Jan., 1917. 



THE IRISH NATURALIST. 



VOLUME XXVI. 



THE CHARACEAE OF FANAD, EAST DONEGAL. 



BY REV. CANON G. R. BULLOCK-WEBSTER, M.A. 



A visit to friends in the north of Ireland last summer 

 gave me an opportunity, for which I had for some while 

 been waiting, to explore the northern lakes of the Fanad 

 peninsula. East Donegal, with a view to studying their 

 Characeae vegetation. The Ordnance map indicates some 

 very tempting waters at the head of Mulroy Bay where 

 a series of lakes skirts the seaboard and suggests brackish 

 w^aters, the habitat of some of our rarer species. A train 

 journey from Derry to Fahan, a boat journey across Lough 

 Swilly to Rathmullen and a charming drive of 15 miles 

 eventually brought me and my friend, Mr. Colin 

 Montgomery, to Kindrum, where we stayed for a week 

 (July 27 — August 2), spending every available moment 

 in, on or around the loughs which lie close by, and where 

 my companion did me good service both as dragsman 

 and oarsman. 



It may be of interest, I think, to record the results of 

 an investigation made with such care as the limits of time 

 and uncertainties of weather permitted. I should say at 

 the outset that a boat was available only on Kindrum 

 Lough ; for the rest I had to be content with wading along 

 the lake margins and dragging from the shores. I have 

 marked with an asterisk the species which appear to be 

 new records for East Donegal. 



Rinboy Lough is a shallow piece of water lying on the 

 sand-flats immediately at the back of the sea-beach. It 



