MOLLUSCA IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND , 47 



never failed to produce mollusca of a varied character 

 These habitats occurred where small tricklets of water 

 collected on their way to some stream, or down some slope 

 to the sea. They were also met with in glens and ravines, 

 and the spray from waterfalls in many instances caused this 

 rank vegetation to flourish on the rocky ledges and slopes 

 amongst which mollusca could be found. Whether the 

 habitat was in a wood or on the slopes of the coast away 

 from a wood, the species were in most instances the same. 



Beds of nettles which in general are associated with some 

 forms of Hyalinice and Helicidce were here quite barren, 

 though they along with other plants of a varied kind 

 produced many species of mollusca. 



The character of this rank vegetation varied very little 

 in all the localities investigated, and consisted mainly of 

 Iris, Meadowsweet, nettles, Water Peppermint, Hairy Wood- 

 rush, and rushes, mosses, etc., and in many cases umbelliferous 

 plants, ferns, and bracken were present. 



The Hairy Woodrush was the most productive of any 

 plant-life for mollusca, and only on rare occasions where it 

 occurred did it fail to yield specimens. Whether in woods, 

 glens, or on cliffs or on the coast, it invariably yielded 

 Hyalinia fufaa, H. radiatula, and Sphyradium edentulum, in 

 many cases Acanthinula lamellata, and in other instances 

 A. aculeata, Pupa anglica, and Punctum pygmceum, in addition 

 to more common species. 



These habitats on Skye were mostly on the coast, and 

 as the island, or the portions which I visited, is nearly devoid 

 of tree-life, with the exception of the odd plantations of a 

 scrubby nature, they had not the shade which similar habitats 

 enjoyed at Gairloch and Glenelg on the mainland. 



On the coast north of Portree, Skye, between the two 

 Beila points, were several boggy patches where the streams 

 come down the cliffs, in which Iris, bracken, and Meadowsweet 

 were the predominant plants. Hygromia fusca was found 

 here, climbing up the Iris-leaves along with Helicigona 

 arbustorum. 



On the Varragill road, and a good way up one of the 

 small streams that come down from the mountains, a habitat 



