NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 83 



and doubtless others will yet be added to the list, for it cannot be 

 questioned, 1 think, that a constant redistribution is going on locally 

 and generally, so that in a number of years rare plants may become 

 commoner and common ones scarcer. The watching of such redis- 

 tribution is one of the pleasures of the botanist, and I should say 

 not the least one. 



[Xote — Dec, 1881. — Of the two following plants the first was 

 overlooked in the preparation of my paper and the second was found 

 after the [taper had been read before the Society. 



Qlaytonia alsinoides, which seems to have become naturalized in 

 many places, is found in a small wood between Ashton and the 

 Cloch, where it has by some means been introduced. It has re- 

 tained its hold here for many years, and judging by its luxuriance 

 it appears to find the conditions very suitable. Very probably this 

 species will, ere long, have to be included amongst British plants, 

 C. perfoliata having been already admitted. 



A specimen of a new introduction, Salvia verbenaca, has been 

 shown me by Dr. J. K. Robertson, of Greenock, who found it this 

 summer, 1881, in a held near where the Clyde Floating Baths were 

 moored. I have since gathered other specimens at the same place. 

 This plant has hitherto only been found on the East Coast at Balis- 

 bury Crags, and in Fifeshire from Burntisland eastwards.] 



II.— On the Protection of Wild Bird*. By Mr. James C. Christie. 



The writer, while making every allowance for the pursuits of 

 ornithologists who make the structure, habits, migrations, and dis- 

 tribution of birds their study, deprecated the wanton cruelty and 

 the wholesale slaughter which is often indulged in by sportsmen and 

 collectors —often for mere amusement, and frequently for gain. He 

 advocated the claims of birds to protection, not only on account of 

 the pleasure to be derived from listening to their vocal efforts, but 

 on account of their being amongst the best friends of man in 

 destroying noxious insects and reptiles. A discussion followed, in 

 which several members took part, in the course of it reference 

 being made to the prevailing practice of killing favourite birds to 

 provide ornaments for the head-dresses of ladies, and also to the 

 w T anton plundering of nests indulged in by professed oologists and 

 others. 



