}^ overlaid by level beds of peat, often covering thousands of acres, which from their barren nature, and the dangers of their swampy portions, are seldom invaded by men or cattle. Here the Curlews lay among the heather, and Black-headed Gulls breed in the wetter and more lonely parts. Such bogs skirt much of the Shannon, as between Athlone and Banagher, the flats along the river being the only green surface visible. These flats, called ''callows," overflowed in winter, yield in summer a rank crop, chiefly of Meadow-sweet, which is annuall}^ meadowed, but before it is cut, affords unlimited breeding- grounds to the numerous RedvShanks that frequent it. Some of the larger lakes, especially Lower lyOUgh Erne, are exceedingly beautiful, where adjoining proprietors have preserved along the shores remnants of the natural woods, which clothe the islands with a growth of Oak, Rowan, Ash, Birch, and willows. Here every island is tenanted by its pair of Mergansers, which display their chequered plumage as they dart past, while light terns flit over on their dainty wings, and Tufted Ducks breed in the flags among colonies of gulls, or among the dense rushes on the slopes of the islands. Taking the valley of the Shannon, with its chain of lakes, I include the adjoining counties of Connaught, or the eastern portions of them, and the lakes and bogs of Sligo, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Cavan, Longford, Westmeath, King's and Queen's Counties, and Tipperary, but I do not refer to Lough Neagh, to the western lakes of Conn, Mask, and Corrib, nor to the lower Shannon, west of Lough Derg. I have made excursions in the end of May and beginning of June for the past three seasons through the above lake- districts. Where I give a list of localities, I refer chiefly to my own observation of the bird at these times, prefixing an asterisk where I obtained proof of its having eggs or young. My selection of species depends on my having something special to sa}^ about them in connection with the above parts of Ireland. I do not enumerate birds which, though found about the lakes, are not characteristic of them, being found commonly in counties of a different character ; as the Heron, Moor-hen, Water-rail, and Snipe, but I have given special attention to certain waders, grebes and gulls, as these chiefly breed in the region of the lakes. The Ducks, except the The Birds of the Midland Lakes aiid Bogs. 233 marine species, are given at greater length, as being frequenters of the lakes, whether in summer or winter, and among them we may chiefly add to our list of the breeding birds of this region. The Geese and Swans also deserve a mention. I am largely indebted to the help and hospitality of those gentlemen wdio have promoted my researches, and contributed their own information. The Merlin, not confined to the mountains, is resident in small numbers on the great red bogs of the central plain. Its eggs have been obtained in Westmeath, King's Co., and Queen's Co. in such situations, and it is reported to breed in eastern Galway. The Marsh Harrikr, previous to about 1840, was a common resident on Lough Erne. Its nests were found on waste ground about the lake. Since then it has been practically ex- terminated by game-keepers, and so reduced in its haunts in Westmeath and King's Co., as to be quite a rare, or at least, a scarce bird there now. The only occasion in which I met with it was on the 14th April, 1893, when I visited the ex- tensive marshes of lyord Castletown, near Granston Manor, in Queen's Co. These cover more than eight hundred statute acres, and are a paradise for ducks. Lapwings, Redshanks, Coots, and Gulls. High over these marshes I saw sweeping in curves, three Marsh Harriers, two together, and a third apart. After two or three flaps, they would sail round, hold- ing the wings slanting upwards. In wind, however, they are seen flying low, almost beating the tops of the flags with their wings in quest of their prey. As they are seen there at all seasons, they must breed. On the extensive red bogs in the east of King's Co., Mr. Digby used to see Marsh Harriers at all seasons until 1889, and has heard of the nest being found, and some have since been seen by keepers. Lough Iron, in Westmeath, was a favourite resort, where man}^ have been shot, from time to time. A pair usuall}^ appear there about August, but they do not remain. Co. Gahvay was another stronghold of the Marsh Harrier. It has been re- ported to me, apparently as a straggler, from Derrycarne, Co. Leitrim, on the Shannon ; from bogs near Lough Annagh, King's and Queen's Counties ; from Co. Tipperary ; and from the Shannon near Banagher, where my informant has ob- 234 T^^ Irish Naturalist. served it hover over a Coot, which dived until it could dive no longer, and was then taken for a prey. The Skdgk Warbi^kr struck me not by its presence in the lake-districts so much as by its scarcity. It is reported to me as breeding in every Irish county, except lyongford, where I have met with it, and in Cavan, Clare, and lycitrim, where my informants have probably overlooked it. I have observed it near Castle Irvine, Fermanagh; on lyough Oughter, Cavan; Lough Iron, Lough Owel, and Lough Drin, in Westmeath ; and on the Shannon near Banagher. Still these instances are few, and I was greatly surprised when I listened for it in vain about Lough Derg, Lough Ree, and a host of other lakes and marshy spots. It is stated to be local and uncommon in Westmeath and King's Co. The Garden Warbi^kr, though not confined to the lake- districts, has only been observed by me there, and as yet my knowledge of it points to the valleys of the Shannon, to Lough Erne and Lough Arrow, as some of its chief resorts in Ireland, but I have reason to think that it is to be found in Queen's Co., and probably in many other districts. I have recently treated of it at greater length (see Irish Naturalist, July, 1893). The W11.1.OW Warbi^er is very abundant about the lakes and among the willows, even on the lonel}^ parts of the Shannon. The Rked Bunting is the most characteristic passerine bird of the lakes. It is to be found where no other small bird is to be seen. On every islet one may find nests of this species among the coarse sedgy grass. It is usually hatching, but sometimes rearing young, the first week in June. It is reported to breed in every IrivSh county, except Carlow, where it must have been overlooked. The Spotted Crake, though uncommon, probably breeds in many instances. Its eggs, taken by Col. Irwin, in Roscom- mon, about 1856, are now in the Science and Art Museum. Two were shot, and two others seen on Upper Lough Erne in late summer or early autumn, 1890, by Mr. George Husbands, of Enniskillen ; one was shot at Colebrooke, also in Fermanagh, on 27th September, 1890; two were shot in August, 1880, in Queen's Co., by Mr. T. Trench ; and two were shot in West- meath, in October, 1892 {Irish Sportsman, 29th October, 1892). The Coot has its great strongholds in the lakes. Though The Birds of the Midland Lakes arid Bogs. 235 breeding all over Ireland, in some counties locally, it is exceedingly numerous where the shallower parts of lakes and the Shannon are margined with large beds of flags and tall rushes. Among these one finds its nests everywhere. On the larger lakes Coots do not seem to lay until the end of May or beginning of June, as their clutches are then usually incom- plete. Where a rise had taken place in the waters of Lough Ree, I found a nest containing a flooded ^gg built upon, and another laid over it. The RiNGKD Pi^ovKR breeds in small numbers on most of the lakes. I have observed it in the breeding season, or found its eggs on ^"Lough Arrow, Lough Boderg (an expansion of the Shannon in Leitrim), Lough Forbes (another expansion in Longford), ^''Lough Sheelin, Lough Gowna, ^'Currygrane Lake, Lough Ree, ^'Glen Lough, Lough Iron, -''Lough Derg, and Lough Annagh ; and it is reported to breed in the Queen's Co. by Mrs. Croasdaile. In these localities the Ringed Plover lays in the end of May or beginning of June, and will sit on three eggs, as I have found more than once. On the 9th June I found young in down on the stony shore of Currygrane Lake. The nests are hollows in the gravelly or pebbly shores. On an island in Lough Sheelin I found a Ringed Plover's nest, with eggs, at the foot of a willow bush, and overshadowed by it ; but it was a characteristic hollow in the gravel without lining, a nest of Common Sandpiper close by being comfort- ably lined. The Ringed Plover is a spring and summer visitant to the lakes, arriving on Lough Derg in February or March. The Lapwing is a very common breeding bird throughout the region w^e are treating of. Though reported to breed in every Irish county, and numerouslj^ in most of them, one sees a great increase when passing into these lake counties. I have observ^ed Lapwings in May and June on Lough Erne, Castle Irwin dam, Lough Arrow, Lough Allen, Lough Boderg, Lough Forbes, Lough Gowna, Currygrane Lake, Lough Ree, Glen Lough, Lough Iron, the Shannon " callows " near Banagher, Lough Derg, Lough Annagh, and Granston marshes. On the latter vast numbers of Lapwings were laying in the middle of April. They usually have young able to fly the first week in June. These, when squatting on the grass, lie with flattened back and wings, their brown plumage making them look like B 236 The Irish Nattcralist. cow-dung. I have more than once seen a I^apwing fly scream- ing at a Heron, which was evidently in dangerous proximity to its young, no doubt an acceptable meal to a Heron. The DuNiviN is a bird that I have met with in breeding plumage, in which it is recognisable by its black breast-spot, on lyough Arrow, lyough Sheelin, I^ough Gowna, I^ough Ree, ■^'Glen lyough, ^'%ough Iron, the Shannon near Banagher and again near Athlone, Lough Derg, and I^ough Annagh. Mrs. Croasdaile has seen one on nth May, on a lough near Rhynn, Queen's Co. I found the nest with eggs, incubation just com- menced, on the 14th June, 1891. It was among coarse grass, where the Inny flows into I^ough Iron. I identified the bird fully. Mrs. Battersby has in her collection a series of Dunlin's eggs, taken on the shores of Glen Lough, on the borders of West- meath and Longford. She says the bird is a spring visitor there. On Lough Annagh, King's Co., I saw a party of four- teen in breeding plumage, on 3otli April, 1892. On ist June, 1893, I saw a party of four on an island in Lough Ree, which let me approach within ten yards. These could hardly have been breeding, but those that I saw on the *' callows" of the Shannon, on Lough Gowna and Lough Sheelin, and else- where, were feeding busily, and I took them to be males for- aging for hatching females, the localities being suitable, as well as the season — the end of May and beginning of June. The Dunlin does not seem to have been previously recorded as breeding in the midland counties. The Common Sandpipkr is reported to breed in every Irish county, except Kilkenny, Wexford, and Waterford. I have observed it commonly on the various lakes I visited, as well as on the Shannon. There is no more noticeable bird on the lake-shores, which are enlivened by its musical, sustained cry as it skims over the water. On Lough Derg, Sandpipers' nests contained hard-set eggs by the end of May. On Lough Sheelin they were not so far advanced by the nth June. In Holly- brook demesne is a promontory running into Lough Arrow, covered with tall Beech, beneath which I saw a Sandpiper hatching, while another had been known to nest on a high moSvSy bank, beside a .shrubbery walk, beneath a large Beech. The REDSHANK breeds commonly throughout the parts of Ireland we have noticed. Along the "callows" of the Shan- non these birds are exceedingly numerous, and some were The Birds of the Midland Lakes and Hoos. 237 apparently still laying on the 4tli June, though this must be exceptionall)^ late, as I saw a young Redshank, of about ten da3\s old, on Lough Gowna on nth June. During my visit to lyord Castletown's marshes, in Queen's Co., on the 14th April, Redshanks, which were exceedingly numerous, were laying, or beginning to hatch. We saw there as many as nine or ten on the wing at a time, and their chorus of piping was in our ears all day. They were similarly numerous along the pre- served shores of Lough Iron at Barronston. These birds, when excited by the invasion of their breeding-ground, per- form a singular antic, rising in the air with violent cries and vibrating wings, and then slanting downwards, with rigid de- pressed wings, they reach the ground like a parachute. I have observed them in May or June on Lough Erne, Lough Arrow, Lough Ke5% Lough Oughter, Lough Sheelin, ^*%ough Gowna, Curry grane Lake, Lough Ree, ^'Glen Lough, Lough Iron, the Shannon, ^''Lough Derg, Lough Annagh, and at *'''Granston. They are reported to breed in Fermanagh, Roscommon, Lei- trim, Cavan, Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Queen's Co., King's Co., and Tipperary, being, for the most part, summer visitants to the lakes ; though Mr. Parker has observed them on Lough Derg in winter. The CURI.KW breeds extensively on the great red bogs, on which I have observed it near "^''Clonbrock, in Galway, and in Galwa}'- and Roscommon along the Shannon, Longford, "^'West- meath, and King's Co. It is also reported to breed in Monaghan, Fermanagh, Cavan, Longford, Meath, King's Co., Queen's Co., and Tipperary. Between Banagher and Ath- lone, as I sailed up the Shannon on 4th June, it was the most noticeable bird feeding on the banks, and flying to and from the red bogs on the western side, where, as I was informed, j^oung Curlews had been found on the 20th May. On Crit Bog, near Clonbrock, Co. Galway, on 30th May, Curlews, which evidently had young, came flying up one by one as we advanced, uttering a quavering whistle, quite different from their call-note, and skimming on before, alighted in full view to lure us away. I found a Curlew's nest among the taller heather, with remains of egg-shells. At Athlone I was informed that Curlew's eggs were often found on the bogs in May. Unlike the above waders, the Curlew, so far from forsaking its breeding-haunts in winter, is at that season seen on the bogs in flocks. 238 The Irish Naturalist. The WHiMBREiy was only once met with by me on the Shan- non, near Banagher, on 3rd. June, 1892, but my visits to the lakes were too late for it. In King's Co., Mr. Digby states that it is "fairly common in early summer," and Mr. F. Dunne, that it is ''common in May." In Queen's Co., Mrs. Croasdaile says that it is a "spring migrant," and I^ord Castletown, that it is a "spring visitor in May," while on lyOUgh Derg, Mr. Parker records it in a similar way. Thus it appears that the Whimbrel visits the central counties as well as the sea-shores. BiTTKRNS. I am informed by lyord Clonbrock, that when he was a youth, about 1820 to 1830, he used every season, when grouse-shooting on his property, to meet with Bitterns, usually in pairs, which used to annoy him by running before the dogs a long distance before getting up. (to bk conci.ude:d.) THE EARTHWORMS OF IREI.AND. BY REV. HII^DBRIC FRIKND, F.I,.S. ( Continued from page 220. ] 3. A. (Dendrobaena) subrubicunda, Eisen. — A well-defined species, and more widely distributed than any of the other dendrobaenic forms. It often occurs by scores and hundreds in the midst of vegetable debris on the banks of rivers and streams, and is easily recognized. It is the largest, and in point of size, the most variable species of the group, and is more frequently found away from trees than the others. Bisen described it in 1873 as a new species, but I am convinced that this is the Lmnbriacs ptiter of Hoffmeister, and must be identical with many of the worms which are now reckoned as synonymous with this. Bisen's description is clear and full, so far as external characters are concerned, and a slightly modified translation, to meet our methods of notation, will exactly suit our indigenous species. Body cylindrical, somewhat depressed anteriorly and attenuated posteriorly, flattened on the under surface. Prostomium large and pallid, dividing the peristomium to about one-half its diameter. Girdle large and conspicuous, of a dull grey colour, and usually covering six or seven segments, 25, 26-31. On each side of the girdle ventrally, and covering segments 28, 29, 30, is a band which constitutes the ttibermla pubcriatis. Setse in distant couples, not close together as in Lwubriciis, or slightly separated as in the Brandling. Total number of segments about 90 or 100, length averaging 90 millimetres. I may add that the colour is rosy red, with somewhat lighter under- surface. Setae on pale glands, which arrangement makes them conspi- cuous. Spermathecae opening in the line of the dorsal setae (Rosa). A tender delicate worm, well adapted for bait. It is largely employed The Earthworms of Irela7id. 239 by anglers in England, under the name of the Cockspur or Gilt-tail, the latter name l^eing derived from the colour of the anal extremity. When a drop of methylated spirit is placed upon the living worm it exudes a yellow fluid, and this may l)e readily observed flowing from the dorsal pores, the first of which occurs, as Udehas correctly pointed out, between segments 5 and 6. Spermathecte are found in the loth segment, which open in intersegment 9/10 in the direction of the superior pair of setLc. Eisen gives full directions for distinguishing between this species and the Branding [Allolobophora fcvtida, Sav.); but if examined in a living condition, these instructions are absolutely unnecessary. Dr. Greene informs me the Gilt-tail is called the Small Brambling [=Brandling] at Ferns. Benham is in error' when he says A. subrubicunda is destitute of spermatheCcE and tubercida pubertatis. Synonyms : Allolobophora subrubicunda, Eisen {op. ciL, p. 51). A. pntris, Rosa, 1893. Luinbriciis puier, Hoffmeister, 1S45; Dendrobxna piitcr^ fErley, " A Mag. Olig. Faunaja," 18S0, p. 586. CErley has rightly identified the worm, but did not recognize that it was the same as Eisen's subrubicunda. He, however, doubted the accuracy of assigning L. puter, Hoffm., to D. boeckii, Eisen. To this species, and not to D. boeckii, Eisen, as Rosa suggests, we must, I think, relegate the Enterion octaedriwi, Savigny, and perhaps also A.fraissei, CErley. Distribution in Irei^and. — Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin (Dr. Scharff); Leeson-park (do. ); Blackrock, Co. Dublin (Miss Kelsall) ; Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow (Dr. Scharff); Cashel, Co. Tipperary (Lieut. -Colonel R. E. Kelsall); Ferns, Co. Wexford (Dr. Greene) ; Aghaderg, Co. Down (Rev. H. W. Lett); Cork (Miss A. N. Abbott); Holywood, Co. Down (Miss C. M. Patterson) ; Valencia, Co. Kerry (Miss Delap) ; Kilmartin, Co. Dublin (Dr. Trumbull) ; Malahide (do) ; Carrablagh, Lough Swilly (Mr. Hart) ; Glasnevin, Co. Dublin (Mr. Redding). 4. A. (DendrolbdBna) arborca, Eisen. This diminutive worm was first described by Eisen in 1873. It appears to have been as entirely overlooked up till that date, as the last-named species was till eight years ago ; and I have little doubt but that in future years, when the decaying forest trees of other lands come to be explored, we shall find several other species which up till the present time have passed altogether unobserved. The description of Eisen is true of our native species. Body cylindrical, prostomium large and pale, occupying about one-half of the first segment. Male pores on segment 15, tumid and conspicuous. Girdle for the most part composed of six segments, extending over 26-31. Tubercula pubertatis on the 14th and 15th segments behind the male pore, i.e., on segments 29, 30. The anal segment somewhat exceeds in length that which precedes it. The setse are everywhere in distant pairs. Segment 50-60 (sometimes more in British specimens) ; length about 50 millimetres (not so great in my British specimens). First dorsal pore between 5 and 6. Like Dendrobcejia boeckii (says Eisen), this species is found in old stumps of trees, into which, however, it penetrates further than the latter species. The specimens which I have examined were found deep in the wood, while the two other species {A. ccltica and A. eiseni) were found, as a rule, less deeply imbedded. Eisen examined one specimen in which the tubercula pubertatis extended over segments 28, 31. At first sight the species resembles D. boeckii, remarks Eisen ; and it is marvellous that he should found a genus for tree-haunting worms, and exclude from it his own arborea. Synonym : Allolobophora arborea, Eisen, Om Skand. Lumb. 1873. Sub- species of ^. piUris, Rosa, Rev. dei Lumb. 1893. Distribution in Irei^and.— Malahide, Co. Dublin (Dr. Trumbull) ; Leeson-park, Dublin (Dr. Scharff). 5. A. (Dendrobsena) eiseni, Levinsen. Up to the present time this 1 "Attempt to Classify Earthworms," Q.J.M.S., xxxi., p. 260. 240 The Irish Naturalist. worm has happily passed through the hands of systematists invari- ably as Lniiibricus ciseni, Levinsen ; but the time has come when it must be removed from the false position it has occupied undisturbed till the present. It must, however, be admitted that it does not fit in with the genus Allolobophora, though it belongs to this place as a true tree- worm. The worm is small, cylindrical, slightly attenuated, usually about an inch, or at most an inch and a half, in length, i.e., 30 to 40 millimetres. Its prostomium, like that of the true Lnnibricus, forms with the peristomium a perfect mortise and tenon. It often closely resembles the typical LtiDibriais in colour, being a warm brown, frequently with iridescence, and has the setae in couples somewhat closer together. These are its only affinities in that direction. It lives in old trunks of trees and among decaying timber or woodland debris, is small, destitute of the two pairs of spermathecse which every true Lwiibricus possesses, and in the matter of clitellum and its accessories is separated very widely from that genus. The girdle covers eight segments, extending from 24 to 31 ; total number of segments, 90-110. There are no tiLberciila piibertatis ; the male pore on segment 15 is on papillae slightly developed, and the first dorsal pore is between 5 and 6. The constancy of this feature in the dendrobaenic group is striking. Rosa submitted specimens exactly answering this descriptions to Levinsen, who stated that they were identical with his Liwibi'icus ciseni.'^ The original specimens from Copenhagen were taken, according to Rosa's translation of Levinsen's account, from old trees, and my British specimens have been obtained from similar habitats. Synonym: Ltunbricus eisini, Levinsen (Syst. geogr. Oversigt over de nord. Ann. &c., Copenhagen, 1883). A. eiseni, Rosa, 1893. Dr. Rosa has done me the honour to place on record the fact that I was the first to assign this curious worm to its rightful place. Distribution in Irei^and.— Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow (Dr. Scharft); Valencia, Co. Kerry (Miss Delap) ; Malahide, Co. Dublin (Dr. Trumbull) ; Carrablagh, Lough Swilly (Mr. Hart); Leeson-park, Dublin (Dr. Scharff). We are now prepared for a survey of the principal characteristics, of the group. \ Dkndrob^na, Eisen. Small tender worms, from i to 2| inches in length, found in decaying trees, among dead leaves, and rotten vegetable matter ; sometimes wandering to other habitats. Colour usually brown, rose-red or flesh, with dull clitellum and lighter-under-surface. Prostomium more or less deeply imbedded in the peristomium, which is without setae. Setae always in eight rows or in four couples, more or less distant, making the body appear octangular. Girdle occuping five to eight segments, commencing somewhere between the 24th and 31st. Male or spermiducal pores on segment 15, usually with prominent papillae, which sometimes extend over the two adjoining segments. Tiibercula ptibertatis in two or three pairs on consecutive segments; not observed in one species. First dorsal pore usually between segments 5 and 6. Sperniatophores between the male pore and the clitellum. The internal characters have not yet been made out with sufficient accuracy by any investigator to allow of classification. Spermathecae are present in some species, but absent from others. When present they are open in the direction of the superior pair of setae (Rosa). Usually secreting a small quantity of yellow fluid from the dorsal pores. The accompanying table supplies in concise form the principal distin- guishing features of this interesting group of worms. ' Bolletino Mus. Zool. ed Anat. 1S87, 1889. The EarlJnvornis erf Ireland. 241 TABULAR VIEW OF BRITISH ALI.OLOBOPHOR.5i. ^ Dendrobaena. Name. Clitellum Tubercula I"^^ , occupies, pubertatis. ^^^^^ 1 Total segments. Length. Prosto- Colour. mium imbedded i Seta. I. ceUica, Rosa ... 31-36 1 33-34 5/6? 90-110 i-ijin. ^'■°;^" Partially. Rose-red. 4 pairs wide. 2. boeckii, Eisen 29-33 31,32,33 5/6 90-100 i-ij in. Red- brown. Two- thirds. 8 rows. 3. subrubicunda, Eisen 25-31 28,29,30 1 5/6 100-120 1J-2J in. Rose-red. Partially. 4 pairs separated 4. arborea, Eisen 26-31 i 29, 30 5/6 50-80 1 in. Rose-red. Slightly. 4 pairs wide. 5. eiseni, Levinsen 24-31 0 5/6 90-110 ij in. Red- brown iridescent Com- pletely. 4 pairs close. I beg to thank my numerous correspondents for their favours, and to inform them that my address in future will be "Fernbank, Cockermouth, Cumberland." As I must conclude my Irish researches this year, I shall be thankful to receive specimens from collectors at an early date, and should be specially glad to have typical series from those parts of the island which have not yet been worked. Living worms may be sent in tin boxes with soft moss, and should be marked " NaTurai^ History Specimens." (to be continued.) THE SCALP, COUNTY DUBLIN. BY G. H. KINAHAN, M.R.I. A. Shotovkr Hill is a godsend to the geological professors of Oxford, as no one will ever be able to determine the exact ages of its rocks ; and similarly the Scalp is a godsend to the professors of geology in the Dublin schools, because, as to its age and the process of its formation, there have been numerous theories; and there will be, as long as there are successive generations of geologists in Dublin. Jukes, to account for the transverse nearly N. and S. gashes across the S.W. Cork ridges, suggested that at one time there was high land to the northward, the drainage from which cut N. and S. transverse valleys. This theory he seems, how- ever, to have afterwards abandoned ; as, on more matured 242 The Irish Naturalist. examination and consideration, he found that the transverse valle5^s must have had a much more recent origin than the longitudinal ones. A similar theory to that abandoned by Jukes was adopted by Prof. Hull to account for the Scalp. He considered that in the Co. Dublin there was high land to the northward, the drainage from which excavated the Scalp. He said nothing of the parallel valleys, such as those of the Slaney, etc., but, presumably, they ought also to be included. His view as to the Scalp seems now to be also adopted by Professors Sollas and Cole. It seems to me indisputable, that the plain of Dublin was at one time much higher than at present, as a vast thickness of the Carboniferous limestone has been denuded away, and also of the Coal-measures, the latter alone being more than 4,000 feet thick. But at what time did this great denudation take place ? And during this period of denudation, at what time was the granite ridge exposed? It is self-evident that the Granite, and its adjuncts, the Ordovicians, and the other older rocks, were protrudes prior to the accumulation of the Carboniferous rocks ; but, at the same time, it appears highly improbable, that at the time when there were high Coal- measure hills in the Co. Dublin, an iota of the old rocks came to the surface, the granitic and associated rocks never having appeared until after the envelope was removed ; that is, not till after the Coal-measure hills of the Co. Dublin had dis- appeared. It cannot be denied that the granite ridge was a margin of a basin in the Carboniferous sea, as we find the littoral conglomerates of the Carboniferous high up on it ; but was it always land during the Carboniferous epoch ? or was it so near the surface as to be susceptible of denudation ? that is, while the Carboniferous hills were high enough to send their drainage southward.' It has been suggested, I think, by more than one authority, that the Irish Coal-measures were denuded to form the lyias * It is not only possible, but to me it seems probable, that old rocks, pre-Cambrian, Ordovician, and granite, formed hiUs margining the plain of Dubhn to the south, and that of Kildare, Carlow, and Kilkenny to the east. This is proved by the blocks of granite found in the Kinimage limestones ; but that the Carboniferous rocks extended over these hills seem to be problematical, as the Carboniferous rocks in Co. Wexford and The Scalp, County Dublin. 243 accumulations elsewhere ; and if this is correct, the Carboni- ferous hills of the Dublin plain must have disappeared thousands and thousands of years before the Scalp existed. But had the denudants anything to do with the Scalp ? To me it would seem that they had not. Ireland was under water or ice, or some such envelope, and when " the dry land appeared," it contracted during the drying process, and shrinkage-fissures formed. This subject has been very ex- hausti^'el}^ entered into in my work on "Valle3^s and their relation to Faults, Fissures, etc.'" and especially in chapter ii. In 1878, I suggested in the ''Geology of Ireland" that the Scalp was " probably excavated by marine action aided by ice along dykes of fault-rock." Since then, however, I have had opportunities of more carefully stud3dng it and similar valleys, and would be inclined to suggest that it is nearly solely due to simple shrinkage-fissures, and that, since its formation, it has not been subjected to the effects of any denudants. A study of the ravines, the adjuncts of the granite range of Leinster, shows that these are of different ages, some being comparatively recent. The ravine of the I^iffe}^ at Poulaphuca must be very modern, as the river-bed in which it formerly flowed southward is still very conspicuous and unchanged. The valley of the Slaney must have opened before or during the Esker sea period, as in it is found the marine drift. The valley of Tinnahely is probably older, as it is in parts occupied by moraine detritus ; while the Devil's Glen, like the Scalp, is due to a movement that took place at quite a recent date. It may be allowable to suggest that the ravines at Poulaphuca, the Devil's Glen, and the Scalp, were formed at about one and the same time ; that is, after the ice-cap had disappeared, and the Esker sea had retreated, so that now, in none of these, is there found drift of any kind, except meteoric accumulations, still daily forming." Waterford suggest estuarine accumulations ; at the same time it must be allowed that these small areas may be the remains or roots of the formed Carboniferous sheet. Low down in the Queen's Co. and Tipperary fields there is a continuous massive sandstone made up almost solely of granite detritus. * Triibner and Co., London, 1875. - In the Scalp there are said to be foreign blocks ; these, however, may have come down from the drift. 244 The Irish Naturalist. Let us suppose that the Scalp was excavated by a stream flowing south. If so, where is now the granite detritus that was excavated? The nearly total absence of all granite detritus in the drift of the Bray and Bnniskerry valley is re- markable ; in fact, you find nearly as many blocks of con- glomerate (from Portraine and Rush) as of granite. It has been suggested that possibly the numerous pieces of limestone in the drift of the country south of the Scalp range came from the ''Dublin Carboniferous hills" through the Scalp gorge. As, however, this drift in which the limestone is found is glacial, it would necessitate that the drift was carried by ice, not normal water ; but in the Scalp there is not a trace of glacial or any other drifts, except aeolian and meteoric. Com- pare the Scalp with the nearest valley, Glencullen, The latter must be much more ancient, as in it are different phases of the accumulation of drift — first, moraine matter that was sub- sequently denuded by the force that excavated the stream - ravine ; then, still more subsequently, there were modifica- tions due to meteoric abrasion and its adjuncts ; the latter still taking place. In fact, this longitudinal valley must be more ancient than the transverse one. In favour of the formation of the Scalp being due to a shrinkage-fissure, the enquirer's attention may be directed to the numerous facts recorded in the book already referred to (" Valleys and their relation to Faults, Fissures etc."). Numerous examples might be given of shrinkage-gorges, but we will only refer to one; as this valley, in its general characters, is very similar to the Scalp. The example to which I refer is Barnesbeg, Co. Donegal, through which the road from Kilmacrenan to the country on the northward has been made. To me it would appear evident that this valley owes its origin to a combination of shrinkage-fissures, one of which at least, as in the Scalp, caused a lateral displacement, but associated with them there is no record of any drift-form- ing agent. The fissures formed, while subsequently atmos- pheric abrasion and disintegration came into force, blocks falling from the different marginal cliffs to form rocky tali, the blocks being slightly modified by meteoric action, while the detritus thus formed was carried away by the winter and summer floods. Thus here, as in connection with the Scalp, there is no accumulation, that can legitimately be called drift. The Scalp, County Dublin. 245 which has been carried out of the valley, the sole drift being gravel, a mere bagatelle, due to runlets and streams during summer and winter storms. I purposely put summer before winter, as a summer downpour, acting on sun-baked rocks, carries down more detritus than winter rain. NOTES ON THE FUNGI OF THE DUBEIN DISTRICT (COUNTIES OF DUBEIN AND WICKEOW). BY GRKE:NW00D PIM, M.A., F.I,.S., AND ^. J. M'WKKNKY, M.A, M.D. [Read before the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, 14th February, 1893.] Introduction. — By Grkknwood Pim. The first attempt at a mycologic flora of the Dublin district appeared in the handbook compiled for the British Asso- ciation meeting in 1878, and was published vSimultaneously in the Scie7itific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society for that year. It included about 470 species. In 1883 a short sup- plemental list of some sixty species was published by the Royal Irish Academy. Since then, with the exception of a few stray notes in the proceedings of the Dublin Microscopical Club in the Irish Naturalist, nothing bearing on this subject, so far as I am aware, has appeared. During the ten years that have since elapsed, a considerable number of new species have come under my notice, notwith- standing that I have been able to devote but little time to the subject of mycolog}', and mj^ colleague in this paper has also added a large number to the record. It seemed, therefore, desirable to gather together what has been done, and put it into a form available for future reference. It was, indeed, suggested that the former lists should be incorporated in the present one, so as to give a complete catalogue of the species hitherto met with in the district, but it was found that this would occupy too much space; moreover, it is very certain that there are man}^ more forms still to record before anything like a complete mj^cologic flora of Dublin and Wicklow is possible. Hence only those not previously recorded appear in the annexed catalogue. The groups of Uredinei, Ustila- 24 6 The Irish Naturalist. ginei. and AUuviacei, form, however, an exception to this rule. Recent investigations have so completely revolutionized their nomenclature and arrangement that it has been thought necessary to give a complete list of all the species hitherto met with in the district. The extremely evanescent nature of many fungi causes a twofold difiiculty in their studj^ Firstly, in a given district, at a given period, a species may occur abundantly of which no trace was visible a week before, or would be a week after. Secondly, they decay very rapidly, and hence when necessity arises — as it constantly does — of obtaining the opinion of another worker, by the time the specimen reaches him, it may be unrecognizable. The list appended hereto contains about 245 species not included in previous lists, bringing the total number up to nearly 780. Of the aforesaid 245, eighty belong to the Agaricini, twenty- six to eighteen other orders of Hymeno- mycetes. Gasteromycetes (including Myxomycetes) number thirteen. Coniomycetes, amongst which are the Uredinei and Ustalaginei, forty-two. Hyphomycetes (including Pero- nosporese) twenty-four. Discomycetes, thirty-six. Pyreno- mycetes, twenty. The Agaricini generally are fairlj^ well represented in the district, but the genus Corti?iarius is con- spicuous by its comparative absence, and the same maybe said of the pink-spored division of the agarics, and of the woody or coriaceous genera. Two species of Panus are, however, re- corded for the first time. Several new Polyporei are added to the list, and a few of other orders of the Hymenomycetes. Amongst the Gasterom3^cetes, the occurrence in Powerscourt of Cynophallus caninus may be noted. Several additions are made to the Myxogastres, which are fairly represented, though perhaps not so numerously as might be expected, considering the dampness of the climate. Not a single new subterraneous gasteromycete is recorded, nor is there any- thing to add in the corresponding group of Tuberacei, or Truffles. The Uredinei and Ustilaginei (Rusts, Brands, and Smuts), are, perhaps, the most numerous, relatively, of any of the groups, no fewer than seventy-seven species being recorded, and it can scarcely be doubted that careful searching would reveal many more. Amongst the Hyphomj^cetes, a very curious minute form occurred on decaying passion-flower Notes on the Fungi of the Dublin District. 247 leaves, parasitic on a larger mould. Mr. Grove considered it a new genus, which he honoured me with calling Pimia. Two remarkable forms occurred a few years ago on Silo grass at the Model Farm, Glasnevin, which are fully described in Mr. W. G. Smith's "Diseases of Field and Garden Crops," under the names of Isaria fiiciformis and Saprolegnia philo- nmkes. The peculiar and beautiful mould, MyxotTichuvi deflexuni, occurred on a whitened wall at Royal College of Surgeons, along with the minute Peziza domestica, while Dr. McWeeney adds no less than six species of Peronospora. Turning to the Discomjxetes, some thirty-eight new species are noted, among which are the rare forms, Vibrissea trnnco- rimi, which recurs regularlj^ every spring in the same spot in Powerscourt demesne, and also found by Dr. M'Weeney in the Slade Brook, and V. guer?iisaci at Altadore. Even with these additions our list of Discomycetes is far from large. This seems strange, as though frequently not very prominent, they are not usually so small as to be very readily overlooked, and our climate and conditions seem admirably adapted to their production. Of the Pyrenomycetes, the same remarks hold good, except as regards their size, which is generally very minute, which may possibly account for the exceedingly small number re- corded. Amongst the additions is Torrubia militaris, a most remarkable object always found on dead pupae, or caterpillars. The large extent to which the following list is indebted to Dr. M'Weeney, the initial letters in brackets (M'W.) will in- dicate, as representing the species found by him, (P.) is similarly appended to those for which I am responsible. There can, I think, be little doubt that careful investigation will be rewarded with many discoveries even in our best- worked localities, while almost the whole of the rest of Ireland is a terra incog7iita as regards Fungi. An exception must, how- be made as regards the north-east, which has been well explored by Rev. H. W. I^ett, while a few species from Killarney and Glengariff may be found in my report in Pro- ceedings Royal Irish Academy (Science) for 1885. The following list has for convenience been arranged generally on the lines of that in Cooke's "Handbook," as being the book in most general use, although not quite up to modern ideas : — 248 The Irish Naturalist. LIST OF SPECIKS. HYIYIENOMYCETES. AGARICINI. Ag^aricus (Amanita) phalloides, Fr.— Knocksink (P.), Powerscourt (P.) excelsus, Fr. — Kilruddery (P.) strobiliforinis, Fi.— Glenarty (P-) spissus, Fr. — Ovoca (P.) lenticuIariSy Lasch. — Powers- court (P.) A. (Lepiota) granulosus, Batsch — Powers- court (P.) van broadwoodiae (?) — Mont- pelier (M'W.) ; Glencullen (M'W.) cepaestipes, Sow.— Monks- town (P.) A. (Tricholoma) nictitans, Fr.— Ovoca (P.) caelatus, — Ovoca (P.) columbetta, Fr. — Glencullen (McW.) vaccinuSy P. — Whitechurch (McW. ) A. (Clitocybe) Inversus, Scop. — Powerscourt (P.) difformis, P.— do. (P.) bellus, Fr.— Glencullen (M'W.) A. (PIcurotus) septicus, Fr. — Friarstown (M'W.) subpalmatus, Fr. — Holly- brook (P.) acerosus, Fr. — W. Pier, Kings- town (P.) A. (CoIIybia) atratus, Fr.— Glenart (P.) protractus, Fr. — Glencullen (M'W.) plexipes, Fr.— do. (M'W.) A. (IVlyccna) hiemalis, Obs. — Powerscourt (P-) capillaris, Schum. — do. (P.) Friarstown (M'W.) fi lopes, Bull.— Glencullen (M'W.) elegrans. P.— Whitechurch (M'W.) vitilis, F.— Glencullen (M'W.) galopus, Schrad.— do. (M'W.) stylo bates, P. — Whitechurch (M'W.) corticola, Schum.— Altadore (M'W.) A. (Omphalia) atfricatus, Fr.— Glencullen (M'W.) A. (Entoloma) Jubatus, Fr.— Glencullen, Mountpellier (M'W.) A, (Leptonia) aathiops, Fr. — Celbridge, Powerscourt (P.). A, (Pholiota) durus, Bolt.— Ovoca (P.) praecox, P. — Rocky Valley (P.) Rush (M'W.) leveillianus, D. &M.— Tullow (P.) capistratus, Cks. — NearLucan (M'W.) margin atus, Blach. — do. and Mountpelier(M'W.) A. (Hebeloma) longicaudus, P. — Monkstown (P.) eutheIes,B. &Br., — Knocksink (P.) A. (Crepidotus) alveolus, Ivasch. — Enniskerry (P.) mollis, SchaefF. — lyoughlins- town (P.); Glencullen, Altadore (M'W.) A. (Naucoria). conspersus, Fr. — In store, Monkstown (P.) A. (Calera) oval is, Fr. — In store, Dundrum (P.) mniophilus Lasch. — On Pellia, Glencullen (M'W.) A. (Stropharia) melaspermus. Bull. — Kilrud- dery (P.) stercorarius, Fr.— Seven Churhes(P.),Glencullen(M'W.) A. (Hypholoma) epixanthus, Fr. — Powers- court (P.), Whitechurch (M'W.) velutinus, P. — Kilruddery (P.) A. (Psilocybe) ericaceus, Pers. — Glasamuck (M'W.) clivensis, Bk. — Whitechurch (M'W.) Notes on the Funoi of t fie Dublin District. 249 A. (Psathyra) spadiceo-grriseus, vSchaeff.— Glencullen, Po\verscourt(M'W.) A. (Panaeolus) phalaenarum, Fr.— (M'W.) A. (PsathyrcIIa) disseminatus, Fr. — Monks- town (P.); Tvongh Bray (M'W.) Coprinus cxtinctorius, Fr. — Knocksink (P-) tomentosus, Fr.— Ratho^ar (M'W.) Cortinarius (Inoloma) violaceus, Fr. — Glencullen (M'W.) sublanatus, Fr.— do. (M'W.) Rathgar (M'W.) C. (IVIyxaciutn) collinitus, Fr. — Mountpelier, (M'W.) C. (DeriYiocybc) anomalus, Fr. — Enniskerry(.P.) miltinus, Fr. — Glencullen (M'W.) ulig-inosus, Bk. — Glencree (M'W.) Lepista cineraneus, Bull. — Enniskerry (M'W.) Hygrophorus nemorcus, Fr. — HoUybrook (P.) Lactarius tormcnosus, Fr. — Monks- town, Altadore (P.) pallidus, Fr.— Ovoca (P.) rufus, Fr.— Scalp (P.j; Glen- cullen (M'W.) quietus, Fr.—Glencullen(M'W.) zonarius, Fr.— Glencullen (M'W.) Russula adusta, Fr.— Powerscourt (P.) hctcrophylla, Fr.— Ovoca (P.) decolorans, Fr.— do. (P.) rubra, Fr.— Glencullen (M'W.) ochroleuca, Fr.— do. (M'W.) depallens, Fr.— do. and White- church (M'W.) sardonia, Fr.— do. (M'W.) Cantharellus lobatus, Fr.— Glencullen (P.) tutoeeformis, Fr.— do. (M'W.) lYlarastnus epiphyllus, Fr.— Enniskerry (M'W.) Panus torulosus, Fr. — Near Lucan (M'W.); Powerscourt (P.) stypticus, I'r.— Enniskerry (M'W.) Boletus grranulatus, L. — Enniskerry (P.); Bray Head (M'W.) cyanescens, Bull. — Ovoca (P.) Polyporus bombycinus, Fr.— White- church (M'W.) melanopus, .Fr. — Powerscourt and Kilruddery (P.) r u f esce n s , Fr.— Kilrudder>' ( P. ) varius, Fr. — Powerscourt (P.) eleg^ans, Fr. — Powerscourt and Kilruddery (P.) saIicinus,Fr.— Monkstown(P.) uImarius,Fr.— Kilruddery (P.) f raxinus, Fr.— Monkstown (P.) obducens, Fr.,— Near Liican (M'W.) Daedalea unicolor, Fr.— Near Lucan (M'W.) Hydnum fcrruginosuiYi, Fr.— Kilrud- dery (P.) Craterellus crispus, Fr.— Ovoca (P.) Thelephora anthocephala, Fr.— Kilrud- dery (P.) laciniata. Per.— Killakee (M'W.) sebacea, Fr.— Altadore (M'W.) puteana, Schum.— Altadore (M'W.) Hymenochaete corrugata, B.— Powerscourt (P.) Cyptnella pimii, Phill.— On stem in water, Monkstown (P.) Solenia ochracea, HofFm.— Kilruddery (P.) (TO BE CONCI.UDED.) [ 250 ] NOTES. BOTANY. LIVER WOR TS. Ricciocarpus natans, Corda [Riccia natans, Linn.] in Co. Dublin. — While botanizing along the Grand Canal early last month {7th August), I discovered this interesting species growing in great abun- dance in a sluggish ditch, evidently long undisturbed, beside an old grass-grown road near Ballyfermott. The plant, mingled with Lemna minor, extends along the ditch here, at intervals, for more than a hundred yards, spreading its starry root-like processes over the surface of the water in a dark-brown sheet which at once arrests attention. Mr. David McArdle, of the Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, who has kindly examined my specimens and determined the species, assures me that he can find no record of its having been previously noted in the Co. Dublin, and sup- plies me with the following details as to its distribution in Ireland, so far as hitherto made out, the known stations for the species being (i) boggy pool between Navan and Drogheda ; (2) ditch by the side of the Shannon, near Portumna, Co. Galway; (3) near Passy, Co. I^imerick (Dr. Harvey) ; (4) ditch by the River Barrow, three miles below Ath}^ Co Kildare (Mr. R. W. Scully).