BULIMINUS. 93 
Suffolk. It has the habit of ascending the beech and ash 
in the spring, presumably to feed and pair, descending in 
the autumn to hibernate. It is very abundant in Birdlip 
Woods, where it may be found on the trunks of the beech, 
sycamore, and ash. It closely resembles the little knobs 
on the beech trunks. The variety is very rare. 
Var. albina (Mog.). Uniformly whitish. 
2. B. opsctrus (Azdden), Miller. Pi. IV., f. 9. 
Of the same shape as the last species, but much smaller, rather 
shorter in proportion, and more glossy; transparent horn-colour ; 
whorls 64. A.Q9mm. B. 34 mm. 
The name obscurus was given to this shell in conse- 
quence of its habit of covering itself, by means of its 
slime or an exudation of the epidermis, with earth or any 
substance it comes in contact with,—thus rendering itself 
inconspicuous. In some districts, where the foreign 
matter is not suitable for attachment (as in the calcareous 
districts of Derbyshire), the shell is found clean and 
smooth in the crevices of rocks. Found commonly in 
hedge-banks among damp moss and earth, it seldom 
occurs in any quantities, though in Birdlip Woods, near 
Cheltenham, it may be taken in great numbers on the 
trunks of the beech trees, and I have also seen it on beech 
trunks near Dover. 
Its range extends almost entirely throughout England 
and Wales ; in Scotland it is (so far as has been recorded) 
confined to the eastern side of the kingdom, with the 
