114 MCMURTRIE : EIGG SHELLS. 



note is given out by the sand at every step, when one walks with 

 a rubbing motion, in dry weather. 



The naturah'st who knows only South and East Scotland 

 finds himself here in the presence of new forms of molluscan 

 life. Where the land slopes gently to the sea. Helix acuta 

 is almost as plentiful on the grassy shores as on the downs of 

 Cornwall or the Isle of Wight ; and Helix itala is as 

 abundant as at Dover or Folkestone, though smaller, and usually 

 with a raised spire — the variety iiistabilis. Pupa auglica keeps 

 company with the familiar P. cylindracea on the under side 

 of stones. In the few places where damp moss and dead 

 leaves can accumulate Hyalinia radiaiula is evidently not scarce, 

 and the rare variety viridesceuti-alha may be found under stones. 

 [H. radiatula is probably common in north-west Scotland. 

 Some years ago Mr. J. H. Dixon, F.S.A., when about to publish 

 his 'Gairloch and Guide to Loch INIaree,' sent to the writer a 

 quantity of shell-sand from Ciairloch shore, West Ross. It 

 contained 98 species and varieties of marine shells, and among 

 them two shells of H. radiahda washed from the land). 



Nead-na-Feannaig (the Crow's or Corbie's Nest) is the 

 summer home of the proprietary family. The ' burn ' which 

 flows beside it to the sea has been taken possession of by the 

 variety albida of Ancylus fluviatilis, to the exclusion of the 

 type. A rill in the interior, on the way to the ' Singing Sands,' 

 contained only A. fluviatilis var. gibhosa. A colony of Helix 

 aspersa, here approaching its northern limit, has established 

 itself at the foot of the minister's glebe, on the east side of Eigg, 

 close to the sea. (What a parish that excellent minister has to 

 visit ! sailing over wild seas, in a small open boat, to moun- 

 tainous Rum and distant Canna ! But he is a modest man, who 

 does his work, and says little about it). 

 Limncea peregra Miill. Lagg burn, on west side, near the 



sea. The stream is of considerable size. 

 Limnaea peregra var. lineata Bean. Small stream on west 



side, not near the sea. All the specimens shewed many 



J.C, vii., Oct. 1892. 



