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io 7
THE IRISH NATURALIST;
^ pioittljUj limtvntal
OF
GENERAL IRISH NATURAL HISTORY.
THE OFFICIAI. ORGAN OF
7'Ae Royal Zoological Society of Ireland; The Dublin Microscopical C/uh;
The Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society ;
The Belfast Naturalists" Field Cluh; The Dublin Naturalists' Field Club ;
The Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society;
The Cork Naturalists' Field Club.
FDITFD BY
GEORGE H. CARPENTER, B.Sc, Eond
AND
R. EEOYD PRAEGER, B.A., B.E., M.R.I.A.
VOL. I.
DUBLIN : EASON & SON, Limited, 85 MIDDLE ABBEY-STREET, and 40 LOWER SACKVILLE STREET.
BELFAST : 17 DONEGALL STREET. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL. HAMILTON, KENT & Co., Ltd.
1892
AVEBR AXn WALPOLE, PRINTERS, ABBEY-STREKT, DUBLIN.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
TO THK PRKSKNT VOIyUME.
I ♦ I
Ball, V., c.b., ll.d., f.r.s., Dublin, 172.
Barrktt-Hamilton,G.E.H., New Ross, 126, 127, 156, 172, 181.
Barrington, R. M., F.L.S., Bray, 124.
Barrington, W. B., Cork, 146, 147.
Barton, H. D. M., Antrim, 61, 195.
Bennett, Arthur, f.l.s., Croydon, Surrey, 48
Bennett, J. H., Monkstown, Cork, 144.
Bland, T. D., Londonderry^ 146.
Browne, J. M., b.a., Dublin, 189.
Campbell, D. C, Londonderry, 195.
Carpenter, G. H., b.sc, Dublin, 42, 82, 125, 168.
Charbonnier, H. J., Bristol, 127.
Close, Rev. M. H., m.a., f.g.s., Dublin, 62.
Cole, Professor G. A. J., f.g.s., Dublin, 9, 31, 53, 73, 90
CoLGAN, N., Dublin, 95, 144.
Collins, A. J., Belfast, 147.
CoNNELL, W., Carlow, 82.
CuTHBERT, H. K. G., Blackrock, 103, 158, 168.
Davies, J. H., Lisburn, 81.
DoNNAN, W. D., Hol3^wood, Co. Down, 104.
Donovan, Miss G. E., Timoleague, Co. Cork, 126.
Ellison, Rev. Allan, b.a., Hillsboro', Co. Down, 43.
Fallan, O., Ardara, Co. Donegal, 80, 84.
Halbert, J. N., Dublin, 125, 195.
Hamilton, John, Belfast, 170.
Hart, Professor G. V., q.c, ll.d., 195.
Hart, H. C, b.a., f.l.s., Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, 124.
Hart, W. E., Carrowmore, Co. Donegal, 82, 125, 170;
Hunter, Robert, Clonmel, 61. .
Jameson, H. Lyster, Loughgilly, Co. Armagh, 82, 83.
Johnson, Rev. W. F., m.a., f.e.s., Armagh, 14, 18, 37, 57, 77,
97, 104, 120, 128, 142. Johnson, Professor T., d.sc, f.l.s., Dublin, 4, 77. Johnston, James, Bray, 44. Kinahan, G. H., M.R.I.A., Dublin, 162, 184, 196. Leebody, Professor J. R., m.a., d.sc, Londonderry, 147, 173. Lett, Rev. H. W., m.a., Loughbrickland, Co. Down, 80, 82. M'Ardle, David, Glasnevin, 60, 68, 81, 125, 133, 144. M'Bride, J. M., Westport, 82, 84. M'Weeney, E. J., M.A., M.D., Dublin, 60, 123.
iv List of Contributors.
Mii^NE, J. N., lyondonderry, 192.
Moffat, C. B., Ballyliyland, Co. Wexford 61, 83, 104, 145,
156, 181. MoRK, A. G., F.i,.s., M.R.I. A., Dublin, 3, 83. Nkale, Francis, lyimerick, 42, 169. Pai^mer, J. H., Dublin, 114.
Patterson, Robert, m.b.o.u.. Belfast, 18, 19, 50, 70, 83, 85. Patterson, W. H., Jun., Holywood, Co. Down, 104. PiM, Greenwood, m.a., f.i^.s., Monkstown, Co. Dublin, 25. Praeger, R. Leoyd, B.E., M.R.I. A., Holywood, Co. Down, 41,
61, no, 124, 125, 138, 168, 171. ScHARFF, R. F., B.sc, PH.D., Dublin, 45, 65, 87, 105, 118, 135,
146, 149, 172, 177. Smith, Owen, Nobber, Meatli, 62, 84, 172. Starkey, W., Jun., Rathmines, Dublin, 170. SwiNEY, J. J., C.E., Belfast, 126. UsSHER, R. J., lyismore, Co. Waterford, 6, 28, 146. Waddeel, Rev. C. H., b.d., Saintfield, Co. Down, 102, 194. Waepole, T. H., Dublin, 84. Warren, Miss Amy, Ballina. 126, 170. Warren, Robert, Ballina, 129, 146, 154. WiELiAMS, E., Dublin, 83, 170.
ERRATA.
Page 3, line 20, for 310 read 186.
5 ,, 1892 read 1891.
2 ,, vallisclanstc read z'allisclauSiV.
8 ,, Ratininm alofcciiritm read 7/iaiunium alopecurum. 35 ,, Pnuius read Pyrus. 38 ,, deeply-pinnatifid r^<:w^ deeply-bipinnatifid.
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INDEX.
-*C'*-
Adinia cquitm, marginal spherule of,
20. Ajugcc jjyvam idalis, 1 68. Algae from West Coast of Ireland, 4. Anscr hrachyrhynehus, 4. Aquila chrysaetus, 83. Armagh, Coleoptera of, 14, 36, 57,
77, 97, 120, 142. Armagh Nat. Hist, and Phil. Society,
22, 39, 166. Asio otus, 126, 146.
Basalts, Tertiary, of Donegal, 196. Beetles from Dublin district, 189. Belfast Nat. Field Club, 21, 63, 79,
100, 128, 148, 166, 194. Belfast Nat. Hist, and Phil. Society,
21, 39. 193- Biloculina depressa, 100. Birds, Irish, Recent Additions, 3 ;
arrival of summer migrants, 61, 82.
singing at night, 43.
of Lambay Island, 114.
of Lough Brne, iii, 146.
of Lough Swill}', 173.
of Rathlin Island, 50, 70, 87. Bittern, Common, 62. Black-fish, 146. Botany of Aran Islands, 70.
Dalkey Island, 133.
Lough Erne, iii.
Lough Sheelin, 124.
Mourne Mountains, 24 .
Wexford, 103, 156, 168, 181. Botaurus stellar is, 62. Burnet, Lesser, 81. Buteo lagopus, 44. Butterflies from Howth, 170. Butterfly re-appearances, 145, 170. Buzzard, Rough-legged, 44.
Calandrella brachydadyla, 3.
Cambrian Rocks of Dublin, 10, 23.
Carboniferous Limestone, perfora- tions in, 62, 84, 118, 172.
Carboniferous Rocks of Dviblin, 63.
Carcx aquatilis and its British forms, 48.
Carcx aquatilis in Ireland, 41.
Cccrops latreillii, 20.
Centaury, White, 144, 168. Centroloj)hus p)ompilus, 146. Cephalo:.ia francisci, 100, 192. Ccrthia familiar is as a song-bird, 44,
61. Cervus gigantcus, 22, 44, 63. Clematis vitalba, 25. Coleoptera of Armagh district, 14, 36, 57> 77. 97, 120, 142.
Belfast district, 21.
Co. Wexford, 168.
Dublin district, 22, 64, 103, 188.
Holywood district, 18, 42, 103.
South Louth, 158. Columba cenas, 194. Cork Nat. Field Club, 24, 40, 64,
102, 128. Corn-crake, 126. Cosstcs ligniperda, 40. County Dublin, Past and Present, 9,
31, 53, 73, 90- Crake, Spotted, 61.
Crex pratensis, 126.
Crossbill in Ireland, 6, 28.
feeding, habits, and flight, 8.
nesting, 30.
song, 29.
Parrot, 31, 82. Cuscuta ejjithymwm, 18. Cygnus musicus, 44.
Dalkey Island, Flora of, 133. Deep-sea Dredging, 39. Dendrocopus major, 83. ■ Dictyopteris polypodioides, 6. Dvplophyllum obtusi/olium, 60. Doijegal Basalts, 196.
quartzites, 162, 184. Dublin, County, Past and Present,
9, 31, 53, 73, 90- Dublin Microscopical Club, 20, 39,
63, 79, 100, 193. Dublin Nat. Field Club, 22, 40, 63,
79, loi, 128, 148, 167. Duck, Ferriginous, 44.
Eagle, Golden, 83. Epinephile hypcranthes, 125. Erythrusa ccntaarcitni, white, 144, 168. Estuarine clays of N. E. Ireland, 23, 138.
VI
Index.
Falco ccnchris, 3-.
Flora of x\raii Islands, 70.
Dalkey Island, 133.
Lough Erne, iii.
Ivough Sheelin, 124.
Mourne Mountains, 24.
Wexford, 103, 156, 181. Forests, Irish, ancient, 80. Fuligula nyroca, 44. Fidmarus y/acialis, 83. Fungi from Central Ireland, 60.
Lucan and Bray district, 123.
Galathea strigosa, 18. Gallinago ccelestis, albino, 44. (kirrulus ghtndarius, 44. Geology of Donegal, 195.
Co. Dublin, 9, 31, 53, 73, 90.
Scalp, 40. Glacial Beds of Dublin, 91.
Gravels of Ballyrudder, 21. Godwit, Black-tailed, 147
Red, 62. Goosander, 19. Goose, Pink-footed, 4. Granites of Co. Dublin, 53. Gull, Glaucous, 19, 129, 154.
Iceland, 19, 126, 154, 195.
Ivory, 83, 126. Gulls, Iceland and Glaucous in Ireland, 129, 154.
Halosphcera viridis, 5, ,
Hare-rabbit, hybrid, 147. Hcmitrypa Mbcrnica, 100, 193. Hepatic£e of Ben Bulben, 193.
King's and Queen's Cos., 68. HicraciiDii argcntcuDi, 24.
auratum, 24. Hybrid hare-rabbit, 147. Hymcnopliyllwii tunbridgense, 168. HypRitm filicinuDi v. vallisdauscc, 80.
lanthina rotioidata, 194.
Jays, 44.
Kestrel, Lesser, 3.
Lark, short-toed, 3. Larus cbiiriicus, 83, 126.
glaucus, 9, 129, 154.
leucoptcrvs, 19, 126, 129, 154,
195- Lepidoptera of Co. Dublin, 194.
Howth, 170.
Limerick, 40, 169.
reappearances, 170. Leptocephalus larvte of Conger, 43. Leucobryum glaucum, 81. Lima I' flames, 1 26. Limuaa bclgica, 147,
mgocc2)hala, 62.
Lough Erne, birds of, no. flora of. III. in Camp on, no. Sheelin, flora of, 124. Swilly, Birds of, 173. Louth, Weevils of, 158. Loxia curvirostra in Ireland, 6, 28. \. piiyopsiltacus, 31, 82. Lvira vulgaria, 27.
Malachius bijnistulatus, 125. Machetes jMgnax, 194. Marten, 83. Mergus merganser, 19. Molge cristata, 82. Mollusca from Sligo, 170.
Irish Land and Fresh-water, 45, 66, 87, 105, 135, 149, 177.
land, of Donegal, 171.
marine, Irish, 60, 61, 170. Montacuta daivsoni, 170. Mosses of Ben Bulben district, 194. Mils hibernicus, 127, 172. Mustela martcs, 83. Myrothecium cincreum, 21. Myxotrichum dcflcxum, 20.
Ncoiinea intacta, 102. Nerophis cequore us, 43 . Newt, Warty, 82. Nymphon gallicum, 40, 168, 193. Nyssia zonaria, 40, 42.
Oceanites occanica, 4.
Oceanodroma leucorrhoa, 83.
Octodactylus inhcerens, 20.
Odostomia albella, 61.
Oldhamia, 13.
Ordovician Rocks of Dublin, 31.
Otter, 127.
Owl, Long-eared, 126, 146.
Pcederus riparius, 125, Perforations in Carboniferous Lime- stone, 62, 84, 118, 172. Petrel, Fork-tailed, 183. Fulmar, 171. Wilson's, 4. Phalarope, Red-necked, 4. rhahiropiis hypcrburcus, 4. Fhilonthi, abnormal, 104. Photographing Natural History
objects without a camera, 25. Phoxichilidium fcmoratum, 1 68. Fhoxichilus spiiiosus, 40, 42, 168. Phylloscopus sibilatrix, 104, 126.
siLp)C7xiliosus, 3. Pipe-fish, ^quorial, 43.
Greater, 43.
Lesser, 43. Planorbis riparius, 192. Plants of Dalkey Island, 133.
of Wexford, 156, i8i.
Index
Vll
Plicmularia halcciodcs, 193. Pogotrichum hibernicum, 6. Porzana maruetta, 61. Post-glacial Estuarine Deposits, 138. Poterium sanguisorha, 81. Pricqnilus caudatiis, 39. Proceedings of Armagh Nat. Hist, and Phil. Soc. 22, 39, 166.
Belfast Nat. Field Club, 21, 63,
79, 100, 12S, 166, 194 Belfast Nat. Hist, and Phil.
Society, 21, 39, 193. Cork Nat. Field Club, 24, 40,
64, 102, 128. Dublin Microscopical Club, 20,
39. 63, 79, 100, 193. Dublin Nat. Field Club, 22, 40,
63, 79, loi, 128, 148, 167. Royal Dublin Society, 23, 79. Royal Irish Academy, 23, 41. Royal Zoological Soc. 20, 39, 63, 79, 100, 128, 148, 166, 193. Pycnogonida, 40, 42, 168.
Quartzites and Quartz-rocks, 162, 184. of Howth, 10. of Donegal, 162, 184.
Rat, Irish, 127, 172.
Rathlin Island, Birds of, 50, 70, 87.
Re-appearance of Butterflies, 145,
170. Red-Shank, Spotted, 147. Pihagium hifasciatuiii, 82 Robin, American, 3. Rotifera, Irish, 79 Royal Dublin Society, 23, 79.
Irish Academy, 23, 41.
Zoological Society, 20, 39, 63, 79, 100, 128, 148, 166, 193. Ruhus avimobius, 24.
chamcamoriis, 103, 124, 125. Ruff, 194.
Sand-grouse, 83.
Sandpiper, Green, 62.
Saxicola rubctra, 82.
Scalp, Geology of, 40.
Scmrus vulgaris, 127.
Sea- weeds from West coast of Ire- land, 4.
Shamrock, an Attempt to fix its Species, 95.
Shamrock of Ireland, 1253
Sheldrake breeding on Lough Krne, no, 146.
Ruddy, 126, 147, 171. Shells, Land, 170, 171.
Irish Land and Fresh-water, 45, 66, 87, 105, 135, 149, 177.
Marine, 60, 61, 170. Shoveller, breeding, 126. Skua, Pomatorine, 171. . Siphonostoma trjphle, 43. Snipe, albino, 44. SjMttiJa cly2)cata, 126. S2)ccularia hybrida, 144. Spiranthes romanzoffiana, 145. Sinrula australis, 194. Squirrel, 127. Stachys betonica, 168. Sterna angHca, 4. Stint, Little, 146. Stock-dove, 195. Sylvia corriica, 3.
nisoina, 3. Syngnathus acus, 43. Syrrluqdes jMradoxiis, 83.
Tadorna cornuta, breeding, 146 casarca {mtila), 126, 147, 171.
Tamus communis, 102.
Tcgenaria hibernica, 20.
Tern, Gull-billed, 4.
Totainisfuscus, 147. ochropus, 62.
Tree-creeper as a Song-bird, 44, 61
Trichomancs radicans, 41.
Tringa minuta, 146.
Trochilium crabroniformis, 40, 42.
Turdus migratorins, 3.
Vaccinium vitis-idcea, 18, 41.
Vanessa caixhd, 125, 170. io, 194
Variolite of Annalong, 23.
Velella, 195.
Warbler, Barred, 3.
Wood, 104, 126.
Yellow-browed, 3. Weevils of South Louth, 158. Wexford, Characteristic Plants of,
156, 181. Whinchat, 82. Whitethroat, Lesser, 3 Whooper, 44. Woodpecker, 82, 104. Wren, Wood, 104, 126.
Xant/ndia,-2,9-
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^ije gtrt^lj llatttralt
Vol.. I. APRIIv, 1892. No. I.
INTRODUCTORY.
In issuing the first number of the "Irish Naturai^ist," we wish to acknowledge most gratefully the kind en- couragement and support which we have received in the establishment of the Journal, and to ask the cordial help of those interested in Natural Science to ensure its con- tinued success and progress.
The fact that no Journal of the kind exists in the country, is sufficient reason for our undertaking. Many observers in all branches of Natural History are to be found in Ireland; they now have a means of comparing notes, and making known to the public the results of their work. Moreover, Natural Science has a most important bearing, unrecognised by the great majority, on the industries of the country; we hope b}^ spreading scientific information, and encouraging scientific tastes, to have some influence for good on the labours of the people generally.
Residents in Ireland, in the past, have done much to advance a knowledge of Natural Science. The names of TkmpIvKTon, J. V. Thompson, W. Thompson, Hauday, Jukes, Harvey, and many others, will always be honoured by Na- turalists. Yet it must be admitted that much remains to be done before our knowledge of the fauna and flora of the country can be considered to have approached completion. The higher groups, indeed, are fairly known, but the lower animals and plants present an immense field for research, wherein the investigator is certain to be rewarded with new records, and very possibly with undescribed species. As for geology, there will always be room for research there.
Our Journal starts with the support of all the Irish Natu- ral History Societies. The governing bodies of the Royal
A
2 Introd^idoiy .
Zoological Societ}^ of Ireland, the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Societ}^ the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, the Dublin Microscopical Club, and the Armagh Natural Histor}" and Philosophical Society have passed resolutions according a heart}' welcome to the new magazine, appointing it their official organ, and urging their members to render all possible assistance; and the officials of the Ro3^al Dublin Society and Royal Irish Academy are taking an active and friendly interest in its welfare. The regular publication of the Proceedings of these Societies in our pages will keep our readers well posted up as to what is doing in Irish scientific circles.
While articles, monographs, and local lists will occupy a considerable portion of our space, we would especiall}^ invite correspondence and discussion on obscure problems in Irish Natural Histor}', and the communication of short notes on all points worth}^ of record. These items are invariabl}' of interest, and frequently draw forth further in- formation from other observers.
For the present, at least, our usual monthly issue will con- sist of sixteen pages. The amount of material already in our hands, or promised at an early date, is sufficient to justify an issue of double that size ; but it is thought best to make z, modest beginning, and look forward to enlarging the Journal when a matured age and an assured circulation have made success a certaint}'. To ensure this result, we appeal with confidence to Naturalists both in Ireland and elsewhere. Though our records w411 always be of primary interest to those resident in our own country, we believe they will also be of value to workers in Great Britain, Kurope, and America. The discovery of a species in Ireland may have important bearing on some question of world-wide scientific interest.
As we go to press we receive promise of support from the new Naturalists' Field Club at Cork, a notice of the establish- ment of w^hich will be found on p. 24. We heartily wish the Cork society a prosperous and useful career, and hope that .other centres in the south and west of Ireland may soon follow the example of that city.
[ 3 ] ^
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE EIST OF IRISH BIRDS.
BY A. G. MORE, F.I,.S.
The last two years have been remarkably productive in rare birds; and since December 1889, when the second edition of my list was published, no less than nine species have been added to the Irish avifauna. All these have been recorded at various dates, and four of them have been commented on by Mr. Seebohm, in T/ie Ibis, for October, 1891, but the present seems a good opportunity for bringing together the whole, so as to review the progress which has been made in so short a time. The nine birds are: —
1. Sylvia nisoria, Bechst. — Barrkd Warbi^er. One was obtained near Belmullet, Mayo, so long ago as the 24tli September, 1884, and luckily fell into the hands of the veteran ornithologist, Dr. J. R. Biirkitt who, being doubtful of the name, gave the speci- men to Mr. R. J. Ussher, and the bird was then referred to me for identification. It is now in the Science and iVrt Museum {Zoologist, 1890, p. 310).
2. Sylvia curruca, Linn. — LESSER WkitEThroaT. A single specimen was obtained by Mr. R. M. Barrington from the Lighthouse on Tearaght Rock, Kerry, where it was taken on the ist October, 1890 [Zoologist, 1891, p. 310). This is a striking example of a bird breeding freely in many parts of England, extending northwards to the South of Scotland, but which, up to the present time, has not even appeared as a rare visitor in Ireland. Like the Nightingale (of which also there is only a single occurrence re- corded in Ireland), the Reed Warbler and Tree-Pipit, as well as the Lesser Whitethroat, seem, during the autumnal migration, to find a more direct route to the Continent, and do not make their way westward into Ireland, while, apparently, the rare stragglers which visit Ireland in the late autumn, must come from a greater distance than the opposite shores of Great Britain. Some, like the Yellowr browed Warbler, from far eastward; others, like the Black Redr start in Ireland, and the Fire-crested Wren in Great Britain, from the nearer portion of the European Continent.
3. Pliylloscopus superciliosus, J. F. Gmel. — Yei,i.ow-brcwed W^-vrbi,er. One at the Tearaght Rock Lighthouse, 14th October,
1890, now in the collection of Mr. R. M. Barrington, making the fourth British specimen {Zoologist, 1 891, p. 186).
4r. Calandrella brachydactyla, Leisl. — Short-Toed Lark. One captured at the Blackrock Lighthouse, Co. Mayo, nth October, 1890 {Zoologist, 1891, p. 186). I shall never forget the occasion when my friend, Mr. R. M. Barrington, produced from one small bag three such extraordinary prizes as the vShort-toed Lark, the Yellow- browed Warbler, and a Red-breasted Fl3'catcher, which he had just received from his correspondents at the Irish Lighthouses.
5. Turdus migratorius, Linn. — American Robin. An adult male, shot at vSpringmount, vShankill, Co. Dublin, 4th May, 1891, v.-as brought to me when quite fresh, by Mr. E. Williams {Zoologist,
1891, p. -219). One more to be added to the nineteen Americaii birds, which have been obtained in Ireland. It is now in the Dublin INIuseum.
6. Falco cenchris, Naum.— LESSER Kestrei.. One shot a£ Shankill, Co. Dublin, 17th February, 1891, had been noticed several
4 The Irish NahwaUst.
times during the winter {Zoologist, 1S91, p. 152). It was brought to me for identification by Mr, Tank.
7. Phalaropus hyperboreus, Linn. — Red-necked Phai^arope. One shot at Lough Gill}-, Co. Armagh, was received by Mr. E. Williams on the 13th November, 1892, and is now on loan at the Science and Art Museum {Zoologist, 1892, p. 28.)
8. Oceanites oceanica, Kuhl.— Wii^son's Petrei.. One at Mossdale, Co. Down, 2nd October, 1891 (R. Patterson in Zoologist, 1891, p. 427). Another on Lough Erne, ist October, 1891 {Zoologist, 1891), was iDrought to me when quite fresh, by Mr. E. Williams. A large flight of Petrels, chiefly the Forktailed, seem to have passed over Ireland about this date. And Wilson's Petrel was also, for the first time, obtained in Scotland, on the ist of October {Annals of Scottish Nat. Hist., Januar}^ 1892).
9. Anser brachyrhjrnchus, Baill. — Pink-footed Goose. One shot on Lough S willy, Co. Donegal, about 19th October, 1891, was sent to Mr. Robert Patterson, wdio was thus able to identify the first authentic Irish specimen {Zoologist, 1892, p. 33). It must not be forgotten, however, that the late Sir Victor Brooke had pre- viously recognised this goose in Meath, but was not able to secure a specimen.
Some of the most interesting of these results are due to the observ^ations carried out by the light-keepers on the Irish Lighthouses, from 1882 to 1889, which were initiated and con- tinued chiefly by my friend, Mr. R. M. Barrington. And we may also hope that research has in some degree been stimu- lated b}' the circulars and schedules which we have lately issued in preparation for a new work on the Birds of Ireland, and also by the schedules w4iich have been circulated by Messrs. R. PaJ:terson and R. LI- Praeger for their forthcoming Fauna of Ulster.
There remains one bird to be struck off the list, the Gull- billed Tern, Sterna anglica Mont., which was erroneously announced in the Zoologist (1887, p. 433), as having occurred near Belfast ; but this specimen, which I had the opportunity of examining, proves to be an Arctic Tern, in an unusual state of plumage, being apparently a late-hatched bird of the previous year, which has nearly attained the mature plumage, but in which the black bill and legs, and the dark feathers along the ridge of the wing remain as signs of immaturity ; and I may add that Mr. Barrett-Hamilton has shown me a very similar bird, which he obtained on the coast of Wexford.
SEA- WEEDS FROM THE WEST COAST OF IRELAND.
BY PROP. T. JOHNSON, D. SC, F.I,.S.
