The Scottish Naturalist. 49 



furthermore, the merit of laying, in cases where no previous lists 

 of the local productions existed, a foundation on which more 

 elaborate catalogues of the Fauna and Flora may be based, 

 and of acting as an incentive to local collectors to more thor- 

 oughly examine their district. 



For the meeting of the Association at Glasgow, in 1876, a 

 very excellent local guide book was produced, chiefly under the 

 auspices of the "Glasgow Society of Field Naturalists." The work 

 consists of two portions — an introductory one entitled '' Notes 

 on the Fauna and Flora of the west of Scotland," which, amount- 

 ing to 26 pages, contains a general resume of several of the 

 groups ; and a second part, which occupies most of the volume, 

 consists of lists of the species, with brief indication of their 

 distribution in the district, and is termed " A contribution 

 towards a complete list of the Fauna and Flora of Clydesdale 

 and of the West of Scotland." 



The introduction to the mammalia is written by Mr. 

 E. B. Alston, and the list by Mr. T. King. Mr. Alston 

 takes in the whole of the south-western half of , Scotland, 

 but the list is confined to Clydesdale. (And here we 

 must notice, what we cannot help considering is to a certain 

 degree a blemish in an otherwise valuable work, and that is 

 the great discrepancy in the size and boundaries of the district 

 adopted by the various authors. In some cases " Glasgow 

 and its vicinity " is the limit ; in others, " Clydesdale," whilst 

 some lists purporting to be of the " West of Scotland," include 

 localities so decidedly in the eastern drainage district as Aber- 

 feldy, Rannoch, and Strathglass. To our idea the value of 

 the lists for comparison would have been very greatly increased 

 if they had been strictly confined to Clydesdale, i.e., the district 

 drained by the Clyde and its tributaries.) The Mammalia 

 (including two Cetacea) amount to 32 species, the most note- 

 worthy of which is Bos Scoticus — the Wild Cattle of Cadzow 

 Forest. It is remarked that the squirrel, mountain hare, and 

 rabbit have much increased in numbers and range within 

 the last 50 years. 



The birds are treated of by Mr. R. Gray (introduction) and 

 Mr. H. C. Young (the list) ; the first mentioned well-known 

 ornithologist treating of the birds of Glasgow and its vicinity, 

 while the list is confined to those which breed in the nearer 

 vicinity, some 83 in number. 



A list of the Reptilia and Amphibia is given by IMr. J. 