— Nathan I EI. Coi^Gan, Dublin. C L UB -MOSSES. Lyco podium clavatum L. in Co. Armagh. — On August loth I received from Rev. H. W. Lett a specimen of this plant, collected two days previously, on Brackagh Bog, south of Portadown, Co. Armagh ; Mr. Lett describes the plant as plentiful in one spot. This is an interest- ing addition to the county flora, especially since the elevation of the bog in question is only fifty feet above sea-level ; in the north of Ireland at least this Club-moss usually occurs on mountain heaths. — R. LIvOYD Praeger. PHANEROGAMS. Euphorbia cyparissias L. in King's County. — In the early part of this year I received from Miss Margaret Goodbody, of Charlestown House, Clara, King's Co., some imperfect specimens of a plant unknown to her. They were a puzzle to me at the time, but subsequently proved to be the rare and peculiar Euphorbia cyparissias L. On the 23rd May last, I was taken to the spot, and found it profusely in flower and in consider- able quantity, extending along a dry hedge-bank with one or two intervals for about twenty yards. It grows in a lane near Horseleap, about two and a-half miles from Clara, and the only house near it is a cottage, from the garden of which it does not seem likely to have escaped. In the "English Flora" it is looked upon as having been introduced, and no doubt the same applies to the specimen we are now considering, which is however remarkable from its remote situation, and the extent to which it has been established. On finding it, I immediately sent fresh specimens to Mr. A. G. More, and to Mr. Stewart, of Belfast, and have since placed dried specimens in the Herbarium of the Science and Art Museum, Dublin. — Thomas Chandi^ee, Athy. The Shamrock. — A Postscript. — In the paper on this subject, published in last month's number of the Irish Naturalist, I omitted through oversight to mention that the plant supplied to me by Mr. Bur- Noics. 251 bidge, from the slock grown in the College Jiotanio Garden, to meet the demands of English inqnirers for the real vShamrock, was Trifoliuin minus, as were also the plants purchased from an advertiser in the Co. Louth, as the "true Irish variety."— Nathaniei. Colgan, Dublin. The Shamrock — As Mr. Colgan, in his interesting paper of last month, was unable to include Kerry in his list of the counties using T. minus as the Shamrock, it may be of interest to mention that as I passed through the Gap of Dunloe, Killarney, in the month of July, I noticed that this was the plant (then in flower) offered to tourists by the mountain guides. It may also be here stated that so far as Cork in concerned, not- withstanding the fact that Mr. Colgan was sent two other species from this district, T. minus is the true Shamrock ; it is this is selected for vSt. Patrick's Day by ever3'body who is sufficiently observant to notice that there are more species of trefoil than one, and it is this that is sold in the shops and in the streets, being distinguished by its small leaves and by the absence of the white and black markings which usually occur on the foliage of T. repens and T. pratense. I have seen people wearing T. repcns ridiculed for decorating themselves with "clover." I was rather disap- pointed to find that the results of Mr. Colgan's painstaking investigation were not much more in favour of T. minus, as I have always looked upon that species as the Shamrock, even though many botanical works give the honour to T. repens. A fact wdiich lends to show that T. minus is regarded throughout Ireland as the national badge is, that the manu- facturers of Christmas and St. Patrick's Day cards on which sprays of real Shamrock are mounted, so far as I have observed on cards made in Belfast and Cork, invariably use this species. — R. A. PHir,i,iPS, Cork. Clare Plants. — We have received from Mr. Patrick B. O'Kelly, of Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, a " Complete List of the Rare Perennial Plants and Shrubs of the Burren Mountains of Ball3'vauglian," which has been compiled by its industrious author, not merely to assist the cause of science, but with ulterior motives of a pecuniary nature. Indeed, a pretty smart price is affixed to many of the " rare perennial plants," and notwithstanding Mr. O'lvelly's assurance that they are all " real gems of the first water," few of us would care to pay the sum of is. for specimens of such plants as Asperula odoraia, Carex stellulata, C. sylvaiiea, or Nardus stricta ; or even a modest 6d. for Reseda luieola, Jimcus maritimtcs, or J. squarrosus. In passing, we may mention that it is with some surprise that we learn that Arabis thaliana, Chlora pcrfoliata^ Erodi^im cicuiarium, Gcndana campestris, Jasione montana, Limim catharticum, and man}' similar plants are perennials ! It is of interest also to find enumerated in the flora of the Burren mountains, Lathyius maritimus, Lysimachia punctata, (Enot/iera odo- rata, Narcissus major, and " Friinula veris elatior'" — the editor of the new edition of " Cybele Hibernica" will please note. The names of some of the Ballyvaughan plants strike us as infamiliar, such as Chlora aureuni, Melavipyrum aquaticum, Kubia tinctoria, and Adiantum incisum. Are these additions to the British flora which Mr. O'Kelly has made, or are they new^ to science .? if the latter, they should be duly described. With the praiseworthy object of assisting in bringing our native plants more into cultivation in gardens, Mr. O'Kelly kindly volunteers to name any such plants which may be sent to him (return postage prepaid) ; but if the plants are returned labelled with such apellations as " Anemone nemorosa purpurea Livingrii,''' '' Berberis vulgaris supedmm,'" or " T?-i/olium repens purpurea folins,'' we fear that serious injury may be caused to the enquirer's nervous system. Space does not permit of our availing ourselves of Mr. O'Kelly's kind permission to publish his price-list in exienso in the pages of the Irish Naturalist : but those who are interested in native plants should certainly write for it, as they will find in it much novel information respecting the local flora. 252 The Irish Naturalist. ZOOLOGY. IN S E C TS. Lemaerichsoni, Suffr., at Santry, Co. Dublin.— Examining some specimens of Le//ia collected by me last May, I noticed one which was very distinct from L. lichenis, and greatly resembled the rare Lei)ia erichsoni. On sending it to Canon Fowler, the identification was con- firmed. I succeeded in taking several more specimens on subsequent collecting excursions to the same locality. Dr. Power's capture of L. erichsoni, near Waterford, in the autvimn of 1857, seems the only record from Ireland. The coleopterist in whose district L. iiielanopa is known to occur, should make a good search for L. erichsoni, as the British examples are considered by some authorities referrable to an unnamed concolorous variety of L. melanopa, and Canon Fowler has described the last-mentioned insect as probably widely distributed in Ireland. The specimens of L. erichsoni were taken by sweeping.— J. N. Hai,be;rT, Dublin. Wasps in Co. Antrim.— In the July issue of the Irish Naturalist there is a note on Irish Wasps from Mr. G. H. Carpenter. — I beg to send a list of Wasps collected by me in 1887 at Cushendun, Co. Antrim, and verified by Mr. F. W, Elliott, of Buckhurst-hill, Essex: — Vespa norvegica, V. sylvcstris, V. vulgaris, V. rufa, and V. geriiianica. — Sl^. ARTHUR BrENAN, Knocknacarry, Co. Antrim. Sirex g^igas and Acherontia atropos in Co. Antrim. — These two insects were taken in August, 1892, at the Cushendun coastguard station, and are both new to this locality. — Si<. Arthur Brenan, Knocknacarry. Conopteryx rhamni and Nonagrria arundinis, near Limerick. I captured the "Brimstone" butterfly in Cratloe Wood, Co. Clare, on the 12th and i8th August, 1893. Two specimens (both males) in beautiful condition, were taken. The record is of considerable interest, as the insect has so far been taken in Ireland only at Killarney, and near Kylemore, Co. Galway. It is a common butterfly in England, appearing early in the spring after hybernating, when it is very often ob- served. In August, 1892, whilst gathering Reed-maces {TypJia latifolia), usually designated " Bullrushes," to my surprise I observed several of the stems contained the living pupae of a fair-sized moth. I took examples so affected, near Coonagh, Co. Claie, and also at Mungret, Co. Limerick, but unfortunately failed to secure any imagos of the insect, those which emerged making good their escape, owing to the difficulty of keeping the pupae moist in the long stems of the plants. This season I have been more fortunate, and have bred some sixteen good specimens from plants gathered near Mungret and Castleconnell, thus satisfactorily proving the identity of the insect as the "BuUrush" Moth [Nonagria arundinis), hitherto recorded only in Ireland from counties Down, Cork, and Wicklow. — Francis Neai^e, Limerick. MO LI uses. Trochus duminyi and Odostomia delicata on the Irish Coast. — I spent the last week in June at Bundoran, but owing to a most adverse change of weather, a gale from the north-west with rain, I was not able to work on the shore as I wished, and it was only the day before I returned home, that I was able to procure some promising drift. My great hope was to obtain Trochus duminyi, and I am happy to say that three specimens were found in the portion searched. I got one, and Mr. Marshall, of Seven Oaks, Torquay (with whom I shared the drift), secured two. He also records the occurrence in the same drift, of the new shell Odostomia delicata; he says "this shell was described by the Marquis de Monterosata in th.^. journal de Conchyliologie (1874, p. 267) as Mediterranean, and it is figured in Sowerby's 'Index of British Shells,' Notes. 253 as C/io/niitzia similinia, Montatjju, dredj^ed in the ' Porcu])iiie' Ivxpedition off Donegal bay." It is a curious coincidence that I have to record these two rare shells from Killala bay also. Karly in July, I was fortunate enough to procure some shell-drift from the sandy shore of Bartra Island, a portion of which I sent to Mr. Marshall, and he got one specimen of each of these shells ; this is the second T. duniinyi found in liartra drift, and Mr. Marshall has one from near Portrush; he thinks it probable that it may be scattered along the coast, though rarely. — Amy Warki-;n, Ballina. TcstaccIIa scutulum, Sow. — In my record of this species in the July number, I omitted to mention that its discovery in the Co. Dublin is really due to Mr. W. F. Burbidge, who found it some years ago in the Botanic Gardens of Trinity College, Dublin. — R. F. Scharfk, Dublin. FISHES. Ray's Bream — A Correction. — On page 230 of our last issue " Dungannon " should read "Dungarvan." BIRDS. Montague's Harrier (Circus cineraceus) In Ireland.— A specimen of this rare Irish bird was shot by INIr. Power's gamekeeper at Glenasmole, on the 3rd of Jul}', where, according to his account, it had been feeding on young Grouse for some time previously. The bird is a male, in second year's plumage. A rather curious fact about the occur- rence of this species in Ireland is that, out of five recorded occurrences, four were either on the Dublin mountains, or in their immediate vicinity. — E. WiLi^iAMS, Dublin. White- winged Black Tern (Sterna leucoptera) in Ire- land.— A specimen of this beautiful bird has been obtained in the imme- diate vicinity of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co. Leitrim, where it was en- gaged in hawking for flies over a small lake. This is, I believe, the fifth recorded occurrence of this bird in Ireland.— E. Wiltjams, Dublin. Stock-Doves (Columba aenas) at Rostrevor.— Dr. V. Ball F.R.S., hands us the following letter from Mr. A. S. G. Canning, of The Lodge, Rostrevor, Co. Down : — " I write to mention a fact which may interest all lovers of natural his- tory in this country. It is the appearance at this place of what seems to be the Stock-Dove {Cohiniba (vnas). Two pair or more have nested here this summer, and there are two young ones now not yet fledged. They make their nests on the ground near or in rabbit holes, and under whin bushes. They are smaller than the Cushat, and have no white on them. Perhaps you would like to communicate what I have written to an}- naturalists of your acquaintance." GEOLOGY. Visit of the Geologists' Association to Dublin.— During the last week of July an event of much interest to local geologists took place— the visit of the Geologists' Association of London to Dublin. Our English fellow-scientists turned out in good numbers, and, when joined by the local recruits, made a party of quite formidable dimensions. An excellent week's programme had been drawn out by Professors Sollas and Cole, and under guidance of these and other local experts, Por- traine, Howth, Killiney, Bray, and other spots of geological interest in the neighbourhood were seen to full advantage, especially since the visitors were favoured with magnificent weather throughout their stay. We were not surprised to hear that the English visitors were charmed with their visit to the Irish capital, and with its geological surroundings, and we learn with pleasure that another Irish excursion is already spoken of— this time to Belfast and its beautiful district. [ 254 ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. RoYAi, ZooivOGiCAi. Society. Recent donations comprise Fish from Mr. Godden, a pair of White Rats from Mrs. ElHott, a pair of Badgers from the Earl of Clonmel, a Nightjar from J. Bates, Esq., and a pair of Barn Owls from N. McLean, Esq. 14,489 persons visited the Gardens in July. BeivFast Naturai, History and Phii^osophicai, Society. JUI.Y 2ist. — Annual Meeting, the President (Prof. FiTzgerai^d, B.A.) in the chair. The Secretary (Mr. R. M. Young, M.R.I.A.) submitted the annual report, and the Treasurer (Mr. J. Brown) the statement of accounts, which were adopted, on the motion of Rev. Mr. Kinghan, seconded by Dr. McCormac. The report of the Ulster Fauna Committee, which was next submitted, showed that information respecting the local fauna was being vSteadily collected. A list of donations to the Museum was read, and a vote of thanks passed to the donors. The existing office- bearers were re-elected for the coming year ; and a motion authorising the council to exchange duplicate specimens of Irish antiquities for geo- logical specimens with Mr. W. E. Praeger, Keokuk, U.S.A., concluded the business. BEI/FAST NaTurai^ists' F1EI.D C1.UB. Jui^Y 29th. — Excursion to Ballynahinch. A large party proceeded by rail to Ballynahinch, and visited the ancient graveyard of Killgoney, where are the remains of a cromlech. After a halt at Magherahamltt the well-known spa claimed attention. Subsequently Montalto demesne was entered, where the lake-margins were found to be fringed with the Sweet Flag {Aconts calamus). Among the Eepidoptera taken during the day were Vanessa atalanta, Chamas gra/ninis, Cram bus tj'istellus, ArgyrotJiecia mendica, and Dictyopteryx contaminata. At the business meeting held after the tea-hour the best thanks of the members were returned to Rev. Father Quail, P.P., for his unremitting kindness and attention to the party during the day. Dubinin Naturai^ists' F1E1.D Ci^ub. JUI.Y 29th. — Excursion to Lough Bray and Luggala in conjunction with the London Geologists' Association ; a number of members of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club were also present. The combined party, numbering between seventy and eighty, proceeded by 9 a.m. train to Bray, and drove via Enniskerry to Lough Bray, where an hour was spent. Thence the route lay through Sally Gap to Lough Tay, where the party descended on foot to the lake and walked through the grounds of Lug- gala Lodge, subsequently returning by car to Bray. On account of the large extent of ground covered, time did not permit of much collecting. The local Andromeda polifolia was observed in some quantit}' on bogs by the military road to the eastward of Lough Bray, at 1,650 feet elevation. Listera cordaia, Lastrea cemnla, and L. montana were gathered about Lough Bray, and WaJilenbergia hederacea on the way thither. Irish Naturai^ist, Voi.. II. ] [Pi. ATE 6. Fig. I. The track starts at A, and ends in a pit just beneath the handle of the walking-stick. Piece of seaweed, attached to stone, at B. Fig. 2 The track starts at A, and ends in the pit below the centre of the figure. The stone to which the seaweed is attached lies in the pit. Seaweed TracKvS in Sand. Sije ^vi&l) ^ainvfxli&t Vol.. II. X, OCTOBER, 1893. No. 10. SEAWEED TRACKS IN SAND. BY PROF. W. J. SOLI^AS, I.I..D., F.R.S. The shining, level, sandy flats of the seashore, spreading like a satiny quilted margin to the land, possess a charm to which we all succumb. The youngsters with their toy spades, the artist, and scientific wanderers of many kinds, open their ears to the enticement " Come unto these yellow sands," and though with various aims they go, their pleasure is the same. Our coast is rich in wide expanses of rippled sand, but rarely will the geologist find one more full of interest than that which occurs at Sutton, on the coast of Howth. The ripple- marks, in their diverse character, afford an interesting study in connection with those so commonly met with on the sandy surface of ancient bedded rocks ; the pits and hillocks which mark the home of the lobworm underground, will call to mind the trumpet-mouthed burrows which penetrate the Cambrian quartzite at Bray ; and the crabs, sidling speedil}^ to some lurk-hole, leave impressions on the sand that we may take careful note of, hoping some day to parallel them with proble- matic markings on the sands of ancient buried seashores, lycss familiar than these common seashore sights are the long tracks to which we now call attention. Varying in width, frequently about an inch across, with raised margins, and a central groove which is minutely ridged and furrowed trans- versely, they run for long distances, undulating in wide curves (plate 6, fig. i) to end in a little well-marked pit. To the question, " What made them ? " everyone I have asked has immediately replied to the effect: "Evidently a wandering 256 The Irish Naturalist. worm, or perhaps some kind of mollusc, say, a periwinkle for instance." Clearly : and there is the pit at the end, where he has gone underground ! If we had a spade we would dig him out ! As we have not, let us trace quickly a few of these grooves to the end, and see if we can catch sight of the crea- ture in the act of making tracks. In doing this we find that some of them extend for a long distance, one is measured twenty-three feet in length, but we never catch the culprit ; and curiously enough, man}^ of the tracks end beneath a piece of seaweed. It seems to be a very intelligent kind of animal that finds its path always to the same kind of shelter. lyct us turn the seaweed over and see if it is underneath. No success ; but in doing so we come acrOvSS a curious find ; attached to the seaweed is a little stone which lies in the terminal pit, and is just as broad as the furrow is wide (fig. 2). If we return to fig. i we shall see there also is a piece of seaweed sticking to a stone, and lying quite close to the end of the furrow. The murder is out ; after all no animal was responsible, neither worm nor mollusc, simply a tuft of seaweed, dragging a stone after it as it was drifted seaward by the ebbing tide. The stone scores the furrow, driving out the sand to make a ridge on each side of its trail, and since, like every movement in nature, its progress is not continuous but interrupted, so the bottom of the furrow is not even, but ridged across at frequent intervals, and, as it were, rhythmically. The story is instructive to the student of fossil markings, but it would be rash to conclude that every long ridge and furrow which has been attributed to annelids is a mere mare's nest. Both worms and molluscs do make tracks in the sand, and fossil examples of these are well known to exist, which, though not altogether dissimilar to those we have described, can be clearly distinguished by characters of their own. The Earthworms of Ireland.— Rev. H. Friend, whose new address is " Fernbank, Cockermouth, Cumberland," desires live specimens of Earthworms in damp moss, to enable him to make his lists of Irish localities as complete as possible. L 257 I NOTES ON THE FUNGI OF THE DUBLIN DLSTRICT (COUNTIES OF DUBUN AND WICKLOW). BY GRKKNWOOD PIM, M.A., F.I^.S., AND E. J. M'WEENEY, M.A., M.D. {Concluded from page 249.) HYIVIENOIVIYCETES. -Glen- TreiYiella viscosa, P. — near Whitechurch (M-W.) Apyrenlum lignatlle, Fr.- Bray Head (M'W.) Typhula grcvillei, Fr culleii (M'W.) Pisti Maria culm igena,Mont.- Foxrock (M'W.) TremcIIa indecorata, Schum. — Altadore (M'W.) CASTEROIVIYCETES. Cynophallus caninus, Fr. — Bovista plumbea, PowerscoLirt ^P.) church (M'W ) UREDINE^. [The arrangement of this order and of the Ustilagineae has been so entirely revolutionized by recent investigations that it has been thought advisable to give a complete list of all the forms found in the district, arranged as in Dr. Plovvright's book.] Puccinia vincae, DC— Monks- P.— White- Uromyccs fabse, Pers. — Monkstown (P.) g'eranii, DC. — Lucan, Dunran (M'W.) dactyl id is, Otth. — Ballybrack (P.); Lucan (M'W.) poae, Rabh.— Common (M'W.) rumicis, Schum. — Killiney (P.); Bray Head (M'W.) anthyllidis, Grev.— Bray Head (M'W.) alchem i I lae, Pers.— Friarstown and Glenasmole (M'W.) ficariae, Schum. --Rathfarn- ham (M'W.) Puccinia galii, Pers.— Lucan (M'W.) calthae, Lk.— Ballybrack (P.); Glenasmole (M'W.) silenes, Schrst.— Skerries (M'W.) variabilis, Grev.— Bray Head (M'W.); Ballybrack, Rocky Valley (P.) lapsanse, Schltz.— Monkstown violae, Schum.— Common (P.) (M'W.) pimpinellse, Strauss.— Com- mon (M'\V.) apii, Ca.— Per Mr. F. Moore (P.) menthse, Pers.— Common (P.) (M'W.) primuiee, DC— Monkstown and Devil's Glen (P.) pulvcrulcnta, Grev— Bray Head (M'W.) ; Ballybrack (P.) saniculse, Grev.— Common (P) ; Friarstown (M'W.) town (P.) (M'W.) graiYiinis, Pers. — Common. phalaridis. Plow.— Lucan, Wicklow (M'W.) rubigo-vcra, DC— Not un- common (P.) (M'W.) poarum, Niels.— Common (P.) (M'W.) ^ ^ caricis, Schum.— Common (P.) (M'W.) obscura, Schrot.— Ovoca (P.) arundinacca, Hed.— Bally- brack (P ) iTioIinisc,* TuL-Leixlip (M'W.) suavcolens, Pers.— Common (R)(M'W.) bullata, Pers.— Common (P.), Murrough (M'W.) hieracii, Schum.— Kilmacan- oge, Ovoca (P.); common (M'W.) taraxaci. Plow.— Bray Head (M'W\) oblongata, Lk.— Glendruid(P.) ccntaureae. Mart.— Common (M'W\) pruni, Lk.— Rathgar (M'W.); Dalkey (P.) smyrnii, Ca.— Common (P.); Dodder Bank (M'W.) epilobii, DC— Common (P.) umbilici. Grev.— Scalp(M'W.); common (P.) fergussoni, B. & Br.— Monks- town (P.) fusca, Relh.-Lucan (M'W ) bunii, DC— Friarstown (M'W.) 258 The Irish Naturalist. Puccinia glomerata, Grev. — Lucan, Bray Head (P.) (M'W.) ; Ballybrack (P.) malvacearum, Mont. — Com- mon (P.) (M'W.) circdBdB, Pers. — Not uncom- mon (M'W.) vcronicarum, DC. — Bray (P.) glcchomatis, DC— Ennis- kerry (P.) buxi, DC— Mount Merrion (P.) annularis, Strauss. — Devil's Glen (P.) ; Bray Head (M'W.) Triphragmium ulmariae, Schum.