SiNCK the publication of the unrivalled work — Phycologia ■Britamiica — in the years 1846-52, b}^ the late Professor Harvey of Trinity College, Dublin, one hundred species have been added to the list of the marine Algae of the British Isles, so
Sea-iveeds from the West Coast of Ireland. -5
that now we know of some six hundred species. This addition is mainly due to the researches of K. M. Holmes and K. A. I^. Batters, who have published a very useful Revised List of the British Marine Algce in the Annals of Botany (vol. v., 1890). A year ago a strong committee was formed for the investigation of the marine flora of the coast of Scotland. This committee is at present confining its operations to the Clyde basin. It is very much to be desired that an investigation on similar lines should be carried out for Ireland ; the south and west coasts, more especialh^, would amply repay investigation in the light of the recent discoveries of British and Continental algologists. I was so fortunate as to accompany for a time the s.s. '* Harlequin," under the Rev. W. S. Green, in its fishery survey. I spent a fortnight on board in April, 1891, and went from Galway to Sligo. In addition to the acquirement of a large and valuable quantity of sea-weeds from different localities (which pressure of other duties has so far prevented me from working out fulhO, I got a good knowledge of the coast, which I could not have obtained in au}^ other way, and which will prove of great service to me (and to others) in future algological work. This is not the place to enter into details. One of the most interesting observations was the discovery that a small green floating ball, the size of a pin- head, constantly present in the tow-net c^tQhQS,\\?iS Halosphaera viridis, Schmitz. This minute alga had not been previously- found on the coast of Ireland. It was first noticed in the Gulf of Naples, and was known there for some 3^ears before it was examined by Schmitz, who gave the results of his investigations in the Mitt. Zool. Stat. Neapcl, vol. i. Later it was noticed inde- pendently in Phmiouth Sound, by Mr. J. D. Cunningham, from whom I first heard of it. Its life-history is incompletely known, and no doubt could be fully investigated in Irish waters ; it was found round the whole coast by Mr. Holt. I was particularly interested in succeeding in finding it in a tow-net catch well out in the Atlantic, twent3--seven miles west of Achill Island. Its importance as a food-supply for the smaller marine organisms must be ver}- great. So far as one can say at present, its season is from March to the end of June ; what happens to it in the interval is -not known. Two French algologists, the distinguished Dr. Bornet and M. Gomont, have recently discovered in the group Cyanophycece several genera which possess the power of boring into, and more or less completely destro3'ing the calcareous shells of various molluscs. Happening to catch the low tide at Galway on joining the fisher>^ boat, I found such " bored " shells there, as well as at other points on the coast. In September last I spent a fortnight in sea-weed work on the coast of Clare, chiefl}^ at Kilkee and Miltown Malbay, both well-known as algal localities to readers of Harvey's works. Here I found at low tide growing on Alaria escnlenta, and in all stages, d^Litosiphon-
B
6 The Irish Natui-alist.
like plant which is new to science, and which I propose to call Pogotrichiun hiberniciun. J. Reinke of Kiel, to whom I sent specimens, tells me he is now describing for the first time the only other known species, P. filifornic, found at Heligoland. The Irish plant shows unilocular and plurilocular sporangia, < the Heligoland one plurilocular only. At Miltown Malbay I was interested to find tufts oi Dictyoptci'is polypodioidcs, Lamx, growing as an intertidal weed. I had previously gathered this brown alga off the Mewstone in Plymouth Sound, in 12-15 fathoms. This intertidal habitat on the coast of Clare is a marked illustration of the possibility of occurence of Spanish and other southern weeds on the south and west coasts of Ireland.
Knough has been said to shew that there is waiting for readers of the Irish Naturalist, a field of investigation sure to 3'ield rich and interesting results.
THE CROSSBII^L {LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, L.)
IN IRELAND.
BY R. T. USSHKR
In studying the fauna of a country', one of the most interesting things to note is the increase or decrease of certain species, with the causes of these changes. The decrease of such birds as the two Eagles, the Marsh Harrier, and the Quail, being chiefl}' the work of man, is rapid and noticeable. The increase of others, due rather to natural causes, is more gradual and less perceptible. We have, however, in the Crossbill an in- stance of a bird whose recent marked increase has been obser\"ed in our four provinces, and has, within the last few 3^ears, removed it from the categorj' of an uncertain visitant to that of a resident .species.
Thompson can quote but three mentions of it (as a straggler) in the last century. I have been informed by old residents in Co. Waterford, that about the year 1798, great flocks of Cross- bills visited this county in the autumn, and committed havoc among the orchards, splitting open the apples, and eating the pips only. This circumstance my father often described to me.
Among the many instances of the Crossbill's occurrence 'from 1828 to 1846, given by Thompson, onl}' two presented evidence which satisfied him that it had bred in the country. In April, 1856, Mr. Smyth of Headborough shot and gave me two of these birds, and in the following month he saw several others about the same mountain plantation ; but it was not until 1867 that nests were found, at Kilkea, Co. Kildare, when the steward informed Mr. Blake Knox that he had seen Cross-
The Crossbill (JLoxia curvirostra, L.) i7i Irela^id. 7
bills building about the middle of February, and had found four nests, two of which contained young birds, on the loth March ; and, though none of these seem to have escaped, there were many young birds in the plantation about ist May. Twenty or more used to be seen at a time until the middle of summer, when they all left (^Zoologist, 1868, p. 1133).
Up to this, though Crossbills had been occasionally noticed to breed, they do not seem to have remained ; but Sir Victor Brooke, writing to me in August, 1890, said — "The Crossbill settled in Fermanagh long before 1888 — certainly nearly ten years ago;" and in March, 1891, he stated that it breeds there, and has been numerous within the last twelve years. I re- ceived, in 1 89 1, statements from several counties, chiefly in lycinster, to the effect that Crossbills have been established there for several years, that they are seen, both young and old, at different seasons of the year, and, in most cases, that, my in- formants have no doubt, they breed. Mrs. Croasdaile places their advent into Queen's Co. as far back as September, 1886. Dr. Donovan saw them at Glandore, West Cork, all through 1887 and 1888. Mr. Patten, of Bray, mentions loth July, 1888, as the date when he observed the first flock of about twenty-five, old and young. In that year, Mr. Kane heard that a pair fre- quented a demesne in Westmeath, and had haunted the place for four years previously; while Captain D'Arcy-Irvane, speak- ing of Fermanagh, Col. Cooper, of Co. Sligo, Mrs. Battersby, of Westmeath, Dr. Benson, of the adjoining parts of Dublin and Wicklow, and Mr. Digby, of King's Co., all mention the increase of the Crossbill in their districts of late years, and ex- press their conviction that it breeds therein. . The occurrence of Crossbills has also been reported to me from Donegal, lyOndonderr}^ Down, and Gahvay, and Mr. E. Williams notes them also from Tipperar>^, Cavan, and Edenderry. In 1888, Mr. de Vismes Kane, being at Monkstown, Co. Cork, was shown a tree in which Crossbills were said to have nested that season.
In June and July, 1888, a remarkable migration of Crossbills into Western Europe took place. The}" were observ^ed at Heligoland in June, at lighthouses and lightships and the coast, east side of England, and in the Hebrides, in July (ZooL, 1888, p. 349). About the same time they invaded eastern France {ZooL, 1889, p. 70). This should be borne in mind in con- nection with their increase in Ireland ever since 1888, and their settlement in localities where they were previously unknown.
My first record of Crossbills here at Cappagh, was that of five, seen by my men, drinking at the stream below this house, on the 26th December, 1887. Several were shot near Cloyne, Mallow, and Doneraile, during January and February', 1888 ; and on the 6th April I received one from Cappoquin, five miles from here. On the 13th November, I made my first acquaint- ance with these birds feeding in n\y plantations, and they have
8 The Irish Nahiralist.
ever since then remained, and bred 3'ear after 3"ear. Their appearance, a thing now of common occurrence ever^'- month in the year, has become exceedingly familiar. Indeed I know no bird of its size that attracts notice more quickly than the Crossbill, when it is once known. Though its flight is usually above the level of the tree-tops, its loud, rattling call-note makes one look out for it when almost out of sight. Its mode of fl3'ing, too, is peculiar. It alternatel}" strikes out fully with a strong vibration of its wings, and, closing them, it sinks a little, to recover itself again b}^ another effort of its wings, thus performing a series of measured undulations in its course from hill to valley, or from wood to wood. Its large round head, with a distinct neck, is often distinguishable when it is perched at some distance, and its singular beak gives it the appearance of holding something in its mouth. I look on the reds and greens of Crossbills' plumage, as protective colouring. On the 8th Februar}', I was attracted by the notes of a Crossbill re- cording, when, peering into the branches of the Scotch firs, I found that the bird was sitting unconcernedl}', quite near me, its russet plumage corresponding with the ruddy hue of the bark.
A flock of Crossbills feeding is described b}^ Mr. Ellison, who met with them in this county, near Clonmel, in June, 1889, and near Shillelagh, Co. Wicklow, the following month {^Zool- ogist, 1889, p. 76).
I quote the following from my own journal, 26tli November, 1889 — "About II a.m. I saw sixteen circling about over the plantations on the hills (Cappagh), and finally alighting on the tops of larch at the edge of a grove. At first, several remained like sentinels on the tree-tops, but soon all were bus}^ among the branches, twisting open the cones. I crept close to these trees, w^hile the Crossbills, after satisf3'ing themselves on one tree, flew" by ones and twos to a tree nearer to me. In the sunshine I could see several red birds, and others that were yellow-green. The busy and happ3^ appearance of these Crossbills, their bright colours and curious beaks and attitudes, were a sight to delight any lover of nature. One bird went to work on a cone, to which he had to bend, with his head down under the twig he was on, each time he extracted a seed. Another bird would fly from tree to tree, carr3'ing a cone in its beak, and then would hold it on a branch with its foot, while picking it to bits. They w^ere all life, fluttering, feeding, and crying, *' gip, gip " occasionall5\ Suddenly, of their own accord, the}' took wing to perform one of their airv^ dances, all uttering their loud call- note. Their flight at such times is much more measured than that of other finches. They seem to luxuriate in it, and to beat time b}' the successive impulses of their wings. It is strange to watch one of these large Crossbills go far out on a swa^nng spraj" of larch (perhaps, head downwards), bite off a cone, carry it to a more steady part of the branch to dissect it,
The Crossbill (Loxia curvi?vstra, Z.) in Ireland. g
beginning at its apex, then let it drop and go for another cone, or use its beak in climbing like a parrot.
I have seen a flock on the 8th November, feeding on the' immature bunches of the iv}^ from which the blossoms had re- cently fallen, that grew on low ash-trees by the road-side. The}^ have also been seen earl}^ in the 5'ear feeding on the ground beneath a willow covered with catkins. On 4th April, I watched a Crossbill feeding on the expanded buds of the larch, which, at that time, are favourite food, and with which I think, they feed their 3'oung. Mr. Ellison saj^s he has seen them feeding on the catkins of large elms in June. I have never known them to attack apples, as my father described, the orchards, then numerous here, resounding that season with the " crack, crack" of splitting and falling fruit. At that time the planting of fir and larch had not commenced here on a large scale, and the birds, as Thompson suggests, were probabl}^ driven to feed on apple-pips, for want of the more acceptable seeds of conifers. There can be no doubt indeed that the increase and settlement of Crossbills in Ireland is due to the increase of mature seed-bearing fir and larch woods.
(TO B^ CONTINUED.)
COUNTY DUBININ, PAST AND PRESKNT.
BY PROF. GRKNVII.I.E A. J. COIyK, F.G.S.
Introductory.
The following short papers, dealing with a limited area, may possibly serv^e the wider purpose of illustrating how the geolo- gical history of any district may be gradually Vv^orked out by successive obser\"ations, and how newproblems will continually arise as an encouragement to additional research. In the field of historical, as well as mineral geolog\% the individual Irish naturalist has scope in every county. The development of libraries in the cities provides the means of learning what has been already done ; and hence I have not spared references to original papers, since the personality and true merits of earlier workers can never be grasped by a perusal of a mere outline of their results. It is, indeed, cheering to an3^one who may undertake local, and often laborious, investigation, to feel that he is one of a great band of observ^ers, who have compiled, during the present century, the pre-historic annals of Ireland. Since references to certain journals may be frequent, the abbreviation G.S.D. will be used for the Journal of the Geolo- gical Society of Dublin, and G.S.I, for its successor, tho: Journal of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland, commencing in 1864. The papers in the latter journal will also be found in the
lO
The Irish Naturalist.
Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society for corresponding A^ears. It should also be stated that these notes on the geology of Co. Dublin are based on a course of evening lectures given in the Royal College of Science for Ireland in the present 3'ear. Several wider geological considerations were then introduced, which it is here convenient to omit.
I. — Thk Cambrian Period.
The oldest rocks in Co. Dublin are those of Howth and the great tract stretching from near Shankill southward into Co. Wicklow, and including there Bray Head and the Sugarloaves. The}' form a series of shales and quartzites, which underlie the Ordovicians (Lower Silurians), and which, consequently, are of Cambrian age, or even older. In the crumpled and wrinkled shales we can recognise the deposits of an old mudd}' sea; these rocks, so well seen at Bra}-, were once mere soft cla3'S, which have since been consolidated by the pressure of other rocks deposited on them, and have been folded and squeezed during long periods of earth-movement. Not only were they bent and uptilted before the Ordovician sea washed against their flanks, but they have since been subject to all the movements that have affected the floor of the country up to the present day. And these movements, as we shall see, have been considerable and repeated.
The hard quartzites and "quartz-rocks" associated with the shales, present some difficult features. On the south side of Howth, east of the Needles, pink sandstones can be seen beautifully folded ; and one bed lies regularly upon another, clearly deposited, layer upon layer, in the same sea as that
Fig. I.
Weathering of jointed quartzite, north of Ireland's Eye, from Howth.
which formed the shales. And the pocket-lens, and, still better, the microscope applied to thin sections of the rock, show how even the harder masses are made up of grains of
County Dublin^ Past and Present.
II
quartz-sand, like those of modern beaches, with here and there a little pebble, the whole being cemented by silica into the quartzite that we now find.
While examining these ver>^ ancient deposits, now cemented together and contorted, we can picture to ourselves the rivers bringing down sand and mud into the sea, which sifted out the materials, as it does now, and spread them out in strata on the quiet floor. There are no signs of the huge flood- waves and whirling catastrophes which some of the earlier geologists invoked to account for the vast masses of material deposited during geological time ; we are dealing with rocks at least as old as the oldest known traces of living things, and we find ourselves, notwithstanding, studying conditions marv^ellously like our own, and very far indeed from the time when the crust of the earth began first to cool around a molten ball.
But further examination of the quartzites shows that they do not always lie regularly, as the}^ should, among the shales. On Howth itself, where they often look so distinctly stratified, the late Mr. John Kelly, ^ in a paper full of accurate observations, held that they were originally quartz-rocks lying lower than
Fig, 2.
Bed of quartzite in slate, east of the ISTeedles, Howth, The shale has become cleaved under earth-pressure, and has passed into slate ; but the resisting quartzite has become folded and broken up. Further move- ment would leave mere "ej-es" of quartzite surrounded by slate. Dimensions of surface drawn, about 25 cm. square.
the shales, and that they had been intruded into the latter in a "semifluid or plastic" condition by "volcanic or other ex- pansive power." Mr. G. H. Kinahan^ has also contended that
1 "On the quartz rocks of Co. Wicklow," C. S. D. v. (1S53), pp. 240 and
255.
2 "Geology of Ireland," pp. 14 and 196.
12 The Irish Naturalist.
the quartz-rocks are intrusive and d^'ke-like, not ordinary altered sediments. But when we consider how mau}^ thrusts and squeezes these ancient rocks have had to bear, it seems far more probable, as Prof. Sollas has shown/ that the hard resisting quartzites have been broken up under the stress, and that the softer and more yielding cla3\s have flowed round about them ; so that a mass of quartzite may be found quite out of its proper position, and even cutting across the .strati- fication of the shales, instead of conforming to it. The real sandy origin of these quartzites can again and again be proved, as may be seen in the gritty mass on the summit of the great Sugarloaf, or as Mr. T. Oldhanr pointed out as early as 1844, when he produced pebbles from the quartz-rock of Bray. The dislocations and faults'* are proofs of the power of the earth-movements, and the microscope, as Prof. Sollas has shown, reveals the same thing in the minutest details, the old sand-grains being ground to powder on their edges and becoming cracked and elongated, as in all hard rocks in which the particles have been forced into a kind of flow.
If, then, these basement-rocks of Co. Dublin are merely altered marine deposits, there must have been a land formed of still earlier rocks, on the shore of which the}' were laid down. This .shore still remains concealed, but Prof. Sollas has already been engaged in elucidating its position. Very possibly it was in part made of the old crushed and foliated schistose rocks, which are exposed in the western counties, and which underlie the Cambrian in their typical region, Wales.
The Cambrians of Cambria contain fossils, limited in species, but covering a fair range of forms. We have abundant Brachiopods, particularly Lingulclla, the close ally of the living Lin 021 la ; rare lyamellibranchs and Gastropods ; Thcca, which may prove to be something between a Gastropod and a Cepli- alopod ; Orthoceras, the old straight representative of the Pearly Nautilus ; and numerous Trilobites, the well-known animals which died out in the Carboniferous period, but which seem to have been the lords of creation in early Cam- brian times. Since they probably stand as links between the Crustacea and the Arachnida, and would doubtless be disowned nowadays both by the scorpion and the woodlouse, it is clear that the life of the Cambrian period ma}^ be regarded as primi- tive, however abundant. Primitive, but in no wa}' primordial; for alread}^ geologists have fixed the base of the Cambrian rocks b}^ the presence of a particular Trilobite, Olcncllus, and the "Olenellus-fauna," or group of species found in association with OlcncUus, marks an horizon below which research is being
"^ Proc. Roy. Dublin Soc. vii., part 3.
2 " On the rocks at Bray Head," G. S. D. iii., p. 60.
^See Map of Bray Head, by G. A. Kinahan. G. S. I. vi., pi. vii.
County Diiblifi, Past and Prese^it. - -13
actively pushed forward. The lyongmynd rocks of Shropshire will probably have to be thrust out into the pre-Cambrian ; and Prof. Blake' has wished to honour the rocks of Bray and Howth b}^ assigning to them a similar antiquit}^
This great series of rocks, amounting to some z],ooo feet in thickness, has yielded, however, little in the way of fossils. Worm-tubes have been carefully described from Bra}^ and Howth, and have been distinguished by names which exalt them to the rank of fossil genera. Tubes as much as two feet long have thus been observed by Dr. J. R. Kinahan at Bray;^ and the same author has believed that casts of the crown of tentacles which occur around the head of many worms, such as the modern Serpula, are traceable in certain diagonal mark- ings in the fossil, called by him Histioderma? Haughtonia consists of clustered worm-tubes found at the north end of Bray Head.^
The fame of the Irish Cambrians has, however, gone out into all the w^orld through the discover}^ by Dr. T. Oldham, ^ in 1844, of "small zoophytic markings" in the slates of Bra3^ Prof. Forbes named these Oldhamia four years later,^ and two species were established. Dr. J. R. Kinahan, however, first accurately figured and described them,^ adding a third species discreta, and confirming the general impression that the organism was h^'drozoan, resembling the Sertularians. Considering how minutely wrinkled the rocks of Bray have become by earth- pressures, the question of the organic nature of Oldhamia has been several times raised ; and Prof. Sollas^ has recently sug- gested that comparison may fairly be made between its structure and the delicate folds produced b}^ incipient cleavage in some metamorphic rocks. But the radial series of wTinkles described as O. radiata remains unexplained ; and, as Mr. G. H. Kinahan^ remarks, why should Oldhamia, if inorganic, be confined to the Irish Cambrians ? Clearly we have here a subject which may be in the end conclusively elucidated by local research. Oldhainia aiitiqua has been found at Puck's Rocks, Howth ; and both the well know^n species are widely vSpread in Co. Wicklow. The search for Oldhamia may also be fruitful in revealing traces of other organisms ; if not Olenellus and its associates, y^X. perhaps something even more ancient and more interesting. Mr. Jolj^'s paper/" pointing out a curious
^ "The Monian System of Rocks," Qiiar. Journ. GcoL Soc. London, xliv. (1888), p. 534. "■ G. S. D. vii. (1856), p. 185. ^ lb. viii., p. 70.
* Misprinted " Howtli " in the original paper, G. S. D. viii., p. 116. ^ G. S. D. iii., p. 60. ^ lb. iv., p. 20.
7 lb. viii. (1858), p. 69, and Trans. Roy. Irish Acad, xxiii., p. 547.
8 lb. vii., pp. 171 and 174.
9 " On Oldhamia," G. S. I. vii., p. 166. ^0 G. S. I. vii., p. 176.
H
The Irish Naturalist.
relation between the impressed and elevated examples of Oldhaniia, should be carefully noted ; thus, in a number of cases at au}^ rate, on the upper surface of a slab O. radiata appears as a depression, while O. atitiqua is in relief; nor does the latter seem to lie alwa^'s on a plane of bedding, since it branches continually over irregularities of the rock. Like so man}^ reputed ancient organisms, Oldhamia stands upon its trial ; and the jury should assuredly" be called from the naturalists of Co. Dublin, who are in a position to examine minutely the scenes of its alleged career.
Fig. 3-
Outline of the Cambrian country of Co. Wicklow, from Howth. Bray Head on left, the Sugarloaves farther to right. Granite of Dalkey and Kilhney in foreground.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
THE COLEOPTERA OF THE ARMAGH DISTRICT.
BY REV. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A., F.E^.S.
In compiling the following list I have confined mj^self to the area contained within a five-mile radius of the city of Armagh. The greater number of the species have, however, been taken within two or two and a-half miles distance.
The surface of the district is of an extremely undulating character, so that while there are not any great heights, there is scarcel}^ any level ground of large extent. The general surface rises towards the south in the direction of the Vicar's Cairn, and falls towards the north in the direction of Eougli- gall. The geological formation is almost entirel}' Carboniferous Limestone. " . -•
The Coleoptera of the Armagh Disf)icf. 15
A large portion of the land is under cultivation, but con- siderable tracts, especially close to Armagh, are used entirely for grazing.
The most distant localities mentioned are lyoughgall and the Vicar's Cairn, which are each about four and a-half miles from Armagh. At lyoughgall my hunting ground has been in the Manor grounds, along the edge of the lake (Lough Gall) which gives its name to the village. The Vicar's Cairn is the highest point in the district, being 819 feet above the sea level; the specimens w^ere obtained from moss taken from the summit, lyowry's Lough is the source of the town water suppl}^ and lies a good deal higher than Armagh, being 331 feet above the sea level, while the highest point in Armagh is 239, and the lowest, 134 feet above sea level. In the summer the water of the lake foils considerably, and on the beach thus left swarm quantities of beetles.
MuUinure is a tract of low-lying marshy ground falling to 102 feet above sea level. The main portion is never cultivated, a crop of indifferent hay being taken off it, and a few cattle grazed. As it lies so low it is ver>^ liable to floods, and on these occasions a rich harvest of beetles is to be obtained from the debris washed up by the rising waters. It is about half a mile from my house, and is, consequently, very frequently visited, being accessible and very productive of Coleoptera. I: have found that working one spot constantly is a sure way of getting good species, provided, of course, that the locality is a suitable one. It will be noticed that Mullinure and Lowry^'s Lough have had most of my attention, and the result speaks for itself. Drummanmore is practically a continuation of Mul- linure, being the adjoining townland. Towards the east there rises a steep hill which falls as sharply into a valley, in which lie Drummanmore lake and Edenmore, or Drummanbeg lake. Loughnashade is on the western side of Armagh. It is a small lake close to the well-known Navan Fort. The marshy ground adjoining, and the drains running into the lake, have produced several good species. The Folly is a kind of public park just outside the town, with a little stream running through it, w^hich further down its course is called the Dean's River, where it flows past what used to be the Deanery, but is now called Dean's Hill.
There are upwards of 700 species in my list, representing all the great divisions of the British Coleoptera. The Longicornia are, however, only represented by one species, owing to the district being unsuited to them, from the absence of any large tract of wood.
Of the species in my list, 246 appear not to have been re- corded from elsewhere in Ireland; this is merely because I have been working here steadily all the year roimd since 1884, while other districts have either not been touched, or worked only for a short time. ^
1 6 The Irish Naturalist.
The specimens have all been captured b}^ myself, with Mrs. Johnson's assistance, except a few that were picked up by some of ni}^ pupils, and brought to me. Notices of most of those mentioned will be found in the Entomologisf s Monthly Magazine from 1884 to the present time. No full list has, however, y^X. been published of the Coleoptera of the district, and, so far as I know, this is the largest list of Irish Coleoptera yet published. That of the Dublin district, published in 1878, for the British Association, contains 623 species, and Mr. Haliday's list, published in the Proceedings of the Belfast Natu- ralists' Field Club for 1885, contains 528 species. Both these lists cover much more extensive districts, yet mine is larger, and for the reason I have mentioned above — that my work has been continuous, at one spot, all the year round.
