90 The Irish NatinaUst. May, 



quite a colony of it in a small marsh by the side of the River 

 Barrow, near Tinnahinch, Co. Carlow 



I first perceived it resting on the stems and leaves of the 

 tall grass Glyccfia aqiiaiica and other plants, and a further 

 search revealed some dozens of specimens on the leaves and 

 twigs ot a hawthorn bush at the edge of the marsh. 



During the second week in Januar}- I was again at Tinna- 

 hinch and revisited the marsh. Expecting to find the animals 

 wintering, like some other Vertigoes, in the shelter of hollow 

 stems and other plant-remains, I spent some time examining 

 the marsh debris without finding a trace of them ; at last, 

 quite unexpectedl}^ I caught sight of a specimen on the trunk 

 of a small Alder ; this gave me a clue to their true winter 

 habitat, and I was not long in discovering numbers of the 

 hardy little creatures hibernating, during the coldest spell of 

 weather we had last winter, on the most exposed parts 

 of th^ lower branches, at from two to three feet above 

 the ground. The}' are gregarious and apparently viviparous, 

 as there were several small communities of from four to 

 about twenty individuals huddled together, many of them 

 bearing young ones of two or three whorls on the backs of 

 their shells. Later on I took some handfuls of loose, A\y 

 leaves that had got caught by the forking of the blanches, and 

 found that each curled-up leaf contained several specimens, 

 both adult and juvenile. In no case did I find one among 

 leaves that were wet, or in a position to retain moisture. Its 

 constant companion in both these situations was Siicchtea 

 p2itris^ a species said to hibernate in mud, of which there were 

 hundreds among the leaves and on the Alder branches. 



Parts of the marsh produce a dense growth of Bur-reed 

 (Sparganium), the leaves of which wither and dry, but do not 

 fall or decay until the following summer, and on these large 

 numbers of young Vertigoes were congregated waiting for the 

 spring, v.'hen the new crop of leaves would supply them with 

 food and fresh habitat. 



An hour or so after being collected, the little snails were 

 to be seen actively crawling about the box in which they were 

 placed, their black bodies and tentacles fully extended. I 

 tested their power of motion in water, and found that when 

 beyond their depth they floated, but were quite helpless ; on 