— Ballybrack (P.); Rath- farnham (M'W.) Phragrmidium fragariastri, DC— Common (M'W.) (P.") violaccum, Schltz.— Glencul- len (M'W.) rubi, Pers. — Very common (P.) subcorticatum, Schrank. — Common (P.) (M'W.) Ustilag^o seg^etum, Bull.— Common (P.) (M'W.) flosculorum, DC. -Grey- stones, per A. F. Dixon (P.) Tillctia tritici, Bjerk.— Fassaroe (P.) ; probably not uncommon, easily overlooked Cymnosporangium juniperinum, Lev.— Powers- court, Ashford (P.) sabinae, Fr. — Blackrock, per Rev. M. H. Close (P.) IV'lelampsora helioscopiae, Pers.— Common (P.) (M'W.) lini, Pers.— Bray Head (M'W.) farinosa, Pers.— Common (P.) populina, Ivcv. — Fassaroe (P.) hypcricorum, DC— Friars- town (M'W.); Dargle (P.) betulina, Pers. — Glencree (M'W.) Coleosporium senecionis, Pers.— Common (P.) (M'W.) sonchi, Pers.— do. (P.) (M'W.) euphrasiae, Schm. — Common (P.) (M'W.) ^cidium grossulariae, Gmelin. — Common (P.) pcriclymcni, Schm. — Bray Head (M'W.) USTlLAGlNEiE. Urocystis anemones, Powerscourt, mon (M'W.) violae, Sow.- (M'W.) Entyloma ranunculi, Bon Rathfarnham (M'W.) Pers. — Dalkey, (P) ; not uncom- -Rathfarnham, [The remainder of the list is arranged according to the nomenclature of Succardo in his " Sylloge Fungorum."] _ ^ IVIYXOIVIYCETES. Fuligro septica, Fr.— Glencullen (M'W.) Spumaria alba, DC— Fassa- roe, Bray (P.) Didymium squamulosum, A. & S.— Mount Merrion (P.) Tilmadoche nutans, Pers. — Powerscourt (P.) Stemonitis ferruginosa, Khrb.— Monkstown (P.); Lucan (M'W.j CHYTRIDIACE^. Dictydium cernuum, Pers. — Glendalough House (P.) Cribraia intermedia, Rost. — Dargle (P.) Trichia varia, Pers. — Glasnevin (P.) (M'W.) chrysosperma, DC. — Com- mon (P.) (M'W.) Prototrichia flagellifer, B. &Br.— (P.) Protomyces menyanthis, De By. — On plants received from Annamoe (P.); Murrough of Wicklow (M'W.) Protomyces macrosporus, Ung. — Goats- town and Rathfarnham (M'W.) Synchytrium taraxaci, De By. —Dalkey (M'W.) HYPHOIVIYCETES. Stilbum tomentosum, Schrad. — Pow- erscourt (P.) ; Altadore (M'W.) fimetarium, B. & Br.— Clon- silla (M'W.) Stilbum vulgarc, Tode. — Glencullen, (M'W.) Isaria fuciformis, Bk.— Glas- nevin (P.) Notes on the Fiuigi of the Dublin Distriet. 259 Scptosporlum bulbotrlch- um, Ca.— Tereiiure (M'W.) PliYiia parasitica. Grove.— In Passion-flower leaves, Monks- town (P.) Stachybotrys atra, Ca.— Monkstown (P.) lobulata, D. — do. Cephalosporium macrocar- pum, Corda— Monkstown (P.) Oidiutn fascicu latum, B.— On orange, D, Frazer (P.) Stysanus putredinis, Ca.— On decaying seaweed, per Mr. W. N. Allen (P.) lYIonllla racemosa, Pers. — INIoiikstown (!'.) Zygodcsmus sp.— Kilruddery IVIenlspora cillata, Ca.— Friars- town (M'W.) ; Powerscourt (P.) VertlcIIIIum nanum,B.&Br.— A form agreeing closely with this on Marasniius, Dalkey Island (M'W.) IVIyxotrichum dcfIexum,Br.— On wall, R. Coll. Surgeons (P.) Fusidium grrlseum, Lk.— Friarstown (M'W.) PHYCOIVIYCETES. PlasiYiopara niveai, Ung.— Common (P.) (M'W.) pyg-masa, Ung. — Clonsilla (M'W.) urticae, Casp. — Common (M'W.) Pcronospora trifoliorum, De By.— Bray Head (M'W.) schleideni, De By. — Lucan (M'W.) lamii, De By.— Lucan (M'W.) Pythium de-baryanum, Hesse — On cress (P.) Foenaria, Pim.^ philomukes {Saprolegnia philo- nmkes, Smith). — On silo, Glas- nevin. A fine description, with cut, of this curious species will be found in " Diseases of Field and Garden Crops," bv W\ G. Smith. Helvella lacunosa, Afz cullen(M'W.) Vibrissea truncoruirijFr. — Powerscourt, recurring in the same place every spring (P.) ; Sladebrook (M'W.) gruernisaci, Crouan — Altadore (M'W.) Ceog:Iossum hirsutum, Pers. — Rocky Val- ley (P.) ditforme, Fr.— Glencullen (P.) Septocylindrlum elongratl- sporum, B. & Br.— Glencul- len (M'W.) Torula parasitica, nov. sp.- — Monks- town (P.) pulvillus, B. & Br.— Powers- court (P.) Bispora monilioides, Ca. — (P.) Spinellus fusigcr, Lk. — On Agarics (M'W.) Thamnidium elegans, Ca. — On fungi (P.) IVIorticrcIla sp. — Onfishmanure (P.) Pilobolus crystallinus, Tode. —Frequent (P.) (M'W.) Chaetocladium brcfeldii. Van Tiegh & Lemon — Monkstown (P.) DISCOIVIYCETES. —Glen- Peziza (Cochlcaria) cochlcata, Bull.— Per Mr. D. M'Ardle (M'W.) aurantia, Pers.— Kilruddery (PO p. (Ccoscypha) violacea, Pers. - -Monkstown (P.) exidiiformis, B. & Br.— En- niskerry (P.) P. (Pyroncma) domestica. Sow. — R. Coll. Surgeons, on wall (P.) ^ Gen. nov. Described in Gardejiei-'s Chronicle, 22nd December, 1883, as " Mould on Ensilage." 2 Extremely minute. Hyphasma well developed, creeping, giving oJ3f delicate spherical spores in strings. Parasitic on Dematiei, damp paper, and leaves. B 26o The Irish Naturalist. p. (Phialea) virgultoruiri, Vohl. — Glen of the Downs (P.); Knniskerry (M'W.) cyathoidea, Bull. — Lucan (M'W.) urticae, Pers. — Lucan (M'W.) tuba, Bolt.— Enniskerry (M'W. ^ Lachnea Sjulbocrinita, PhilL— Lucan (M'W.) cocci nca, Jacq. — Powerscourt (P-) Dasyscypha bicolot*, Bull. — Whitechurch (M'W.) calyculacformis, Schum. — Bray (P.) cancsccns, Ck. — Altadore (M'W.) sulphurea (Pers.)— Glencullen (M'W.) aspidicola, B. & Br. -Kilma- shogue(M'W.) Pyrcnopcziza atrata, Pers.— Powerscourt (P.) PYRENOIVIYCETES. Pyrenopcziza sarcoides, ( Jacq. )— Kilruddery (M'W.) Corync clavus, A. & S. — Slade- brook (M'W.) Calloria fusarioides, (Bk.) — Ballyowen, etc., (M'W.); Mt. Merrion (P.) Ascolbolus glabcr, Pers. — Alta- dore (M'W.) Ascophanus argcnteus, Cur. — (M'W.) Lasiobolus ciliatus, B. & Br.— Glencullen (M'W.) Saccobolus violascens, Bond. — Glencullen (M'W.) Ascomyccs deformans, Bk. — Stradbrook (P.) Pseudopeziza trifolii, Fuckel. —Bray Head (M'W.) Steg'ia ilicis, Fr. — Common (P.) (M'W.) Erysiphc lamprocarpa, Lev. — Monkstown (P.); Wicklow (M'W.) montagnci. Lev. — Rathfarn- ham (M'W.) Podosphaera myrtillina, Kze. — On Fa^rcmzww, Glencree, Alta- dore, Dunran, (M'W.) Micros phaera dubyi, Lev.— Near Bray (P.) Ocrtocridis, Lev. — Monkstown (P.) Cordyccps militaris, Fr.— Powerscourt (P.) Claviceps purpurea, Tul.— Ballvbrack, Glendruid, Black- rock (P.) Chaetotnium comatum, Fr.— Monkstown (P.) Nectria pulicaris, Tul.— Tere- nure (M'W.) Xylaria corniformis, Fr. — Bray (P.) carpophila, Fr.— Mt. Merrion (P.); common (M'W.) Piggotia astroidea, B. Fassaroe (P.) Dargle Septoria aceris, B. & Powerscourt (M'W.) Phyliachora gram in is, Fuckel. —Bray Head (TM'W.) Ustuli navuIgaris,Tul.— Dunran (P-) Hypoxylon rubiginosum,Fr. — Dargle (P.) Poiystigma rul&rum, P. — Ovoca (P.) Cucurbitaria berberidis. Gray.— Monkstowai (P.) Rosellinia thilina, Fr.— Monkstown (P.) mammiformis, Pers (P). Lasiosphaeria hirsuta, Fr.— Glencullen (P.) Trichosphaeria pilosa, Pers. — Powerscourt (P.) (M'W.) Stigmatia ostruthii, Fr.— Dodder (M'W.) ranunculi, Fr. — Dodder and Mt. Merrion (M'W.) Vcnturia ilicifolia, Cke.— Ml. Merrion (P.) Hysterium commune, Rathgar(M'W.) SPH>ERIOIDE>EE. & Br. — CIscosporium f icariae, Rathfarnham (M'W.) Coryneum bejerinckii, — In cherry gum, Monkstown (P-) Fr. Bk. Br. Oud [ 26l ] THE BIRDS OF THE MIDLAND EAKES AND BOGS, CHIEFLY AS OBSERVED IN THE BREEDING-SEASON. BY R. J. USSHER. {Concluded from page 238.) The Common Tern is usually to be found on the larger lakes, on many of which it breeds, sometimes in colonies apart from other birds, sometimes with gulls, sometimes but a pair or two, but always on islands. I have met with Terns on ^^lyough Erne, I^ough Arrow, ^^Lough Key, ^-I^ough Allen, Lough Boderg, Lough Forbes, ^Lough Oughter, ^^Lough Sheelin, -'Lough Gowna, Lough Ree, Lough Iron, and *Lough Derg. On the latter I have found eggs on the 31st May, but on Lough Key and Lough Oughter, there were uncompleted clutches on the 12th June. On a large grassy island in Lough Gowna, which rises into a hill, a large colony of Terns had eggs in the first and second stage of incubation on the loth June. These were laid here and there, in depres- sions in the grass, on the upper slopes of the hill, though fourteen cattle were grazing on the island, probably not long, as cattle usually drive Terns away by trampling on their nests. I found there one Tern's ^%% laid in a depression in a dried cow-dung, used as a nest. On an islet in Lough Key, within a short distance of the house and terrace-garden of Rocking- ham, were five Terns' nests round the margins of the soil, overhung by the bushes that occupied the centre. A similar, but much larger colony, occupied an islet in Lough Oughter. On two stony islands in Lough Allen I found Terns having eggs in hollows of the gravel, on the outskirts of a colony of Black-headed Gulls. The Black-headed Gull is a bird to be met with every- where in the breeding season in these counties. It breeds in colonies, large or small, both on islands in lakes, which are usually small and ston}', and also on the great red bogs. In the latter the Gulls lay round the margins of the pools that occur in the wetter portions, as on Killeenmore Bog, in King's Co., where the hosts of Gulls that breed over so extended an area seem to increase from year to year, owing probably to protection. On a marsh of Lord Castletown's, in Queen's Co., B* 262 The Irish Naturalist. I saw an enormous and ver>^ dense assemblage of Gulls breed- ing on the i5tli April, 1893. Their nests were all on tussocks of sedge, standing out of shallow, muddy water, through which a punt was pushed. Few nests then contained eggs, though some clutches were complete. At Killeenmore Bog, on 30th April, 1892, many clutches were complete, but few sat upon. On the sheltered and crowded islets of I^ough Ke}^ many young Gulls were able to swim on 12th June, 1891 ; but on the exposed stony islands of I^ough Allen the eggs were not much incubated on 3rd June, 1893, and there were no 3^oung. Some nests were placed here within the shooting- shelters, built of loose stones ; and on lyough Derg I saw a nest on top of a tall, conical stone beacon, on an island, while others were on boulders and masses of stone standing in the water. It is a very pretty sight to see these Gulls chasing moths in the twilight over a grass field. They continue to do so until eleven o'clock, if not later. I have met with Black-headed Gulls in April, May, and June, on "^I^ough Erne, I^ough Ar- row, "lyough Key, '^ough Allen, lyOUgh Forbes, I^ough Oughter, *Lough Gowna, Lough Ree, the Shannon near Banagher, '^Killeenmore Bog, ''^'Lough Derg, and ''^marshes near Granston. They are also reported to breed elsewhere, in Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway, Westmeath, King's Co., Queen's Co., and Tipperary. The Lksskr Bi^ack-backbd GulIv I have only met with breeding on lyough Erne, except on the sea-coast ; yet I have met with it on so many lakes and rivers that I am convinced it must have many inland breeding places. I visited lower IvOUgh Erne on 9th June, 1891, and on reaching a lonely island, whose centre was covered with luxuriant natural wood, with a wide, flat, stony beach, I found some twelve or fifteen pairs of this species nesting among the large stones on this beach, the nests being formed of dried flags and grasses. This colony must have been robbed, as some nests contained eggs far advanced and chipping, others but one or two fresh eggs ; no other species of gull bred there. Mr. R. E. Dillon has shown me an ^%% answering to this species, taken on a bog near Clon- brock, in eastern Galway, and I have twice seen Lesser Black- backs on Lough Iron, Westmeath, in June, where the keeper informed me that he saw their 3^oung following them about the lake. I saw a pair in adult plumage on Lough Derg, on The Birds of the Midland Lakes arid Bogs. 263 27th May, 1893, and others elsewhere immature ; and Mr. Parker tells me that he always sees these Gulls come about the I St April, and that they remain during the breeding season, but disappear in winter. I have also seen them singly, or in pairs, in adult plumage, on Lough Key, Lough Allen, Lough Forbes, Lough Ree (two seasons Successively), on the Shannon near Banagher, and again near Athlone, and on the Nore above Thomastown. Their love of the offal of towns doubtless at- tracted them to the last three places, but their presence in so many inland places in the breeding season is significant. I have never to my recollection met wdth the Herring Gull in midland counties. The Great Crested Grebe breeds in small numbers on lakes from Hillsborough, in the Co. Down, and Castle Dillon Lake, Armagh, through the Monaghan lakes, and through the midland counties, on lakes great and small, down to the Clare end of Lough Derg, where I have taken its eggs on 27th May, 1893. The smaller lakes are frequented by one or two pairs ; but on the larger lakes, like Lough Ree, many pairs breed, not always apart from each other, for I there found two nests with eggs on 7th June, 1892, in a very small lagoon, whose entrance just admitted a boat, and was unfrequented. The nests were flat platforms of rotten rushes, placed among beds of the tall rushes that grow in the water. On Lough Ree I saw a great many Grebes in different parts. I should say they have no greater resort in Ireland. On Lough Iron I saw a good many, and they admitted tolerably near approach without sinking their bodies deep in the water, as they do when alarmed. Mr. Collier, the keeper, thinks there are eleven pairs on Lough Iron. I have seen their eggs from thence. Colonel Malone has seen a Grebe drop two young ones that she appeared to have been carrying on the water. The note of the Grebe is a croak, which can be heard at a considerable distance. When it dives it drawls the head back, points the bill downwards, then with a stroke of the feet submerges the breast and neck, and goes under without a splash. It will sometimes swim rapidly in one direction, dip its bill, and then swim rapidly in another direction. When watching the intruder the long white neck is held erect and the tufted head is easily distinguished. Grebes when approached on Lough Iron, where they are tame from protection, sometimes escape by flight rather than by 264 The Irish Naturalist. diving, as I have witnessed, and they then look not very unlike Mergansers on the wing, except that the large feet project be- hind. They select bays and parts of lakes sheltered by islands to breed in, and seem to avoid exposed lakes destitute of such refuges, like I^ough Allen and Lough Sheelin, as the sweep of large waves would destroy their nests. I have found them on lyough Erne, Lough Arrow, Lough Key, Lough Gowna, Curry- grane Lake, ^Lough Ree, Lough Iron, Lough Drin, and '"Lough Derg, and they have been reported to me from Lough Boderg, Lough Owel, where their eggs were taken. Lough Annagh, and Ballyfin, Queen's Co. The LiTTi^K Greek breeds throughout Ireland, but is par- ticularly common on the midland lakes and parts of the Shannon. I never saw so many Little Grebes' nests as I met with on Lough Ree on 7th June, 1892, on floating lumps of aquatic herbage, the clutches being then usually incomplete, but one young grebe, just escaped from the shell, immediately took to the water when I approached, and dived, using its legs and wings under water, to come up and dive again. On Lough Key I met with a Little Grebe's nest built upon a stone which stood in the water, and was sufficiently cup-shaped to hold the nest. I have met with Little Grebes on Lough Arrow, *Lough Key, '"Lough Sheelin, Currygrane Lake, *Lough Ree, Lough Iron, *Lough Owel, Lough Drin, the *Shannon near Banagher, and *Lough Derg. The Cormorant has breeding colonies in tall trees on some of the lakes. The most remarkable instance of this is at Lough Cutra, in Co. Galway, ten miles from the nearest tidal water, where, as Lord Gough informs me, *' cormorants have always bred in numbers on Parson's Island, three and a-half acres in extent. They have from forty to sixty nests yearly, high up in the trees, very large nests, mixed up with a large rookery and heronry ; also large numbers of Jackdaws, and, until lately, some hawks. All appear to live most amicably together." On Hermitage Island, Lough Key, is a smaller colony, where, on 12th June, 1891, I saw fourteen nests in ash-trees about thirty or forty feet from the ground. In one nest were large young in down ; in the others, fledged young. Several old Cormorants remained on these nests while we were be- neath. Occasional Cormorants may often be seen on all the larger lakes. I The Birds of the Midland Lakes and Bogs. 265 The Grey IvAG Goose is reported by Mr. Young to be "sometimes seen in Queen's Co. in winter," and by I^ord Castletown to be "very rare." Mr. Digby states that in King's Co. there are " a few in the winter." He has shot them. Mr. Kinahan says that it is an occasional visitor to the callows of the Little Brosna in Co. Tipperary. The White-fronted Goose is stated by Colonel Malone to be the commonest goose which occurs on I^ough Iron. Flocks are to be seen in the adjacent pasture-fields in winter, and in 1891 they remained well into May. Maxwell, the gamekeeper at Knockdrin, told me that on the 26th April, 1892, the latest date he saw geese, a flock flew over in V for- mation, out of which he counted thirty-five without exhaust- ing them. In eastern Gal way, Sir Henry Bellew states that this species is nearly as common as the Bean Goose. Mr. Digby informs me that in King's Co. it is common from Octo- ber to April. When visiting Killeenmore Bog, on 30th April, 1892, I saw two flocks of White-fronted Geese, comprising twenty-four birds in all. On the 6th May Mr. Digby wrote to me that they had gone. In Queen's Co., Mr. Young states that it is a regular winter visitor. In Tipperary, Mr. Purefoy says it is an occasional visitor in winter. The Bean Goose is a winter visitor to Sligo (Col. ffoUiott). In eastern Galwaj^, Sir H. Bellew considers it to be the com- monest goose. On the 7th February, 1893, one was shot out of a flock of about sixty near M9unt Bellew. One shot in Co. lyongford is preserved in Currygrane. In King's Co. Mr. Digby considers it fairly common, and in Queen's Co. Mr. Young says it is a regular winter visitor. The BARNACI.E Goose is, according to Sir H. Bellew, a common visitor to his part of Galway, as well as the Bean and White-fronted, and that there is no mistaking the sharp line of demarcation between the neck and the very white breast. The Whooper Swan is a winter visitor to I^ of natural selection has so impressed the public mind, or taken so large a place in popular scientific literature. While we admire the perfect protective resemblance exhi- bited by tropical "walking-sticks" and "leaf-butterflies," it is well to remember that in our own country animals are to be found which show similar resemblances in equal perfection. The white winter coat of our Mountain Hare in its snowy haunts, the mottled plumage of the Grouse on the moor, the russet dress of the Woodcock amid the faded Bracken, and the yellow-spotted skin of our famous Kerry slug ( Geomalacus maculosus) on the lichen-covered rocks,^ are instances of such adaptations of animals to their special surroundings. But it is among insects that this question has been more specially studied, and no better examples can be found than the "looping" caterpillars — the larvae of the great group of moths known to entomologists as Geometers. If we examine the caterpillar of a butterfly, a hawk-moth, or an owl-moth, we notice, in addition to the three pairs of true legs on the thoracic segments (which correspond to the six legs of the perfect insect), five pairs of "pro-legs" or claspers, situated on the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and tenth (hinder- ^ Scharfif, " The Slugs of Ireland." Sci. Trans, R.D.S. {2] vol. iv. pt. X., 1891. 28o The hish Naturalist, most) segments of the abdomen. But in the ''looping" caterpillars, only the pro-legs of the seventh and tenth abdo- minal segments are evidently present ; the three foremost pairs are wanting. These caterpillars, therefore, have six legs just behind the head, and four legs at the tail, the inter- mediate part of the body being limbless. Hence their peculiar, looping style of walking. The claspers are brought close up to the legs, the insect bending its body into a loop ; then the legs are disengaged, and attached at a point in advance, the body being straightened out (PI. 7, fig. 2). Then, by another loop, the claspers are again brought up. This process can be watched by anyone, in an insect only too common in our gardens — the black and yellow caterpillar of the Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariataj, which often devastates gooseberry and currant bushes. But the protective resemblance of the looping caterpillars to their surroundings is to be seen when they are at rest. Holding on to the stalk of its food-plant with its claspers, such a caterpillar often stretches its body out, straight and rigid, so that it looks exactly like a twig (PI. 7, fig. i). It is not surprising, therefore, to hear that the lady (Miss Stewart- Moore, of Ballylough, Co. Antrim), to whom we are indebted for the specimen figured on PI. 7, " catching hold of what she took to be the end of the branch, was surprised to find it soft." This particular kind of caterpillar is by no means uncommon, but its remarkable likeness to its surroundings must often cause it to escape observation. The moth to which it belongs is called Odontopera bidentata, or the " Scalloped Hazel," a greyish brown insect with deeply dentated wings. This caterpillar was kept for awhile alive under observation. When disturbed or touched, it would immediately stretch out its body in the attitude shown in fig. i, and remain for a con- siderable time quite still and rigid. This position must entail a considerable strain upon the muscles, and seems to be rather ironically called "resting," but immobility is, of course, neces- sary to the success of the resemblance. The legs, which, if prominent, might betray it to a hungry bird, are pressed close to the underside of the body, and so concealed. This habit, and the wonderful resemblance to which it leads, have long been noted by naturalists. Drawings of various looping cater- pillars in this resting attitude may be seen in Prof. Poulton's A Deceptive Caterpillar. 