I hope that this list, as showing what a little earnest work can produce, may stir up others to investigate the Coleoptera of their districts. I have been for some time trying to com- pile a complete list of the Coleoptera of Ireland, but have found great difficulty from lack of materials. I shall, therefore, be ver}^ glad to hear of anyone taking up the study of this order, and I shall be only too happ}- to give any help I can to any such intending coleopterist. In the present list I have followed the nomenclature and arrangement adopted by Canon Fowler in his work on the Coleoptera of the British islands.
CARABID^.
Cyclirus rostratus, L. — Beech Hill in moss — not common. Carabus nemoralis, Miill. 1 ^ ,, i, ^ ^- 4^ ;«^
C. granulatus, L. } C^^i^^^i throughout district.
Notiophiliis bigiittatus, Fab. — Common throughout district.
N. substriatus, Wat. — Lowry's Lough, INIulUnure, Palace Demesne.
N. quadrigiittatus, Dej. — Palace Demesne — rare.
N. aquaticus, L. — MuUinure in moss — not common.
N. palustris, Duft, — MuUinure, Kdenmore, in moss — fairly common.
Leistus fulvibarbis, Dej. — Drumbee, Beech Hill, in moss — not common.
L. rufescens, V. — MuUinure, Kdenmore, Dean's Hill, sweeping and in moss — not common.
Nebria brevicollis, F. — Common throughout district.
N. gfyllenhalii, Sch. — MuUinure, Killooney — not common.
Pelophila borealis, Payk, — Lowry's Lough, under stones and among plants on edge of lake from April to October. I took a single spe- cimen in flood rubbish at MuUinure in April, 1891. It is most plentiful in June and July.
Blethisa multipunctata, L. — Lo\vrj''s Lough, under stones and plants on muddy parts of lake shore— not common.
Elaphrus riparius, L. \ Lowry's Lough, and on muddy margins of
Z:. cupreus, Duft. ) various ponds — common.
Loricera pilicornis, F. — Common throughout district.
Clivina fossor, L. — Common throughout district.
DyscMrius globosus, Herbst. — Very plentiful in flood rubbish in Mul- linure.
Badister bipustulatus, F. — Pretty common in moss, under stones, etc. CMaeuius nigricornis, F.— Lowry's Lough, under stones on edge of lake — not plentiful.
The Coleoptei'a of the Armagh District. 17
Bradycellus verbasci, Duft. — Common in moss, under stones, etc.
B. similis, Dej. — Mullinure — uncommon.
Harpalus rufibarbis, F. — Mullinure, Dean's Hill — not common.
H. ruficornis, F. — Common throughout district.
H. latus, Iv. — Common throughout district.
Anisodactylus blnotatus, F. — Lowry's Lough— not common.
Stomis pumicatus, Panz. — Mullinure, under stones and in flood rubbish.
Pterostichus cupreus, L. — Fairly plentiful in the district.
P. versicolor, Sturm. — Mullinure — not common.
P. madidus, F. — Very common throughout the district.
P. niger, Schall. — Common under stones, etc.
P. vulgaris, L. — Common throughout district.
P. nigrita, F. — Lowry's Lough, etc., — common under stones.
P. gracilis, Dej. — Edenmore, Loughnashade — not common.
P. minor, Gyll. — Mullinure, Loughnashade, in moss — pretty common.
P. strenuus, Panz. ) ^ ,
t% j-T^ c^ > Common m moss, etc.
P. diligens, Sturm. ) '
P. vernalis, Gyll. — Edenmore, Mullinure, in moss — not common.
P. striola, F. — Common throughout district.
Amara aulica, Panz. — Mullinure under stones — not common.
A. ovata, F. — Mullinure, Palace Demesne, Edenmore — not common.
A. acuminata, Payk. — Fairly distributed through district.
A. communis, Panz. — Common throughout district.
Calathus cisteloides, Panz. — Common throughout district.
C mollis, Marsh. — Dean's Hill — not common.
C. melanocephalus, L. — Common throughout district. C. piceus, Marsh. — Palace Demesne, Folly in moss. Pristonychus terricola, Herbst. — Outhouses in Cathedral crypt. Anchomenus dorsalis, Miill. — Common throughout district.
A. albipes, F. — Lowry's Lough, etc., — common under stones near water.
A. oblongus, Sturm. — Lowry's Lough, Mullinure, — common under stones, and in moss.
A. marginatus, L. — Lowry's Lough and banks of ponds — very plentiful.
A. parumpunctatus, F. — Common throughout district.
A. viduus, Panz. — Mullinure, Lowry's Lough in moss, etc.,— pretty com- mon.
A. micans, Nic. — Folly in moss — rare.
A. fuliginosus, Panz. — Common throughout district.
A. gracilis, Gyll. — Mullinure, in moss; Lowry's Lough under stones, etc.
A. piceus, L. — Mullinure, in moss; Lowry's Lough on edge of lake — fairly common.
A. thoreyi, Dej.— Lowry's Lough— rare.
Olistliopus rotundatus, Payk. — Mullinure, in moss — rare. Bembidium rufescens. — In my own garden — one specimen.
B. quinquestriatum. — Near Armagh — rare.
B. obtusum, vSturni. — Mullinure, in moss — common.
B. guttula, F. — Mullinure, in moss.
B. mannerheimi, Sahl.— Widely distributed, and plentiful.
B. biguttatum, F. — Mullinure, in moss — rare.
B. aeneum, Germ. — Mullinure, in flood rubbish — not common.
B. clarki, Daws. — Mullinure, Lowry's Lough, etc. — common.
B. doris, Panz. — Mullinure, in flood rubbish ; Lowry's Lough, on muddy
banks. B. lampros, Herbst. — Common throughout district. B. affine, vSteph. — Near Grange — rare.
B. bruxellense, Wesm. — Lo\\n-y's Lough, under stones — not common. B. litter ale, Ol. — Common throughout district. B. bipunctatum, L. — Lowry's Lough — not common. B. flammulatum, Clairv. — Lowry's Lough, under stones, at roots of reeds,
etc. Trechus micros, Herbst. — INIullinure, in flood rubbish — one specimen.
i8 The Irish Naturalist.
var, obtusis, Er. } common in moss, etc. Dromius linearis, 01. — MiiUinure in moss— pretty common. D. meridionalis, Dej. — Palace Demesne, Miillinnre, Dean's Hill, under
bark. D. quadrimaculatus,Iv.— Palace Demesne, Miillinnre, Castledillon, under
bark. D. quadrinotatus, Panz.— Palace Demesne, under bark. D. melanocephalus, Dej. — Common throughout district, in moss, etc.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
NOTES
BOTANY.
Cuscuta epithymum. Mr. A. G. More contributes to the Joiirnal af Botany for Januar}^ a note on this plant, of which he has received a fine series of specimens gathered by Mr. J. Ernest Grubb at the west end of the sand-hills at the Rabbit Burrow, near Tramore, Co. Waterford. It is here parasitical chiefly on 7 hymns, but also on Lotus corniculatns, Trifolhnn repens, and Galiiivt. Mr. More considers that this plant ma}' now definitely take its place in the Irish flora. He is inclined also to refer to this species, the Ctiscuta, gathered by Mr. R. W. Scully in 1887, on the Banna sand-hills in Kerry, and recorded as C. trifolii ; and also the Cuscuta major recorded by Threlkeld as " growing in great plenty in the dry sandy banks near Mayden Tower, near Drogheda." At the station last named, however, Mr. More searched for the plant unsuccessfully. The localities of Bally- brack and Fassaroe, ISIr. INIore refers to C. trifolii.
Vaccinium vitis-idcsa. In the Journal of Botajiy for March, Mr. A. G. More draws attention to several existing low-level records for this species, in the hope that a renewed search on some of our large inland bogs may lead to its discovery at low elevations. The records which he quotes are "large bog near Backlin, Co. Westmeatli " {Herb. D. iMoore) ; "bog in Crevetenant, near Ballynahinch, Co. Down," and "bogs at the southern extremity of Eough Neagli " (Templeton, Catalogue of the Amative Plants of Ireland).
ZOOLOGY.-
C R US TA C E A .
Galathea strigosa ox Co. Down Coast. A specimen of this Crusta- cean was sent to me from Donaghadee on the 21st January. It appears to be somewhat uncommon round the Irish coast, as Thompson only mentions a few localities where he had obtained it, and he characterises it as being in " limited numbers." — Robert Patterson, Belfast.
INSECTS.
C01.EOPTERA AT HoL\'\vooD, Co Down. On Jan. 20th I was enabled by the kindness of Mr. R. L. Praeger to capture a few beetles near Holy- wood. The main locality was in Cultra Wood. Owing to the severity of the weather there were not as many beetles about as might have been expected. The specimens were obtained from under stones, in moss (of which I brought a bagful home), and in water. Under stones were Pterostichus strenuus, Qiccdius fuliginosus, Philonthus laminatus, Othius fulvipennis, and Lathrolnu7n brunnipcs. The water net brought me Ilalipbis lineatocollis, Hydroporus atriceps, Crotch itnorio, Dej.) //. pubesccns, H. discretus, II. niorifa,
Notes. 19
H. palusfris, H. planus, Agabus bipiishilatiis, and A. nebulosus. The moss was, of course, productive of a far larger number of species than the other methods of capture. I obtained from it Notiophilus pahistris, Lori- ccra pilicornis, Pterostichiis stremitis, Anchomemis parumpunctatus , Bembidhim lanipros, Cercyon melanocephahis, Cryptopleiirum atomarium, Aleochara morion, Homalota vicina, H. atej-rima, H. circellaris, H. fungi, H. aegra, //. analis, H. atramentaria, H. nigra, Conosoma lividmn, Tachyporus chiysomelinus, T. hypnorutn, T. brunneus, Tachinns riifipes, T. marginellns, T. subterraneus, Bolitobiiis luntclatus, B. irinotattis, B. pygmacus, Qncdius fuliginosns, Q. seviiaeneus, Philonthus z'ariits, Ph. poliins, Xantholimis linearis, OtJiitis myrjiie- cophiliis, Lathrobiuni brimnipes, Stemis impressus, S. atraUdus, Oxytelns rugosns, Ttichopteiyx atomaria, Scydmaenus collaris, Cononimiis nodifer, Phyllotreta un- dnlata, Erirhinus scirpi and St) ophosojmis coiyli. I give Aleochara morion and Homalota aegra with some reserve, as I have not types of either. Most of the species are common, but that was to be expected under the circum- stances. I have given all the species taken, as there does not seem to have been any record from the district since Haliday's time. — Rev. W. F. Johnson, Armagh.
BIRDS.
GivAUCOUS AND ICKI.AND Gui,i.s (Larus g^laucus and L. leucopterns),
IN Co. DoNEGAi,. There has apparently been a flight of these rare northern gulls on our north-west coast, extending from Donegal to Mayo, within the last few weeks. On the 12th February, W. A. Hamil- ton, Esq. J. P. of Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, sent me a very fine Glaucous Gull {Lams glauciis), in the mottled immature plumage. It measured thirty-one inches, from which I would conclude it was a male, although the organs were not sufficiently developed to be distinguished. On the 15th February", Mr. Hamilton wounded another gull which he says was apparently of the same size and plumage as the one he first sent. It dropped in the sea and was not recovered. However, I think there can be no doubt it was a second Glaucous. On the 17th February I received from Mr. Hamilton an Iceland Gull {Lams Icncopiems), in the plumage of the second year. Unfortunately it was too much decomposed to preserve, as it had been shot about ten days previously, but the much smaller size and greater comparative length of wing, distinguished it from Lams glaucjis. On the 22nd, Mr. Hamilton sent me another imma- ture Iceland Gull, shot on the 20th, and the head, wing, and leg of a third which he had procured a short time before and had thrown away. I submitted the head, wing, and leg to Mr. R. Warren of Ballina, who says they belong to an Iceland Gull of the second year. Then, on the 3rd of March, I received from Carrick, Co. Donegal, a fourth Iceland Gull also in immature plumage. This bird measured 21 inches, wing 15 inches, and had been shot so long that it could not be preserved. From these six occurrences we may assume that there was a flight of Glaucous and Iceland Gulls on our north-west coast in February. [These are the birds referred to by Mr. Hamilton in the Field for February 27th and March 5th.]— Robert Patterson, Belfast."
Goosander (Mer^s merganser) in vStrangford Lough. On the 3rd March a fine male Goosander in full plumage was sent up from Strangford Lough, Co. Down. In the north-east of Ireland this bird is decidedly rare, and the present occurrence, so late in the season, is worth recording. — Robert Patterson.
[ 20]
PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES.
ROYAI. ZOOI^OGICAI. SOCIETY.
Sir Robert Bai.1., F.R.S., President of the vSociety, has been appointed to the Lowndesean Chair of Astronomy at Cambridge. The Council has passed a congratulatory resolution, regretting the consequent departure of vSir R. Bail from Dublin.
Among the animals recently presented to the Gardens are two Genets and a Civet Cat, from V. W. Brown, Esq., and two Guinea Pigs from J. A. Higgens, Esq. The purchases include three Lemurs, a Caracal, a Polar Bear, and two Opossums.
The Report of the Society for 1891, is of considerable interest. The success in breeding lions, which has long been a marked feature in the gardens, continues. The lioness "Queen," bought in 1883, has had, since then, nine litters, numbering twenty-eight cubs of which only one died. Twenty-five were sold for about ^^1,000, and one male, "Romeo," and one female, are still in the gardens.
DUBININ MICROSCOPICAI, CIvUB.
January 21st.— The Club met at Dr. W. Frazer's. Mr. W. F. de V. Kane showed a Trematode {Octodactylus inhaerens, Dal.) from the gills of a Ling. He does not think that this species is rightly identified by Van Beneden as his Plerocotyle pahnata, neither the contour, eggs, nor suckers of the specimen agreeing with Van Beneden's description.
Mr. G. H. Carpenter showed the palp of a male Tegenaria taken at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, and described as a new species (T! Jiibernica), by Rev. O. P. Cambridge. The form of the radial apophysis differs from ail known British species of the genus. Its nearest allies, T. nervosa, Sim., and T. larva, Sim., are from the eastern Pyrenees, so it seems likely we have here another iink between the fauna of Ireland and that of the southern and alpine districts of Europe.
February i8th.— The Club met at Mr. W. Andrews'. Mr. G. Pirn showed a INIould {Myxotrichuni deflexnm). It consists of minute tufts of h3'phae with .short acute branchlets which are deflexed, giving the appearance of a tiny larch tree. The history of the specimen is remark- able. Last autumn Mr. Pim received from Professor Scott a minute Peziza, found growing on a distempered wall at the Royal College of Surgeons. Some of this was sent packed in Sphagmnn, to Rev. H. W. Lett. He could not find the Peziza, which being very fragile, had got lost on the way, but on the Sphagmivi he did find the Myxotrichum. As this mould is usually got on waii-papers, etc., there can be little doubt that it had originated at the College.
INIr. Kane showed a larva of a parasitic Copepod, Cecrops lotrcillii, which possesses six pairs of elongated appendages besides the three naupliar pairs. He concludes from this that the nauplius stage is very short, and that the animal develops rapidly into a free-swimming copepod. Risso states that it is found in great numbers in the Mediterranean, floating far from land, and unattached to any host.
Mr. Carpenter showed the terminal abdominal segments of the male Halobates regalis, sp. n., taken by Professor Haddon in Torres Straits.
Dr. ScharfF showed the aberrant pelagic Opisthobranch, Phyllirhoe bucephaluvi. Per, from the INIediterranean ; the transparency of body of this mollusc makes it an excellent microscopic object, the internal anatomy being clearly visible. A parasitic jeliy-fish {Mnestra parasitica) seems always to be found attached to the anterior region of Phyllirhoe.
Mr. A. F. Dixon exhibited a vertical radial section through a marginal spherule of Actinia equina. The section showed the spherule to be a club- sliaped, hollow outgrowth of the upper part of the body wall. The outer layer of ectoderm of the outgrowth is entirely made up of nematocysts
Proceedings of Irish Societies. 21
arranged with their long axes vertical to the surface of the spherule. Beneath this is a very deep granular so-called nervous layer which is separated from the endoderm by a very thin layer of mesogloea. The endoderm is devoid of pigment granules, the blue pigment which, during life, makes the spherule so conspicuous, being entirley external to the layer of nematocysts. This superficial position of blue pigment explains a fact sometimes observed during life — viz., the complete separation of a blue layer leaving behind a colourless but apparently otherwise intact spherule.
Mr. F. W. Moore showed the pseudo-bulb of an orchid, Oncidium ceballete, attacked by a fungus. The orchid from which the pseudo- bulb was taken was imported from Carthagena in 1886, but no sign of the fungus appeared until 1891. The fungus proves to be a new species — Myrotheciu7n cinereum, Cooke.
b:ei.fast naturai, history and phii^osophicai, society.
January 5th.— The President, Professor M. F. Fitzgerai^d, B.A., in the Chair. Mr. John Lanyon, C.E)., read a paper on "The Belfast City Central Station and Railways."
January 27th.— The President in the Chair. Mr. L. L. Macassey, B.L., C.B., read a paper on "The Filtration Works for the Improvement of the Water-supply of Belfast."
February 2nd. — The President in the Chair. Mr. Seaton F. Milligan, M.R.I.A., read a paper on "The Early Christian Architecture of Ireland."
February 24th. — The President in the Chair. Dr. John McCormac read a paper on " The Influence of Language and Environment upon the Individual through the Nervous System."
March ist— The President in the Chair. Mr. William Gray, CE. M.R.I. A., read a paper on "The Essentials of House Sanitation and How to Secure Them."
BEI<FAST NATURAI.ISTS' FIEI.D CI.UB.
January 19th.— The President, Mr. John Vinycomb, F.R.S.A.I., in the Chair. Rev. W. F. Johnson, M.A. F.E.S., read a paper on "The Beetles of the Belfast District." The reader said that his chief sources of information regarding the Coleoptera found in the vicinity of Belfast, were the lists of the collections of the late A. H. Haliday, F.L.S., and Robert Patterson, F.R.S., published by the Naturalists' Field Club, and the collection of local beetles in the museum of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. Mr. Johnson then described the various genera and species which have been taken in the district, men- tioning their characteristics, habitats, and the records of their occur- rences, and concluded by strongly urging members to pay some attention to this interesting order, which were well worthy of close observation. A discussion followed, in which Messrs. John Hamilton, William Gray, R. Lloyd Praeger, and Rev. C. H. Waddell, M.A., took part.
Feruary i6th.— The President in the Chair. Rev. C. H. Waddell, M.A., read a paper on "The late Mr. John Templeton's Work among the Birds of the District, and some MS. Notes of his, recentl}' discovered." The reader stated that a copy of Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary had lately come into his possession, which had formerly belonged to Mr. Templeton, and contained a number of manuscript notes by that eminent local naturalist, a selection from which Mr. Waddell read. Most of these notes have been published by Thompson and others.
Mr. W. J. Knowles, M.R.I.A., read a paper on "The Occurrence of Flint Flakes in the Glacial Gravels of Ballyrudder." He exhibited a number of flints obtained by him in these gravels, which he considered showed undoubted evidence of human workmanship. He thought that sufficient attention had not been given to the rude forms of implements
22 The Irish Nahtralist.
which must have been the forerunners of more finished t^-pes, and held that trace of man's existence mij^htbe expected in an interglacial deposit. Mr. F. W. Lockwood considered that further information and evidence, both as to the nature and age of the deposit, and as to the flints in question, were necessary, before it could be proved that traces of man occurred in the Ball3-rudder gravels. Mr. vS. A. Stewart did not consider that the flints on exhibition showed any sign of human workmanship. Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger held that the deposit in question could not possibly be considered interglacial, as its fauna was more intensely boreal than even that of the Boulder Clay, the term interglacial signifying a cessation of glacial conditions. A recommendation was sent forward to the Com- mittee that a systematic exploration of the Ballyrudder deposit should be undertaken.
Mr. Francis Joseph Bigger gave a notice of an amphora recently obtained by sponge-divers in the Bay of Ekanjik, near Rhodes, which was on exhibition.
INIr. R. Lloyd Praeger exhibited and described a large skull of the Irish Elk {Cerviis giganieiis) recently obtained in the centre of a bed of peat three feet thick, at a depth of thirty-four feet below high water mark, in excavations made for a wall of a new branch floating dock at Spencer Basin, Belfast. Above the peat were some thirty feet of blue marine clays. This series of deposits has been fully described by Mr. Praeger in a paper recently read before the Royal Irish Academy.
March 15th — Microscopical Evening. This was the P'irst Annual Meeting of the Microscopical Section of the Club. The Committee, presented the Annual Report, and the evening was devoted to an exhibition of microscopical objects and appliances, the exhibits being illustrative of a microscopical survey of the animal kingdom. Some twenty microscopists attended with their instruments, and there was a large gathering of members and visitors.
DUBININ NATUR-\I.ISTS' FIEI.D CLUB.
Feb. 9th.— The President, Dr. E. J. McWeeney, in the Chair. Mr. J. M. Browne, B.A., gave a paper on "Some Coleoptera from the Dublin District." (This paper, which includes several new records, will be shortly published in the Irish Naturai^ist.) Messrs. H. K. G. Cuthbert, W. F. de V. Kane, and G. H. Carpenter took part in the discussion, which turned chiefly on the famous Mesites tardyi, and the bearing of its distri- bution, and that of some other Irish animals, on the problem of the former physical geograph}- of Western Europe.
March 8th. — The President in the Chair. Mr, T, Chandlee read a paper entitled, "The Multiplication of vSpecies," in which he dealt with the recent changes of nomenclature in systematic botany, and deplored the extent to which "splitting" has been carried by some naturalists, speciall}^ in the genera Kosa, Rubus, and Ilieracium. Specimens were exhibited showing different forms of leaves on the same plant, believed to in- dicate a transition between supposed species. Mr. H. C. Hart, Professor Johnson, ]Mr. W. F. de V. Kane, Mr. G. H. Carpenter, and Professor Cole took part in the discussion. ]SIessrs. Kane and Carpenter showed some critical species and varieties of Ivcpidoptera Mr. F. Neale sent for exhibition some Lepidoptera from the Limerick district ; one of these, Nisoniades tages, from Cratloe, Co. Clare, had not before been taken in the localit}'.
ARMAGH NATUR-\I, HISTORY AND PHII^OSOPHICAIv SOCIETY.
January nth.— Rev. W. F. Johnson, President, in the Chair. Mr. W. H. Phillips, of Holywood, read a most interesting paper entitled, " A Gossip about British Ferns." The lecturer referred to the remarkable number of varieties of the British Ferns, and enumerated the chief
Proceedings of Irish Societies. 23
divisions into M'hich they fall. He then gave an account of some of the principal varieties, with many interesting details. The paper was illus- trated by numerous and beautiful specimens. A discussion followed in which Mr. W. McCrum and the President took part. It is to be regretted that owing to the bad weather the attendance was meagre.
February nth. — The President in the Chair. Mr.W. McCrum read a paper on "Ulster Traits and Characteristics."
ROYAIv DUBININ SOCIETY.
February 17th, 1892. — Lord Rosse in the Chair. Professor W.J. Sollas, F.R.S. read a paper on "The Basal Cambrian Conglomerate of Howth." The conglomerate consists of angular, sub-angular, and rounded frag- ments of quartzite and slate. It is exposed in cliff sections at Balscadden Bay on the northern side of the peninsula. Sir Archibald Geikie was inclined to regard it as a volcanic breccia, but the total absence of volcanic rocks at Howth seems conclusive against this view. Professor Sollas regards this conglomerate as the base of the Cambrian series. He considers that the preponderance of slate at Bra}-, and quartzite at Howth, indicates the existence of the shore-line of the ancient ocean to the north of Howth, its proximity being there shown by the existence of this basal conglomerate.
The discussion was opened by Professor Cole, who thought that much of the formation could be explained by the shattering of the quartzite, and the flowing of the slaty rock around its fragments. Mr. W. \V. Watts pointed out the great difficulty of explaining the existence of quartzite pebbles in a niatrix of the same rock.
Professor G. A. J. Cole, F.G.S., read a paper on "The Variolite of Annalong, Co. Down." A specimen in the Survey collection, labelled "Variolite," and collected by the late General Portlock on the shores of Co. Down, led Professor Cole to the re-discovery of the rock in Ireland. Variolite (a devitrified basalt), is a very rare rock, and was thought to exist in the British Isles only in Anglesey, where it was discovered by Professor J. F. Blake. The clyke at Annalong is only exposed at low water ; it is of large size, measuring four feet in width, and traceable for eighty-two feet. The passage from true basic glass to variolite can be traced in the dyke.
Dr. J. Joly read a paper entitled, "A Speculation on a Pre-material Condition of the Universe."
March i6th.— Professor W. N. Harti^ey, F.R.S., in the Chair. Dr. G. J. Stoney, F.R.S., read a paper entitled, "Proposal of a Standard Gauge to assist in appreciating the small Ultra-visible Magnitudes of Nature." Professor P\ J. Bell's report on the Echinoderms collected on the cruise of the "Fingal" was submitted to the meeting.
ROYAI, IRISH academy.
