92 The Irish Naturalist. 



BOTANY. 



PHANEROGAMS. 



Artemisia Stellerlana.— The Journal of Botany for March contains 

 an interesting and well-reasoned article by F. W. C. Areschoug on the 

 distribution of this plant; the writer considers the plant to be probably 

 native in Europe, and makes out a good case in support of his conten- 

 tion. This species is found in Scandinavia, Kamstchatka, and North 

 America, in maritime situations where it could not easily have arrived 

 by artificial means. Last season our correspondent, Mr. C. B. Moffat, 

 discovered it growing on the North Bull in Dublin Bay, which is its first 

 known station in Britain. 



Irish Brambles. — In the Journal of Botany for March, Mr. Praeger 

 publishes a list of Rubi, collected by him last season in the Counties of 

 Dublin, Meath, Wicklow, Kildare, Queen's County, and King's County. 

 This difficult genus has been so little studied by Irish botanists that the 

 present paper extends the range of all the twenty-four brambles enumer- 

 ated. Two of them, R. fuscus and R. eckinatus, are additions to the Irish 

 list, and the notes on the remainder furnish a large number of new dis- 

 trict records. 



ZOOLOGY. 



INSECTS. 



Irish Butterflies— Lycaena artaxerxes in Co. Galway.— 



The list of Irish butterflies in our last month's issue has already received 

 an addition. In the Entomologist for March, Mr. R. E. Dillon records the 

 capture of Lyccena astrarche, var. artaxerxes, Fab., at Clonbrock, in July, 

 1893, in a list of lepidoptera from that locality. The discovery of this 

 North British form in western Ireland is of great interest We learn 

 from Mr. W. F. de V. Kane that the record of Argynnis adippe from Galway, 

 by Mr. Harker, was erroneous, and that Mr. Dillon's record is therefore 

 the only Irish one for this species. 



BIRDS. 



Wax wing In Co. Down. — On February 23rd I examined in the 

 flesh a Waxwing {Am pelts garrulus), received from Portaferry, Co. Down. 

 It. is a male, immature, with seven " wax " points on each wing, and 

 measures eight inches from point of bill to end of tail. It was picked up 

 dead in a potato shed, and was much emaciated, weighing only \\ oz. 

 Mr. Sheals, who kindly drew my attention to this rare visitor, remarks 

 that the only other Waxwing he has passed through his hands was 

 received on the same day last year— 23rd February, 1893.— Robert 

 Patterson, Malone Park, Belfast. 



Snow Buntings in Kildare. — In the Zoologist for March Mr. A. 

 W. Hasted writes that during the winters of 1891-92 and 1892-93 a great 

 number of Snow Buntings {Plectrophanes nivalis) visited the Curragh of 

 Kildare. They apparently have a very local distribution there, as none 

 were seen in any portion of the country surrounding the Curragh, 

 though they were abundant on the open downs of the Curragh itself. 



MAMMALS. 

 The Marten In Ireland.— The Zoologist for March contains a 

 valuable statistical article by the Editor (Mr. J. E. Harting, F.L-S.) on 

 the distribution of the Marten (Martes sylvatica) in Ireland, in which all 

 authentic records known to the writer are enumerated under counties. 

 We trust that the appearance of this paper will lead our Irish naturalists 

 to contribute what notes they have on the subject. We are aware that 

 some of them possess information that will considerably supplement the 

 records given in the present paper. 



