l6o The Irish Nahira/hl. September, 



position as is shown in Mr. Seaby's singularly beautiful plate — one of 

 the finest in this fine series — representinjr a male Nightjar at rest on the 

 broad branch of a pine tree. There, no doul)t, the j)ectination could 

 very well be dispensed with. But the Nightjar is not so strictly a bird 

 of the woodland as always to have pine trees, or trees of any kind, about 

 its liomc. In many of its haunts stems of gorse-bushes, and even stalks 

 of heather, form the customary roost, and on some of these it is difficult 

 to see how the bird could possibly sit lengthwise without the lateral 

 pectinations to give it some kind of grasp. Observations miglit well be 

 made on the habits of Nightjars in captivity to settle this question, which 

 has been under discussion since the days of Gilbert White. 



C. B. M. 



IRISH SOCIETIES. 



BELFAST NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



July i. — Excursion to Baron's Court. — A party of tliirty-eight 

 members and friends travelled by the 7.30 a.m. train to Newtownstewart. 

 Newtownstewart was reached at 9.35 o'clock, and after a brief interval 

 the party set off on cars for their destination. 



Baron's Court — including the house and demesne of 5,000 acres — is 

 charmingly situated in a narrow valley about two miles south-west of 

 Newtownstewart. Within the demesne the lowest ground in the line 

 of the valley liottom is occupied by a chain of three long narrow lakelets 

 The modern house, dating from the latter part of the eigliteenth century, 

 stands on a terrace on the eastern side of the middle lake, known as Lough 

 Fanny. On the west side the woods and pastures of the park slope upward 

 towards the bare moorland of Mullaghcroy Hill (805 feet) ; on the east 

 they stretch up along the steeper slopes of Bessy Bell, whose heath -clad 

 summit reaches an elevation of 1,387 feet. It is on the Bessy Bell side 

 that the modern dccrpark is maintained. The view northward from 

 the castle embraces the whole of Lough Catherine, the largest of the 

 three loughlets. The surrounding hills arc mainly composed of meta- 

 morphic schists, gneisses, and quartzites. Sands, gravels, boulder clays, 

 and drifts of Glacial and post-Glacial origin fill the valleys and clothe the 

 hill flanks. Huge accumulations of this kind stretch across the mouth 

 of the Baron's Court valley, between the demesne and the town of New- 

 townstewart. 



The gardener and forester conducted separate groups to various 

 points and places of interest, which did much to enhance the value of 

 the time spent in the grounds. Under their guidance, the members 

 moved about from place to place, and examined almost everything of 

 liistorical, antiquarian, and natural history interest. Of course it is 

 needless to say that the very extensive gardens, greenhouses, and pleasure- 

 grounds came in for a large share of attention, but the old castles and 

 cromlechs had their admirers too. By means of boats some dredging 