February 22nd. — The President, Dr. J. K. Ingram, in the Chair. Rev. George T. Stokes, D.D., read a paper on "The Knowledge of Greek in Ireland between 500 and 900, A.D." Mr. R. Llo3'd Praeger read a "Report on the Estuarine Clays of the North-east of Ireland." (The author proposes to contribute an article on the subject of this report to the Irish Naturai^ist at an early date, so no abstract of his paper need now be given.) Mr. Praeger also read a "Report on the Botany of the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down," which had been prepared by Mr. vS. A. Stewart, F.B.S. Edin., and himself, under a grant from the Academy. The district reported on covers 180 square miles, almost the whole area being occupied by lofty mountains. Geologicall}', the district consists of granite, and Silurian grits, the latter chiefly on the lower grounds. The Mourne mountains form the highest mountain-chain in Ulster, and the most easterly highlands in Ireland. The flora is a somewhat rich
24 The Irish Naturalist.
one, numbering nearly 600 species of phanerogams and higher crypto- gams. Alpine plants are, however, very poorl}' represented, as are also plants of the Atlantic type; while plants of the Germanic and Hibernian t^-pes are altogether absent. The Hawkweed flora of the district is rich, fourteen different forms occurring. Of these, Hicracium anratiivi is new to Ireland, and H. argenteum has only previously been recorded from Co. Galway. Riibus ammobius is also an addition to the Irish list. Besides the above, the following are additions to the flora of district 12 of "Cybele Hibernica" : — Drosera intermedia, Rulms nitidus, Rosa involuta (tj'pe), Saussurea alpina. Eighteen* of the species enumerated are new county records. An appendix is given in which are entered plants which have been recorded from the district, but which the present reporters failed to refind. Among these, we note with interest that the Aspleniiim aciitiun, recorded by Sherard from the Mourne mountains, turns out to be a form of Athyriuni filix-fcemina.
CORK NATURAI^ISTS' FIEI.D CTvUB.
March iSth.— A meeting was held at which it was resolved to establish a Naturalists' Field Club for Cork. The following officers were elected: — President: Professor M. M. Hartog, D.Sc.,F.Iv.S.; Vice-Presidents : Messrs. Denny Lane, M.A., \V. H. vShaw, B.E., and W. J. Knight, LL.D. ; Hon. Treasurer: INIr. J. Gilbert; Hon. Secretaries: Messrs. W. B. Barrington and J. Iv. Copeman. Miss H. A. Martin, M.R.C.P., with Messrs. T. Farrington, M.A., F.C.S., and F. R. Rohu, form the provisional Com- mittee.
NOTICE.
Contrihdions fAiiicles or Notes J on all bra^iches of Irish Natural History are invited. Ai'ticles must reach the Editors, on or before the 10th of the Month, for insertio7i in the succeedi^ig number. Short Notes zvill be inserted, if space permit, if received before i^th of the Month.
Natural History Specimens sc7it to the Editors zvill be referi'ed to authorities for identification .
G. H. Carpenter,
Scieiice a7id Art Mtisciim, Dublin.
R. Lloyd Praeger,
Holyzvood, Co. Dozen,
^lye ^vi&\) |lixtttralt0t.
Vol.. I. MAY, 1892. No. 2.
PHOTOGRAPHING OBJECTS OF NATURAL HISTORY
WITHOUT A CAMERA.
BY GRE:KNW00D PIM, M.A., F.I,.S.
Thk method of obtaining photographic transcripts of natural history specimens without using a camera, to which I wish to call attention, is by no means new. In fact, producing such impressions was the ver>^ earliest form of photography that was practised by Watt, Sir Humphrey Da\^', and others.
These early attempts produced nothing but outline, and it seems to have been reserv^ed for Mr. Joly, of Trinit}' College, Dublin, to show, quite recentl}^ that by suitable exposure, no little detail in such things as leaves, flowers, etc., can be obtained, thus producing, in man}'' cases, charming pictures, and not mere silhouettes.
The plan is available for anything which is flat, or can be flattened without losing its characteristic form, and which is not too thick or too opaque; Mr. Joly having got good results with even such unpromising subjects as monkvShood and fox- glove.
The materials and apparatus are extremely simple, and almost no photographic skill is requisite. An ordinary" print- ing frame, for printing from photographic negatives ; a sheet of clear glass, and some pieces of sensitized paper are all that are absolutely essential, if the paper used be that known as " ferro-prussiate." A convenient size is y^ inches by 5 inches, for frame, glass, and paper. All can be obtained from an}^ dealer, for about one shilling and sixpence. The sheet of glass is placed in the frame ; a spray of the flower to be copied, pre- viously somewhat pressed between a couple of .sheets of blot- ting paper, is placed thereon, next a piece of sensitized paper, taking care to shield it from light as much as possible in so doing. The back of the frame is now put in, and the plant, paper, and glass are brought into close contact. The frame is then placed in the sun, and after a sufficient exposure, the
A
26 The Irish Nahiralist.
duration of which must be learnt by a few trials, the exposed portion of the paper becomes a deep blue, while that protected remains white. The light, passing more or less through the plant according as the different parts are more or less trans- lucent;, of. course effects the .sensitive surface in proportion ; awash "in clear water "fixes" the print by refnoving 'the material sensitive to light. We now have a representation of our plant in vdiite shaded with blue, on a blue ground. The main objection to such prints is the colour, but this can, if de- sired, be altered afterwards by suitable treatment. The advan- tages of the blue paper are its cheapness, that no chemicals are required, and that it does not readih' stick to the plants. The next simplest paper to deal with is the printing-out platino- type paper, often called "Pizzighelli paper," from its inventor. It onl}^ requires fixing in dilute acid, and gives a pleasing brownish-black colour, but the paper is costly. Both these methods were practised by Mr. Joly most successfully last summer, among the Swiss mountains, and with freshly gathered flowers ; the printing frame and paper being readil}^ carried in a satchel, and water being ever^'where abundant. To fix the platinot3'pes probabh' the vinegar cruet would .suffice at a pinch, if no more suitable acid were forthcoming. In this way a charming collection ma^^ be formed, in many respects more satisfactor}', and with less trouble than the collections of dried specimens one often sees, though perhaps not scientifically so valuable.
But w^e are not confined to paper photographs. By acquir- ing a little more skill in photographic manipulation, we can make most effective lantern slides from the small flowers, and also, as will be alluded to later, from many other natural objects. Such are best made at night b}^ artificial light, as the exposure is more easily regulated than b}^ daylight. I must here assume that the ordinary- mode of making lantern slides by contact from photographic negatives is understood, and for details refer to the man}' treatises thereon obtainable from_ photo-material dealers. The standard size for lantern slides in this country being 3J inches square, we are practically confined' to subjects coming within this area, and the method of procedure is as follows : — A piece of clear glass is placed in a suitable printing frame in the dark room, and the spray of flowers, say of the bog pimpernel, Anagallis f aid la, is placed thereon, a sheet of white paper beneath the frame facilitating the arrangement ; over this is placed a sensitive plate, preferabl}' one specially made for lantern work ; this must be done by non-active light. The back of the frame being put in, the whole is exposed to light, either gas, or an inch or two of magnesium rjbbon. The plate is then developed and fixed, and we have a negative of the flower, i.e. light or dark ground, and with the lights and shades reversed. This may itself be used as a lantern slide, or a print on to a second plate may be
Photographing Objects of N'at. History ivithout a Camera. 27
taken, when of course the lights and shades are as in nature, and the delicate details of venation, etc., if the exposure has been suitable, are beautifull}^ rendered with a roundness and solidity almost incredible.
Following out this idea I have experimented with seaweeds, zooph3'tes, mosses, ferns, etc. Many of the li3'droids, such as Sertularia, Pluimdaria, and their allies, make excellent slides, the first or negative slide showing the object as brilliantly lighted on a dark ground, there being little or no detail in the interior, and the outline being sharp and crisp. The folia- ceous Fliist7'£E are also suitable, but care must be taken against overlap, which will completely destroy all internal structure. Seaweeds are somewhat more difficult to deal with, as they require in many cases to be set out in water on the clear glass, and then carefully lifted out, and the superfluous water blotted off, before the sensitive plate is applied. When the species is comparativel}^ strong, such as Plocaviium, this is easily done, but in the more delicate forms, like Ptilota, the ramuli run together the moment the water is removed. In this case I have used the plate entirel}^ wetted, with fair success, the only drawback being large air bubbles, which somewhat disfigure the slides. Dried seaweeds are frequently very opaque and most of the detail in the stems has disappeared, but Delesserias and other flat species can be readily photographed diy. Wherever there is detail in the interior, it is better to print a slide from the nega- tive plate, as then lights and shades are not inverted.
The exposure must of course be learnt by experience, but it may be noted that the red seaweeds, when wet, transmit actinic light freeh^ and so require but short exposure, especially to magnesium. A similar remark is true of such ferns as Trichomanes (Killarne}'^ fern) and Hymenophyllum, and other ferns require of course more, being more opaque.
There is one direction in which this method of photography might, I think, prove useful, though it is travelling a little out of the title of this note. I notice that Messrs. Newton & Co., of London, advertise a series of lantern slides of grasses, '* made from accurate drawings" for popular educational purposes. Would it not be feasible to make direct photographs in the man- ner above described of the whole^ plant on plates sufficiently large, and from these in the camera make reductions, just as slides are now made from photographic views of all sizes. Such would, of necessity, be more faithful than any drawing could possibly be, while structural details could be brought out in a way that photographing direct in the camera could not pro- duce.
Whether such photographs of natural objects would be of much value to discriminate species, is I think, doubtful, but it seems to me that they might be ver>' useful in man}- ways for class purposes, especiall}- now that the optical lantern is be- coming so valuable an adjunct in teaching.
B
2$ The hish Naturalist.
Professor Bottomley, of the Yorkshire College, Leeds, has recentl}^ published a useful little brochure on this subject, showing that the lantern can be successfully used in a fairly" lighted room, and states that it is used in nearly all the lecture rooms of that institution ; a special hand being constantly emploj'ed in producing the various slides required by the diflerent teachers.
THE CROSSBILL {LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, L.)
IN IRELAND.
BY R. J. USSHKR.
( Continued from p. 9.)
CrossbiIvLS need water, and may frequentl}' be seen flying down from ni}' hill plantations to the stream and drinking there. On the 4th July last, as I approached my house, I heard an old Crossbill uttering his call-note as he sat sentinel on the top of a silver fir. Five others then alighted on the roof of the house over the kitchen 3'ard, and drank from the eave-gutters which held water since the previous da3^'s rain. They took no notice of me.
This tameness or indifference to man's presence seems to show that the ancestors of this race of birds have lived beyond the range of human persecution ; but let a Sparrow Hawk appear, and the}^ are immediately on the wing, performing lofty flights with angry notes. I have attempted to put up a flock to show a friend their flight, etc., while we stood beneath the trees where they were feeding, but though we shouted and flung stones into the air the}^ would not stir. Nor let it be supposed that they shrink from the vicinit}^ of a house, if only it be surrounded b}" haunts to their liking. On the top of a hill here stands an inhabited house surrounded by masses of old Scotch firs and larches ; this spot, called the Giant's Rock, has been the chief resort of Crossbills. I have leaned against the house and watched them feeding within a few^ 3'ards, nor were they alarmed when people talked and dogs barked beneath them. Na}', of the five nests discovered, three were within vShort distances of this house, one being in the top of a low fir over the ver}' pathwa}' that led from the house to the offices where animals were kept, and close to the latter build- ings. The birds used to pick up materials and carry them to their nest while observers stood b}'. I once set men to erect a wire fence beside the trees containing a Crossbill's nest. The female, which was probably la3'ing, sat for a long time on one of these trees calmly gazing at the men, and not betra^'ing an}- uneasiness. More than once on my ascending trees to
The Crossbill (JLoxia curvirostra, L.) in Ireland. 29
inspect nests, the female would not remove beyond the next tree, and soon returned when I descended. In no case did our inspections lead to a nest being forsaken. When I climbed up to one that contained young, the parent birds perched on the same tree within four feet of me, uttering their note excitedl3^ But the most singular instance of a Crossbill's boldness w^as that of a female sitting hard on eggs, who not only would not move, but bit the stick with which she was poked, and when lifted off her eggs with it to see what was under her, held on to the nest with her claws, and sank into it again w^hen the stick slipped away. {Zoologist, 1889, p. 180.)
The song of the Crossbill has most frequently been heard from February to April. While the female was hatching, the male has been seen shuffling and flapping his wings with delight, flitting through the firs near the nest. He would take a circuit about the group of trees singing on the wing, and then perch on a tree-top continuing his song. I have also listened to a male singing quite distinctly in October. The song is quaint but usually harsh, and often consists of the repetition of one note, followed by the repetition of another. These are ver}^ diverse, and one bird will take up one note or two, another bird another note, and continue using it. Thus the burden of one song will be chit, chit, chit, repeated sharply, and then a loud creaking note most like the twee-e-e of the Greenfinch, but repeated more than once with gusto. These sounds strike the ear at a distance. Then may follow "saw- sharpening" notes, reminding one of the Great Tit, but not uttered so loudly, and some low and sweeter notes ; or the saw-sharpening may be the only song. Upon April 2nd, I heard a Crossbill utter for some time a sound new to me, a sort of twirr, like the chafing of a wheel or of a tightened cord vibrating against something else.
The Crossbill sits, while singing, on the leader or a top shoot, but may continue his notes while fl3dng to another tree. The song is oftenest heard early, before eight a.m. The ordinary call-note can best be translated " gip, gip." This is uttered in a very shrill key by the male, when, for instance, he conies to feed the female, but she expecting him continues, though hatching, to utter from the nest a different note like " 3Xp, yep," or "yup, jaip," not so loud as that of the male. I often hear this, evidently used as a call for food. A brood of 3^oung birds when following their parents through the branches on 2ist Ma3% uttered an eager cry for food, like " chit-00, chit-00, chit, chit."
In February these birds usuall}^ pair. Of the five nests dis- covered here the earliest was not commenced before March, for on the loth the birds were carr3'ing the twigs of which the foun- dation is formed, and on the i3tli the3' brought moss for the body of the nest ; on the 20th I saw them stripping off bits of Scotch fir bark, and apparently taking them to the nest. On the 20th
30 The Irish Nahiralist.
March, another pair of Crossbills were seen picking up sheep's wool for their nest, in which the female was found hatching four eggs on the 28th. The latest of the nests was being built on 13th April ; on the 2otli the female was sitting ; on the 25th I ascertained that there were four eggs, and on the nth May, I saw the 3'oung birds in it. They were not feathered 3'et, but had grejdsh-black down, m.uch the colour of black wadding, giving them a very different appearance from the 3'oung of other Passeres, Their enormous upper mandibles, overlapping the lower, looked striking. On the i8th May these young had left the nest, so that its story was completed within five weeks. The five nests were all among the branches or tops of Scotch firs. The first, now in the British Museum, South Kensington, was near the termination of a large lateral branch, about forty feet from the ground, on the borders of a plantation on the hill slope. The nest was overhung or shaded by the luxuriant tufts of the pine needles. This was the only nest that I inter- fered with. Three other nests were in the tops of the firs about the Giant's Rock, a hill-top ; and the fifth nest was in the top of one of a group of stunted Scotch firs about twenty feet high, on the summit of the Black Hill, 566 feet above the sea, exposed to every v/ind that blows. They were all well- concealed. One built against the leader, where a bend occurs in it and several little lateral branches diverge, looked from below like an enlargement of the crooked leader. Another was built in a little bower or cage, formed by the divergent, curving, smaller branches and tufts, at the culmination of a main branch that grew upwards. The trees selected were not in the heart of any mass, but on or near the margins of groups of trees. The foundation platform of the nest, when present, is composed of strong twigs of fir and larch, and is much wider than the nest itself. The bod}^ of the nest is of dead grass or stems, or of moss intermixed with wool and grass, but no feathers ; occasionally a tuft of lichens occurs. A nest from Sweden in Viiy collection, which wants the foundation, is composed of tufts of fine hair-like lichen, mixed with a little moss and strips of bark, Vv'hich are plentiful externally.
The female when hatching was often observed to rise and wriggle and turn round in the nest, though we had no snow at that season. Mr. Nicoud imagined that this movement was to shake off falling snow. {Zoologist, 1889, p. 71.)
The nestling Crossbill, until after it is fledged, has the edge of the upper mandible overlapping the lower on both sides equall}^ but the point soon begins to turn on one side. One that we caged near the nest was fed for nearly a fortnight b}^ its parents. It was then in the vStriped plumage. When taken in the hand it would try to bite, but did not flutter nor struggle. It managed to open the door of its cage and was lost.
It is in June and July, when the young broods have formed
The Crossbill {Loxia acrvirostra, Z,.) in Irela^id. 31
into flocks, that Crossbills are most apt to wander about the country or even to migrate. How long they continue to feed their young at large is a curious question. I have seen one take food from another on the 26th February, and Mr. Moffat seems to have seen the same thing in County Wexford on 15th January, two Crossbills in a flock having put their beaks together repeatedly. This he interpreted as an act of courtship, but as it was done in a flock, why may it not, like the follow- ing, have been an instance of an old bird still feeding a 3"0ung one of the previous year? Throughout March, 1892, four Crossbills have kept in company about the Giant's Rock. On the 28th I observed the red bird, the old male of this family party, pursued, evidently for food, by another that was full- grown, and not a bird of this year.
Of the five pairs whose nests we found here, three males were red and two were golden 3^ellow. The male now in the British Museum is one of the latter. Another j'-ellow male was large, active, vigilant, his mandibles conspicuously crossed, and was decidedly the most wary Crossbill I have seen. This inclines me to think that Wheelright was right {Zoologist^ 1862, p. 8001), and that the most mature plumage is yellow.
The Parrot-Crossbill (var. pifyopsittacus) was not recognised in Ireland until January, 1889 {Zoologist, 1889, p. 181), but during the autumn and v\dnter of 1890-91, all the specimens of Crossbills received by Mr. Williams from different parts of the country, were of that large race {Zoologist, 1891, p, 112). I have never, to my knowledge, met with the Parrot-Crossbill, • but then I have killed none except the two in the British Museum.
Mr. E. Williams records (Zoologist, 1889, p. 266), under the sub-specific name oiimbidfasciata, Brehm, a variety of Crossbill from Edenderry, in which the tips of the wing-coverts were buff, forming two bars, and he quotes in relation to it the remarks of Professor Newton who had never seen it before. This rare variety is not to be confounded with the White- winged Crossbill {Loxia bifasciatci), a distinct .species.
COUNTY DUBININ, PAST AND PRESENT.
BY PROF. GRKNYII^LK A. J. COIvE, F.G.S.
{Conlimted from page 14.)
II. — Thf Ordovician Period.
WherKVKR the shore-line of the sea of Bray and Howth may have been, in early Cambrian or even Precambrian times, by the end of the Cambrian period the marine deposits
32
The Irish Natiwalist.
were themselves upheaved, and formed island-masses, round which new strata were unconformabh' laid down. The fossils of this second system of rocks prove it to be of Ordovician age, the term ''Ordovician" being now generally adopted in place of the much disputed "Lower Silurian" cmplo3^ed by the Geological Sun'C}^ and many text-books. We cannot enter here into the long war of words which made both the terms "Upper Cambrian" of Sedgwick, and "Lower Silurian " of Murchison distasteful to disinterested combatants. Professor Lapworth has fortunatel}' given us a name which both parties can accept with dignit}'.
The Ordovician system includes, in the home of the ancient Ordovices, (i) the Arenig series, with its huge volcanic masses, Arenig-fawr, Cader Idris, and the Arans ; (2) the Llandeilo series, with the famous Ffestiniog slates, and with some continu- ance of volcanic deposits ; and (3) the Bala series, with richly fossiliferous limestones, and an enormous outpouring of tuffs and lavas, to the hardness of which we owe Snowdon, and many other precipiced mountains in North Wales.
In County Dublin the Ordovician rocks have been altered on the south b}^ the invasion of the granite ; but at Skerries, in the north, the}' come out clearl}' below the Carboniferous, and crop out again in the interesting promontor}- of Portraine.
Fig. 4.
Lanibay Island from Portraine. Irregularly disturbed limestones and ^ shales on the headland in foreground.
The fossil species show that this Portraine series is of Bala age. The coast is easily struck east of Donabate station ; and the oldest rocks exposed lie directly opposite Lambay Island. Here a mass of gre}' compact limestone, representing an old
Cou7ity Dublin, Past and Present. 33
coral-reef and its associated shell-banks, is uptilted from beneath more clearly stratified layers of alternating limestone and shale, the latter, as seen in the picturesque little head- lands (fig. 4), showing numerous folds and sharp contortions. In the section by Mr. Du No3"er' the more shalj^ beds are repre- sented as wholly above the limestone ; but detailed mapping on a larger scale ma}^ prove that some of them are equivalent to it, having been deposited upon the flanks of the main bank of shells and coral at the same time as it was slowh-^ accumu- lating. Such limestone aggregations very rapidly become compact, and even crs'stalline in modern seas, and the waves roll blocks of consolidated limestone from their margins into the surrounding sedimeiits. At Portraine similar action has produced bands of coarse conglomerate, which ma}' be seen freely in the northern half of the coast section, and which are folded in with the more finely grained deposits near the main limestone mass.
The fossils of the reef are partly silicified, owing, doubtless, to the destruction of siliceous sponges, radiolarians, or diatoms, and the deposition of their material by gradual replacement in the calcareous shells and vskeletons of the other organisms. This flint}^ character causes them to stand out above the level of the rocks when attacked b}" waves and weather. Among the corals, the isolated cups of Cyathophylliun, with numerous septa, are conspicuous ; so is also the chain-coral, /2^a/;'^?7<?^, the rows of tubes, in which the poh'pes once dwelt, resembling, when viewed from above, the links of a chain. The brachiopods, more closely than the actinozoa, ally these beds to the Bala series of Wales. Orthis and StTophoinena have yielded several species, as may be seen in Mr. Baih-'s useful list."" Thirteen species of trilobites are on record, though their remains lie well hidden ; and eight gastropods and two early representatives of lamellibranchs have been found here or on Lambay Island. In a band of black shale, running at right angles to the shore- line, north of the more northern martello tower, the hydrozoan Diplograptus can be found in occasional patches ; this grapto- lite, and others with a similar arrangement of two rows of cellules, back to back along the axis, are typically Ordovician ; wdiile modern marine hydrozoa are common upon the shore, ready for comparison. The sea- also throws up multitudes of lamellibranchs, Cyprina, Cardiitm, Solen, and the like, and gastropods, such as Ttinitella^Ptiipjwa, Buccimnn, and Cypr<Ta\ but not a single brachiopod, nor a single coral is likely to reward the most careful search. These animals are still represented in British and Irish seas, but the proportions of the several groups of marine life have been utterly reversed since Ordovician times. Moreover, scarcely a single genus.
* Memoir of Geol. Survej- of Ireland to sheets 102 and 112, p. 45. ■2 Memoir of Geol. Survey to sheets 102 and 112, p. 12.
34 The Irish Naturalist.
and not a single species, has been able to struggle on unaltered through the long series of changes which Co. Dublin has since then undergone,
Thus at the present daj- the British seas contain one species of brachiopod to every twenty-five species of lamellibranchs, and every thirt3"-six of shell-bearing gastropods ; while in the British Bala series we have the lamellibranchs and gastropods about equal in point of species, and the species of brachiopods equal to those of the two groups put together. Numerical predominance of individuals is, however, a safer test of relative importance ; and here at Portraine brachiopod life is at once seen to be abundant, while true moUuscan individuals are ver}^ rare.
In the spring of 1891, Mr. Walcott recorded the buckler-like plates of very early types of fishes, as occurring in Colorado, in the Trenton series, the upper Ordovician of America.' So the sea of Co. Dublin ma}- not have been absolutel}' destitute of fish, but these remains are the oldest hitherto recorded, and the first British fishes are found at the top of the Silurian.
The Ordovician shales may be well seen in the southern parts of the county, where the Dodder and other streams have cut down sufficiently through the covering of drift. A fine section occurs near Dargle Bridge on the road from Bray to Knniskerry, and the schist formed from the shales by contact with the granite is nowhere better seen than on the Killiney shore.
Fig' 5-
Microscopic section of volcanic ash, north end of promontor}- of Por- traine. Fragments of formerly glassy lavas, with felspar crystals, lie in a compact gronnd of finer ash. x 30,
On Ireland's Eye, moreover, the smoother ground on the back of the quartzites (fig. i in our last number) is formed of Ordovician shales.
Nature, xliii, p. 425.