281 recent book on "The 'Colours of Animals," and the same investigator has more recently published' extensive researches on the subject, a summary of which may be found in an article^ by the present writer. The particular caterpillar whose portraits are given on PL 7, does not, however, seem to have been specially noticed in this connection. The opportunity of photographing a living specimen was, there- fore, worth seizing, both on that account, and also for the purpose of directing attention to a fascinating branch of field natural history in which the camera will prove a valuable weapon to the naturalist. For the photographs on PI. 7, our best thanks are due to Mr. F. T. Eason. Not only in form, but in colour and markings, does this caterpillar correspond with its surroundings. The greenish- grey lichen, covering the surface of the rose- twigs, is beauti- fully imitated by the mottled pattern on the insect's back, light greenish patches on a dark background irresistibly suggesting the patches of lichen on the wood. This cater- pillar, like many other loopers, is variable, being sometimes dark, and sometimes light or greenish. In Prof. Poulton's memoir, already mentioned, it is shown that the colour of a looping caterpillar often depends upon its surroundings in its early stages. Young caterpillars of Boarmia repajidata and other geometrid moths reared among dark twigs grew up dark, while those reared among green shoots were light or greenish in hue. The dark colour is due to pigment in the skin ; when this pigment is scanty, or absent, the green of the underlying tissue shows through. By a series of beautiful experiments. Prof. Poulton proves that the presence of certain yellow rays of the solar spectrum hinder the formation of the dark pigment. These rays are absorbed by dark objects, but are reflected from green leaves and shoots ; and hence comes the wonderful power of the caterpillar to correspond in colour with its environment. This power is, however, lost after the third or fourth moult, for no change could be induced in the insects by altering their surroundings at that stage. It must be remembered that caterpillars do not, as a rule, change their habitat naturally; they are hatched, grow up, and pupate on the same plant. Hence it is enough that they be sensitive in their young stages. There can be no doubt 1 Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1892. ^ 2^atural Science, April, 1893. 282 The Irish Naturalist. that the caterpillar of Odo7itopera, which is also sometimes dark, and sometimes greenish (as the specimen photographed) is sensitive in the same way as the insects on which Prof. Poulton experimented. Besides its protective resemblance, this caterpillar of Odo7itopera has another point of considerable interest. It was mentioned above that in looping caterpillars the three front pairs of claspers are wanting. This is generally the case, but, like most statements about natural objects, some qualification is required. In a few loopers one or two of these pairs of claspers are present in a greatly reduced or vestigial condition, and in Odontopera the foremost pair alone is entirely wanting. In fig. I one of these vestigial claspers can be clearly seen just beyond the end of the twig to which the insect clings. These reduced organs tell us that this race of caterpillars were not loopers always, but that their ancestral moths had cater- pillars with the full number of claspers. It is possible that the twig-imitating habit of the group may have helped the disappearance of the front claspers, which would rather spoil the imitative effect. It will be remarked that the term '' protective resemblance'* has been used for the likeness of ^lis caterpillar to a twig. The term " mimicry," sometimes employed in this connection, should be reserved for another kind of imitative appearance, the resemblance of an animal to another animal, which belongs to a different group, and which is protected by some noxious or distasteful character. The likenesses of certain moths and two-winged flies to the stinging bees and wasps are examples of mimicry. For many years the facts of protective resemblance and mimicry among insects, have been received without doubt as testimonies to the action of natural selection. Irately, however, it has been questioned whether the advantages derived from these likenesses are so great as had been supposed. The accepted interpretation of the phenomena is so natural and beautiful, that it will not be abandoned until a better is forthcoming, which many of us think will never be. But no accepted theories should blind the eyes of the naturalist to the reception of new light. Observations in the field and careful experiments can alone determine what amount of benefit these creatures derive from their deceptive appearance. [ 283 ] NOTES ON THE FLORA OF COUNTY DUBUN. BY NATHANIKI. COI^GAN. It is now more than a century and a-half since the genial enthusiast, Caleb Threlkeld, laid the foundations of Irish botany in his well-known Syiiopsis Stirphwi Hibcrnica-nim, indited, as his preface tells us, in the year 1726 from his house in Mark's-alley, Dublin. Threlkeld's work, while it deals with the flora of Ireland in general, has special reference to the native plants of the environs of Dublin, and giving, as it does, definite localities in the neighbourhood of the city for some 140 species of phanerogams and ferns, may fairly be regarded as a first essay at a County Dublin Flora. From Threlkeld's time onwards, the plants of the county have engaged the attention of a series of botanists, professional and dilletante. As the seat of the University, the Royal Dublin Society, and the Medical Schools, the Irish capital became naturally the chief centre of Irish botanical science, and the surrounding country the favourite field for its practical study ; so that as regards the more immediate surroundings of the city, perhaps no district in Ireland has had its flora more thoroughly explored. But from the very nature of the case this exploration was anything but systematic ; and the only serious attempt at a painstaking botanical survey of the county, that carried out by Dr. Walter Wade towards the close of last century,' is in many points incomplete. Most of all is it defective in the study of distribution. Large tracts of the county, in fact, were never examined by Wade, and con- sequently little reliance can be placed upon his determination of comparative rarity or abundance of species. With all its shortcomings, however. Wade's Catalogue of Native Plants of the County of Dublin is a meritorious work. In one respect especially, is the author deserving of unstinted praise— he has made it a point to see for himself every species he records. All through his catalogue he makes inveyii take the place of ^ Catalogtis systematicus Plantanim Indigenarum in Coniitatu Dublinensi Inventartim—Dnhlm, 1794. In a rapid survey of the botanical Hterature for the county Dr. Rutty 's Natural History of the County of Duhlin (1772) scarcely deserves mention His chapters on plants are little more than a treatise on medical and economic botany. 284 The Irish Nahiralist. the impersonal and irresponsible habitat, and thus makes him- self answerable for every species and every station recorded. Some rigid critics may be inclined to hold that Wade has much to answer for. In several instances, no doubt, he has found what no other botanist has found after him ; in a few, he has recorded what there is strong reason to believe never grew in the county. But it is very easy from the height of our modern advantages to look down with too censorious eyes on the labours of the earlier botanists. After Wade's Catalogue, which excluded the sedges and ferns, deferred to a Second Part, never published, no fresh attempt at a Co. Dublin Flora was made. Wade himself gave many new localities for the county in his Plantae Rariores (1804). In Mackay's Catalogues of Irish Plants (1806-25) ; in the Irish Flora of I^ady Kane (1833) ; the Flora Hibernica of Mackay (1836) ; the Cybele Hiber^iica of Moore and More (1866), and the British Association Guide to the County Dublin (1878), many others were added ; and, finally, in Mr. H. C. Hart's Flora of Howth (1887), a section of the county and, perhaps, the richest of all, had its botany worked out in detail. To this last work an appendix of Co. Dublin plants found outside the Howth peninsula was added, sufficiently full to enable the student to make a rough estimate of the extent, in species, of the local county flora. It will thus be seen that for many years much scattered material had existed with which the foundations, at least, of an exhaustive Co. Dublin Flora might be laid. But, so far, no one had been tempted to utilize this material for such a purpose when some eighteen months ago it occurred to me that a systematic botanical survey of the entire county was for many reasons a task worth undertaking. The work was accordingly begun without delay, as soon, in fact, as I had laid down on the one-inch Ordnance maps the artificial divi- sions of the field of inquiry indispensable for the proper study of distribution. Such a survey, as every practical botanist well knows, is necessarily a tedious one if done at all thoroughly; yet the steady devotion to the work of the leisure moments of the past two seasons has already accomplished this much — it has enabled me to form a just estimate of the distribution of a majority of the Co. Dublin species, and to collect a consider- able mass of evidence bearing on the difficult problem of the relations between plants and soils. Notes 011 the Flora of Cotmty Dubliii. 285 Many of the results arrived at] up to the present, whatever their value may be, are necessarily in the nature of dry detail. Some, however, are likely to be read with interest by all who have any practical acquaintance with the county flora, and a short selection from these I now propose to give here, embodying with these more recent observations, a few of the results of many previous years of desultory botanizing in the more picturesque southern or mountain districts of the county These notes may be conveniently arranged under three classes : — I. Plants not previously recorded for the county ; II. Recent observations of rarer species recorded only by the earlier writers ; and III. Rarer Co. Dublin species found in new stations.' I.— PIvANTS NOT PRBVIOUSI.Y RECORDED FOR CO. DUBLIN. Hieracium umbellatum, Ivinn. — Left bank of the Glencullen river in considerable quantity, below the bridge on granite rocks and about half a mile above it on open field-banks. Previously known in many stations in the Co, Wicklow. The Hawkweed flora of the Co. Dublin is extremely limited ; in addition to this vSpecies and the ubiquitous H. Filosella, it includes only one other species, H. vulgaiu/n (Fries) found on the Liffey above Leixlip by Mr. A. G. More {Cyb. Hib. p. I75)--N. C. OroJtjanche minor, Sutt. — In abundance, on Trifolitun pratense, in Shennick's Island, Skerries, where it was found and pointed out to me by my brother, Rev. Wm. Colgan, in July, 1893. I am not aware of any previous record for the county. Utricularia ncglecta, Lehm.— (i) Quarry hole by the Ward River below Chapelmidway and (2) pools in the Bog of the Ring near Balrothery (Balbriggan) July, 1893. Mr. Arthur Bennett has kindly cleared up my doubts as to the identity of this plant. Added to the Irish Flora by Mr. R. W. Scully from Kerry in 1887.— N. C. Carex tcretiuscula, Good.— By the Royal Canal above Clonsilla, sparingly, July, 1893 ; probably carried down by the canal from the inland bogs. — N. C. Elcocharis acicularis, (Sm.)— Along the Grand Canal from Hazel- hatch to Clondalkin, in great abundance, September 30, 1S93. Grow- ing in from 3 to 18 inches of water, the abortive spikes conspicuously floating on the surface in the shallower situations. Pre\iously found by Mr. R. LI. Praeger higher up the same canal in Queen's Co. and Co. Kildare (see Ir. Nat. Oct. 1893). The Co. Dublin plant in some of my specimens is fully 94 inches long and is obviously the recognised deep-water form mentioned in Babington's "Manual" (8th Ed. p. 390). In seasons of average rainfall the plant will, no doubt, be found totally submerged in the canal.— N. C. To these additions, as I believe them to be, to the county flora may be added the two following, hitherto unpublished, ' In the following notes my own observations are distinguished by the initials N. C. 286 The Irish Naturalist. and due to the researches of my friends, Rev. C. F. d'Arcy and Mr. R. W. Scully. Scutellaria gralericulata, lyinn. — Found by the Royal Canal below Lncan station, sparingly, circa 1887, by Mr. R. W. Scully, who has shown me specimens from this locality. I am on the whole inclined to agree with H. C. Hart in holding that Wade's record for this species : " In the marshes of Howth " {PL Rar. 1804) should be transferred to S. minor which I have gathered fully twelve years ago on Howth Head in one of the stations given by Mr. Hart. If this revision of Wade's record be correct, Mr. Scully's station becomes the first county record for S. galericulata. Polypodium Phegoptcris, Linn. — Found on damp shaded rocks on Secawn mountain, Glenasmole, circa 1883, by Rev. C. F. d'Arcy, who soon afterwards showed me the plants growing there. Perhaps this species and Osmunda regalis, recorded from Howth by Mr. H. C. Hart, are now amongst the rarest of the Co. Dublin ferns. II.— RECENT OBSERVATIONS OF RARER SPECIES RECORDED ONLY BY THE EARLIER WRITERS. Corydalis claviculata, DC. — On a granite tahis in Glenamuck near the Scalp, 1882. This is the only Co. Dublin station in which I have seen the plant, and I can find no other county records more recent than those in Flora Hibernica (1836). — N. C. Bidens cernua, Linn. —Abundant in the Bog of the Ring south of Balrothery (Balbriggan) July, 1893.— N. C. B. tripartita, Linn. — Abundant at the pond near Balrothery known as the Lough or Knock pond, July, 1893. The pond had become very much reduced in size by the extreme dryness of the year, and the Bidens appeared growing in a stunted form stranded many yards from the water's edge. So far, I have found this and the preceding species only in the stations here given, and though both appear to be very rare in the county, I can find no definite localities for either later than Wade's (1794). Lysimachia vulgaris, Linn. — In small quantity in an old quarry by the Delvin river nearly opposite StamuUen in the extreme north of the county, July, 1893. Hitherto this species could only claim a place in the Dublin flora on the faith of the old record : " about Loughlinstown and Old Connaught" in the Irish Flora {\'^2)'h)' ^^ this station it has not, I believe, been seen for very many years. — N. C. Ruppia spiralis, Hartm. — Tidal river-reaches near the head of the Malahide estuary, abundantly, in two stations (i) near Lissen Hall at the mouth of the Broad Meadow Water, and again (2) about a mile to the eastward near Newport House, July, 1893. These appear to be the first definite localities for this plant in the county, the only previous mention I can find of it being the reference in Cyb. Hib. (p. 316) to a specimen labelled in Dr. Mackay's Herbarium "near Dublin, &c."— N. C. Hydrocharis IVIorsus-ranae, Linn. — This species, now very rare in the county, though probably much more plentiful before the low- lying bogs were drained, I found in three stations in July, 1893 : (i) the Bog of the Ring, (2) Curragha Bog, and (3) the Broad Meadow Water near the old church of Killossory. In the first two stations it grows in abundance, but only very sparingly in the third. As regards station 2, given in Wade's Planta Kariores (1804), the difiiculty is rather to find the bog than the plant ; for drainage has reduced this favourite hunting-ground of the earlier botanists to one deep pool about 50 feet long by 15 wide and a couple of ditches adjoining. Notes on the Flora of County Dublin. 287 Both pool and ditches, however, still nourish abundance of this interesting species. This station very narrowly escapes being in the Co. Meath, but careful study of the map and the aid of an intelli- gent resident farmer, who traced out for me the actual county boundary, set it beyond all douljt that this last remnant of the Cur- raglia ' Bog is in the Co. Dublin. — N. C. Malaxis paludosa, Sw.— On Glendhu mountain in considerable quan- tity, growing on a level stretch of living Sphai^'num at a height of about 1,500 feet, July, 1884; the only station in which I have found it in the county. Mr. John Bain, the veteran of Irish botanists, assurecl me in March last that he had gathered Malaxis in great abundance at the head of Kelly's Glen- both before and after the publication of the Flora Hibernica (1836). The plant does not appear to have been observed there recently. So well does its small size and quasi- protective colouring enable Malaxis to elude discovery that I have met with more than one botanist of wide experience who has never had the good fortune to ^ee the plant growing. — N. C. Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, Hook.— Sparingly on one of the upper forks of the Dodder River, Glenasmole, where it was pointed out to me by Rev. C. F. d'Arcy in 1883. This seems to be the locality set down, in error, no doubt, in the Irish Flora (1833) for H. Tun- bridgense. III.— RARER CO. DUBIvIN SPECIES OBSERVED IN NEW STATIONS. Nasturtium palustre, DC— (i) The Ivough, Balrothery, (2) Bog of the Ring, (3) near Baldwinstown cross-roads, and (4) north of Lusk, July, 1893 (for all stations). — N. C. Senebiera didyma, Persoon — Roadside at Kilmacud about one mile west of Stillorgan, but not abundantly, October, 1892. Very rare in the county. — N. C. Hypericum hirsutum, I^inn. — Hedgerows near Drimnagh, a few plants, September, 1892. — N. C. Trifolium fragiferum, Linn. — (i) Shore south of Raheny, abun- dantly, 1892 ; (2) marshy hollows by the Grand Canal, Hazelhatch, 1893, and (3) by the River Tolka, near Mulhuddart, 1893. The inland stations 2 and 3, distant respectively twelve and eight miles from the nearest sea, are interesting from their position, as the species, in Ire- land, at least, appears to have a decided preference for the coast. — N. C. "^Linaria minor, Desf. — Abundantly along the railway line from Clontra to Bray river, September, 1893. Also noted this year by Mr. R. Ivl. Praeger in abundance along the railway at Foxrock. A species which spreads very rapidly along railways, growing by preference in the ballast.— N. C. IChcnopodium rubrum, Linn.— (i) Wet ground by the Ward River near Chapelmidway, July, 1893, (2) banks of the Grand Canal at Hazelhatch, September, 1893, and (3) by the watercourse connecting the upper and lower ponds of Brittas, October, 1893. Well estab- lished in all three stations ; certainly introduced by traffic in (2) ; pro- bably a farmyard outcast in (i); and most remote from dwellings in (3). Very rare in the county. — N. C. 1 Pronounced Curragh-ha by the peasantry of the district. "^ The Upper Dodder valley, now, and, as I believe, always known to the inhabitants as Glenasmole. I have many times inquired for Kelly's Glen from natives, young and old, of the Upper Dodder valley, and have been invariably referred to the valley lying some three miles farther to the N. E. between the Kilmashogue and Tibradden mountains.— N. C. 288 The Irish Naturalist, Lemna g:ibba, Linn. — Very abundant in a pond near Ballisk, Donabate, July, 1893. The only other record for the county seems to be : " Pond near Glasnevin, D. M.," Cyb. Hib. (1866).— N. C. Carex strigosa, Huds. — (i) Hedgerows near Drimnagh and (2) near Kilsallaghan, 1893. One of the rarest sedges of the county. — N. C. Equisetuin Wilson i, Newm. — On the Dodder River near Boherna- breena and at Rathfarnham, 1893. Still very abundant in its old station along the Royal Canal, above and below Clonsilla. — N. C. In concluding these brief notes I desire to express my best thanks to my friend, Mr. A. G. More, for the valuable counsel and assistance he has given me in many way in the prosecu- tion of my researches, and to Mr. Arthur Bennett for his kindness in determining for me some critical plants collected in the county.' THE EARTHWORMS OF IREI.AND. BY RKV. HIIvDKRiC FRIKND, F.I,.S. ( Concltided from page 276.) AIIui*us, Eisen. The lip or prostomium either slightly attached, or cutting more or less deeply into the peristomium, or buccal segment. Setae in four couples, occupying the four angles of the body posteriorly. Girdle of five or more segments, commencing on the i8th or some more posterior seg- ment. Tubercula pubertatis on three consecutive girdle segments. Male or spermiducal pores on segment 13, and thus in front of the ovi- ducal pores, usually on papillae, lateral in position. Spermatophores attached ventrally between male pores and girdle. Body cylindrical in front, quadrangular behind. Notwithstanding Beddard's able diagnosis^ the internal characters of the whole genus need revision. Owing to the paucity of materials I have as yet been unable to dissect the recently discovered species, but their external characters will amply suffice for identification. ^ I shall be glad to correspond with any reader of the Irish Naturalist who may be able to supply me with further new stations for any of the foregoing or other of the rarer species of the county. All communi- cations on the subject addressed to me to i Belgrave-road, Rathmines, Co. Dublin, will be thankfully acknowledged. — ^N. C. ■"^Q.J. M. Sc, 1888, vol. vi., pt. ii., pp. 365-71. The Earthworms of Ireland. 289 SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. I.— Allurus tetraedrus, vSavigny— A small worm, seldom reach- ing two inches in len<,4h, usually about one to one and a-half inches when crawling about, but able to stretch to two or even three inches in the case of the largest specimens. Body somewhat cylindrical before four-angled behind the girdle, which is prominent, and closely fused' It often appears to encircle the whole body, is lighter in colour, an(i normally extends from the 22nd to the 27th segment. A glandular ridge connects the girdle with the male pores on the 13th segment These latter pores are well seen, being seated on somewhat conspicuous papillae. The oviducal pores are on segment 14, thus being behind the male pores, while in Lumbriais they are in front. Dorsal pores com- mence between the 4th and 5th segments. In addition to the ordinary setae, situated at the angles of the body, there are rod-shaped bristles on the segments which contain the essential organs, as well as minute claw- like setae or spines scattered over the body. The ordinary seta; carry some minute projections on the extremity which projects outwards, while the internal extremity is attached to its sac by a congeries of fine muscular threads. The tubercula pubertatis form a band on either side the girdle, and occupy segments 23, 24, 25, or in some cases segments 23 to 26 inclusive. This point needs fuller investigation. I have found both arrangements, but am at present unable to say whether there is specific difference between the two forms. The colour varies considerably, on which account Eisen has distin- guished a type and varieties. The type is usually sienna brown, darker in front, with lighter girdle, and the tail often of a fleshy brown, or tending to green. It undoubtedly simulates the colour of its surround- ings, or is able to bring about a close resemblance between its body- colour and the colour of the soil or vegetatiou amid which it resides. The worm is exceedingly active, and is able to move rapidly backwards, a mode of locomotion which it seems to prefer to direct progression. I have not found allusion in any w^riter to the spermatophores which the animal carries about during the breeding season. I have found them repeatedly affixed to the ventral surface, usually about segments 19 or 20. Internally I find spermathecae in segments 9 and 10, and the crop and gizzard as in Lumbricus. In this I differ from Beddard, whose Teneriffe species comes nearer to the third British species mentioned below. Total number of segments — 60 to 90, or about twice as many behind the girdle as before it. The egg-capsules of this worm are to be found in great abundance at almost every season of the year. They are small, and of an olive-green colour. The young seem to reach an adult condition very early, and this fact, together with the power to go rapidly backwards, and the almost complete encirclement of the body by the girdle, seems to point to a primitive type, and indicate that Alhirus is a surviving link by which to connect our earthworms with their progenitors of aquatic habit. The synonyms are numerous. 