CORRESPONDENCE. 277 



have the appearance of two elephant's trunks ; Sida crystallina, 

 Daphnella Wingii, Alona quadrancularis, Chydorus sphcericus, Diaptomus 

 castor, having enormously long antennae ; of this we only saw one male 

 amongst the numerous specimens examined. It is easily distinguished 

 from the female b) r the thickened joints in one of the antennae. Also 

 Cyclops quadricornis, and a beautiful variety of Daphnia pulex, having the 

 carapace terminated by a long tiil-like spine — this spine and a portion 

 of the lower edge of the carapace being strongly serrated. Of these all 

 but the last two species were new to me, as they do not occur in any of 

 the ponds, <fec, I have examined in this district. — John Boyd, 58, 

 Parsonage Eoad, Withington, Manchester, Oct. 11, 1880. 



White-flowered Hekb Robert. — I found to-day, October 18th, 

 1880, a purely white specimen of this plant, Geranium Robertianum, 

 still in flower, of which I send some flowers, the rest of the plant being 

 as usual ; it was at Hagley, about forty yards from the western 

 lodge on the road towards Stourbridge. — Horace Pearce, F.L.S., 

 8tourbridge. 



Unfrequent Plants around Atherstone. — Now that twelve months' 

 pleasant botanical work round Atherstone is drawing to a close, I wish 

 to place on record a few of the more interesting plants I have found. 

 Fresh from a mountainous district, I was not long before I noticed forms 

 wholly new to me ; and the sides of the Coventry Canal and banks of 

 the sluggish Anker were diametrically opposed to the banks of the bright, 

 swift mountain stream to which I was accustomed, and in whose waters 

 no aquatic plants could grow owing to their swiftness. I was enchanted 

 with my first sight of Menyanthes trifoliata ; growing with it were Alisma 

 Plantago, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Scutellaria galericitlata, and Myosotis 

 palustris. These and many others were found in the Coventry Canal. 

 Ly thrum Salicaria, from the banks of the Anker, was an old friend ; not 

 eo, however, Symphytum officinale, from the same river. In the bosky 

 glades of the Bentley woods I occasionally found Convallaria majalis, but 

 it frequents parts of the woods very inaccessible. Iris Pseudacorus, so 

 scarce in my last district, is very frequent here, and may be found in 

 most damp localities. Near the reservoir of the Coventry Canal 

 Company I found Vinca minor, but am inclined to regard it as a garden 

 escape. Several old walls in the Oldbury district yielded C'lielido'.ium 

 majus ; and an old quarry in the same district, called " The Devil's Cave," 

 gave me Atropa Belladona, Carduus nutans, and Silene inflata, besides 

 one of the common Ringed Snakes. Humulus lupulus and Bryonia dioica 

 adorn most of the hedges in this district ; as do Dipsacus sylvestris and 

 Ononis spinosa the roadsides. I have found Saxifraga granulata, but it is 

 very scarce ; also Epipactis latifolia and Orchis mascula. Among the 

 Filices Nephrodium Oreopteris and Ceterach officinarum are the chief. 

 Three plants were all I could find of C. officinarum at first, but subse- 

 quently I found it in some profusion on a wall near Atherstone. I would 

 that change of residence did not compel me to leave such a pleasant and 

 well-stored hunting ground. Let me strongly commend it to Midland 

 Botanists. To know and appreciate it thoroughly, however, they must 

 live in it. — George T. Harris. 



Ornithological Notes from Mid-Lincolnshire. — The members of 

 the Thrush family were very scarce here at the beginning of this year. 

 Though a plentiful meal was provided every day "for all who chose to 

 come, we only had about six Blackbirds and one pair of Missel Thrushes, 

 and not one Song Thrush. The first was heard to sing Feb. 20th. On April 

 10th, several nests contained eggs, so I hope they may remain with us 

 next winter. We have a small rookery in some hedgerow trees, the 