County Dublin, Past and Present. 35
But one of the most interesting features of the Ordovician of Co. Dublin is the abundant evidence of volcanic action. In the upturned conglomeratic strata, north of the coral limxcstone of Portraine, one can see, at low water, blocks of greenish rock containing crystals of felspar. Beds of fine-grained purple and green volcanic ash also occur, showing that cr>^stalline and glassy materials were being throvv^n out from some neigh- bouring vent into the Ordovician sea. The microscope aids us in recognising these materials (fig. 5) ; but the visitor can easily detect the fragments lying in the ordinary sediments. At the south end of the promontory, a massive development of igneous rock comes up below the sandy shales. Part of this shows stratification and an ash-like character; part shows the steam-vCvSicles of a lava-flow, now infilled with calcite. The greater portion of Ivambay Island is formed of a "porphyry" that has broken through the Ordovicians in a molten state ; this handsome rock, which deserves to be widely known as an ornamental stone, is little inferior in effect to the famous antique green porph3ay, quarried by the Romans in the Morea. It was for a time unable to rise through the rocks above it, and large cr5'Stals of felspar' developed under conditions of pressure and slow consolidation. Then relief from pressure came, through some local movement of the rocks ; the mass, with its contained water, began to flow upward, bearing the "porphyritic" crystals; and at the surface, as in all volcanos, the water of the molten mass burst into steam, scattering the fragments of lava far and wide. At times more gentle action caused lava- flows to move outward from the crater ; the accu- mulation of these and of the tuffs and ashes would build a conical mountain above the level of the sea; and hence prob- abl}^ on the site of I^ambay Island, in Ordovician times, a volcanic isle was reared, fringed with coral banks as in the present Pacific Ocean. Away in the south one could have seen a similar cone constructed about Tallaght ; while farther still huge clouds of dust and steam would hang above the great volcanos of Rathdrum and eastern Wicklow. The activity seems to have been less intense than in corresponding times in Wales ; but all across the open Ordovician sea, isle must have been answering isle with frequent explosions and outpourings of dark fluid lava or viscid natural glass. The materials in Co. Dublin were andesites and aphanites, rocks with some sixt}^ per cent, of silica ; but farther south highly- silicated lava-flows of obsidian were poured out, comparable to the black glassy masses of the Yellowstone Park.
The glass has cr>^stallised through slow subsequent alter- ation ; but the original structures of fine curving shrinkage-
' These have been incorrectly described as Orthoclase {G. S. /. iy., p. 44) ; though much altered, they may safely be referred to the lime-soda felspars.
36 The Irish Nahiralist.
cracks ("perlitic" structure), and spherical aggregates of imperfect cp^stals ("spherulitic" structure), remain to assure us of its original condition.
For such volcanic isles, and for similar products, we need not at the present day go to eastern seas. The I^ipari Islands, north of Sicily, serve as representatives of the Ordovician cones of Co. Dublin. And quite recentl3^the eruption between Sicily and Tunis' has shown us how submarine action flings up pumice and scoriae to the surface, where they float until water-logged, finally sinking to be included in the shell-beds, or the sediments from the land.
(TO BTv CONTINUED.)
THE COLEOPTKRA OF THE ARMAGH DISTRICT.
BY RKV. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A., F.^.S.
{Contimied from Page 18.)
HATvIPI^ID^.
BrycMus elevatus, Panz. — Dean's river — not common. Haliplus obliqxms, Kr. — Lough nashade — not common. H. coufinis, Stepli. — Lowr3-\s Lough — not common. H. fulvus, F. — Lowr3''s Lough — common. H. ruficollis, De G. — Common throughout district. H. fluviatilis, Aube. — Loughnashade — not common. H. lineatocollis, Marsh. — Common throughout district.
D V T I s c I D ^.
Noterus clavicornis, De G. — Loughgall, MulHnure — not common.
N. sparsus, Marsh. — Loughnashade, Mullinure, Lowry's Lough — pretty
common. L?wCCopliilus obsciirus, Panz.— Lowry's Lough, etc.— common. Hyphydrus ovatus, L.— Loughgall, Lowry's Lough— common. CcBlambus quinquelmeatiis, Zett.— Lowry's Lough, etc. — common.
C. inosqualis, F.— Common throughout district.
C novsmlineatus, vSteph.— Lowry's Lough— not common.
Bei'onectes assimilis, Payk.— Drummanmore Lake, Lowry's Lough— not
common. 23. depressus, F. — Common throughout district.
D. duodscim-pustulatus, Fab.— Dean's River— plentiful at certain spots. Hydroporus pictus, F.— Common throughout district.
H. lepidus, Ol. — Pond beside railway in Drummanmore, Lowry's Lough
— not plentiful. H. rivalis, Gyll.— Dean's River— rare. H. davisii, Curt.— Dean's River, Lowry's Lough— scarce. H. lineatus, F. — Common throughout district. H. tristis, Payk.— Mullinure— rare.
' G. W. Butler, " On the Eruption N. W. of Pantelleria, October. 1891." Nature, xlv., p. 251.
The Coleoptera of the Armagh District. 37
Eydropoms umbrosus, Gyll. — Miillinure, Lowry's Lough — not common.
H. gyllenhalii, Schiodte. — ]Mullinure — not common.
H. jnorio, Dej. — Mullinure, Drummanbeg Lake — pretty common.
H. vittula, Er. — Common throughout district.
H. palustris, L. — Common throughout district.
H. erythrocephalus, L. — Common throughout district.
H. memnonius, Nic. — Mullinure, pretty common.
H. obscurus, Sturm. — Bog near the Vicar's Cairn.
H. nigrita, Fab. — INIullinure, Kdenmore — not common.
H. pubescens, Gyll. — Mullinure — rare.
H. planus, F. —Mullinure — fairly common.
H. lituratus, F. — Mullinure — common.
Agfabus paludosus, F.— Miillinure, Lowry's Lough— not common.
A. ungiiicularis, Thonis.— ^Mullinure, Lowry's Lough — not common.
A. big"uttatus, Ol. — IVIuUinure — rare.
A. nebulosus, Forst. — Lowry's Lough, etc. — coriimon.
A. sturinii, G^dl.— Common throughout district.
A. bipustiilatus, L. — Common throughout district.
? attr^ f^lgi^ostis, F. | Common throughout district.
I. obscui'us, Marsh. — Mullinure— not common.
SHiantiis exoletus, Forst. — Lowry's Lough, Mullinure.
R. notatus, Berg. — Low^ry's Lough.
Colymbetes fuscus, L. — Common throughout district.
Dytiscus punctulatus, F. — Mullinure — not common.
D. marginalis, L. — Common throughout district.
D. circumcinctus, Ahr. — Mullinure, Lowry's Lough— not common.
Acilius sulcatus, L.— Lowry's Lough, Loughgall.
A. fasciatus, De. G. — In a flax hole at Beech Hill.
GYRINID^.
Gyrinus minutus, F. — Pond near railway in Drummanmore — not com- mon. G. bicolor, Payk. — Loughnashade, Drummanbeg Lake — rare. G. natator, Scop. — Common throughout district. G. marmus, Gyll.— Common throughout district. Orechtocliilus villosus, Miiller.— Dean's River -not common.
HYDROPHIIvID^.
Hydrobius fuscipes, L.--Common throughout district.
Philhydrus testaceus, F. — Loughnashade, in moss from edge of drain —
rare. P. maritimus, Thonis.— Lowry's Lough— rare. P. melanocephalxis, Ol.— Lowry's Lough— rare. Anacaesia globuUis, Payk. | Common throughout district. A. limbata, T . ) .
Laccobius sinuatus, Mots.— Dean's River. Mullinure— pretty common. L. alutaceus; Thorns.— Drummanbeg Lake, Mullinure, Loughnashade—
prettv common. L. minutus, L.— Lowry's Lough— not common. L. bipunctatus, F.— Lowry's Lough, etc.— common.
Limnebius truncatellus, Thoms. \ ^i^^xXxixxxr^, etc.- common.
L. papposus, Muls. )
L. nitidus. Marsh. — Drummanbeg Lake, Mullinure, in moss — not
common. Chsetarthria siminulum, Herbst.— Loughnashade, in moss— not
common. Helophorus, nubilus, F.— INIullinure, in flood rubbish— also in drains.
38 The Irish NaUiralist.
Helopliorus aquaticus, Iv. ]
H. seneipennis, Thorns. [ Common throughout district.
H. brevipalpis, Bedel. )
H. arvernicus, Muls. — Folly, Mullinure— not common.
O. bicolon, Getm. ) Common tnroughout district.
Hydraena riparia, Kug. — Mullinure, etc. — common.
H. iiigrita, Germ. — Mullinure^not common.
Cyclonotum orbiculare, F. — Lough nashade, Mullinure, in moss — prett}-
common. Spliseridium scarabseoides, F. — Common throughout district. S. bipustulatum, Fab. — Near the Poor House — uncommon. Cercyon depressum, Stepli. — one specimen in Mullinure. C. lisemorrhious, Gyll. C. haemorrhoidalis, Herbst, j
C. fiaviijes, F. > Common throughout district.
G. lateralis, Marsh. \
C. riielanocephalus, Iv.
C. unipunctatus, L. — Widely distributed, but not common. C. pygniseus, 111. — Mullinure, Dean's Hill — pretty common. C. analis, Payk. — Lowry's Lough, etc. — common. C. lugubris, Payk. — Lowr3''s Lough — rare. C minutus, Muls. — Mullinure — not common. Meg'asternum boletopliagum — Mullinure, etc.— common. Cryptopleuriini atoiaarium, Muls. — Common throughout district.
STAPHYIylNID^.
Aleochara fuscipes, F. — Mullinure, in dead bird — not common.
A. bipunctata, 01. — Mullinure, in moss, etc. — not common.
A. cuniculorum, Kraatz — Mullinure, in moss — rare.
A. lan-uginosa, Grav. — Common throughout district.
A. moesta, Grav. — Mullinure— rare.
A. nitida, Grav.— Mullinure, Killeen, in moss — pretty common.
Ozypoda opaca, Grav. — Mullinure, etc., in moss — fairly common.
O. umbrata, Grav.— Lowry's Lough, in moss — rare.
O. longiuscula, Er. — Common throughout district.
Ilyobates nigricollis, Payk. — A single specimen in my house.
Calodsra sethioias, Grav. — Ver}^ rare.
Myrinedonia collaris, Payk. — Mullinure, in moss — rare.
Astilbus caiialiciilatus, F. — Common throughout district.
Alianta incana, Er. — ISIullinure, sweeping ; in stems of Typha latifolia in
bog near Alistragh. Homalota gregaria, Er. — Lowry's Lough, in moss — not common. K. imbcciila, Wat. — Drummanbeg Lake, in moss — fairly common. H. luteipes, Er. — ?>Iullinure — rare.
H. luridipeiinis, Mann. — IMullinure, in flood rubbish — rare. H. gyllenhalii. Thorns. — Mullinure — rare. H. eloiigatula, Grav. — IVIuUinure, Dean's Hill, in moss. H. volans, Scriba. — Mullinure, in moss — rare. H. oblongiuscula, Sharp. — Palace Demesne, in moss — rare. H. vicina, Steph. — Common throughout district. H. pagana, Er.— Palace Demesne, in moss — rare. H. graminicola, Gyll.— Common throughout district. H. circellaris, Grav. — Common throughout district. H. elegantula, Bris. — Palace Demesne, in moss — rare. H. analis, Grav. — Common throughout district. H. aquatica, Thorns. — Near Grange, Islullinure — not common. H. zanthoptera, Steph. —Palace Demesne, in moss — not common.
(TO be; continued.)
[39 ] PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES.
ROYAI, ZOOI^OGICAI, SOCIETY.
Three monkej's have lately been purchased for the collections. Two of these — the Mandrill [Cynoccphahis inaimon) and the sooty Mangabey {Ccrcoccbus fiiliginosns) — are from Africa. The other species is the Barri- gudo or " Nigger Monkey" [Lagothrix Jmmboldtii), from South America.
Miss Wilson Patten has presented an Indian M3'nah {Acridothercs gingi- niantis) to the Society.
The Aquarium has been placed by the Council under the supervi.sion of Dr. R. F. Scharff, who will be assisted in the alterations to that department by M. Deniset, of Paris, who has given much attention to the culture of fish. A series of tanks will be arranged, showing the development of different species. The Aquarium has been enriched by donations of fish from Mr. Godden, and also by the purchase of a hundred gold-fish.
Over 4,000 persons visited the gardens in March.
DUBININ MICROSCOPICAL CI,UB.
March iSth.— The Club met at Dr. R. F. Scharff 's, vrho exhibited a cross-section through the body of a Gephyrean worm {Priapuhis caiidatiis), to show the structure of the nerve cord. The latter is remarkable for the fact that it lies entirely in the outer body-layer or ectoderm, a con- dition which is extremely rare in an adult higher invertebrate. Ani- mals generally pass through that stage in early life, but the nerve cord migrates further towards the interior of the body later on, and is gene- ralh^ found in connection with the mesoderm in the adult. The section showed the ectodermic cells actually merging into true ganglion cells, thus illustrating an instructive fact in the development of animal tissues.
Mr. G. H. Carpenter showed sections through the crop and gizzard of the cockroach {Fejjplanefa orientalis).
Professor G. A. J. Cole showed specimens oi Xanthidia, discovered in the London clay of Sheppey by Mr. E. W. Wetherell, F.G.S., and kindly sent to the meeting by that gentleman. These minute globular bodies, with bifurcating processes, are capable of being stained in microscopic preparations. Hitherto they have been best known from sections of Cretaceous flints. It has been suggested that they were radiolarians ; but they have been generally regarded as zygospores of desmids, a view which was supported in the discussion which followed the examination of these perfect specimens.
BEI/FAST NATURAI. HISTORY AND PHII^OSOPHICAI, SOCIETY.
April 5th. — The President, Prof. Fitzgerald, in the Chair. Mr. Allan P. Swan read a paper on " Milk and its Ferments." The reader pointed out that milk as secreted b}- a healthy animal is quite sterile, and that fermentation is entirel}^ due to contact with the air, which is full of the spores of micro-organisms. He theil went on to describe the Cauca- sian fermented milk-drinks of " Koumiss " and " Kiphir," and showed their importance as articles of food to the wandering tribes who used them. The paper was illustrated by lantern slides, and by a microsco- pical demonstration.
ARMAGH NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
March 29tli. — The President, Rev. W. F. Johnson, M.A., in the Chair. Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger, M.R.I. A., read a paper entitled "A Deep-sea Dredging Expedition." An account was given of the expedition sent out by the Royal Irish Academy in 1888 to explore the deep waters off the S.W. coast of Ireland. The appliances and theory of deep-sea dredging were first gone into, and a narrative of the cruise was then given. The
40 The Irish Nattu^alist.
paper was illustrated by photographs, drawings, apparatus, and speci- mens.
Aprii, nth.— The President in the Chair. Mr. E. Iv. Fischer read a paper on "Music Without and Within."
DUBININ NATURAI^ISTS' FIEI^D C%UB.
Aprii, I2th.— The President, Dr. E.J. M'WkenEY, in the Chair. Prof. G. A. J. Cole, F.G.S., gave a paper on " The Geology of the Scalp and its Neighbourhood." The Scalp is believed by Prof. Cole to have been cut by a stream flowing southward from the high district which must for- merly have existed to the north of the present granite ridge, before the Carboniferous beds had been removed by denudation. This explanation was given some years ago by Prof Hull. The sands and gravels of Glen- cuUen were also described and compared with similar features in Alpine valleys. The interesting question of the marine shells in these gravels at high levels was discussed. The paper was illustrated by views shown in the optical lantern. The concluding picture represented the supposed condiition of the Dublin mountains as seen from the sea at the period of excavation of the Scalp, with glaciers and torrents flowing down their gorges from snowfields at an elevation of 7,500 feet. Rev. M. H. Close expressed his agreement with the views of Professors Hull and Cole as to the origin of the Scalp. He stated that the gravel-beds with marine shells high on the Two-Rock Mountain, described in his work on "The . Glaciation of Ireland," had since been entirely cleared away. Mr. W. W. Watts thought that the amount of denudation previous to the glacial period must have been too great to allow at that time such a height for the Dublin mountains as Prof. Cole had suggested. Mr. J. J. Dowling also took part in the discussion. Prof. Cole stated that a new gravel-pit at a high level is now in course of excavation.
Mr. F. Neale sent for exhibition specimens of Trochilmm crabroniforniis, CI., with larvae and pupa cases (see note, p. 42) taken in the Co. Dublin. He also sent various species of Lepidoptera from the Limerick district, among which Thccla rubi, L. , from Cratloe, Co. Clare, and Smerinthus ocel- laius, h., were noteworthy.
Mr. G. H. Carpenter showed a female specimen ofAyssia zonaria, vSchiff, from Achill Island (see p. 42) ; larvae of Cossus ligniperda, L., found by Mr. Thomas Greene at INIillbrook, Co. Kildare ; and two species of Pyc- nogonida. One of these, Fhoxichilus spinosus, Mont., from Dublin Bay, is new to the Irish coast, and the other, a Nyinphon, from Ballina, appears to be new to science. — (See note, p. 42).
Mr. W. W. Watts asked members interested in photography to assist the committee appointed by the British Association for collecting photo- graphs of geological features.
CORK NATURAI^ISTS' FIIvI<D CI,UB.
Aprii. 1st.— The President, Profkssor Hartog, D.Sc, F.Iv.S., in the Chair. The rules drafted by the Committee were passed after a few amendments. The names of W.J. Knight, LL.D., and V. Cotter, M.D., were added to the Vice-Presidents. The President then gave a discourse entitled "A Gossip on Pond Life," which unfortunately had to be cur- tailed. Having dealt with the various microscopic denizens of the ponds, streams, and stagnant water, he described their various forms, habits, and modes of propagation, and especially pointed out the vast field for research opened b}- the aid of the microscope. A discussion then took place as to the best mode of recording the work done by the Club.
Aprii, 8th.— The President in the Chair. The Right Rev. Dr. O'Shee- han, Bishop of Waterford, was unanimously elected a Vice-President, and Mr. R. A. Phillips was appointed Curator of the Society's proposed museum.
Miss H. A. Martin, M.R.C.P., gave a discourse on "Plant Life." Having explained, by the aid of diagrams and specimens, the structure
Proceedings of Irish Societies. 41
of plants in general and their classification, Miss Martin gave a graphic description of the flora to be seen in the woods and marshes in the neighbourhood. The President spoke on the use of the microscope in examining the different forms of minute fungi. Mr. O'SuUivan gave some interesting information as to the finding of Spiranthcs romanzoviana in County Cork. An interesting discussion on plant-collecting and pre- serving then followed.
ROYAI. IRISH ACADEMY.
Aprii, iith. — Rev. Dr. S. Haughton, F.R.vS., read papers on "New- tonian Chemistry" and "A Simple Account of Chemical Valenc}' on Newtonian Principles." Dr. W. Frazer read a paper " On the Bronze Instruments usually described as Sickles." The vSecretary communica- ted a paper by Dr. Parker, F.R.S., " On the Anatomy and Physiolq Piotopterus annectens .'''
NOTES
BOTANY.
FERNS.
Trichomanes radicans in Co. Tyrone. This plant was found j^ear by my brother, Mr. G. G. Delap, Mdthin five miles of Strabane. The locality faces almost west, and is shaded from the sun. There appeared to be three large tufts or plants within a small area. — Rev. Alex. H. Delap, Tamney, (in the Journal of Botany for April). This is a very important and decidedly unexpected addition to the flora of district 10 of " Cybele Hibernica."
ANGIOSPERMS.
Carex aquatilis in IreIvAND. While botanizing along the banks of the river Main, in Shane's Castle park, in Co. Antrim, in June last, I came across a luxuriant growth of this plant in a ditch of standing water communicating with the river, about a mile and a half from where it flows into Ivough Neagh. This sedge, which was formerly accounted of such extreme rarity in Britain, and which was first obtained in Ireland by Mr. S. A. Stewart, in 1883, in Co. Roscommon, is now added to the flora of district 12 of " Cybele Hibernica." The plant grows very luxu- riantly at the present station, the stems being three to four feet long, and the bracts one and a half to two feet in length. At the mouth of the stream, a mile and a half further down, I observed from the eastern bank an extensive grove of a large Carcx on the opposite shore, which is very possibly the same plant, but had no opportunity of obtaining speci- mens of it. The station above-mentioned is, so far as I am aware, the lowest yet observed for C. aqiialilis in Ireland, being only about fort3--five feet above high tide level. The specimens were kindly determined for me by Mr. Arthur Bennett, F.L.S., who refers them to var. datior Bab. — R. Ivloyd Praeger.
Vaccinum vitis-idcea AT i.ow^ levels. Commenting on Mr. More's note on this subject in the Journal of Botany for March, Mr. S. A. vStewart writes in the April number of the same publication, that for thirteen years he has known the plant to grow in two stations at Rasharkin, Co. Antrim, one slightly above 500 feet elevation, the other slightly below 500 feet.
42 The Irish Nahiralist.
ZOOLOGY.
PYCNOGONID A.
A NEW Nymphon and Phoxicliilus spinosus on the Irish Coast. I received early in April from Miss A. Warren, of Moyview, Ballina, a fine adult male Ayni//ioii, which was alive, and carried masses of eggs on its accessory limbs. ^ The species appears to be new, and 1 will shortly describe and figure it.
After the violent S.E. gale of October, 1SS9, Dr. Scharif secured a number of Pycnogonida on seaweed thrown ashore at the North Bull, Dublin Bay. These prove to be riioxichihis spinosus, Mont., a species which, I believe, has not yet been found in Irish waters. This interesting form has been dredged at moderate depths (ten to fifteen fathoms) off the coasts of Norway, North V.'ales, Devonshire, and France. A very nearly related species {P. vulgaris, Dolirn) is found in the Mediterranean. — G. H. Carpenter.
INSEC rs.
C01.EOPTERA AT Hor^YwooD, Co. Down. In December last year Dr. vScharff brought me two species of beetles from Cultra Wood, neither of which appear to have been taken by Rev. W. F. Johnson in January (pp. 18, 19). These are Helophonts aqiiatkiis and Silpha subrotnndata. — G. H. Carpenter.
SJyssia zonaria on Achii,i, Island. A female of this very rare and local moth was found on the sandhills of Achill Island early in April by Mr. J. R. Sheridan, by whom it was sent to Mr. A. G. More, who kindly passed it on to me for the Museum collections. The only Irish localit}^ hitherto known is Ball3xastle, Co. Antrim, where Mr. Campbell took it in 1884 and Mr. Bristow in 1889. In Great Britain it occurs only on the sand- hills of the Lancashire, Cheshire, and N. Wales coasts. — G. H. Carpenter.
Trochilium crabroniformis. This "clearwing," closely resembling a large wasp or hornet in appearance, seems to be common in Co. Dublin, if one may judge by the large number of poplar and willow trees in the stems of which the borings or tunnels of its larvae may be seen. These gimlet-like holes are to be found at Portraine, Malahide, Portmarnock, Howth, and Shankill, near the sea coast, and they also prevail largely inland at Terenure, Templeogue, and Crumlin, etc., being especially abundant in the neighbourhood of Jobstown and Swiftbrook. My atten- tion was first directed to them in the spring of the year 1889, as causing the gradual destruction of some weeping willows at a gentleman's resi- dence near Terenure. In April of the following year one of the willows looked so sickly, and had put on foliage so poorly the former season, that its owner decided to cut it down, and, through the kindness of his son, I secured two pieces of the stem, each some sixteen or eighteen inches long, literally riddled with old borings, and evidently containing living larvae. I at once placed them in large flower-pots, covering one end to the depth of about one inch with earth, and securing the other to the rims of the pots with wires, so as to prevent their shaking or falling down. This was on the 24th of the month, and for the following six weeks or thereabouts the stumps stood in a window facing the west, and had water poured over them freely twice a-day, being partially screened, when deemed necessary, from the strong afternoon sunshine. F'^rom a horticultural point of view they looked very unpromising subjects indeed; but plainl}^ they contained plenty of life, as from about fourteen different places/r<7i\y was being constantly and abundantly ejected by the invisible larvae. On the 9tli of June, at about 8.30 a.m., my care and attention to the plantation were rewarded by the appearance of a fine imago at rest on one of the stumps, the empty and shattered pupa case lying on the surface of the cla}', thus affording no clue as to the spot from whence the insect had come. From this date until the 3rd July some
Notes. 43
ten others put in an appearance, all perfect in form and condition, and two more perished in the act of emerging, apparently owdng to the mouths of their tunnels being too small for them to pass through. Hoping to secure specimens of T. apiforviis from affected poplar trees, I searched for that species on three mornings between the hours of eight and nine o'clock in the latter days of June, but did not succeed in finding it, as, although I took four insects, they were all 7'. crabroniformis. This would seem to indicate that the same insect feeds on the two kinds of wood — viz., willow and poplar, indiscriminately, at least in Co. Dublin. I had great pleasure in giving some of my takings to interested friends whilst still fresh and unset, not knowing that I should lose several of those retained from grease, their bodies to all appearance, in some cases, becoming quite corrupt and breaking up. All, however, did not go this way, and I have successfully restored the beautiful black and bright yellow bandings on others by total immersion in pi we benzole for a period of twent3'-four hours. This remedy I tried by the advice of an English entomologist, who states that he has repeatedly used it vnth. good effect on greasy insects of various kinds. I find borings, but not at all com- monly, in this locality also, and have taken one specimen of T. craboni- fo7'mis. — Francis Neale, lyimerick.
FISHES.
Pike (Esox lucius) in the Shannon. Some remarkably large pike" have been killed in the Shannon, near Bannagher. One, shot by a Mr. MTntyre, weighed 55 lbs., and several caught by the local fishermen have exceeded 30 lbs. — Land and Water, April 2nd,
Pipe Fishes at Cork and Kii^i^ala. — In th.e Zoologist for April Mr. R. Warren writes that he has often taken the ^quorial Pipe-fish {Nero- phis eequoreiis) and the Greater Pipe-fish {Syngnathus acus) when trawling in Cork harbour, and that he has procured the Lesser Pipe-fish {Siphonostoina typhle) in Killala Bay, the species having been determined by the late William Thompson.