1829. Enterion tetraedrtim, Savigny, " Histoire des Progres des Sciences Naturelles" (Cuvier), ser. 11, vol. iv., p. 17. 1837. Ltimbriais tetraedrus^ Duges, Annales des Sciences Nat. ser. il., vol. viii., pp. 17-23. 1843. Lumbricus agilis, Hoffmeister, Wiegmann's Archiv. fiir Naturge- schichte, p. 191, Tab. ix., fig. 6; also " Familie der Regen- wiirmer," 1845, p. 36, fig. 8. 1851. Lumbricus tetraedrus, Grube, "Die Familien der Anneliden," pp. 99. 145- 1861. Liwibricus tetraedrus, Johnston, " A Catalogue of British Worms," p. 61. 1870. Lufnbrictis tetraedrus, 'Bis&n, Ofversigt af K. Vetensk.-Akad.,Y>- 99^-']' 1873. Alhirus tetraedrtis, Eisen, Ofversigt af K. V.-Akad., No. 8, p. 54. 1884. Allurus tetraedrus, Rosa, " I lyumbricidi del Piemonte," p. 51. 290 The Irish Naturalist. The distribution appears not to be limited to Europe. I have records for Hungary (CE^rley, A Magyar. Olig. Faunaja, 1880), France, Italy, Tenenfte, Germany, Bohemia, Scandinavia, England, Valparaiso, etc. Mr. Beddard says : " Allurns tetra'edrus must be regarded as a rather uncer- tain North American form. I have included it in the list (of Nearctic worms) on the strength of a specimen kindly sent to me some time since by Mr. Tyrrell, of the Canadian Geological Survey. I examined this specimen by means of longitudinal sections, and identified it with Allurus on account of the structure of the gizzard."* In Britain it is ubiquitous. I have found it in, or received it from Sussex, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and elsewhere. It may almost without exception be found wherever water occurs — by ditches, ponds, streams, rivers, and lakes, usually in considerable numbers. The soil, however, has some influence on the worm ; clay and iron are eschewed. Respecting the varieties which exist it is at present difficult to speak with certainty. Eisen gives two, which Q^rley includes in his Hungarian list, and I have found others which will merit attention when the subject has been more fully worked. Colour alone is not a sufficient test, and we do not know how far the girdle and tubercula pubertatis may be liable to variation without affecting the species. 1. A. tetraedrus, var. luteus, Eisen — Body sienna-brown, yellow ventrally. Girdle warm yellow or pale cinnabar-red. I find this variety chiefly in sandy or gravelly beds, somewhat widely distributed. 2. A. tetraedrus, var. obscurtcs, Eisen — Body grey-brown, with pale ventral surface. Girdle of the same colour as the rest of the body, or somewhat lighter. Seems to prefer roots of grass by the sides of streams and ditches in meadow or pasture land. It is as common as the type, and may owe its colour simply to its environment. In this case we have an interesting question yet to solve. What can be the value to the worm of this mimicry ? Distribution in IreI/AND. — Malahide, Co. Dublin (Mr. Trumbull); Cash el, Tipperary (Lt.-Col. Kelsall) ; Carrablagh, Co. Donegal (Mr. Hart). [2. Allurus amphisbacna, Duges — Though the majority of writers have confused this species with the last, Rosa and Eisen have already pointed out the fact that the characters are widely different. I had also come to the same conclusion long before seeing the remarks of these careful investigators. Duges first described the worm in 1828 under the title Enterion aniphisbcsna. His reason for adopting the latter name is to be found in the fact that this worm (like the one already described, and, in a lesser degree, Ltimbricus purpiireus, Eisen) can go as readily backwards as forwards, after the fashion of the serpent of which Lucanus sang. Nine years later (in 1837) Duges returned to the same subject, and he now affirms that his worm is quite distinct from that of Savigny. He there- fore named the one Ltanbricus tetraedrus and the other Ltimbricus atnphis- bcena, and gave a clear diagnosis of each. A. amphisbcena differs from the other in the following particulars : — There are fewer girdle segments, the colour, size, and shape differ, and, above all, the insertion of the lip into the peristomium is quite dissimilar. If Eisen's diagnosis were pressed we should have to put this worm with the genus Lumbricus ; but, just as one of the Dendrobcenoe has the head of a Lumbricus, with all the other characters of an Allolobophora, so this worm has all the characters of an Allurus, with the head of a Ltimbricus, Eisen's lip and peristomium arrangement, therefore, falls through. A. amphisbcena, Duges, is a small worm, with a crenulated tail, which is prismatic when contracted, and the body colour is violet, with iridescence. The girdle occupies segments 23 to 28 (or 22-27), and the lip forms a perfect mortise and tenon with the 1 " Proc. Roy. Phy. Soc.y Ed., 1891. Q. J. M. Sc, vol. vi., pt. II., p. 365 (1888). The Ea rth worms of Ire I a nd 291 prostomium. Duges examined many specimens, and persisted in the assertion that the worms differed specifically. I have found specimens in the south of England which correspond almost exactly with Dugcs' description. Rosa does not record it for Italy, nor Kiscn for vScandiiiavia and we need further light on the sul)ject. It has not reached me froni Ireland, but is included here to make the study of the genus complete. Respecting the synonymy, the only confusion that exists has arisen from the tendency of authors to identify this species with the foregoing. Henceforth they must be kept distinct.] [3. Allurus flavus, Friend— In 1890 I found a species oiAllurusxn the bed of the River Eden, about two miles west of Carlisle, which dif- fered in several particulars from either of the foregoing. I gave a l^rief description of it at the time ; then regarding it as corresponding with A. tetracdriis, var. lutetis of Bisen. Fuller investigation has led me to con- clude that it is a new species. I found one solitary example in 1891 in the bed of a small stream at Calverley, near Leeds, since which time I have not observed another living example among all the thousands of specimens which have passed through my hands. When the opportunity recurs for me to examine living material I shall be able to speak with greater certainty respecting the specific differences, as my knowledge of the group has greatly developed during the past two years. There are certainly internal differences, and I am disposed to think the Teneriffe examples ^examined by Mr. Beddard come very near or belong directly to this species. A. flavus, Friend, is of a rich yellow or gold colour throughout, nearly transparent, so that the blood-vessels can be clearly seen. Lip very palid; girdle orange-coloured, usually on segments 23-26, with a band {tubercula pubertatis) on 23, 24, 25. The tail is often more cylindrical in shape than in the foregoing species, and it is usually a good deal smaller than the type, though possessing a similar number of seg- ments. Hitherto it has been found only in the localities named, and it is without synonyms, so far as I am aware.] [4. Allurus tetragon urus, Friend— As already stated, this worm has recently reached me from Bangor, N. "Wales. It is about an inch to an inch and a-half in length, but a good deal wider in proportion to its length than any other species yet examined. The lip is pallid, and does not cut deeply into the first segment or peristomium. The male pores on the 13th segment are small, but clearly discernible. The girdle is very prominent and closely fused ; it extends from the iSth to the 22nd seg- ment, and surrounds the entire body — not after the fashion of Perichccta^ but as is frequently the case with A. tetraedrus, Savigny. The tubercida pubertatis form a distinct band on either side of the middlemost girdle seg- ments 19, 20, 21. The total number of segments is from 80 to 90, and these diminish in size from the girdle in either direction. Excepting near the anal extremity, a section taken through the worm's body would in no case be quadrangular, as in the case of the type. At least one-half of the body has an oval contour, somewhat flattened on the under sur- face. The head is warm-brown, the girdle yellow-brown, and the hinder part light sienna-brown. In colour, therefore, it resembles var. hiteusy Bisen. Owing to lack of suitable material, I am at present unable to report on the internal structure. Unless this worm should prove to be identical with Tetragonurus pupa, Bisen, it is at present without synonyms, and Bangor is the only known locality.] 5. Allurus macrurus, Friend— Among a very valuable series of worms sent to me by J. Trumbull, Bsq., L.R.C.S., from Malahide on November 22nd, 1892, I found a single specimen of an Allurus which is totally different from any British species yet described ; and as it is also, so far as I am able at present to determine, distinct from every other species known to science, I send this preliminary note respecting it. Fuller details must be reserved till a further supply of material can be obtained. 292 The Irish Naturalist. The Long-tailed Allurus {A. macrurus, Friend), when preserved in alcohol is 3 cm., or neariy an inch and a-half in length, and 5 millimetres in diameter across the girdle. In this brief space we find no fewer than 160 segments, those behind the girdle being the narrowest I have ever seen in any earthworm at home or abroad. Like its nearest ally {A. tetra- gonurus, Friend), it has the girdle in a very advanced position, apparently covering segments 15 to 22. The clitellar papillae {tuberada pubertatis) are on the underside of the girdle-segments 20, 21. On segments 13 and 22 we find ventral papillse of a peculiar character, arranged in twins. The head is fleshy pink, the body of a peculiar greenish hue, quite different from any other species known to me. The girdle is yellowish, and retains a somewhat yellow-green hue in spirits. The setae are wide apart, and the anus is peculiar in shape, size, and general appearance. The enor- mous number of segments behind the girdle (viz. , 140) has suggested the name macrurus or the Long-tailed Worm, and the presence of the male pores on segment 13 determine its position in the family. We now have five species of Allurus in Great Britain, each one of which, however, merits a good deal of further investi- gation. Of the life history, distribution, affinities, varietal forms, range of habitat, and other matters we at present know very little, and I shall welcome any assistance from collectors in Ireland which will make this subject better known. The West of Ireland should yield one or two more species if care- fully worked. A summary of the genus may fitly bring this memoir to a close. TABLE OF THE GENUS ALLURUS. Allurus. Segments occupied by : Length. Shape. Colour. Prostomium. Male Pore. Girdle 1. tetracdrus, Savigny, 1828 13 22-27 2-in. Cylindrical before, Quadrangular be- hind. Sienna Brown. Partially cuttting peristomium. 2. amphisbaena, Duges, 1828 13 23-28 i^-in. Crenulated pris- matic. Violet, irides- cent. Entirely bisecting peristomium. 3. flavus. Friend, 1890 13 23-26 ij-in. Cylindrical to quad- rangular. Golden yellow. Slightly cutting peristomium. 4. tetragon urus, Friend, 1892 13 18-22 i^-in. Oval before, wide in proportion. Dark to yellow brown. Partially cutting peristomium 5- macrurus, Fr. 1893 13 15-22 i^-in. Much wider in front than behind. Pink head, greenish body. Not cutting peri- stomium. — 293 — AMERICAN BIRD-VISITORS TO IRELAND AT HOME. BY W. E. PRAKGE^R, OF KEOKUK, IOWA. V. The BeIvTEd Kingfisher (^Ccryle alcyon). The only instances of this bird's occurrence on the eastern shores of the Atlantic are the two well-authenticated Irish records. One specimen was shot in Co. Meath, on the 26th October, 1844, and another in Co. Wicklow in November of the same year. The skins are still preserved, one in Trinity College, and the other in the Science and Art Museum, Dublin. It is remarkable that in a continent as well supplied with rivers and lakes as temperate N. America, there should be only one kind of Kingfisher. But the western world, as a whole, is poor in Kingfishers, only having six or eight species, all belonging to a single genus, or only about five per cent, of the known species. It is probable that Kingfishers are a very recent introduction, and in those portions of the continent where the water is frozen in winter, and for some distance south of that line, the extensive migration has encouraged interbreeding, so that in all the vast area this includes — a ter- ritory probably better supplied with fresh water than any other of similar area on the globe — only one species of King- fisher exists to-day. All other American species are inhabi- tants of the tropical or sub-tropical regions of the continent, where, being residents, the development of a number of local races and species has taken place. But what our country may lack in variety of species, it makes up in number of individuals. All through the con- tinent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Arctic Ocean to Panama and the West Indies, the Belted Kingfisher is a common bird. It is resident wherever it can be, but is driven out of the northern portions of its range by the freez- ing of the waters; yet if it can only find open water, it will stay all the winter, no matter how cold the weather may become, and records of its remaining near warm springs or salt water through intensely cold winters are not uncommon. It moves north early, following the melting of the ice, and before our ears have grown accustomed to the unwonted sounds of waves and running waters, the loud laugh of the Kingfisher comes as their natural accompaniment. 294 ^^^ Irish Naturalist. The Kingfisher is a solitary bird, and except in the breed- ing season, two are rarely seen together, unless fishing- grounds are scarce. Soon after their arrival each pair selects a suitable nesting-site and fishing-ground, from both of which all intruders are kept away. River-men say that the whole length of the Mississippi, with all its bays and creeks, is thus divided among the Kingfishers, each pair having its own territory. The nesting-site is some bank of sand or clay, usually but not always above water ; there a hole is dug from four to eight, or even fifteen feet in depth, and the eggs deposited in a chamber at the farther end. No nest is built, but the hole is often lined with fish-bones mingled with other refuse of the bird's food. The eggs are usually six in number, pure glossy white, and measure about 1.35 by 1.05. The Kingfisher varies his usual diet of fish with an occasional lizard, small snake, crab, craw-fish, or mouse ; the indigestible portions of his food are cast up in the form of pellets, after the manner of the birds of prey. When a Belted Kingfisher is in the neighbourhood, the most careless observer is sure to notice him. His note, frequently sounded, is a loud rattling laugh. He is a large bird, and chooses the most conspicuous places for perching, where his great bill and bushy crest make him recognisable as far as seen. The Irishman, accustomed to the little jewelled darling of his own hill-streams, would call him a " coorse lump of a bird." He is over a foot long, and about two feet in expanse of wing. The wings and tail are both proportion- ately longer than in the genus Alcedo, to which the Irish Kingfisher belongs. The general colour of the upper parts of the Belted King- fisher is slaty-blue, and of the under parts white ; the wings are spotted, and the tail barred with white. The female has the breast-band shaded with chestnut, and is chestnut on the belly and flanks ; young birds resemble the female. While the Belted Kingfisher is found in a variety of sur- roundings, wherever in fact there is water from which he may obtain his food, and while I have seen him in just such quiet nooks as the Irish Kingfisher loves to haunt, yet he is chiefly associated in my mind with very different scenes. It is the I St of September, the breeding season is over, and the first migrants are already here from the north. The collector American Bird- Visitors to Irela^id at Home. 295 takes down his gun, which for over three months has been idle, and again visits his favourite hunting-ground. The great river has been shrinking all through the hot summer, and is now a paltry stream less than half a mile wide, and leaving wide stretches of sand, where waters were deep in the fresh spring-time, and where now the islands with their luxu- riant foliage appear as oases in a desert. Here and there, pools of water are left, and the same eddy of the great river that hollowed out the sandy bottom has undermined the bank, and several large trees lie in a tangled mass in and above the pool. On the topmost of the dead branches the bird well called Kingfisher sits, and rattles loudly as the col- lector tries vainly to approach unobserved the likely spot. A big heron rises, wariest of birds, rarely giving a chance for a shot. Soon he is followed by a beautiful Wood-duck; several small Green Herons wait a little longer among the branches, but finally follow their big brother; a pair of Soli- tary Sandpipers spread their long wings, and lightly cross the pond, and from the farther side watch the stranger, solemnly jerking their heads the while. Soon they are followed by several little Spotted Sandpipers that run backwards and forwards on the edge of the pool, or along the logs, inces- santly jerking their tails. A Woodpecker, that was making a good breakfast by scaling off the dead bark, utters a sharp note of alarm as he flies off, while several little turtles that have been basking on the logs, fall with a loud "k-plunk" into the water, and a black-and-white water-snake glides noiselessly in with them. But still the Kingfisher holds his position of command, flying from one post of observation to another, or at times poising almost stationary in the air with rapidly-beating wings, and uttering his rattling note of indig- nation and defiance. How shall we close the scene? He is easily within shot, and a beautiful bird, an ornament to any cabinet. But let us be better than mere collectors this morn- ing. To the ornithologist, ej^es and note-book are better tools than gun and scalpel. Let us look our fill, and then leave him and his companions of the lonely pool, and trudge homeward over the hot sand, with game-bag empty perhaps, but with mind and heart full of the beauties and wonders of creation. — 296 — OBITUARY. REV. GEORGE ROBINSON, M.A. The Rev. George Robinson, M.A., died at his residence. Beech Hill, Armagh, on September 5th, at the age of 72. After obtaining his degree and Divinity Testimonium in Trinity College, Dublin, he took holy orders as curate of Tullyniskin, and was shortly afterwards appointed rector of the important parish of Tartaraghan, in the Co. Armagh. He held this post for thirty-three years, but a severe illness compelled him, in 1882, to resign his office. Mr. Robinson was from early years devoted to natural history, and especially to ornithology and botany. In both these departments he added considerably to the Armagh lists. He con- tributed important notes to Thompson's "Birds of Ireland," "Cybele Hibernica," and Stewart and Corry's " Flora of the N.E. of Ireland." Among the birds he noted the occurrence of the Brambling {Fringilla montifringilla, L.) and the Yellow Wagtail {Motacilla rati, Bonaparte), in Co. Armagh ; and among plants he found many species of rare occur- rence, notably Mercurialis perennis, Stachys befonica, Lathyrtis palustris, Carex pseudo-cy perns, Calamagrostis stricta, etc. Mr. Robinson was a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and regularly attended its meetings ; also of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, at the excursions and meetings of which he was a frequent attendant. Of the Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society he was an original member, having belonged to the old Society which preceded the present one. He took a prominent part in establishing the Society on its present basis, taking the greatest interest in its success. On the late Bishop of Down (Dr. Reeves) resigning the office of Presi- dent in 1879, Mr. Robinson was unanimously elected to fill the vacancy, and held the post till 1891, when owing to failing health he was obliged to resign. He strove during his presidency to promote the objects of the Society by offering prizes and by obtaining lecturers. It is much to be regretted that Mr. Robinson never published any papers on the natural history of Co. Armagh, on which he was a perfect mine of information. There was not a point of interest about the county with which he was not acquainted, and being an excellent observer, and having a retentive memory, he accumulated a large amount of original information. He was always ready to give a helping hand to the young naturalist, and was always delighted to hear of a new discovery in the county. He had a considerable collection of both plants and birds, but the latter, though excellently set up, are unfortunately not localized. I take this opportunity of acknowledging the kind assistance and en- couragement I received from Mr. Robinson in making various collections of plants as well as insects. Though he did not profess to be an entomo- logist he had much infomation on the subject. W. F. JOHNSON. [ 297 ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. RoYAi, Z001.0GICAI, Society. Recent donations comprise a Golden Pheasant from Mr. Godden, a pair of Rabbits from Masters J. and G. Armstrong, a Long-eared Owl, a Barn Owl, two Pigeons, and a Hedgehog from R. L. Weldon, Ivsq., a vSparrow- hawk from D. Carton, Esq., a Herring-Gull from R. 1^1. Praeger, Ivsq., two Green Monkeys from Rev. J. Botrel, and a Cormorant from T. Clib- born, Ksq. A seal has been purchased. 