T,2 RECORDS OF EXCURSIONS IN AYRSHIRE. 



ash, the lines of bedding of the ashes forming the slopes of part 

 of an old cone, which is easily traced seawards when the tide is 

 out. 



A number of shells were got along the shore here, Venus fasciata 

 being frequent and fine, although a few miles further north it is 

 seldom seen as a living species, but in the Shewalton Raised Beach 

 Beds it is quite common as a fossil. 



Greenan old Castle was inspected. On the grassy south slope 

 beside it Trifolium striatum (the soft knotted trefoil) grows, a 

 plant very rare in Ayrshire. Behind the castle, landwards, are 

 two extensive ditches which may date from pre-castle times. 



The " Diel's Dyke" excited some interest, as besides its 

 magnitude and structure, it encloses a patch of the cement-stone 

 series, part of which has assumed a curious globular structure. 



The ornithologists noted quite a number of birds during the 

 day, the summer visitants being the chiff-chaff (Pkylloscopus rttfus) 

 at Cambusdoon, and the wheat-ear (Saxicoia cenanthe). 



Thirty-one wild plants were found in flower during the excursion. 



The Troon excursion took place on nth of July, 1891, the 

 north shore being first visited. The principal plants noted there 

 were Papaver Argemone ; Anthriscus vulgaris, which occurs in 

 but few Ayrshire stations, and never far from the sea ; Lycopsis 

 arvensis, quite a weed in potato ground ; Conium maculatum, 

 the leaves of which were observed to have been eaten by some 

 kind of larvae, a large number of which were on the plants ; Rosa 

 spinosissima, Pimpmella Saxifraga, and Malva sylvestris. 



The sandy beaches which stretch both to the north and south 

 of Troon are fine hunting ground, after storms, for a large variety 

 of shell-fish, crabs, sea-urchins, star-fishes, sea-weeds, and many 

 other forms ; and after exceptionally severe storms, fishes and 

 many dead sea-birds may be found. When the foundations were 

 being cut for the gasometers, a lot of clay, rich in boreal and 

 other shells, was put out and left on the beach, but it has now 

 been scattered by the waves. 



Proceeding to the Ballast Bank (a large artificial mound built 

 up by the ballast taken from ships), a number of alien plants and 

 others, which have taken possession of it, were got. Amongst them 

 were Diplotaxis mura/is, Senebiera Coronopus, S. didyma, Lepidium 