Leptocephai^us i.arv.^ of Conger at Kii,i,ai,a Bay. — Mr. R. War- ren, in the Zoologist for April, also records the occurrence at Killala Bay of two examples of the strange larval form of the Conger, formerly known as Leptocephalns viorrissii.
BIRDS.
. Birds singing at night. That there are a few species of birds which habitually sing after nightfall is a well-known fact. These are, however, chiefly summer visitors ; but when some of the ordinary cho- risters of our woods break through their usual habit, and enliven the hours of midnight darkness with their song, it calls for some remark. On the night of February 9th last, about eight p.m., I heard a Blackbird chattering loudly in the demesne here (Hillsljorough, Co. Down) among the trees near the edge of the lake. About half an hour after midnight, while I stood in the silent and desertecl streets of the town, a perfect chorus of Blackbirds could be heard singing in the woods all round. Perhaps a dozen or more of their voices could be heard at once, some distant, some close by. Occasionall}' one or more of the singers would vary the performance by breaking out into the loud chattering alarm cry, as if laughing at the unusual effect of the concert in the silent mid- night woods. The night was very mild, calm, and cloudy, though with a good deal of light, the moon being near the full. As long as I listened this peculiar concert was kept up. What makes this even more renuirk- able is, that at the time the Blackbird was only just beginning to tune the first notes of his spring song, even during the daytime. I did not hear the notes of any other species except tlie Blackbird. — Rev. Allan Ellison, Hillsborough, Co. Down.
44 The Irish Nahiralist.
The Tree-Creeper (Certhia familiaris) as a song-bird.— Most of our writers on ornithology describe the Tree-creeper as a non-singing bird, asserting that it has but a single note — the shrill " cheep" which it utters now and then as it runs up the trunk of a tree or along a stout branch, sometimes giving forth a quick, hurried repetition of the same. I wonder how many of our ornithologists know that this is a mistake. The Tree-creeper is a song-bird, but, for various reasons, it is no wonder that the fact is not generally known. Firstly (writing from my own experience), the period during which the bird sings is very limited. I have never heard the song earlier than the end of March, nor later than the middle of INIa}'. Secondh', it sings very rarely, and usually early in the morning. Thirdh', the observer, on hearing the song, turns to the point from whence it came, and anxiousl}'^ awaits for it to be repeated ; but, as the bird will not sing again for some time, he grows tired of waiting, and passes on his way, ascribing what he has heard to the nearest Robin, this bird having some rolls which somewhat resemble the song of the Tree-creeper. It was the late Miss Massy, the discoverer of the Redstart as a breeding species in Ireland, who finst drew my atten- tion to the Tree-creeper's song. This lady being one of the most accurate observers of bird-life that I ever knew, I could not doubt her statement ; so in the ensuing spring I spent a great deal of time, early and late, about the breeding haunts of the bird, and received abundant practical confirmation of her observations. — ^James Johnston, Novara, Bray.
Whooper (Cygnus musicus) and Rough-t^egged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) IN Co. DoNEGAi^. A Whooper was shot at Horn Head, Co. Donegal, towards the end of October last, and during the last week of November a male Rough-legged Buzzard was killed at the same place. — H. Beecher (in the Field, March 12).
Jays (Garrulus glandarius) in County Westmeath. My friend, Mr. H. C. Levinge, tells me that his gamekeeper vshot a jay, and saw another a few da^-s ago at Knockdrin Castle. This is the first time that I have heard of the occurrence of the Jay in County Westmeath.— A. G. More (in Irish Sportsman, March 12).
White Snipe (Gallinago ccelestis). In the Irish Sportsman for March 19th, Mr. Daniel Dodd}- records a perfectl}' White Snipe which he shot near Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick, about a year ago. It had pinkish eyes and legs; the bill was of the normal colour.
Reported Occurrence of the Ferruginous Duck (Puligula ixyroca) in Queen's County incorrect. In the Field for March 26th Mr. A. G. More writes that the Ferruginous Duck reported from Queen's County in the Field of January 30, turns out on examination to be a female Golden-eye {Clangula glaucion).
MAM MA LS.
New Variety of the Extinct Irish Deer (Cervus giganteus).
In Land and Water for March 26 jNIr. R. 1,3'dekker describes and figures an interesting new variety of the Irish Deer, of which antlers have been recently obtained at Kottbus and near Worms. It differs from the type chiefly in the upward and forward (instead of outward horizontal) exten- .sion of the antlers, and in the position of the plane of the antlers, the anterior edge being twisted inward, so that the outer faces of the antlers are visible from the front, instead of the inner face, as in the type. The trez-tine is also much longer than in the normal form. Irish naturalists will do well to look out for this interesting form in their own country, which appears to have been the head-quarters of Cervus giganteus.
In Land and Water for April 16 an illustration is given of a fine pair of antlers of this species, eleven feet in span, and possessing a double trez- tine. The specimen was obtained somewhere in Ireland, but particulars are not forthcoming.
Vol.. I. JUNK, 1892. No. 3.
THK IRISH I.AND AND FRESHWATER MOI.I.USCA.
BY R. F. SCHARFF, PH.D., B.SC.
Thf fact that Ireland possesses several species and many varieties of land and freshwater mollusca not found in Great Britain may justify my giving a more extended account of them than has hitherto been published.
A casual observer may not be acquainted with more than half a dozen different kinds of slugs and snails, and it requires most diligent search at different seasons of the year to obtain all the one hundred and eleven species which are now known to occur in Ireland. It should be remembered that on a country walk no stone should be left unturned.
lyand shells may be collected at all times of the year, but the summer and autumn are the best seasons. As a rule, damp localities are the most likely to yield a rich har\^est, though some species, like Helix pisana, H. virgata, and H, ericetorum, seem to prefer dry and grassy slopes. Most of the freshwater mollusca, such as all the Pla?iorbes, and many of the LiimicscB, live in stagnant or slowly-moving waters, and a very fine-meshed net will be useful in exploring ditches and ponds.
The external shell of the mollusca is so characteristic, and affords such excellent specific distinctions, that for the col- lector it is not necessary to retain the animal, which can be easily removed with a pin after the shell has been immersed in boiling water for a few minutes. The heat of the water not only kills the animal instantaneously, but relaxes the columellar muscle, by means of which the animal is fixed to the shell.
Having secured the shell and thoroughly cleaned it, I would urge on the collector the very great importance of recording the locality where the specimen has been taken. The princi- pal maxim in fact is — label your specimen with the name of the locality in which it was found. The date of the capture may be useful too, but is not of such importance, and the scientific name of the animal can be added at an}^ time.
A
46 The Irish Naturalist.
Slugs, or mollusca without an external shell, are best pre- served in spirits, as the small shell, which is in many forms found under the mantle in the head region, does not afford an}^ very reliable mode of distinguishing the species.
The collecting of land and freshwater shells might be thought b}^ some to be a rather aimless amusement,- from which little scientific truth could be obtained, but it must be borne in mind that the vast majority of animal remains found fossil in rocks are shells, and that a good knowledge of recent forms will help us to identify the fossil ones. The age of rocks in different places is almost altogether determined by the nature of the fossils contained in them, and, by tracing certain species through a series of geological strata in a num- ber of places, we are able to learn a good deal as to the origin of the species, and the cause of their present distribution.
One of the most instructive branches of natural history is the study of Geographical Distribution of Animals, and land and freshwater mollusca are particularlj' suitable to elucidate research in this direction, as their migration is very limited, and the}^ are not transported so easily by accidental causes as many other kinds of animals.
In the preparation of this list of Irish land and freshwater mollusca, I have been very kindly assisted with specimens by Miss Warren, Mr. Praeger, Rev. A. H. Delap, Mr. Barrett- Hamilton, Mr. Ussher, Mr. Redding, Professor G. V. Hart, Mr. H. C. Hart, Miss Sidney Smith, Mr. F. W. Moore, and Mr. Garnett, while Mr. H. C. Levinge was good enough to allow me to collect in his extensive demesne.
The Roman figures under the heading of each species in- dicate the districts in Ireland in which specimens have been found. The districts, which are those adopted by Messrs. Moore and More in their well-known work the ''Cybele Hibernica," are as follows: —
I. Kerr^" and South Cork.
II. North Cork, Waterford, South Tipperar5^
III. Kilkenn}^ Carlow, Queen's County.
IV. Wexford and Wicklow.
V. Kildare, Dublin, ]\Ieath, lyouth.
VI. Limerick, Clare, East Galway.
VII. North Tipperary, King's County, Westmeath, Long- ford.
VIII. West Galway, West Mayo.
IX. East Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim.
X. Fermanagh, Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone, Armagh.
XI. Donegal and City of Londonderry.
XII. Down, Antrim, Derr}^
The following is a list of the more important works and papers containing reference to the Irish molluscan fauna, which will be referred to in the text by their numbers : —
The Irish Land and Freshivater Mollusca. 47
1. Ai^ivMAN, G. A. "Description of a new Genus of Pulmonary Gas-
tropod,"— An7t. and Mag. Nat. Hist. xvii. 1846.
2. Ci^ARKK, B.J. "On the Species oi Limaxioun^ in Ireland."— ^««.
and Mag. Nat. Hist. xii. 1843.
3. Conchologist, ii. (Notes on Irish Mollusca).
4. GooDSiR, John. "An Account of the Anatomy of Li?nn<zus involuttis,
Harvey." — Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 1840.
5. "Guide to the County Dublin, its Geology, Industries, Flora and
Fauna," 1878.
6. HoGAN, A. R. "Notes on the Land and Freshwater Mollusca of the
County Dublin." — Nat. Hist. Review, i. 1854.
7. Humphreys, J. D. "Contribution towards a Fauna and Flora of the
County Cork, 1845.
8. Jeffreys, J. G. "British Conchology," vol. i. 1862.
9. Journal of Conchology, i. to vi. (contains numerous notes and records
on Irish mollusca.)
10. Mii,NE, J. G. "Contributions towards a list of Irish Mollusca." —
Joiirn. of Conchology, vi. Jan. 1890.
11. MiivNE, J. G. "Notes on the Land and Freshwater Mollusca of
Achill Island." — Journ. of Conchology, vi. Oct. 1891.
12. Reeve, L. "Land and Freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles,"
1863.
13. SCHARFF, R. F. "The Slugs of Ireland."— Tr^wj. R. Diib. Soc. (2) iv.
1891.
14. Tayi^or and Roebuck. "Materials towards a Land and Freshwater
Molluscan Fauna of Ireland." — Proceed. R. Irish Acad. (2) iv. 1888.
15. Thompson, W. "Natural History of Ireland," iv. 1856.
16. Wai,IvER. p. "On the Land and Freshwater Mollusca of Finnoe,
County Tipperary." — Nat. Hist. Review, i. 1854.
17. Wii,i,iAMS, J. W. "Land and FrCvSh water Shells," (containing a chap-
ter on the Distribution of the British forms by Taylor and Roe- buck), 1889.
18. Wright, E. P. Catalogue of British Mollusca (Irish species marked),
Nat. Hist. Revitiv, ii. 1855.
GASTROPODA.
PULMONATA,
Genus— VITBINA.
Vitrina pellucida, Muller.
— II. — IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. — XII.
This species is fairly common in most parts of the mainland, and I recently found it also on the Aran Islands, Co. Galway. As a rule only dead shells are seen during summer, and it should be looked for during the winter months, when it is most active. Some of the specimens I have seen resembled Vitrina Major, Fer., which occurs in the south of France.
Foreign Distribution. — Common in Great Britain. To judge from its distribution, it must be one of our oldest living land-shells, for it has also been found all over central and northern Europe, the Caucasus and Siberia, and very closely allied species live in North America and Green- land.
(TO BE continued).
B
4.8 The Irish Naturalist.
CAREX AQUATILIS, WAHLB. AND ITS BRITISH
FORMS.
BY ARTHUR BKNNKTT, F.I,.S.
Carex aquatilis, though less variable than C. sali7ia, yet pre- sents many forms so closel}^ related to each other as to be difficult to discriminate with anything like satisfaction. In the eleventh edition of Hartman's ''Handbook of the Scan- dinavian Flora," Dr. Almquist gets over the difficulty by naming only one form, the var. epigeios I^aestadius (not of Fries, which is a saliiia form). Anderssen, in his "Cj^peracese Scandinavise (1849), p. 46, has five varieties. I^aestadius, in his "Bidrag i Tornea Lappmark," describes a "C arcuata,'' which seems to be a sub-species of aquatilis^ and may be the same as the **C aquatilis var. subacuta'^ of the '%oca Parrel- lela" (1839); but I have seen no specimens of either.
Up to the eighth edition of Hooker and Arnott, some doubt seems to have been felt as to our plant being the same as Wahlenberg's, though Fries, in his "Nov. Flor. Suec." Mant. iii. p. 146 (1842), distinctly says "C aquatilis. Hook. Brit., 4, p. 336, ex Grev. ! " I have specimens gathered by Dr. Greville, which come somewhat between the extreme var. elatior and the var. virescens Ands.
In the first edition of his "Manual" (1843, p. 341), Babington has a var. elatior, "three to four feet high, glumes oblong, blunt, shorter than the fruit : in the valley near the bridge at Clova." In the second edition (1847) this disappears, and Professor Babington wrote me that he then considered it was not entitled to rank as a variety. Dr. Boswell S3^me, in the third edition of "English Botany," vol. x. p. 113, 1870, re- names the same plant var. Watsorii, ignoring the former naming of Babington. In 1850 Mr. J. Mcl^aren, in a paper read before the Botanical Societj^ of Edinburgh, and published in the Bota7iical Gazette for 1851 (p. 23), makes three Scottish varieties, but gives no names to them. His var. 7 is the elatior of Babington ; his a seems to be the table-land form of Forfar and Aberdeen ; his /3 I suspect to belong to C. rigida, and to be the plant mentioned by S5^me from the I^ittle Craigendahl and lyochnagar, and Iwhich is closely allied to C. limula Fr., and C. rigida v. inferalpi7ia, I^aest.
Mr. H. C. Watson, in "Topographical Botany," remarks that Dr. Boott was inclined to think that the lowland plant offered more differences than could well be allowed to a variety, and Dr. Boott contrasted it with the North American C. stricta, Lam. (C angustata, Sm.). Certainly some of the Scottish specimens do much resemble some of the forms of the North American plant.
Carex aquatilis, Wahlb. and its Bfitish Forms. 49
So lately as 1870 the species had only been found in four counties of Scotland : we now have it from twenty, as well as from Cheviot and Cardigan.
It certainly was a surprise when Mr. S. A. Stewart first sent me Irish specimens named as ''acuta v, gracilis.'" I at once saw that they belonged to aquatilis, but desiring a better opinion than my own, I sent them to Dr. Almquist of Stock- holm, who returned them marked as ''aqzcatilisWohiy Still more was I suprised when Mr. Scully sent the same species from Kerr}^ indeed, I have tried to see if it could not be separated from it.
Why C. aqtiatilis does not occur in Denmark, and along the Baltic Provinces of Germany, is to me a puzzle. It seems quite rare in Russia, ''Ingria" = Ingermanland — the pro- vince in which St. Petersburgh is situated. Cardigan and Kerry are much to the south of this, as well as the station of lyivonia, on the Bay of Riga.
At present I wish to more particularly notice the Irish forms, leaving the Scotch ones for more extended notice here- after. So far as what may be the type-form, all our plants seem smaller than the original plant of Wahlenberg; this being so, it seems rather odd to have a var. elatior, but this must be left for the present. So far as Britain is concerned, I have seen specimens of the following: —
C. aquatilis var. cuspidata, I^^st. in Vet. Atcad. Handl. 1822, p. 339.
Among var. elatior on the Wick river in Caithness; in this the glumes are very long, and cuspidate. C. aquatilis var. elatior, Bab.! Man. Brit. Botany, ed. i, 1843, P- 341- Var. watsoni, Syme! Etig. Botany, vol. x., p. 113, 1870.
In many counties of Scotland, though careful comparison of some is yet needed.
In Ireland in Antrim! R. lyloyd Praeger. Roscommon! S. A. Stewart.
Mr. Scully's Kerry specimens are, so far as size is concerned, about half-way between this and the Clova table-land specimens; the spikes, however, are as stout as in this, not thin and inter- rupted at the base as in the Clova plant. C. aquatilis var. viresceiis, Anderssen in CyperacecB Scandinavia, 1849, p. 46.
Perthshire ! Dr. B. White. Characterised by its very short (half the length of the fruit) and obtuse glumes, and regularly-arranged spikes. I cannot distinguish from this {the Scottish specimens were verified by Dr. Almquist) the plant gathered by Mr. H. C. Hart at Doochary Bridge, Count}'^ Donegal, in 1886. C. aquatilis var. epigeios, Lcestadius, 1822. Mid-Perth ! Dr. B. White. Dr. Almquist has written against this ")8 tpigcios Lsest. f videtur."
A plant in habit somewhat like this, w^as gathered by Mr. R. M, Barrington at Temple Island, Inner Lough Ree, County West- meath, in 1885, but it has the fruit distinctly ribbed or nerved. It was named by Dr. I^ange of Copenhagen '■'Carex turfosa Fries f. elongata.''^
Among ni}^ numerous Scotch specimens are some which resemble the var. yfaz'zVa;/^ Nylander, "Spicel. Fl. Fennicae," but I have seen no specimens of Nylander's plant. Besides
50 The Irish Naturalist.
these forms, Anderssen has a var. sphag7iophiIa, Fries from sub- alpine lyapland.
Beyond Europe the true plant is rare. I have it from Siberia, Canada, and United States; though many of the plants so named from the States are decidedly wrongly referred, and re- quire careful and extensive comparison and study, as the forms do in Britain.
THE BIRDS OF RATHI.IN ISIvAND, CO. ANTRIM.
BY ROBKRT PATTERSON, M.B.O.U.
The nearest point of Rathlin is about three miles from Fair Head, but the distance from the quay at Ballycastle to the landing-place in Church bay, is seven and a-half miles. The island is five and a-half English miles long from the Bull, or western point, to Bruce's Castle, on the extreme east, and upwards of four miles from Rue Point, the most southerly, to Altacarry, at the north-east extremit}^ The greatest breadth at any part is one and a-quarter miles, and the narrowest half a mile, while the highest point is 447 feet above sea level. The cliffs on the northern and western sides are extremely precipitous, the average elevation of the island being about 200 feet. Rathlin has an area of 3,200 acres, only a small portion of which is under cultivation, the rest con- sisting of undulating rocky heaths with frequent marshes, and four lakes, the largest (I^ough Ushet) covering thirty English acres. For much of the following information I am indebted to the late owners of the island, Robert Gage, Esq., and Miss Gage, whose recent deaths are much deplored by Irish naturalists. M.y own notes, taken on the island, have been consulted, and, of course, Thompson's "Birds of Ireland." Dr. J. D. Marshall's paper on the statistics and natural history of the island, {^Proceedings Royal Irish Academy, 1836), and Mr. A. G. More's '%ist of Irish Birds," have been referred to. I have also taken some information from the "Reports on the Migration of Birds" (i 881- 1887), and have to thank Mr. R. J. Ussher for drawing my attention to an article in \h^ Zoologist iox 1867, by Mr. Howard Saunders, describing a visit he paid to the island. I am aware that Mr. Gage published a list of the birds of Rathlin in the Procecdiiigs of the Dubliii Natiiral History Society^ but I have not been able to refer to it.
The species that are known to breed in Rathlin are marked with an asterisk (*).
*Turdus viscivorus, L. — Misti^k-tiirush. Resident all the year; it breeds regularly, generally in the bare fork of a tree.
*Turdiis musicus, ly. — Song-Thrush. Common ; breeds in all the gardens, more numerous about Church bay than elsewhere.
The Birds of Rafhlin Island, Co. Antrim. 51
Turdus iliacus, Iv. — Redwing. Frequent in winter. Turdus pilaris, Iv. — Fiei.df'are. Not so common as last. *Turdus merula, L. — Bi^ackbird. Common in the gardens aijd hedges,
where it breeds. Turdus torquatus, L. — Ring-ouzeIy- The only specimen ever seen was
shot, i8th April, 1883, by one of the light-keepers (Migration Report
for 1883). *Saxicola cenanthe, Iv. — WheaT-ear. Very common during the summer ,
generally breeds in crevices of rocks and walls; earliest date of arrival,
March 8th. I found it extremely abundant in June. *Pratincola rubicola, Iv. — StonechaT. Frequently seen ; nests gener- ally among the whins. *Eritliacus rubecula, Iv. — Robin. Dr. Marshall states that the Robin is
rare, while Mr. Gage characterises it as common in the gardens and
low bushy places, where it breeds. In 1889 I observed several young
Robins, but did not see a single adult during three days. Sylvia cinerea, Bechst. — WhitethroaT. A regular summer visitant
to the gardens, but the nest has not yet been found. I have no
doubt it breeds. Heg'ulus cristatus, Koch. — Goi<den-crested Wren. A constant
spring visitor, being frequently taken at the lighthouse on migration ;
it never remains on the island. Phylloscopus rufus, Bechst. — Chiefchafe. An occasional visitor to
the gardens. . One was taken on an apple tree in March, 1862. It
has never been known to breed. phylloscopus trochilus, L. — Wii,i,ow-\vren. Rarely seen ; one was
caught alive near the lighthouse, and another found in Mr. Gage's
garden in April, 1867. Acroceplialus phragfmitis, Bechst. — SedGE-warbi.ER. This was the
only bird I was able to add to Mr. Gage's list. I saw and heard the
bird at Alley Ivough, 2nd June, 1889. In October, 1891, a second
example was killed by a Kestrel, and brought to Miss Gage. *Accentor modularis, Iv. — Hedge-sparrow. Common in the hedges
and whins where it breeds. An albino young bird was once found
beside the nest. Farus major, Iv. — Great-Tit. An occasional visitor. One was taken
in January, 1862, in Mr. Gage's garden, others have been seen at
intervals. Farus coeruleus, Iv. — Bi,uE-TiT. Occasionally seen; one was found
dead in the garden in 1891. *Troglod3rfces parvulus, Koch. — Wren. Very common and resident,
generally builds in ivy. Often observed on migration. Certhia familiaris, L. — Tree-creepeR. Once seen running along the
garden wall, when it was shot. There are scarcely any trees on Rathlin. ♦Motaciila lugubris, Temm. — Pied Wagtaii,. Common all the year,
bleeds generally in holes in banks. Motacilla melanope, Pallas. — Grey Wagtaii,. Uncommon ; one was
caught alive in the summer of 1858, having flown into one of the
rooms through an open window. I have reason to think they breed,
as I found a pair at Alley Lough, in June 1889, whose movements were
suspicious, but I failed to find the nest. *Aiitlius pratensis, Iv. — Meadow-pipiT. Not uncommon; some nests
with eggs have been found on some of the heath-covered hills, chiefly
in the centre of the island. Several birds were found dead in the
hard frost of January, 1867. *Aiitlius obscurus, Latham.— Rock-pipiT. Common along the shore.
Nests have been found in the heaps of dried seaweed stacked for
making kelp. *Muscicapa ^risola, L.— Spotted Fi^ycaTChER. Is usually seen in
summer, but the nest was never found till June, 1890, when a pair
had a nest in a rose-tree against the wall of a greenhouse. The hen
was very fearless.
52 The Irish Nahiralist.
*Hirundo rustica, Iv. — SwaIvI<OW. Common in summer; builds in outhouses and sheds. I observed it only about Mr. Gage's house and over the lakes. Has been seen on the i8th April (Migration Report, 1885). *Clielidon urbica, L. — House-marTin. Very common in silmmer, more numerous than the last; builds in the White Rocks at the north side of Church bay, in company with the Swift. :*Ligtirmiis cMoris, L. — Greenfinch. Numerous in winter; a nest was found for the first time in May, 1885. Carduelis elegans, Stephens. — Goi^dfinch. A winter visitor. For- merly, when brambles and wild roses were more plentiful, they bred regularl3^ *Passer domesticus, Iv. — House-Sparrow. Common at all the farm- houses. I noticed that all I saw were distinctly lighter in colour and appeared also smaller than those on the mainland. Pringilla coelebs, L. — Chaffinch. A few have been occasionally seen in the garden, but they have not been known to breed ; chiefly seen in winter. I did not observe any in the month of June. *Acant]iis cannabina, L. — I^innet. Common in summer and winter ; it breeds in low bushes and whins. Frequently observed by the light-keepers on migration.
[Mr. Howard Saunders, in the article referred to, mentions the Lesser Redpoll, Acazithis rufescens, Vieillot, as breeding on the island, but Mr. Gage states it is quite unknown.]
^Acanthis flavirostris, L. — Twite. Fairly common all over the island, breeding in the higher ground. Mr. Howard Saunders found the nest on the ledge of a high cliff.
*Emberiza miliaria, L/. — Corn-bunting. Common and permanently resident; breeds in suitable localities.
*Emberiza citrinella, L. — Yeeeow-bunting. More numerous than the last, and resident. Nests frequently found.