9,200 persons visited the Gardens in September. Dubinin Microscopicai, CIvUb. JUI.Y 2oth. — The club met at Mr. M. HEDL,iiY's, who showed a section of a vegetation from a cusp of the nutral valve of a pig's heart, in which the presence of a large number of the bacilli of schweine-rothlauf were present. The section had been stained with gentian, violet, and rosin, and was examined under a one-twelfth oil immersion. It was pointed out that this section had been obtained from an Irish pig by Professor MacFadyean after the animal's arrival and death in Scotland. This dis- ease has often been mistaken for the disease ordinarily known as swine- plague, but in this disease the bacilli are of another character. The schweine-rothlauf bacilli are amongst the most minute of such organ- isms, and are so closely allied to mouse septicaemia that the difference is best determined by cultivation methods. The specimens are more in- teresting because they are the first which have been demonstrated as existing in Irish swine. The exhibitor has, since receiving this slide, obtained further specimens among Irish swine. Mr. F. W. Moore exhibited Xylaria rhopaloides, Nutge. This remark- able fungus made its appearance on a piece of wood which had been im- ported from the Amazon with some orchids. It had not previously been found growing in Britain. Prof. Coi,E showed a section of iridescent soda-orthoclase from near Laurvik, S. Norway, illustrating how the play of delicate grey-blue colours in the mass is due to the development of exceedingly minute rods within the crystal. This is an example of " schillerisation " on an unusually small scale. A fine specimen of the syenite in which this mineral occurs has been for some time on view, as a polished tombstone, in Great Brunswick-street, Dublin.! Dr. Scott showed some sections from some enlargements which grew on the roots of the Bean ( Viciafaba), and which were sent to him by Mr. G. Pim. The section showed the growths to be composed of three layers, the outer one composed of large spherical cells similar to pith cells. The middle layer was very small, being composed of a few fibro- vascular bundles and single bundles. The inner layer was a mass of spherical cells, somewhat smaller than those in the outer. The cells in the innermost layer were packed with masses of micrococci, in some cases apparently filling up solidly the space inside the cell wall. The stain found most satisfactory was a watery solution of methylene blue. Mr. McArdi^E exhibited a specimen of Chivolepiis aureus, Linn., a large red alga, wdth the threads in neat compact tufts, of a brilliant orange colour. It was collected on Carlingford Mountain, Co. Down, by Mr. R. Welch, of the Belfast N.F.C., on the 5th of August, 1893. BEI.FAST NaTURAWSTS' F1EI.D ClUB. August 26th.— Excursion to the Giant's Causeway. A party number- ing about sixty proceeded from Belfast by the 8.15 train to Portrush, and thence to the Causeway by the electric tramway. Here they were 298 The Irish Naturalist. joined by a local member, Mr. W. A. Traill, who contributed much, valuable information during the day. The various wonders of the Causeway were duly examined, after which Mr. Traill gave a short lecture on local geology, which was much appreciated. Tea at the Hotel, and the election of a number of new members concluded the programme, and the party returned to Belfast by the evening train. September i6th. — Excursion to Loughbrickland. A party of over forty took train at 10 o'clock to Scarva, where the demesne of Mr. Reilly was entered, and an examination made of the "Dane's Cast," an ancient fortification that is traceable for many miles in Down and Armagh. The party then drove through Loughbrickland to Dououghmore, where the fine old Celtic cross in the graveyard, recently re-erected by the Rector, with the assistance of the Club, was much admired, and some souterrains were inspected. Subsequently, on the invitation of Captain Douglas, the Club inspected two very fine forts at Lisnagead, which are of great dimensions, and each enclosed by two outer rings of earth, and three deep fosses. In the evening tea was provided at Banbridge, after which the business meeting of the day was held, and the party returned to Bel- fast. On account of the late period of the year, little collecting was done. The best plant found during the day was Mercurialis perennis^ which was pointed out by Rev. H. W. Lett, growing in a copse near Scarva, its only station in Co. Down. Dubinin NaturaIvISTS' Fiei^d Ciustoi*uin, L. In Leltrim. — Mr. William Kennedy, of Londonderry, having recently informed me that he had collected Helix arbustorum at Glencar Waterfall ; in response to a request for further in- formation in respect to this important find, Mr, Kennedy forwards speci- mens, and detailed information of his discovery. The specimens are three in number, and Dr. Scharff considers them very fine examples of the typical form. As Antrim, Down, and North Donegal (a single dead specimen) are the only authenticated stations in Ireland for this hand- some snail, Mr. Kennedy's careful and accurate notes are of interest: — "On referring to my memoranda in connection with this species, I find that I got altogether at the same place five specimens ; the dates are : — 4th June, 1863, one immature specimen; 19th August, 1864, two living, mature; 28th September, 1865, one living, and one dead specimen. All were found in the long grass growing among the trees and shrubs at Glencar Waterfall, not more than three or four yards from the waterfall, and in the bottom at the glen. On the occasion of my first visit to the locality, 4th June, 1863, the late Dr. Samuel Brown, Inspector of National Schools, then much interested in land and fresh-water molluscs, was with me, and he got, I think, one or two specimens." — R. Li*oyd Praegkr. Helix fusca In Co. Dublin. — The only record we possess of this rare species for the county, is that in Turton's work who mentions merely " wood in Dublin." No one else seems to have found it since, and I am glad to be able to confirm the record, as my brother took it abundantly after the recent heavy showers in the Lucan demesne. — R. F. Scharff, Dublin. A new Irish species of Arion. — In the Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist. (6th s.) vol. xii. Oct. 1893, Mr. W. B. Collinge, the editor of the Conchologist, describes a new species of Avion. It was discovered at Schull, Co. Cork, by Mr. Phillips, and is named Arion flagelhis by the describer. Mr. Collinge very kindly allowed me to examine the type specimens. The external characters do not differ materially from the typical Irish Arion sitbfusms except that the colour is darker, but it has this in common with almost all the specimens found on the west coast. The two principal anatomical characters on which the species is based, are the constrictions of the oviduct and the presence of a flagellum. With regard to the former, it is not different from the shape assumed by an oviduct during and after the passage of the ova. The flagellum is of more importance, and would in itself be sufficient to specifically dis- tinguish A. flagellns from allied species. As far as I could ascertain, however, without cutting sections of the flagellum, it appears to be but a portion of the extractor muscle, which is attached at that point to the oviduct. I cannot therefore convince myself that the species referred to, is anything else than a variety of the variable A. subfiiscus, — R. F. Scharff, Dublin. BIRDS. Redbreasted Snipe (lYIacrorhamphus griseus, Cmel.) In Ireland, a new American Visitor.— On the 29th September I obtained a specimen of the American Redbreasted Snipe, which was forwarded from Maryborough, Queen's Co., along with a lot of Common Snipe. The bird is a female in the immature autumn plumage, and has not hitherto been recorded from Ireland. — E. WiiyiviAMS, Dublin. Great Snipe (Callinagro major), and Sabine's Snipe (C. coelestis, var. sabinii) in Ireland. — I have received a fine Great Snipe, shot by Mr, T. L. Mason, at Ballycroy, Co. Mayo, on the 13th October. The bird weighed seven ounces, and looks fully half as large again as a Common Snipe. On the 28th September, Mr. R. W. Peebles shot a particularly dark example in Co. Tyrone, of the variety called Sabine's Snipe. The whole bird is dark smoky-black, legs greenish- black, and wanting the longitudinal stripes on back, — E. Wii<];iams, Dublin. \ -»sr^' : -t> ARAN ISLANDERS. ^Ije gvxMj Jlittxintaet. VOL. II. DKCEMBKR, 1893. No. 12. THE ARAN ISI.ANDS, COUNTY GALWAY A STUDY IN IRISH ETHNOGRAPHY. BY PROFESSOR A. C. HADDON, M.A. The Irish Naturalist is itself a witness to the increased interest which has of late j^ears become manifest in the study of Natural History in Ireland, and it is encouraging to see notes from new observers in various parts of the country. It would be very undesirable to divert to other channels any of the energy which has now been brought to bear on Natural History, but there must be a large number of persons in Ire- land who do not take any special interest in any one group of animals or plants, and have no taste or opportunity for making collections, but who, nevertheless, w^ould like to occupy their leisure with something that is both interesting and worth doing. To such I would commend the study of the Irish Man. It is surprising how little attention we have given, in the British Islands, to a study of our fellow-countrymen, whether from an anthropological or from a sociological point of view. In this respect we are far behind the great continental nations. Nor is it from lack of suggestive facts to be recorded or of problems to be solved. The mixture of races in these islands certainly renders the problems complex, but this should not paral3^se effort. Very interesting results may be expected from a careful study of certain groups of the populace, but to gain them immediate action must be taken. Owing to migra- tion and emigration, the mingling of peoples has become more intimate, and the newspaper and the school-board have been potent in sweeping away local customs and in levelling up the less advanced folk. All we can now do is to record the little that remains of old-time custom and thought. Experience, however, shows that more persists beneath the surface than is A 304 The Irish Naturalist. generally conceded by those who vaunt themselves on our present civilization and religion. The civilization of the British Islands is, after all, comparatively so recent that relics of the previous millenniums of savagery and barbarism are continually cropping up. For some years past I have been increasingly impressed with the importance of these studies, and I recently determined to make a beginning with the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, as being in every way suitable for such researches. It was, therefore, with great pleasure that I found my friend Dr. C. R. Browne was able to join me in making the first of what I hope will be series of studies in Irish Ethnography, conducted in connection with a Committee appointed by the Royal Irish Academ}^ for that purpose. Our joint investigations have just been published in the Proceedings of the Royal h'ish Acade^ny (3rd series, vol. iii., 1893, pp. 768-830, pis. xxii.-xxiv. The Aran men are mostly of a slight but athletic build, the average height is about 5 feet 4I- inches, whereas that of the average Irishman is said to be 5 feet 8^ inches. The span is less than the stature in a quarter of the cases measured, a rather unusual feature in adult males. The hands are rather small, but the forearm is often unusually long. The head is well-shapen, rather long and narrow ; there is a slight parietal bulging. Anthropologists classify heads accor- ding to the relation between the length and the breadth ; the length is taken as 100, and long narrow heads (dolichocephals) are those in which the ratio of breadth to length is as 75, or less, is to 100 ; the short broad heads (brachycephals) have a ratio of 80, or more, to 100, whereas the mesaticephals are intermediate between these two. The mean " cephalic index," as it is termed, of the Aranites is 77*1, but it has been shown that in order to more accurately compare the cephalic index calculated upon measurements made on the living head with that of skulls, it is necessary to deduct two units from the former ; this gives 75*1 as the Aran cephalic index. I find that the mean index of seven Aran skulls is 75*2, consequently the average head is to a very slight extent mesaticephalic, although the number measured is nearl}^ evenly divided between mesa- ticephalic and dolichocephalic. The face is long and oval, with well-marked features, the eyes are rather small and close together, and marked at the outer corners by transverse The Aran Islands, Coiaify Galway. 305 wrinkles. The irises are in the orreat majority of cases bUie Qr blue-grey in colour. The nose is sharp, narrow at the base, and slightly sinuous. The cheek bones are not prominent. In many men the length between the nose and the chin has the appearance of being decidedly great. The complexion is clear and ruddy, and but seldom freckled. On the whole the people are decidedly good-looking. The hair is brown in colour ; in most cases of a lightish shade and accompanied Ijy a light and often reddish beard. Kighty-nine per cent, of both men and women had blue or light-grey eyes ; sixty-three per cent, had light brown hair, and about twenty-six per cent, had dark brown hair. According to the last census (1891) the total area of the three islands is 11,288 acres, with a population of 2,907, 1,542 being males and 1,365 being females. The gross rental is ;^2,o85 IDS. 6d. The north island, Aranmore, has 7,635 acres, 397 houses, 1,048 males, 948 females (total 1,996), and a rental of ;^i,433 i8s. id. The middle island, Inishmaan, has 2,252 acres, 84 houses, 240 males, 216 females (total 456), and a rental of ;^423 i8s. 5d. The south island, Inisheer, has 1,400 acres, 81 houses, 254 males, 201 females (total 455), and a rental of ;^227 14s. From these statistics it will be seen that there is an average acreage of 20a. or. i3^p. to each house of five persons, and the corresponding rental is £'^ 14s. 2.UI. The density of the population is 171 to the square mile, that of Co. Galway is 87, and for the whole of Ireland 146. It should, however, be borne in mind that a large proportion of the land in the Aran Islands is incapable of cultivation. Irish is spoken by 88-47 P^r cent, of the people, of whom 77-2 speak Irish only. The inhabitants of one island do not, as a rule, intermarry with those of another, and but little fresh blood can have been introduced for generations. The people of each locality are more or less inter-related, even though marriages between those of close degrees of relationship may not be usual. This accounts for the general similarity in personal appearance which is observed among them, but no appreciable ill effect results from the in-breeding. The population seems on the whole to be an unusually healthy one. The older writers give very pleasing accounts of the psychology of these people—" brave, hardy, industrious, 3o6 The hish Naturalist. simple and innocent, but also thoughtful and intelligent, credulous, temperate, with a high sense of decency and propriety, honour and justice, communicative but not too loquacious, hospitable and honest." According to these authors there is scarcely a virtue which is lacking to the people ; but one writer adds : "I am afraid things are very much changed since those days." All the men are land-owners to a greater or less extent ; the holdings, or cannogarras, as they are termed, vary from about 1 1 to 14 acres, the supposition being that each cannogarra can feed a cow with her calf, a horse and her foal, some sheep for their wool, and give sufficient potatoes to support one family. Most of the fields are very small in size, and are surrounded by walls composed of stones piled loosely on one another ; there are no gates or permanent gaps in the walls. A man usually owns a number of isolated fields scattered all over the island. Only a fraction of the land is naturally fit for anything, and probably a considerable portion of the existing soil has been made b}^ the natives bringing up sea-sand and sea-weed in baskets, on their own or on donkeys' backs, and strewing them on the naked rock after they have removed the loose stones. Clay scooped from the interstices of the rock may also be added. Farmyard manure is little used in the fields. Only spade labour is employed in the fields. Potatoes are grown in this artificial soil ; after a few crops of these grass is sown, and later r3^e. The latter is cultivated for the straw, which is used for thatching ; the rye- corn is not now employed for eating purposes. Sweet grass grows in the crevices of the rocks, and this forms, in addition to the meadows, the usual pasturage for the sheep. The farm will usually keep a family in potatoes, milk, and wool. Flour and meal are imported from Galway along with tea and other foreign produce. For fuel the Aranites employ peat and cow-dung ; all the former is imported from Conne- mara. Kelp is made in considerable quantities. The bulk of the men on the north island may be described as small farmers who do a little fishing. There are, besides, two or three weavers, tailors, and curragh builders. The butcher, baker, and other allied tradesmen are mainl}^ related to the small population, which ma}^ fairly be termed foreign, The Aran Islands, Coioi/y Calway. 307 such as the representatives of the Government and the spiritual and secular instructors. A family usually consists of six or seven children. These go to school regularly, and are intelligent and make fair progress. They early help their parents in various wa>s. The girls marry early, seventeen is quite a common age. There is no courting, nor do the young people ever walk together. The dress of both sexes is for the most part home-made, being largely composed of homespun, either uncoloured or of a speckled brown or blue grey, or bright red colour. The people appear not only to be warmly clad, Init, as a rule, to be over-clothed. Both sexes wear sandals made of raw cowhide, the hair being outside. These "pampooties," as they are called, are admirably adapted for climbing and running over the rocks and loose stones. Some of the men are now taking to wearing leather boots. The houses of the better class consist of three rooms — a central kitchen, and a bedroom at each end ; but many houses have only a single bedroom. The walls are built of irregular stones, and may be placed together with or without mortar. There are always two outside doors opposite one another in the kitchen. Very often there is a small pen by the side of the large fire-place for the pigs, which are very clean both in their bodies and habits. The kitchen floor may be the bare rock or clay, or it is very rarely boarded. The thatch is tied on with straw ropes. Twenty years ago there was not a wheeled vehicle in the islands. Even now there are no roads worthy of the name in the Middle and South Islands, and till lately there were not many in Aranmore. Carts are still ver}- rare, and the carrying is done by human porterage or by donkeys and horses. All the well-to-do men own a mare. A poor man will have only a donkey. We were not able to collect much in the way of folk-lore. In common w4th a large part of Ireland, the Aranites believe in fairies, banshees, ghosts, the evil eye, etc. When a funeral is passing down the road the front door of a house is always closed. The corpse is carried out through the back door. Some days are considered unlucky upon which to begin any w^ork of importance, to get married, or even to bury the dead. If they have occasion to bury a corpse on one of these days, 2o8 The Irish Naturalist. they turn a sod on the grave the previous day, and by this means they think to avoid the misfortune attached to a burial on an unlucky day. There are numerous sacred spots such as " saints' beds," holy wells and rag-bushes at which cures can be effected and miraculous help afforded. Amongst other survivals may be noted certain details in the costume, and especially the raw hide sandals. The curraghs are similar in general character to those common along the west coast, the single oars are pivotted on thole-pins. Stone anchors are still used, more frequently in the Middle and South Islands. Querns are not now used, but it is not long since they were employed. The spinning-wheel is similar to that used in various places along the West, but it differs from that employed in the North. The antiquities of the Aran Islands have never been system- atically described and published ; and 3^et nowhere in the British Islands are there so many and so varied remains associated within a like limited area. The Islands ma}- not inaptly be described as a unique museum of antiquities. There are many places in Ireland which are as worthy of a careful study as the Aran Islands, and I hope that some of our readers will pay attention to this subject. I shall be very pleased to enter into correspondence with any that would like to study the ethnography, sociology, or folk-lore of their particular district. I^etters addressed to the Royal College of Science, Stephen's Green, Dublin, will ahva3^s find me. Through the kindness of the Council of the Roj^al Irish Academy, I am able to reproduce one of the plates of the original paper, which was prepared from a photograph taken by myself. PI.ATE 8. Fig. I. Colman Flaherty, Thomas, aged about sixty years, Ogliil. Fig. 2. Michael O'Donnell, John, aged iiftj'-three. N.B. — When there is more than one man of the same name in the Aran Islands the individuals are distinguished by the addition of their father's Christian name, as in the foregoing cases. Flaherty is a thirteenth child, and according to the tradition of the island should be a piper, but he cannot play the bagpipes; he is a very typical Aranite. O'Donnell's ancestor came from Ulster, They are standing in front of St. Sournick's thorn. Fig. 3. Michael MuUin, aged 21 years, Kilronan. A typical Aranite. [ 309 ] NOTES UPON vSOME IRLSH MYRIOPODA. By R. I. PocoCK, British (Nat. Hist.) Museum. Some two or three years ago, Dr. R. F. Scliarff, of Duljlin, generously placed at my disposal for determination some species of Myriopoda which he had collected in various parts of Ireland ; and this series was further supplemented by some specimens obtained b}^ Mr. G. H. Carpenter, which this gentle- man also kindly submitted to me for examination. Before sorting and carefuU}^ scrutinising this material, I was in hopes that some new or interesting forms might be con- tained in it. But unfortunately the results did not come up to my expectations. For all the specimens that could be named proved to be referable to species that occur commonly in the south of England, and could be without difficulty obtained by an hour's diligent collecting. Mr. Carpenter has since sent me a second instalment of Irish Myriopoda, six of which were not contained in the set that was first examined. Five of these, however, are forms that are of common occur- rence in England and on the Continent ; but the other, namely, Polydesvms gallicus, furnishes a valuable addition to the myriopod fauna of the British Isles. The chief interest in the discovery of this species centres in the fact that it belongs to the South-Western and Azorean element of the European fauna. It is highly probable that fresh investigations of this un- known portion of the fauna of Ireland will show that many of our English species are not to be found there ; and further, it is not improbable that some species will be discovered that are unknown in Great Britain. Both or either of these dis- coveries will of course open up interesting questions for future study and explanation. In the south of England and Wales some fifty species of Myriopoda are known to occur, although not one-half of this number has been hitherto recorded in print. It is not prob- able that the species in Ireland will greatly exceed this total. So that in a few years a complete, or almost complete, list of all the existing species might be drawn up, and our knowledge of the group would be thus made as complete as our knowledge of the butterflies of England. To compass this end, which 310 The Irish Naturalist. may in reality be so easily attained, it is to be hoped that naturalists resident in Ireland will begin to pay some attention to these interesting but much neglected animals. LIST OF THE SPECIES. CHILOPODA. (CENTIPEDES.) FAMILY LITHOBIID^. Lithobius forficatus (Linn). Poulaphuca, Co. Wicklow ; Dingle ; Glengariff ; Bere Island (Bantry Bay). Common throughout the whole of N. Europe ; occurs also in N. America. L. variegatus, Leach. Dublin mountains ; Dalkey Island ; Kilruddery, Glen of the Downs (Co. Wicklow) ; Enniskerry (Co. Wicklow) ; Kylemore (Connemara) ; Killarne}^; Castletown Berehaven ; Glengariff. Abundantly distributed throughout the British isles, and occurs also in Jersey. It has not yet, however, been recorded from any part of the continent of Europe. This is a handsome species, rivalling L. forficatus in size, but readily to be distinguished from it by its variegated yellow and blue colouring, larger head, longer and thinner anal legs, etc. L. forficatus is a uniform chestnut. In the south of England it is a noticeable fact in connection with these two species, that L. forficatzts is found most abundantly under bricks and planks, in or near yards, outhouses, etc. L. varicgatus, on the contrar}^ is found under stones and tree-trunks in woods, or the open country. These facts in distribution suggest that L. forficatus has been in- troduced into our country later than Z. vai-iegatus. L. melanops, Newp. [^^labratus, C. Koch et alii). Poulaphuca, Co. Wicklow ; Castletown Berehaven ; Derrynane. This species somewhat resembles Z. rariegatzis in colouring. It is, however, considerably smaller, and has only four instead of ten maxillary teeth. L. microps, Meinert. Glengariff. This species is abundant in the S. of England, and, at least, in the northern parts of Europe. It is one of the smallest of the genus, and may be readily recognised by the fewness of the ocelli, and by the very small number of spines upon the anal legs. FAMILY SCOLOPENDRID^. Ci*yptops hortensis, Leach. Dublin. Common all over Europe. FAMILY GEOPHILID^. Ceophilus flavus, De Geer {hmgicomis, Leach). Dingle ; Glengariff; Kylemore (Connemara). Common all over Europe. Easily recognizable from the other British vSpecies by its long cylindrical antennal segments. Notes upon some Irish Myriopoda. 