194 Notes on Last Summer's Excursions. [Sess. 



The crow, though from its habits not very frequently seen, is 

 pretty widely distributed, and occurs in the plantations at 

 Auchencorth in some abundance. The mallard or wild duck 

 is another bird which is often met with at Auchencorth, 

 though not seen during our excursion. The teal, which is 

 also found at Auchencorth, is the smallest of the British 

 ducks, being less than half the size of the mallard : it is, 

 nevertheless, from its abundance, valuable as food. The twite, 

 or mountain linnet, is one of our commonest birds, remaining 

 with us throughout the year. Several were seen at Auchen- 

 corth. It is a familiar bird, more easily tamed than the com- 

 mon linnet. The dunlin is usually abundant at Auchencorth, 

 though it was not seen during our excursion. 



II. BOSLIN. 



The second excursion was from Eosliu to Polton, on 

 Saturday, May 18. The party was unfortunately small, only 

 fifteen members and friends being present. Our party pro- 

 ceeded at once to the glen, leaving unvisited the beautiful 

 and probably unique chapel. Entering the glen, the party 

 devoted themselves to examining the flora of the locality. 

 Many plants were found, of which perhaps the most interesting 

 was the toothwort {Lathrcca squamaria), of which a single 

 specimen was seen, but not gathered. 



III. JOPPA. 



The first evening excursion took place on Wednesday, 

 May 22, to Joppa rocks, with the object of investigating the 

 geology and the marine flora and fauna of this interesting 

 locality. The greater part of the evening was devoted to a 

 most interesting description of the geology of the district by 

 Mr Day, who, with the aid of maps and an ingenious model, 

 pointed out and described the various strata and minerals 

 which occur in the neighbourhood. The state of the tide was 

 not very favourable for exploring the fauna and flora, these 

 being best investigated at low water of spring-tides, which 

 occur on this coast at somewhat inconvenient hours. Xever- 

 theless, a few interesting objects were noticed. No Protozoa 