*Einberi2a schceniclus, Iv. — Reed-bunting. Common in the bogs throughout the island, where it breeds. Plectrophenax nivalis, Iv. — Snow-bunting. A regular winter visitant, sometimes in large flocks. Frequently seen on migration, as the following notes from the Reports will show^: — "May i6th, shot a bird very like a Snow-bunting. October 14th, thirty. Some seen also on 15th, 17th, and iSth (October, 1883). October i6th, ten at noon, re- main (1884). March loth, one seen. September 6th, five going S."
*Sturnus vulgaris, Iv. — Starring. Very common ; it breeds in clefts of rocks, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Church bay. Large flocks frequentl}' observed on migration.
*Pyrrhocorax gi:aculus, L- — Chough. Very common all over the island, they breed in the cliffs, chiefly at the White Rocks. Called "Jack- daw" by the natives.
*Pica rustica, Scop. — Magpie. Not so frequently seen as formerly. They used to build in a clump of trees near Mr. Gage's house, but on some sportsmen shooting into the nests, they took to the rocks, where a few pairs still breed. Corvus monedula, L. — Jackdaw. Rarely seen; occasionally comes from mainland.
*Corvus corax, L. — Raven. One or two pairs breed in the most inac- cessible cliffs on the north side of the island ; formerly they were much more numerous, and were very destructive to young lambs, etc. One bird was seen to pick the e3'es out of a ewe just after lambing, and was shot b}' the shepherd. The latter — a very observant man— states that every year, as soon as the young birds were able to fly and procure their own food, the old birds regularly drove them away from the place. Both old and young birds would disappear from the island for four or five days, and then the old birds would return alone. In Maj', 1867, a singular fight between Peregrines and Ravens occurred. Both birds had nests at no great distance from each other, on a very in-
The Birds of Rathlhi Island, Co. Antrim. 53
accessible cliff. The Peregrine's eggs were wanted by a collector, and some boys, watching the birds away from the nest, went down on a rope, and took the eggs. The birds on their return, finding their nests empty, attacked the Ravens, killed the hen, and demolished the nest. The cock Raven fought fiercel}^, but was at last overcome by the Peregrines, who forsook that particular locality, and never re- turned. Up to this time both families had lived in apparent friend- ship, not interfering with each other, but it was evident the Ravens were blamed for the theft. The fight was witnessed from the top of the cliffs by many who were attracted by the cries of the birds, and they described it as being most bloody and determined. *Corvus cornix, Iv. — Hooded Crow. Very common; frequents the beach of Church bay and elsewhere. Breeds in the cliffs. Corvus frugilegus, L. — Rook. Young and old birds sometimes seen in autumn and winter. Observed by light-keepers on migration.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
COUNTY DUBININ, PAST AND PRESENT.
BY PROF. GRE)NVII.I.E: A. J. COI,K, F.G.S.
{Continued from page 36.)
III. — Thk Granite Chain.
Thk remarkable volcanic activity at the close of the Ordovician period was the herald, in Ireland, of great changes in the relations of sea and land. The shocks of earthquake and the fierce explosions from volcanic isles were in reality minor matters compared to the slow uplifting of the sea-floor, the bending and contortion of the Ordovician shales and lime- stones (fig. 4, p. 32), and the formation of. the great chain of hills which even to-day forms the S.E. frontier of the country. We are only slowly beginning to understand the causes of these wide earth-movements ; sufiice it that, after the conversion of a great part of the area of the British Isles into dry land, and the consequent excavation of its surface by rain and rivers, the sea was again allowed to flow in over England, Wales, and western Ireland, depositing strata known as the Silurian system. But in Co. Dublin the elevation seems to have been more permanent ; along an axis stretching far into the south, the strata formed a sort of arch, their upheaval allowing of molten rock to ooze up from lower levels of the earth's crust, following, inch b}^ inch, the upthrust of the beds, and finally consolidating beneath them as a dense and crystalline mass.
How far this once molten rock extends beneath the present surface it is quite impossible to say; but denudation has already reached down to it through its former Ordovician covering at such outlying points as Rockabill ' on the north
' First noted by Mr. C. W. Hamilton in 1840, see G. S. D. ii., 138.
54 TIu Irish Naturalist.
and Carnsore Point on the south; while it is exposed con- tinuously over the granite highlands which rise from the sea at Killine}^ and stretch for 70 miles into the counties of Wexford and Kilkenny.
At Killiney the true character of this granite is excellently shown. On the shore below the steep face of Victoria Park the pale crj'stalline rock may be seen intruded in dykes and veins into the upturned and crumpled Ordovician shales. The junction is thus quite irregular; the hot rock has oozed into the sediments and has baked them, developing new minerals at the contact. Stellar groups of dark Andalusite have thus arisen by the driving off of the water from the substance of the clays and the cry^stallisation of the silicate of alumina ; silver>' mica covers all the planes of separation of the rock, but weathers away more rapidly than the andalusite, the latter standing out upon the surfaces in knots and bars. These products of contact metamorphism run through the mass in bands, which probably represent original layers of stratifi- cation ; while some beds, on the other hand, seem but little altered. The granite itself has again and again a banded streaky structure, indicative of viscid flow along its junction with the older rock ; as it began to consolidate, shrinkage- cracks, and joints due to "settlement" of its foundations, opened through it, and portions of the still fluid material from below were forced up into these spaces, forming a network of parallel-sided veins. Examination of the exposures about Kingstown and Killiney will show how some of these veins have been themselves cracked through, and often shifted on one side or other of the joint, still later material having finally recemented the mass. Some of the granite forming these subsequent veins is more coarse in grain than the surrounding granite ; in others it is so finely grained that it is difficult to distinguish the constituent minerals, the rock being then properly called a Eurite. But in all these tj^pes of granite the fundamental minerals are the same, whether we investigate our samples w4th the unaided eye or with the microscope. Quartz, glassy and unscratched by the knife ; Orthoclase felspar,' pale pink-brown, yellow-brown, or white, w4th sur- faces of regular cleavage ; and the micas, easily scratched, flaky, shining like silver, or deep brown-black when richer in magnesia and iron" — these are the essentials, though their proportions may vary from point to point. The old term granite is restricted to crj^stalline rocks, once molten, rich in silica and alkalies ; the excess of silica is shown by the
1 Chemical proof of the prevalence of this potash-felspar in the Dublin granite was first given by Apjolin, Ptoc. R. Irish Acad., v. (1853), p. 381 ; Galbraith followed with numerous analyses, ibid., vi., 134.
^Haughton, Proc. R. Irish Acad., vi., 176, and Quart. Joiirn. Gcol. Soc, Laiidotj, -KX., 129.
County Dublin, Past and Present.
55
abundance of quartz which, when the rock decays away, goes to form sand in the river- valleys and on the shore.
Other minerals are known in the granite of the Dublin Mountains/ and a second species of felspar is practically always present, ranging from Albite,^ as highly silicated as orthoclase, but with soda in place of potash, to Oligoclase,^ the soda-lime felspar. For references to many previous papers and for an admirable series of investigations into the characters of the Dublin granite, the reader must turn to the memoir by Prof. Sollas just cited, which is at present the text-book of the subject. We must content ourselves with quoting Dr. Haughton's'^ average analysis of (a) eleven specimens taken at intervals along the lycinster chain, and his deduction (b) as to the mean mineral constitution of the rock, in parts by weight.
|
72*07 |
|
14-81 |
|
2-25 |
|
1-63 |
|
0-33 |
|
5-II |
|
279 |
|
1*09 |
|
loo'oS |
B
|
Quartz |
32-57 |
|
Orthoclase |
I5'44 |
|
Albite . . |
22'IO |
|
Margarodite [White Mica^ |
19-16 |
|
Lepidomelane [Dark Mica^ |
5-8i |
|
Paste (SiHcate of Ivime) |
4-92 |
|
loo-oo |
Silica
Alumina
Iron peroxide
Lime
Magnesia
Potash
Soda
Loss by ignition
The orthoclase, as the lightest mineral in the rock, naturally plays a much greater part in the total volume than the 15 J per cent, assigned to it in the above mode of calculation. If the lime of the so called ** paste " were present as a constituent of oligoclase felspar, a slight readjustment of the figures would be necessary.
The chemical constituents of these minerals were clearly once fused together ; on the cooling of the intrusive mass, the micas separated out first, then the felspars, and finally the residual silica, as quartz. But experiment shows that this complete and often coarse crystallisation is only possible under pressure of overlying rocks and very slow conditions of cooling. When the materials of a granite are erupted at the surface as a molten lava, they cool as a black glass. Obsidian, with bands and patches of imperfectly developed cr>^stals ; such products are well known in lyipari and in Iceland. But in Co. Dublin the molten rock appears nowhere to have reached the
HVeaver, Trans. Geol. Soc. London, v. (1819), 135; Galbraith "On Killinite," G. S. D., vi., 165; Haughton "The Mineralogy of the Counties of Dublin and Wicklow," G. S. /., v., 43 ; O'Reilly, "On Micro- cline Feldspar in the Dalkey Granites," 77>id., v., 189; O'Reilly, " On Beryl in Glencullen," tdid, vii., 69; Joly, "Beryl and lolite of Glencullen," Froc. R. Dublin Soc. (new series,) v., 48.
2 Haughton, "Albite in the Granite of Dalkey," G. S. I., ii., 213.
3 Sollas, "Contributions to a knowledge of the Granite of Leinster," Trans. R. Irish Acad., xxix. (1891), 452.
G. S. /., V. (1878), pp. 41 and 43.
56
The Irish Natuj'alist.
surface; it cooled down through, not daj^s or months, but centuries; and the crest of the long Leinster ridge was no doubt originally formed of upheaved Ordovicians, giving a wilder and more broken aspect to the mountains than they wear at present. The last phases of earth-movement and "igneous" action are to be seen in the veins of pure quartz which occasionally cut the granite; these no doubt represent the courses of hot waters containing silica in solution, as in modern geysers, which circulated, decomposing some minerals and constructing others, during the final consolidation of the chain.
The broad tabular joints of granite, and still more its uniform powdery mode of disintegration, give us to-day the familiar long sweeping outlines of the Dublin hills. Occa- sionally, as on Three Rock Mountain, more resisting blocks protrude above the general surface of decay, like the ** tors" of Devonshire ; and the slopes are strewn with masses broken
Fig. 6.
Granite in the Dingle, near Carrickmlnes, showing how the rock be- comes broken up into loose blocks ])y the widening of its joints. The face exposed, 30 ft. high, is formed by one of a series of joints parallel to the trend of the valley. (From a photograph by Prof. Haddon and Mr. J. McNab.)
County Dublm, Past and Present. 57
from them or from others which have long since disappeared, by the action of frost or the slow widening of their joints (see fig. 6). The ridge from the head of Glencullen to Two Rock Mountain gives admirable lessons in the mode of wea- thering of the rock, the decomposition of the felspar setting free the quartz and mica, and a sort of sand thus spreading around each boulder into the black vegetable soil.
The contrast of outline between the granite background and the sedimentary masses of the Sugarloaves, or the easily denuded Carboniferous on which Dublin city stands, is well known to all who have crossed from Holyhead/ But to those who explore the glens and passes, traversed now by some of the highest roadways of the British Isles, the characteristic features of the granite will reveal themselves at all points, and with a breadth and a variety that custom never stales.
THE COI.EOPTKRA OF THE ARMAGH DISTRICT.
BY R:e;v. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A., F.E^.S.
{^Continued from page 38.)
STAPHYI^INID^.
Homalota trinotata, Kr. — dowry's Lough, in moss, I also took a spe- cimen on the top of the tower of the Cathedral.
H. nigricornis, Thoms. — Mullinure — rare.
H. corvina, Thoms. — Mullinure — rare.
H. atomaria, Kr. — Mullinure, in moss — not common.
H. sericea, Muls. — Dean's Hill— not common.
H. atricolor, Sharp. — Palace Demesne, Drummanbeg Lake, Mullinure.
H. nigra, Kr. — Mullinure — not common.
H. atramentaria, Gyll.— Mullinure — not common.
H, sordida, Marsh. — Lowry's Lough, Mullinure — not common.
H. aterriraa, Grav. — Common throughout district.
H. pygmaea, Grav. — Lowry's Lough, in moss — rare.
H. muscoruni, Bris. — Mullinure— rare.
H. laticollis, Steph. — Mullinure, in moss — not common.
H. fungi, Grav. — Common throughout district.
H. clieutula, Er. — Lowry's Lough, in moss — not common.
Tachyusa umbratica, Er.— Lowry's Lough, Drumbee, Mullinure— pretty common.
T. atra, Grav. — Mullinure, in moss — not common. _
Falagria obscura, Grav. — Common throughout district.
Autalia rivularis, Grav. — Lowry's Lough, in moss.
Eucephalns conxplicans, Westw.— Palace Demesne, Mullinure, Little Castledillon, in moss and in nest of Alyrmka.
Gyrophsena Isevipennis, Kr. Palace Demesne, in moss — not common.
Myllaena dubia, Grav.— Loughnashade, Grange, in moss— not common.
M. intermedia, Er. — Lowry's Lough, Drummanmore, in moss— not common.
M. minuta, Grav. — Lowry's Lough, in moss — not common.
' See also Weaver's drawings. Trans. GeoL Soc. London, ist ser., v., pi. 8.
58 The Irish Naturalist.
Myilsena brevicornis, Matth.— Mullinure, in moss— scarce. Hypocyptus ovulum, Heer. — Common in moss. Conosoma pubescens, Grav.— Folh', in moss— rare. C. lividum, Er. — Common throughout district. Tacliyporus obtusus, I^.— MulHnure, Folly, in moss.
var. nitidicollis, Steph. — common in moss. T. solutus, Br. — Mullinure, Little Castledillon, in moss — not common. T. chrysomelinus, L. )
T. humerosus, Br | Common throughout district.
T. hypnorum, F. )
T. pusillus, Grav. — Dean's Hill, Mullinure, in moss— not common. T. brunneus, F. — Lowry's Lough, etc., — common. T. transversalis, Grav. — Mullinure, Little Castledillon, in moss— not
common. TacMnus rufipes, L.— Common throughout district. T. subterrasieus, L. — Tyross, in Cathedral Grammar School playground ;
flew to light in my kitchen. T. marginellus, F. ) ^a T. laticoUis, Grav. } Common in moss.
Megacronus ciiigfulatus, Mann. — Mullinure, Drummanmore, in moss- not plentiful. M. analis, Payk. — Mullinure, Killooney, banks of Butterwater, in moss —
not common. Bolitobius lunulatus, L. \
B. trinotatus, Br. » AH occur freely in moss and fungi, the
B. exoletus, Br. ( last being the least abundant.
B. pygmseus, F. /
Mycetoporus lucidus, Br.— Mullinure, in moss— rare.i M. lonffulus, Mann. \ ^ , ^ , r - ^
M. splendidus, Grav. ) I^owry's Lough, etc., m moss— fairly common.
Quedius mesomelinus, Marsh.— Cathedral Grammar School play- ground— not common.
Q. fulgidus, F.— Palace stables— in my garden— rare.
Q. cinctus, Payk.— Dean's Hill, Palace Demesne— not common.
Q. fuliginosus, Grav. \
Q. tristis, Grav. [ Common throughout district.
Q. molocliinus, Grav. )
Q. fumatus, Steph. — Mullinure, in moss— one specimen.
Q. auricomus, Kies.— Palace Demesne, in moss— rare.
Q. rufipes, Grav. — Drummanmore Lake, Mullinure, in moss — pretty common.
Q. attenuatus, Gyll. — Palace Demesne, in moss — rare.
Q. semiseneus, Steph.— Common throughout district.
rSiTopt/r^s^r ^' °^ ""■ \ Co-nmon throughout district. S. csesarius, Ceder. — Lowry's Lough, under stones, common on edge of lake.
0%5preurRossi!^^' } Common throughout district.
O. ater, Grav. — Drummanbeg Lake, one specimen.
PMlonthus splendens, F. — Dean's Hill, Bdenmore, in carrion, etc.,
pretty common. P. intermedius, Boisd. — Palace Demesne, not common. P. laminatus, Creutz. — Mullinure, Palace Demesne, etc., common. P. succicola, Thonis. — One specimen near the Cathedral. P. politus, F. — Common throughout district. P. varius, Gyll. — Rookford, Mullinure, not common. P. marginatus, F. — Common throughout district.
P. umbratilis, Grav. — Lowry's Lough under stones, Drummanbeg Lake. P. cephalotes, Grav. — Lowry's Lough, Mullinure, Drummanmore Lake,
pretty common.
The Coleoptera of the Arjnagh District. 59
P. fimetarius, Grav. — I^owry's Ivough, Palace Demesne — not common. P. sangfuinolentus, Grav. — Mullinure, not common. P. varians, Payk. — Common throughout district. P. ventralis, Grav. — Beech Hill, Mullinure, not common. P. discoideus, Grav. — In a hotbed in garden of H. M. Prison, Armagh. P. quisquiliarius, Gyll. — I^owry's Lough, Loughnashade, Mullinure. var. dimidiatiis, Steph. — Lowry's Lough, under stones on edge of lake, not common. P. nigrita, Nord. — dowry's Lough, Mullinure, common. P. micans, Grav. — Mullinure, Drummanbeg Lake, not common. P. trossulus, Nord. — Common throughout district. P. puella, Nord. — Palace Demesne, Folly, not common.
(TO BEJ CONTINUED.)
REVIEW
Harrow Birds. By G. K. H. Barrbtt-HamiIvTon. Harrow: sold by J. C. Willbee, for the Harrow School Scientific Society.
In a convenient and well-printed little book of fifty pages, our youthful author has given a most interesting list of a hundred and ninety-eight Birds which have been ascertained to occur in the neighbourhood of Harrow School. Of these, to quote from the Preface, "Fifty- five are partially or wholly resident, twenty-seven are regular summer visitors, about twenty-two appear annually on migration, or in winter, and the remaining ninety-four are visitors of rare or accidental occurrence. The species which breed regularly number eighty- two."
To an Irish ornithologist, the most interesting species will be those which do not occur at all in Ireland. Such are the Dartford Warbler, Nuthatch, Tree Pipit, andCirl-bunting, all of which are indicated as b feeding in the small district contained within a radius of five miles round Har- row. The Whinchat, Redstart, Garden Warbler, Woodwren, Nightin- gale, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed-warbler, Marsh Titmouse, Red-backed Shrike, Hawfinch, Carrion Crow ,Woodlark, Wryneck, three Wood- peckers, Stock Dove and Turtle Dove, all very . rare in Ireland, are given as breeding, most of them regularly, in the vicinity of Harrow. And if, as long ago suggested by Swainson, we accept the small warblers as the birds most characteristic of a fauna, there are here enough to show how widely even so small a district as Harrow differs from any similar locality that might be selected in any part of Ireland. The County of Middlesex is very favourably situated, both on account of its proximity to the European Continent, and being in the south-east of England, it no doubt receives a larger number of the summer migrants. The fauna of Middlesex is a rich one, even for England, and it has been thoroughly ex- plored by many competent observ^ers, among whom we are glad to include Mr. Barrett-Hamilton, who, in this little book, has shown himself to be also an excellent compiler. Relying chiefly on Mr. Hartiug's well-known work, the "Birds of Middlesex," our author has added many useful ob- servations of his own, and he has been fortunate in finding several cor- respondents as much interested in ornithology as himself. He has thus been enabled to draw up what might be called quite a model list, well arranged, well digested, and most admirably printed. The breeding Birds are distinguished by an asterisk, which enables the reader at once to pick out the species most important in the fauna, and we have no doubt that this little book, besides being very useful to the members of Harrow School, will be perused with interest by many more general readers, especially by those who are elsewhere engaged in drawing up local catalogues, and we hope that some of the other large public schools will follow the example which has been so well set by Harrow.
A. G. M.
6o The Irish Naturalist.
NOTES.
BOTANY.
FUNGI.
Fungi from CenTrai, IreI/AND. On a recent excursion (April 23) to Knockdrin Castle, Co. Westmeatli, the grounds of which were entered by kind permission of H. C. Levinge, Esq., I found the following species, as well as many others not yet named : — CEddhcm primula, D.C. ; Peri- dertniictn pini, Chev., now known to be a stage of Coleospormm senecionis, Pers. — the spermogonia were not seen; Puccinia graveolens, Pers., uredo stage on Carduus arvcnsis; P. pimpindlcc, Strauss, uredospores on P. saxi- fraga; Trichia seroiina, Schrad ; T. chrysospenna, D.C, with Stilbiim tomcn- tosum, parasitic on the fructifications; two species of Nedria; Peziza nivea, Fr. ; several species of Diatrype and Sphccria; and Dactylmm rosmm, Berk, the spores of which differ from those of Berkeley's plant in being tri- septate ; it causes a wide-spread bright pink discolouration of the wood. No agaric was found.
A sample of water from a ditch near the canal, besides containing numerous specimens of Daphnia, Cydops, and red water-mites, contained six species of Schizomycetes, which were isolated by Koch's method. One of them proved to be Bacillus fluorcscens-liqucfadens. The others re- quire further study before it can be ascertained if they have been pre- viously described. — B. J. M'Weeney, Dublin.
LIVER WORTS .
Diplophyllum obtusifolhim (Hook), in Co. Dubinin. In the spring of 1890, when collecting cryptogams wnth the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, on one of their excursions, I found a small patch of this rare liver- wort growing on a moist clay bank in Glendhu, Co. Dublin. The only localities known for it in Ireland were near Bantry, Co. Cork, Miss Hutchins (1812) ; Dunscombe's Wood, in the same county, W. Wilson, Esq. (1829), and near Dunkerron, Dr. Taylor.
Dr. D. Moore, in describing the plant in his work on the Irish Hepa- ticse, Proc. R. I. A, (2) ii. Science, writes : — "Very rare in Ireland. The localities quoted are the only places where it has hitherto been observed." It is interesting to note that it should now appear in the eastern part of Ireland, after such a long interval. I am not aware that it has been found by any other person since the dates above quoted. Another species, D. albicans, small forms of which might possibly be mistaken for it, is one of the commonest of all the liverworts, but it is also a most interesting plant. D. obtiisifolitim differs from it in its smaller size, and above all, in wanting the pellucid central nerve-like markings in the leaves, which character is not possessed by any other foliose liverwort. It is figured in Sir W. J. Hooker's " British Jungermannia," table 26; also in " English Botany," table 251, under the name oi Jungermannia obtusifolia. Mr. M. B. Slater, an excellent authority on the subject, to whom I sent specimens, says the plant is rare in England.— David McArdle, Glasnevin.
ZOOLOGY. MOLL use A. Marine Shei,i<s. In the Zoologist for May, Mr. H. C. Hart brings to a conclusion his "Notes on Marine MoUusca collected on the coasts of Donegal and Dublin," which have been running through several num- bers. The title is a somewhat misleading one, "Donegal and Dublin" including the counties of Londonderry, Down, Louth, Wexford, Water- ford, and Galway, and had the writer omitted iibiquitous species, and paid a little attention to the already published records of Thompson and
Notes. 6 1
others as regards the rest, he might have saved the obliging editor a good deal of his valuable space. We extract the following species, as being among the rarer shells recorded : — Donegal, Lima hians, Liicinopsis undata^ Tellina squalida, Psafiwiobia vespertina, Scrobicularia tenuis, Ceratisolen legumen, Solen vagina, Trochus gramdatus, Adeo7'bis subcarinatus, Aplysia punctata. Dub- lin, Pecten tigrinus, Scrobiculatia prismaiica, Thracia papyracea, Pholas parva^ Barleeia rubra, Homalogyra rota, Cceciim trachea, Pleurotoma costata, P. brachy- stoma, P. nebula, Cylichna acuminata, Aplysia punctata. Blsewhere, Pecten septemradiatus (Derry) ; Pinna rudis (Wexford and Down) ; Diplodonta rotun- data (Galway) ; Isocardia cor (Waterford and Louth). ^
Odostomia albella, Loven, in Irbi^and. This little shell, which, so far as I am aware, has not been hitherto recorded in a recent state from Ireland, occurred to me in shell-sand lately gathered on the shore at Groomsport, Co. Down — a single example only was obtained. In a fossil state its only Irish record is in a paper which I recently laid before the Royal Irish Academy, in which it is noted as occurring in estuarine clay at West Bank, Belfast lyough. In both instances the species was kindly determined by Mr. J. T. Marshall of Torquay. The same shell-sand yielded — Crenella decussaia, Lima subauricidata, Modiolaria discors, Astarte tri- angularis, the four British species of Lacuna, Rissoa retictdata, R. cingillus, Odostomia lactea, 0. interstincta, 0. pallida, and other commoner forms, all of them in a fresh state. — R. Lloyd Praeger.
B LRDS,
Arrivai, of Summer Migrants. — Some readers of the Irish Naturalist may like to know the dates on which the summer migrants have arrived in this neighourhood this year. The following are from personal ob- servation:— Wheat-ear, March 22nd, between Kenmare and Killarney; Swallow, April 6th, Rossbeigh; Landrail, April 26th, Cahirciveen; Cuckoo, April 28th, Cahirciveen. — W. V. Delap, Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry.
Swallows were seen at Barne, and also near this towm on April i6th for the first time this year. — Robert Hunter, Clonmel.