31 1 Gophllus carpophagrus, Leach {sodalis, Mein., condylogasln; Lat/..). Great Sui^'^ar-loaf inoiiiitain. Also coniinoii all over Kurope. About as larj^e, or rather lar^^er, than the prececliii}^, with shorter anal le^^s and anteniUL-, and of a deeper chestnut colour. Easily to be reco^^niised from all its allies by the ball-and-socket method of articulation of the anterior sterna. LInotdsnia crassipes, C. Koch. Kin sale. A widely-distributed, but not very common species. Usually attracts attention owing to its nocturnal phosphorescence. L. maritfma, Leach. Portmarnock, co. Dublin (beneath stones at low-water). This species is one of the two interesting forms of British Geophilidic which are found beneath stones below tide. In England it has been obtained on the coast of Cornwall and Devon. It has also been recorded from St. Malo and Denmark. Stigmatograstcr sutotcrrancus (Leach.) Dublin ; Dingle. Common in the British islands and N. Europe, but replaced in S. Europe by a distinct form, S. gracilis (Mein.) Distinguished from all the British Geophilidse by its large and coarsely-porous anal pleurae. DIPLOPODA. (MILLIPEDES.) FAMILY POLYXENID^. Polyxenus iagrurus (Linn.) Phoenix Park, Dublin. Abundant in N. Europe upon wooden fences, etc. FAMILY GLOME RID^. Clomcris marginata (Villers.) Ballinderry (Co. Antrim) ; Rostrevor ; Howth ; Leixlip ; Kells, Co. Meath ;"Woodenbridge, Glen of the Downs (Co. Wicklow) Castletown Berehaven ; Killarney ; Glengariff; Kylemore (Conne- mara) ; Bundoran. The only species of the genus known in the British islands. It is also common in most parts of Europe. In the southern parts of the Continent an immense number of "colour-species" of the genus are found. Immature specimens of this species often show signs of the spotting which is so characteristic of the more southern representatives of the genus. FAMILY POLYDESMID^. Polydesmus complanatus (Linn.) Kylemore (Connemara). ^ , , Common throughout Europe and the British isles. In England occurs under bark, planks, etc. ; very rarely under stones. P. g^allicus, Latz. ^1 -rr Armagh; Mullingar; Lismore; Castletown Berehaven; Glenganff. The discovery of this species is extremely interesting, inasmuch as it is new to the British Isles. It was recorded originally from Normandy, and is almost certainly identical with a form named coriaceus from the Azores. B 312 The Irish Naturalist. Brachydesmus superus, Latz. GlengarifF, Common in Kngland, Scandinavia, AUvStria, etc. The genus BrachydesDiiis may be recognised from Polydesiims by possessing nineteen body-segments instead of twenty. FAMIIvY CHORDEUMID^. Atractosoma polydesmoides (Leach). Dublin (Leeson-park); Armagh. Common throughout the south of E)ngland, but not yet recognised on the Continent. FAMILY lULID^. BSaniuIus fuscus, Stein. Bnniskerry (Co. Wicklow); Kylemore (Connemara). Blaniiihts may, in a rough way, be recognised from the following genus luhis, by the absence of longitudinal stri^ on the dorsal sur- face of the segments. B.fusais is common in the south of England. lulus luscus, Mein. Bnniskerry (Co. Wicklow); Derrynane ; Kylemore (Connemara). Not uncommon in the south of England. A small nearly uniform pale, brownish species, without a caudal process. Found under stones. I. punctatus, Leach, [sihancm, Mein). Dublin mountains ; Enniskerry ; Kylemore ; GlengarifF ; Killarney. Common all over the south of England, Denmark, Scandinavia, etc. Always found in rotten wood, never under stones. A pale, brown-banded and brown- spotted species, with the caudal process rounded and clavate at the tip. I. pilosus, Newp. Enniskerry (Co. Wicklow) ; Poulaphuca ; Kylemore; Killarney; Drogheda. Some of the specimens that are here referred to /. pilosus are immature, and, consequently, may be wrongly determined. The adults are all females, and since no males were obtained, the identi- fication must be accepted with reservation. I .nigcir, Leach [transverso-sulcahis, Stein, allnpes, C. Koch). Tibradden mountain (Co. Dublin) ; Devil's Glen (Wicklow). This species when adult is black with very pale legs ; it is one of the largest British species ; has an acute caudal process, and may be at once recognised by the presence of transverse striae upon the anterior half of the body-segments. I. sabulosus (Linn.) Tibradden mountain (Co. Dublin); Belmont and Devil's Glen (Wicklow). This is a large species, with a long acute caudal process like niger and pilosus. It may, however, be recognised at a glance from both of these by the presence of two yellow stripes along the dorsal surface. For the vSpecimens from Castletown Berehaven, I am indebted to the Committee appointed by the Royal Irish Academy to investigate the Irish fauna and flora ; and I would express my thanks to that body for the opportunity of in- cluding the records in the above list. I 313 ] A VISIT TO ROUNDSTONK, CO. GAIAVAY. BY PROF. T. JOHNSON, D.SC. A COMMITTKK was recently appointed by the Royal Irish Academy to take steps to complete, as far as possible, our knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Ireland. hor this purpose a portion of the annual government grant, at the disposal of the Academy for scientific investigations, was set apart by the Council, and, as one of the committee appointed, I spent a week in September last investigating the marine algae of Roundstone Ba}', Co. Gal way. The district of Roundstone, almost at the foot of the famous Twelve Pins of Connemara, is one of the most interestins: in Ireland, and in the early part of the century was called the land of promise in natural history. In 1835 Professor C. Babington, of Cambridge, in company with the late Mr. J. Ball and another friend, visited Connemara, and discovered a number of rare and interesting objects of natural history. An account, full of interest, of the journey is given in the Magazine of Nahiral History (vol. ix., p. 119 ct seq.) Subse- quently Professors D. Oliver, J. H. Balfour, Harv^ey, Dr. D. Moore, Mr. A. G. More, etc., visited the district, and added considerably to the knowledge of its natural history. During his 1835 journey Professor Babington met W. M'Calla, of whom he says he was *' the son of the landlord of the inn at Roundstone, — a 5^oung man, who, although labouring under very great difficulties, has, by his own unassisted exertions, with an almost total want of books, obtained a very complete knowledge of the geology, mineralogy, conchology, and botany of the neighbourhood of Roundstone. He has now, I am happy to learn, obtained the situation of national school- master at Ballinahinch." M'Calla's name, as many of my readers know, and as this kindly notice would lead one to expect, became well known in Irish natural history, and is perpetuated in the species Cladophora macallana, Harv., as well as in his excellent Algcs Hibemiccs, two volumes of sea- weeds, prepared by M'Calla, mostly from specimens obtained at Roundstone. I made it my duty to find out all I could about M'Calla and his collections. I interviewed one old man, Patsy Ashe, living in a cabin on the mountain-side, who 314 The Irish Naturalist. remembered him well as a schoolfellow, but told me there was no representative of the family left, and could give me no information as to an}^ of M'Calla's collections. M'Calla, as Harve}^ states, died from cholera in 1849, a comparatively young man. I was shewn, in the churchyard at Roundstone, a substantial monument erected, as the inscription stated, to M'Calla's memory by his admiring brother naturalists. Un- fortunately Roundstone is by no means easy of access,^ being 50 miles west of Galway, the nearest railway station, and also off the direct mail-car route to Clifden. Beyond the break- down of the mail-car shortly after leaving Galway, a conse- quent loss of time, and a drenching later in the day, I reached Roundstone without trouble. Once there, there is every reason to be satisfied with the field of work. I was fortunate in obtaining the services of a man, Creelish Martin, who, besides being a reliable and experienced sailor, understands the working of a dredge, and has a very good knowledge of the sea-bottom as regards its physical and, to a certain extent, natural history features. With his help, and the use of a sailing boat (from J. Cloherty), I got several days' dredging in Roundstone and Birturbui bays. Roundstone Bay, as readers of Harvey's Phycologia Britamiica know, is characterised by a large development of the calcareous red algae known as the Corallinacc^ (formerly as Ntillipores), two species, Lithotha7miio7i fasciailaticvi, Aresch., and Lithotham7iion agaricifonne, Aresch., being confined to the district, and first discovered^ there by M'Calla. Of the twenty-five species of CorallinacecE , known at present to occur in British waters, the great majority are to be found in the bay. My object in going to RoundvStone was rather to search for species added to the marine flora of Britain since the publication of Harvey's great work, the Phycologia Britan7iica, in 1846-51, but not yet recorded from Ireland. Many of these species are minute epiphytic forms, often only to be recognised by a detailed microscopic examination. As I stated in a former article in ^ The light railway from Galway to Clifden, when completed, in August, 1894 (?), will take one within five miles of Roundstone. - I showed my man, Creelish, Harvey's coloured figures of these and other species, and was not a little pleased to see them brought up in our first hauls, the coralline being in several fathoms of water, north of Roundstone. A Visit to Roundstoni\ Counfy Galway. ^jc^ The Irish Naturalist (April, 1S92), one interesting group, only revealed within the last few years, is that of the microscopic algse found perforating the shells of mollusca, &c. Of these I made a large collection at Roundstone, and am now engaged in their identification. The western shore of the bay, on which the town stands, is not a very good locality for collect- ing, the weeds north of the town being dirty and somewhat uninviting. South of the town there is an improvement, increasing as the mouth of the bay is reached. I found tlie rock-pools south of The Beaches, between Gorreen and Dog's bays, those on the south-west point of Inishnee (an island between Roundstone and Birturbui bays), those north of the landing place at Moyrus, on the mainland (where beds of Zostcra and Lithothamnion calcarcwn are exposed at low water in spring tides), those on the islands of Croagnakeela (locally Deer Island, and difficult to land upon), and MacDara, the most promising localities for shore-hunting. On the island of Saint Mac Dara there are the ruins of a church, 12 x 12 ft., with only a little of the stone roof left, with walls three feet thick, and a peculiarly constructed east window. Close by are several stone tablets with inscriptions, readily traceable apparentl}^, but, up to the present, I am told, uninterpreted. Botanists will be interested to know that Saint MacDara is locally highly revered as the patron saint of the new potatoes, which come in in July. It is the custom to throw water on the boat's sails three times, in passing the island, to avoid ship- wreck. On the only afternoon I had free from my weeds I was taken by Mr. Frank M'Cormick over the northern shoulder of Urrisbeg (998 feet) to see the only habitat in the district of Adiantujn capillus-veiicris (the Maiden-hair fern) growing in the crevices of a rock, facing south-west, at the extreme north-east corner of Lough Bulard. Spite of the recent very dry season, the spoliation by tourists, and the injudicious application to the surface of the rock of cement, the species is as well established here as when visited by Babington 60 years ago. I spent some fruitless time one afternoon in a waning light searching {ox\.\i^r2iX^Naias flcxilis in the lake in which Professor D. Oliver found it in 1850. Though an unfortunate stoppage of my work for some weeks, since my return from Roundstone, has prevented me from examining more than a small part of my collection, I am con- 3i6 The Irish Naturalist vinced that a thorough investigation of the marine flora and fauna would well repay students of botany and zoology/ and could, with the means available there, be carried out without much difficulty. THE ANATOMICAIv CHARACTERS OF ARION FLAGELLUS, CI^EGE. BY WAI^TKR ^. COIvIvINGK. Thk anatomical features of this recently-described Arion are so pronounced, and distinct from any other known European species, that I should not have thought it necessary to reply to my friend Dr. Scharff " had he not — most unintentionally, I am sure — misrepresented the published account of its anatomy.3 It is of little importance, but still I contend that A.flagellus does differ in colour from A. sttbfuscus. The most important external character — which Dr. Scharff entirely overlooks — is the small caudal mucous gland. So constant is the form and size of this gland — as might be inferred from the importance of its function — that not a few malacologists have used it as a feature in generic distinction. I have examined very large series of Arions from almost every part of Europe, but have never in any single instance found it vary, and I am not aware of any published instance either. I, therefore, think the point is one worthy of note in the aggregate characters of this species, which is not described from any single one, but from the general anatomy. The exact importance of the myology of the Mollusca as a feature in generic or specific distinction I am as yet undecided upon, but quite recently Et.-Col. H. H. Godwin, F.R.S., has placed great importance upon the position of attachment of certain muscles, e.g., the retractor muscles of the eye, generative organs, &c., and finds that in certain genera these are subject to but slight variation. Now, in A. flagellus there are a number of differences in the form, &c., of the muscles, which I did not * I am hoping that Dr. Loftus, of Roundstone, whose acquaintance I made, will become a present-day M'Calla. - Irish Nat., vol. ii., 1893, p. 302. •^ Ann. and Mag. N. ff., 1893 (6th s.), vol. xii., p. 252. The Ajiatoniical Characters of Arion Jlagellus. 317 describe — but wliich Dr. Scharff should have seen, — as I was doubtful as to what amount of importance should be attached to them. The two most important are the position of attach- ment of the tentacular muscles, and the length and position of the genital retractor. I purposely stated that the alimentary and nervous systems agreed very closely with A. cmpiricorwn. For. — I do not mean A. ater, L. — and to now find such classed as A. subfusctis surprises me indeed. When Dr. Scharff had seen the specimens he wrote: — "in some measure it approaches.-^. /?(j5//^7^/«^5 . . . The con- strictions, as you remark, are not due to ova actually passing down the oviduct, but they probably did so recently before the specimens were captured. ... As for the flagellum . . from a superficial examination, I should be inclined to take it for a strongly contracted muscular mass." On receipt of his letter I made a further dissection of the oviduct and found the constrictions internally as w^ell. I have never seen a specimen in which the internal wall of the ovi- duct showed distinct constrictions of the epithelial and muscular layers, and I do not think Dr. Scharff has either — I speak with a tolerably wide acquaintance with the form of this organ in the Armiidce and slugs generally. As to Dr. Scharff 's idea that the flagellum is a portion of the muscle, I purposely dissected the muscle away {Ann. and Mag., 1893, pi. ix., fig. 3,) so as to show the flagellum. Further differences from subfusctis are seen in the form of the receptacular duct, hermaphrodite gland, and in the whole of the generative system. If Dr. Scharff can show me specimens bred from A. stibfuscus or any other Arion, except this species, in which the general anatomy shows the above features, then A. flagellus is not a valid species, but seeing that it is far removed from subfuscus and much more closely related to A. lusitanicus, I can only regard his criticism as based upon a hasty examination of the specimens in which the salient features were overlooked. [ 3i8 ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. RoYAi, Z001.0GICA1, Society. Recent donations comprise a Red Deer (Stag) from Sir D. Brooke ; a Sparrow-hawk from P. Mahony, Esq. ; a Canary Finch from T. de Sales, Esq. ; two pairs of Jacobin Pigeons, and two pairs of Ring-Doves from G. Patterson, Esq. ; and a pair of Guinea-Pigs from J. Fullerton, Esq. 8j55o persons visited the Gardens in October. Dubinin Microscopicai, Ci^ub. October 19th. — The club met at Dr. ScoTT's, who showed some crystals of cystin under ordinary and polarised light, which were found in a sample of urine submitted to him for analysis. The crystals, which are very easily recognised by their shape (hexagonal plates) and their solubility in ammonia or mineral acids, are interesting from their ex- treme rarity. Chemically, cystin contains a large proportion of sulphur in rather loose combination, and appears to represent an abnormal method by which the sulphur, set free in protoplasmic metabolism, is elirninated from the body, the normal method being as sulphates of sodium and potassium. The occurrence of these crystals is not un- commonly hereditary, and so far as is at present known is without any clinical import. Dr. E. Percevai, Wright exhibited a new species of Chlorocystis, which had been described by Miss F. G. Whitting as C. sarcophyci. When Mr. Bracebridge Wilson w^as collecting specimens of Sarcophyciis off the coast near Peelong he noticed some gall-like structures on the fronds ; these were found to be patches of the new endophytic alga. Dr. Wright was indebted to Miss Whitting for a frond from which the section exhibited had been cut. The genus was founded on a species found at Howth, and exhibited to the club by Dr. Wright in 1876. Dr. M'Weeney showed conjugating filaments of a mucorine fungus — Sporodinia aspergilhis, — which grows parasitically on dying Boleti and agarics. The conidia are produced in sporangia, which are borne at the end of the dichotomously branched hyphse. The plant under certain circumstances ceases to produce sporangia, the hyphse become swollen at the tips, and coalescence takes place iDetween the swollen ends of neighbouring hyphse. A zygospore is thus produced, the outer coat of which becomes warty and opaque — almost black. In this stage the appearance of the whole fungus is so different that its connection with Sporodinia was not demonstrated till within a few years ago ; the con- jugating form was regarded as a distinct species, long known under the name of Syzygites megalospoms. This conjugating form does not seem to have been found before in Ireland, and Mr, G. Massee, of Kew, one of the most distinguished English mycologists, informed the exhibitor that he had never met with it, though he had hunted after it for years. A certain amount of interest, therefore, attaches to its discovery at Mrs. White's, Killakee, in September last. Curiously enough, within a few weeks after it was first taken, a fresh specimen was found in a rotting agaric sent by Mr. Praeger from near Gormanstown. Mr. Pim showed Azolla filiculoides in fruit. This occurred— so far as is known— this season for the first time in Great Britain, and the first fruits were found in Mr. Walpole's garden at Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow. Subsequently they were met with abundantly in Trinity College Botanic Garden and, doubtless, elsewhere. The species was formerly supposed to be A. caroliniana or pinnata, but the massulse, beset with glochidia or hooked processes which have but a single septum near the tip, show clearly that it is the form described and figured in Strasburger's Monograph as A. filiculoides. It would be interesting to know if others have observed the fruiting of this pretty little Marsilead. Proceedings of Irish Societies. 319 Mr. DueRDKN exhibiU'd specimens of Tubklava cornucopuc, Nornian obtained by the Royal Duljlin vSociety's Fishery Survey of 189 1 froiil Blacksod Bay. It is a very rare zoophyte, and is new to Irclan