MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION ON PUFFIN ISLAND. 89 
Hilbre Island is certainly one of the most interesting 
spots in the immediate neigbourhood of Liverpool, from a 
biological point of view, and has long been well known 
among local naturalists on account of its comparatively 
rich marine fauna.* The rocks at the northern end of the 
island are covered at and about low water mark by a large 
and varied assemblage of invertebrate animals, and form 
a particularly favourable locality for certain Hydroid 
Zoophytes, Actinie, Polyzoa, and Nudibranchs. Among 
the rare animals which have been found on the shores of 
Hilbre Island may be mentioned Garveia nutans, a zoo- 
phyte first found in this neighbourhood on the 9th May, 
1885, on the first L. M. B. C. expedition; Cylista undata, 
var. candida, a new variety of sea-anemone, found by Dr. 
Ellis on the 11th July, 1885, and described by him in our 
First Report,+ and the rare Nudibranchs Doris proxima, 
Doris subquadrata, Eolis concinna, Embletonia pallida, 
and Anttopa hyalina. 
The interesting reef-building Annelid, Sabellaria alveo- 
lata, is found in abundance round some parts of the shore 
at Hilbre Island, usually near where the sand and rock join. 
It sticks the sand grains together to form the tubes in 
which it lives, and so produces a porous, crisp, but brittle 
rock, which crumbles to a certain extent when walked 
upon, but which is constantly being renewed and has its 
injuries repaired by the living worms within, and must 
therefore have a very considerable effect in protecting the 
rocks from the erosive action to which all sea coasts are 
exposed. 
The masses, hummocks, plateaux, ledges and small 
* See Byerley’s ‘‘ Fauna,” Proc. Lit. and Phil. Soc., Liverpool. Appendix 
to vol. vili., 1853-54. 
t+ See ‘Fauna of Liverpool Bay,”’ Report on the Actiniaria, p. 126. 
+ See Dr. Collingwood’s lists in Ann, and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1859—61. 