The Tree-creeper (Certhia familiaris) as a Song-bird. — Is it a fact that "most of our writers on ornithology describe the Tree-creeper as a non-singing bird?" I am aware of one popular author (well-known in Ireland) who by implication does so; but as he pays the same in- different compliment to both our common Wagtails, I can only assume that his definition of the word "song" is somewhat exacting. The Tree-creeper's melody sounds to my ear like the syllables, "ticka-tee-tee- tee-tee-tee-ticka-ticka," and is usually uttered as the bird makes a pause in its progress up the tree-trunk, and holds its head sideways in a languishing attitude. I have the following noted as dates for first hear- ing the Tree-creeper's song in different years: — 1882, March 30th; 1885, March 20th; 1886, January ist (but not heard again until March 13th); 1887, March 19th. Since the latter date, not having been out of Dublin in early spring, I have taken no notes on the subject.— C. B. Moffat, Dublin.
The Spotted Crake (Forzana maruetta), etc. in Co. Louth.— The district lying inland from Dundalk, and extending on the one side to Crossmaglen, and on the other to Ardee, abounds in marshes, for the most part formed by bogs which have in days past been cut away, and which, owing to the want of fall for main drainage, remain unreclaimed. Many of these, even to the most experienced snipe-shot, are almost in- accessible, being composed of a floating sedge which a dog can hardly cross, and hence when, ten years since, I spent much time in pursuit of long-bills, it was sometimes my good fortune to come upon specimens of the rarer of the grallatores. The Water-rail [Ralhis aquaticus) was to be met with everywhere, and I have frequently seen the young birds when duck-shooting in the month of August. In the same district I secured
* Carlingford is in Louth, not Down, as twice stated in the present paper.
62 Notes.
specimens of the Common Bittern {Botatirus stellaris), Green Saifdpiper ( Totatms ochropus), Red Godwit {Liinosa cegocephala), and the Spotted Crake \Porzana tnaruetla). The latter was found frequently, but although I have no doubt they breed in the district, I was never successful in my search for their nests. Like the Water-rail, and, indeed, all gallinules, the Spotted Crake rarely resorts to flight unless it sees no other means of escape, preferring rather to take refuge in the nearest tuft of grass or sedge until found by the sportsman's dog. When it rises its flight is very rapid, not unlike that of the Quail, and being but a small mark it is not easily shot. One of the specimens secured by me is now in the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, and a second is to be seen at my house. — H. D. M. Barton, Antrim.
GBOLOGY.
PERFORATIONS IN CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE. In the demesne of Brittas, adjoining this village, there are some curious perforations in the limestone rock. The first of these perforations I observed are in a rock which crops out of a rather steep brae (now covered with a wood) for about four feet high. On the face of this rock I observed lately a num- ber of round holes, as neatly formed as if bored into the stone by human hands. I was curious enough to examine the stone to see what caused these perforations, but found, to my surprise, that, in a part of the stone which beetled over, the holes were quite numerous, in fact the rock was quite honeycombed by them in places. I further observed that these holes all had an upward tendency, as I found by testing by the finger. These holes are all about an inch in diameter. In depth they extend for about three inches into the stone, their ends being blunt and rounded. The rock itself, from being exposed to the w^eathering influence of the at- mosphere for untold ages, has in many places been wasted away, so that the sides of some of the holes have given way, and they now show merely a section of their former construction, or, according to their position, the blunted terminations of the little tunnels now seen as depressions on the face of the stone. Now what caused these perforations ? Most certainly they were not caused by man. I have read that in the Mediterranean, and other warm seas, there is a perforating mussel which bores into sub- merged rocks. Could it be that when Ireland was covered by a warm sea, the water was inhabited by a similar boring mussel ? If so, I would be glad to know if the remains of his work have been observed in other localities. — Owen Smith, Nobber, Co. Meath.
The phenomenon described by Mr. Owen Smith seems to be the same as what I have seen myself by the side of Lough Mask. The holes which I saw were just what he describes, many of them looking as if they had been bored artificially, they were so straight, and even, and circular. I did not see any on the rock in situ ; I had not the opportunity of looking for them. What I saw were in stones forming the wall by the roadside. The slabs were portions of beds of the limestone, and the holes were at right-angles to the bedding surfaces. Some of the slabs were, as he says, quite honeycombed with them. Are there any lithodomous molluscs able to produce holes so large } I cannot think that they could make them so straight and even. The most probable explanation seems to be that they have been dissolved out by water ; but why or how it should work in that way I cannot imagine. If Mr. Smith's are not at right angles to the bedding planes, it will be very interesting, and will help us to choose between the only two alternatives that I can think of, weathering, or the action of a boring mollusc— Rev. M. H. Close, Dublin.
[Will Mr. Smith kindly forward us a specimen of the perforated rock.—
e;d.]
[63 ]
PROCEKDINGS OF IRISH SOCIKTIKS.
ROYAI, ZOOI.OGICAI, SOCIETY.
Recent donations to the Gardens are a pair of Harrier-Hawks, from 'F. A, Leigh, Esq. ; an African monkey from H. M. Smith, Esq. ; a Manx cat from Mrs. Moore; and a Horned Owl from W. W. Despard, Esq.
The following animals have been acquired by purchase: — a Camel, a male kangaroo, a pair of wallabys, a Serval, two opossums, and two Drills.
About 18,000 persons visited the Gardens in April.
DUBININ MICROSCOPICAI, CI^UB.
Aprii, 2ist.— The Club met at Mr. G. Y. Dixon's. Mr. W. Archer showed an alga sent to him by Mr. E. Parfitt, of Exeter, taken from a stream near that city. The plant consists of slender filaments of oscilla- toreous structure, and resembles Leptothrix ochracea^ from which, however, it differs in its yellow colour in the mass. It may be Oscillatoria leptothi-ix.
Colonel O'Hara showed corpuscles of human blood after an attack of influenza.
Mr. G. H. Carpenter showed sections through the body of a larval Halobates.
Dr. McWeeney showed sections of miliary tuberculosis of the human oviduct. The giant-cells were numerous, and there was a great de- velopment of small-cell inflammatory tissue beneath the branched lumen of the tube. The bacilli, of which there were very few demon- strable, were, for the most part, contained in the giant-cells. There appeared to be a want of virulence in the organisms.
Professor Cole exhibited a section showing an inclusion of Ordovician rock in the granite of Killiney Park, Dublin. The included mass has been converted into a tourmaline-schist, boric acid having probably attacked it during the later stages of igneous activity.
be:i,fast naTurai^IvSTS' field ci^ub.
Aprii, 27th. — The President in the chair. This was the annual meet- ing. The senior Secretary (Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger, M.R.I.A.), read the annual Report, which showed that the membership was larger than ever previously in the history of the society, and that the Club was in a most flourishing condition. The Treasurer (Mr. W. H. Phillips, F.R.H.S.), submitted the Statement of Accounts, which, with the Report, was adopted. The office-bearers of the last year were re-elected, with some slight changes on the committee. Discussion ensued on a proposed change in the rules, and on the places to be visited during the summer session. The junior Secretary (Mr. F.J. Bigger), reported on some con- templated archaeological restorations. Mr. Praeger exhibited a number of bones and fragments of antlers of the Irish Elk {Cervus gigantais) ob- tained at the base of the bed of peat underl3dng the docks at Belfast, which yielded the skull of the same species which he recently exhibited (/. N., p. 22). An examination of the six collections to which prizes had iaeen awarded concluded the business of the evening.
DUBININ NATURAI^ISTvS' FIEI.D CI,UB.
Aprii< 3otli. — The first excursion of the season was attended by forty- four members. The party walked from Carrickmines to the Dingle, and then on to the Scalp. Prof Cole pointed out the chief physical features of these remarkable gorges, and explained their formation as at the last evening meeting of the Club (/. N., p. 40). The party then proceeded over the hill into the Lower Glencullen Valley where the middle sands
64 The Irish Naturalist.
and gravels of the Drift are exposed in a fine section. The points of in- terest were pointed out by Rev. M. H. Close. Some excellent photo- graphs of geological features were obtained by Prof. Haddon and Mr. McNab. (The sketch of the weathering granite in the Dingle, p. 56, is from one of these). Though the interest of the excursion was mainly geological, some good botanical and entomological work was done. Dr. B. J. McWeeney collected Puccinia umbilici, oecidospores of Uromyces poc& . growing on Ranunculus JicaHa, and other fungi, of which a detailed ac- count will be given later. Of Coleoptera, Mr. J. M. Browne took Helodes phellandrii, a chrysomelid new to the Dublin list, Badister bipustulatus, and Philhydrus melanocephalus ; while Mr. H. K. G. Cuthbert secured, among other commoner species, Chlcenius vestitus, Ptcrostichus versicolor, Bembidium doris, Phcedon tumidulum, Hypera niurina, and Sitones tibialis.
CORK NATURAI^ISTS' FIEI.D ClyUB.
Aprii, 22nd.— Mr. T. Farrington, M.A., in the chair. Mr. W. J. Knight, IvIv.D., gave a lecture entitled "A Gossij) on the Geology of Cork," illustrated by diagrams and specimens. The ice ages of the world, and the causes affecting them, were first dealt with, after which the lecturer pointed out the distinctive evidence in Ireland of the work of glaciers, especially in the neighbourhood of Cork. He maintained that the lie of mountains in England, Scotland, and Ireland, together with the fact of similar geological formations and minerals being found in each, proves the existence of original ranges now broken up. The old sea-bed of Blarney, and the quarries of Little Island, were described and explained. A discussion followed. The Secretary announced to the meeting Mr. J. O'Sullivan's munificent gift of his herbarium of the Co. Cork flora, containing 7,000 specimens of plants, to the museum of the society.
ApriIv 29th. — The President, Professor Harto^ D.Sc, F.L.S., in the chair. Mr. F. R. Rohu read a paper entitled "The Skelligs and their Feathered Inhabitants," illustrated by several stuffed specimens. Deal- ing with each species separately, Mr. Rohu gave a description of its plumage and habits. An account of the home-life of sea-birds from the first meeting of the mates to the maturity of their progeny was given with pleasing originality, as also some anecdotes showing the sympathetic qualities of the Guillemot. Mr. W. B. Barrington, Hon. Sec, following, gave a discourse on "Bird-life." After giving an outline of bird-classi- fication, Mr. Barrington dwelt on the compensating qualities in the different zones. The power of flight and subsistence were explained and exemplified. The instinct in birds to migrate, and the ancient and modern theories were discussed, and the aerial routes, and the attractive power of light described. A sketch of local bird-life was then given.
May 6th. — Rev. J. O. Park in the chair. A discussion took place as to the best days for field-rambles, M-hen it was decided to adopt alternate Wednesdays and Saturdays for the present. Mr. J. L. Copeman, Hon. Sec, gave a paper entitled, "A Gossip on Insect Life," illustrated by a large number of specimens and diagrams. Classification was first dealt with, after which Mr. Copeman explained the metamorphosis, more par- ticularly of butterflies, flies, and beetles, showing the perfect and im- perfect changes, and described the important function performed by insects in the fertilization of plants. A discussion followed. Intimation was given by the Secretary of Mr. Wolfe's offer to give duplicates of insects in his collection to the society's museum.
The following rambles have been taken by members of the Club: —
April iSth to Blarney, conducted by Mr. J. O'SuUivan.
April 23rd to Goulding's Glen, conducted by Mr. W. J. Knight, LL.D.
April 30th to Little Island, conducted by Mr. W. J. Knight, LL.D.
May 7th to MonkstoMm, conducted by Mr. J. H. Bennett and Mr. W. H. Shaw.
^^e ^vx&\) ^ainvaii&t
Vol.. I. JUIvY, 1892, No. 4.
THK IRISH I,AND AND FRKSHWATKR MOI.I.USCA.
BY R. F. SCHARFF, PH.D., B.SC.
{Coutiniied from page 47.)
GASTROPODA.
PULMONATA.
Genu s— H Y a L I N I a .
The species belonging to this genus are in most text-books united with those of the genus Zonites; but their claim to be placed under the genus Hyalinia has been fully recognised for some time past. This is a very- ancient genus, and must have originated in the palaeozoic period, as it occurs fossli in Canadian Carboniferous strata.
Hyalinia cellaiia, Miiller. I. II. — IV. V. — VII. VIII. — X. — XII.
This species is commonly distributed. The large specimens which, according to Thompson (15) have been taken in Dublin, are no doubt referable to the next species, which grows much larger. A single speci- men which I took on Sherkin Islajid, Co. Cork, seems to me to agree with the description of H. pictonica, Bgt., but as was suggested to me by Mr. B. B. Woodward, it may only be an abnormal form of H. cellaria.
Foreign Distribution. — It is common in Great Britain, and spread over the rest of Europe and Asia Minor, the Azores, Canaries, and Madeira. It is found also in Eastern North America, but is supposed to have been introduced.
Hyalinia Draparnaudi, Beck. I. — — — V. — — VIII. _ — _ —
There has been no previous record of this species from Ireland. It is the large shell which the late Mr. T. W. Warren found in Dublin, where it has also since been obtained by Prof G. V. Hart. I myself have only found it on Valentia and the Aran Islands on the West Coast.
Foreign Distribution. — In England it has only been found in the south-west, and it has a confined distribution in Western Europe ranging from Western Germany over France, Italy, and Corsica.
A
66 The Irish Naturalist.
Hyalinia alliaria, Miller.
I. II. — IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII.
Considerable interest is attached to this species, as it has most probably originated somewhere in the British Islands, where it is one of the most common Hyalinia, while, except in a few isolated localities in Northern Germany, Denmark, and Southern Sw^eden, it is unknown in other por- tions of the globe.
(Hyalinia gflabra, Studer.)
This species has been recently recorded from Co. Monaghan (lo), but as no Irish collector has ever found a specimen, and some doubt seems still to prevail whether this species occurs in Great Britain, I venture to think that I may be justified in excluding it at present from the list of species inhabiting Ireland.
Hyalinia nitidula, Drap. I. II. — IV. V. — VII. VIII. IX. X. — XII.
Many continental conchologists look upon H. niiens, Mich., as a distinct form, but it seems to me to be only a somewhat larger variety of the above. Both forms occur commonly in Ireland.
Foreign Distribution. — Commonly distributed in Great Britain, Southern, Western, Central, and Northern Continental Europe, as far north as Southern Sweden.
Hyalinia pura, Alder. — II. — IV. V. — VII. — — X. — XII.
This species is rather rare in Ireland. It is found in the Wicklow mountains and on Howth Hill, and I have also taken it at Renvyle in Connemara, and at Cultra in Co. Down. Mr. Waller (i6) records it from Finnoe, Co. Tipperary.
Foreign Distribution. — Great Britain and Continental Northern, Central, and Southern Europe. In the Alps up to 7,000 feet.
Hyalinia radiatula, Alder. I. II. III. IV. V. — VII. VIII. — X. XI. XII.
Like the preceding, this is a rare species; but it has been taken in most parts of Ireland, Thompson (15) has met with it in several localities throughout Down and Antrim; Waller (16) reported it from Tipperary^; and Milne (10) from Donegal and Fermanagh. I found it at Greystones (Co. Wicklow), Howth (Co. Dublin), Renvyle (Co. Galway), and GlengarifF (Co. Cork).
Foreign Distribution. — This is no doubt a very ancient species. It has been recorded from a number of places in Great Britain, and it ranges over nearly the whole of Europe and the Caucasus, also Siberia and North America, as far South as the Gulf of Mexico. (In America it is known as Zonites viridulus, Meuke.)
Hyalinia crystallina, Miiller.
I. II. — IV. V. - VII. VIII. — X. — XII.
This is equally common on the west and east coasts, as well as inland.
Foreign Distribution. — Ranges over Great Britain^ and the rest of
Europe, with the exception of the south-east, and is found on the Azores.
The Irish La7id and Freshwater Mollusca. 67
Hyalinia contracta, West.
This species is new to the British Fauna. The specimen which I obtained at Killarney is more like that described by Clessin as H. dubreuili, but, as Mr. B. B. Woodward has pointed out to me, the latter is probably only a variety of H. contracta, and it is considered as such by Dr. Westerlund. It differs from //. crystallina in having one more whorl, and in the two last being equal in breadth, instead of the outer one being considerably broader.
Foreign Distribution. — Sweden, Norway, Northern Germany, France, and Switzerland.
Hyalinia fulva, Miiller. I. — — IV. V. — VII. VIII. IX. X. — XII.
By many authorities this species is placed in a separate genus Conulus, as its form differs so much from the general type of the Hya- linia;. To judge from the large number of specimens obtained by Mr. Praeger in the Co. Dowm, it must be pretty common there, but about Dublin it is extremely rare.
Foreign Distribution. — Like H. radiatula, this species has a very wide distribution, ranging over the whole of E)urope, Northern Africa, the Azores, Siberia, and North America.
Hyalinia excavata, Bean. I. — — — V..? — — VIII. — — — —
On the south-west and west coast this species is fairly common, espe- cially in Connemara, but it is evidently quite absent from the east coast, as neither my predecessors, Messrs. Warren and Thompson, nor myself, have ever found it, and the record from Dublin in Messrs. Ta3dor and Roebuck's list is, I venture to think, erroneous. By many Continental authorities this species, along with the next, is placed in a separate genus Zonitoides.
Foreign Distribution. — Beyond Great Britain this species has only been found at a single locality — viz., Flensburg, in Northern Germany, and I think it is possible that, like U. alliaria, it may have originated in the British islands.
Hyalinia nitida, Miiller. I. II. III. IV. V. — VII. VIII. IX. X. — XII.
This is H. lucida, Drap, and, as Thompson has already mentioned it is a very rare species in Ireland. He has recorded it from Kilmegan Bog (Down), Portarlington (Queen's Co.), and Finnoe (Tipperary), while Miss Warren has kindly supplied me with speciemens from Co. Sligo. It has also been found at Rathfarnham, and I myself, obtained a dead specimen at Stepaside (Dublin).
Foreign Distribution. — This species has an enormous range, occur- ring over the whole of Kurope, Algeria, Thibet, Turkestan, Siberia, Japan, and North America.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
B
[ 68 ]
HEPATIC^ OF THE KING'S AND QUEEN'S
COUNTIES.
BY DAVID M'ARDIvK.
ThK following list of Liverworts enumerates the joint collections made by myself and the Rev. Canon Russell of Geashill Rector}^, at whose kind invitation I made two brief but very interesting excursions, one in the spring of 1890, and again, in August of last 3"ear, to the Bog of Allan, which occupies a considerable portion of the King's County eastward of the river Shannon. I also collected on a small portion of the vSlieve Bloom Mountains, near Clonaslee, Queen's County. A visit to the mountain district earlier in the year, would have been more productive in the plants of which we w^ere in search ; still those gathered are highly interesting, and some of them are quite new to that part of the countr}'. During the summer months want of water is often experienced, and a stillness prevails, and one misses the music of the cascades and tumbling streams of the counties of Kerry and Wicklow, whose moist w^arm glens are the home of more than half of all the Irish liverworts.
It will be obvious from this provisional list that these districts offer a fair field for further investigation and re- search, and they are part of a long tract of country from which the records of liverworts are very few.
* Placed before a species or variety denotes that it has not been reported from this locahty, that I am aware of.
To Dr. Richard Spruce and M. B. Slater, Esq., F.L.S., of Yorkshire, I oflfer my best thanks for their kind replies when consulting them on matters of doubt.
Mardiantia polymorplia, Linn. — Abundant on the bog near the Geashill railway station. King's Co. — D. McA., 1891.
Conoceplialus conicus, Neck Margin of a stream, Welsh Island,
King's Count}'. Brosna river, stream on the Slieve Bloom moun- tains.—D. McA., 1S91. Lunularia cruciata, Linn. — Shady places, Geashill Rectory, King's
Co.— C. D. R., 1890. PruUania dilatata, Linn. — On the trunks of trees, Geashill, King's Co.,
Brittas Demesne, Queen's Co., plentiful. *Drepano-Lejeunea hamatifolia, Hook. — On the trunks of trees and on decayed wood, in Brittas Demesne, near the Lake, Queen's Co., C. D. R. and D. McA., 1891. *Colo-Lejeunea minutissima, Smith. — On moss covered trunks of trees and on decayed wood, Brittas Demesne, abundant near the lake. — D. McA. and C. D. R., 1891. Eu-Lejeunea serpyllifolia, Dicks. — Cappard, Queen's Co. C. D. R., 1S91. var *patens, Spruce MSS., L. patens, Lindberg. — Dr. Moore on Irish Hepaticae, excellent fig., plate 43. — R. I. A. Proc, ser. 2, vol. ii. Radula complanata, Linn. — On the trunks of trees, Brittas Demesne,
and Geashill Rectory— plentiful. Lepidozia reptans, Linn. — Damp bank, Geashill Rectory, C. D. R., 1890.
Hepaticcs of the Km^s and Qtieen's Counties. 69
Cephalozia sphagfiii (Spruce on Cepkalozia), Jungennania Sphagni, Dicks., Crypt, Brit. ( 1 785). Bogs amongst Sphagnum in both counties— plentiful. *C. lammersiana, Huben.— y?<;z^. bkuspidata 7 tdiginosa Nees, Eur. La- berm II. 253, et (exparte) 7 7 obliquata Nees I. C. 254, J. biaispidata B. Bot. t. 2,239— Wet places, Ard bog, King's Co.— C. D. R., 1890-91. Marshy place, side of a stream, Slieve Bloom mountains, Queen's Co. — D. McA., 1 89 1.
Good authorities consider this to be the dioecious and perfect form of the following: —
C. bicuspidata, Iv. Hook, Brit. Jung, t 11. — Damp banks, plentiful in both counties.
var *setulosa, Spruce. — Pusilla, foliis parvis, lobis subapiculatis, perianthiis ore truncato setulosis (setis 2-3 cellulas longis) brac- tearum laciniis lato-subulatis acuminatis utrinque 1-2 spinis.Ard —
bog, King'sCo C. D, R., 189 1. This form is new to the Irish
Flora. *C. connivens, Dicks. — Damp bank, Ard bog, C. D. R., 1890-91. Bog on Welsh Island, King's Co.— D. McA, 1891.
var,— Larger and with longer hair, points to the leaves, than in
the normal state. — C. D. R., 1891. Rare or overlooked in Ireland.
*C. catenulata, Hubener. — Damp bank, Ard bog, amongst the larger
Hepaticae. — C. D. R.— 1891. [1891.
*C. divaricata,',Smith. — Ard bog, amongst the larger Hepaticae. — C. D. R.,
Lophocolea bidentata, Lim. — on decayed wood and on damp banks,
plentiful in both counties. Chiloscyphus polyanthos, Corda.— Side of a stream on the Slieve
Bloom mountains. — D. McA.— 1891. Kantia trichomanes, Dicks— Plentiful on damp banks, very fine on Ard
bog.— C. D. R., 1891. *K. argfuta Mont. (Ivind.)— E. Bot. tab., 1875. Dioecious.— Stems elon- gated near the apex, with smaller and more remotely placed leaves, often tipped with gonidiferous gemmae. Leaves roundish, oblique, apex bidentate, fragile, divergent, under leaves (stipules), deeply bifid segments subulate.
Amongst Sphagnum, Ard bog. King's Co., C. D. R., 1891. Side of a stream on the Slieve Bloom Mountains, on moist clay, D. McA. 1891.
Dr. Moore in his work on " Irish Hepaticae," p. 632, writes: — " Hab. on wet banks very rare in Ireland. The few Irish specimens known were collected at Luggielaw, Wicklow, creeping over the stems of Nai'dia com- prcssa, Dr. Lindberg detected them among my specimens when examining them."
Since the publication of this valuable work in 1876, I know that the plant has also been gathered in Killarney by R. W. Scully, Esq. ; Lough- bray, Co. Wicklow, amongst Sphagnum D. McA., 1878; and at Killakee Glen, Co. Dublin, growing amongst Rhynchosiegium swartzii D. McA., September, 1890.
Saccogyna viticulosa, Mich.— Ard bog. King's Co., C. D. R. 1890.—
Slieve Bloom Mountains, Queen's Co., D. McA., 1891. Trichocolea tomentella, Ehrhart.— Bog near Geashill, King's Co.,
D. McA., 1891. Blepharostoma setacea, Web. — Ard bog. King's Co., C. D. R., 1890,
near Cappard, Queen's Co., 1891, Scapania, undulata, Dumort. — Wet rocks bed of a stream, Slieve
Bloom Mountains, D. McA., 1891. Diplophyllum albicans, Linn.— Common in both counties. Plagfiochila asplenoides, Linn. — Damp bank Slieve Bloom Mountains,
D. McA.; 1891. P. spinulosa, Dicks. — Slieve Bloom Mountains, near Clonaslee. C. D. R.,
1891.
yo The Irish Naturalist.
Jungfermania (Aplozia) crenulata, Smith. — Roadside, Slieve Bloom Mountains, Queen's Co., D. McA., 1891. * J. (Lophozia) bantriensis, Hook. — MSS. J. stipulaceum Brit. Jung. t. 41. — Amongst Campylopus, in a damp shady place, on a sandy deposit, side of a stream, at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, near Clonaslee, D. McA., 1891. The following were the only localities pre- viously known for this rare plant in Ireland: — Bantry, MissHutchins; GlengarifF, Dr. Carrington; Brandon Mountains, Co. Kerry; Benbul- bin, Co. Sligo; and Gleniff, Co. Leitrim, Dr. D. Moore. Later in- vestigation, by Mr. Pearson, of