110 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



spines of Echinus sphcera, showing that, instead of being, as is 

 generally supposed, all of one form, they are, to a great extent, on 

 the lower side of the animal, flat pointed. His attention had 

 been drawn to this hitherto-overlooked character, by finding 

 portions of similar spines in the glacial clay beds at Fairlie, and 

 also among the debris brought up by the dredge in various parts 

 of the Firth of Clyde. The peculiar form of these fragments had 

 puzzled himself and other naturalists, a greater share of attention 

 having been bestowed upon them as glacial fossils, in the belief 

 they might prove to be portions of an unknown species. Subse- 

 quently, however, Mr Eobertson discovered that these flat-pointed 

 spines existed in constant numbers on the lower surface oi Echinus 

 sphcBra, not accidentally, or on a single individual, but as a steady, 

 specific character, although not noticed by Forbes or other writers 

 on radiated animals. 



Mr William Hamilton exhibited a specimen of the marsh 

 warbler {Calamohcrpe ijcilustris) which was shot near Cambridge — 

 the only recorded instance of the occurrence of the bird in Britain. 

 The distribution of the species throughout Europe is extensive, 

 ranging over Russia, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and 

 Switzerland. It is also found in North and South Africa, and 

 the south-west of Asia. From its resemblance in general char- 

 acters to the other British sylvidfe, its occurrence in this country 

 may have been overlooked by ornithologists, and it is not unlikely 

 that a closer observation, especially in the south of England, 

 would result in the species being ranked among our regular 

 summer visitants. It is a bird of shy habits, frequenting solitary 

 marshes, fens, and slow rivers, on the banks of which its nest is 

 usually found. It sings by night as well as by day, and delights 

 the ear at all hours by its own natural notes, as well as its powers 

 of imitating other birds^ — a faculty which it possesses in a remark- 

 able degree, running over with great exactitude the notes of the 

 goldfinch, the chaffinch, and the blackbird, as well as all the other 

 birds wluch frequent its neighbourhood. 



PAPERS READ. 



I. — Additions to the Bryology of Ayrshire. By Mr John Shaw. 



The author of this paper mentioned having found in the 

 lioch Doon district, plentifully, many species which had been 

 previously considered rare. He drew special attention to 



