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A NATURALIST'S RAMBLE ON THE EXMOUTH COAST. 



BY MR. EDWARD PARFITT. 



The other day myself and a friend took the first train, at seven o' clock, 

 a.m., to Starcross, and from thence crossed over by the steam-boat to 

 Exmouth, intending to make our way towards Salterton, along the cliffs, 

 to entomologise and botanise as we went along, my friend being fond of 

 plants, (he knows but very little about them.) Just beyond the beacon at 

 Exmouth is a thicket of brambles, a sort of sedge, below which is a very 

 pleasant walk, extending towards the cliffs, and on the bramble blossoms 

 I captured a splendid £ Andrena florea, apparently just out, it being in 

 such fine condition: this was a good beginning. A little further on took 

 a beautiful $ Halictus lugubris ; this I consider to be a second brood, as 

 she was not the least worn. On a whitewashed wall, belonging to the 

 coast-guard station, I took a most beautiful Elachista, new to me; it is 

 about the size of P. PftiffereUa ; it is perhaps a new species. By the side of 

 this wall runs a hedge of Atriplex portulacoides, and there is not another 

 hedge or bush near, so I thought it most probable the species was bred 

 from this plant. Well, on we went, till we came to some old limekilns, 

 and just by these is a large patch of Centaurea calcitrapa, on the flower- 

 heads of which I took Megachile Willuglibiella and Saropoda bimaculata, 

 and just by this place is a pond of fresh water, in which I took Berosus 

 globosus and a dozen or so of Philhydrus rnelanocepkalus. Leaving this, we 

 moved on towards the high cliffs, and on some bramble blossom I took a 

 specimen of Halictus sexnotatus £ and Andrena bicolor $ . 



The cliffs being rather high, that is from seventy or one hundred feet 

 or more, and the sun was blazing upon us enough to roast us alive, we 

 made our way from this unto a point of rocks which runs out into the 

 sea, which at low water are high and dry. The flat surface of this sand- 

 stone rock is carpeted with Fucus serratus, and on the sides of the water- 

 worn gullies were scattered over numbers of Actinea, all of one species, 

 namely, Actinea crassicornis, and its red variety — the latter predominated 

 to a considerable extent. I saw one beautiful greenish specimen which I 

 could not make out. In one of those glorious rock-pools, which Mr. Gosse 

 has so faithfully pourtrayed, we observed some "odd fish" — some Gobies and 

 a Cottus bubalis;^}) I think it was this species, but am not sure. These 

 soon shot away amongst the magnificent fronds of Laminaria bulbosa, which 

 hung so gracefully from the sides of this splendid pool; and here and there 

 where the rock projected a little, were growing some Polysiphonea elongata 

 and Ceramium rubrum, with a patch or two of Corylina officinalis, and a 

 few bits of a bright green conferva: this was the drapery which covered 



