March, 1897.] 5l 



FIEIyD DAYS IN UIvSTKR 



BY THE REV. HII^DKRIC FRIEND. 



I.-— The SIvObi^ands of Bei^fast. 

 During the Whitsuntide holidays of 1896 I spent ten days in 

 the North of Ireland. My chief object was to discover fresh- 

 water annelids, of which I felt convinced a large number of 

 species yet remained unknown. My campaign was so far 

 successful that I discovered a goodly number of species which 

 have never yet been described by our authorities in this branch 

 of science. I had, unfortunately, to remove from my old home 

 in Cumberland just as I was in the midst of drawing and 

 describing my specimens, and have only now been able to 

 resume the study. I hope that the publication of these notes 

 will lead a number of readers of the Irish Naturalist to do for 

 the aquatic worms what they so readily and successfully did 

 for the terrestrial species ; and if as many consignments reach 

 me as I received in 1892-4, I shall doubtless be able this year 

 to publish a very satisfactory list, and so bring up our know- 

 ledge of Irish annelids to the level of other countries. As 

 my work last year was undertaken for the Royal Irish 

 Academy, I do not in this preliminary report give any 

 descriptions of new species, but simply place on record the 

 work done, with a view to helping other workers who may wish 

 to take up a subject which has not yet been exhausted. 



I landed at Belfast just as the sun rose on Whit Tuesday, 

 May 26th, 1896. For weeks there had been little or no rain, 

 and while the dry weather with which I was favoured enabled 

 me to get about with the greatest ease and comfort, it closed 

 many possible hunting-grounds in the way of ditches and 

 gutters, which in wet weather abound in annelids. I was 

 fortunate in having Mr. Bigger as my patron, and he had 

 secured the services of a gentleman who knew the locality 

 thoroughly, and was not afraid to be seen grubbing in the 

 ditches and pools. We proceeded during the forenoon to 

 explore with great care the estuarine flats in the neighbour- 

 hood of the docks. For some time our labours were in vain. 

 Not a trace could be found of anything in the shape of worms, 

 and in fact every form of life seemed to be scarce. By dint of 



