46 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. l6, NO. 2, AUGUST 30, I919. 



epiphragm as it does in winter on hibernation, and retreating far back 

 into its shell. Hence the shell possesses but little clinging power 

 and could not possibly stick on the branches or trunks of the trees 

 in this condition. 



Mr. L. Dawes says : " Another point which may interest you is the 

 fact that I have never found them crawling up the trees. I took 

 208 specimens one day 'on the march' at Ditcham, but none were 

 upon the wood unless it was dead. I did find one batch in a cleft 

 of a large tree several feet from the ground, but there was a dead 

 branch leaning into it from the ground, up which probably the snails 

 had travelled in search of food." 



The snail is rather active in its movements when crawling, but 

 during the day it is quiescent, and hides under fallen timber and 

 leaves, rarely under stones or in moss, and it is certainly nocturnal in 

 its habits, except in mild damp weather immediately after hibernation. 



Miss F. M. Hele comments on their dislike of light, as noted in 

 captivity, and this coincides with my own observations of Z^ obvoluta 

 in the wild state. Although not strictly subterranean in habit, except 

 during hibernation, yet they always keep as near the earth as possible 

 when not crawling about, and I have frequently found them partly 

 concealed in small holes in the ground during dry or cold weather in 

 summer and autumn. 



Food. — 



It is not easy to decide of what the food of H. obvoluta consists ; 

 in captivity it does not seem to be at all particular. 



Miss Hele {Joiirn. of Conch., v, p. 84) concludes that dock leaves 

 are the favourite food in captivity, but docks do not grow in the 

 beech woods. Mr. Dawes writes: "The only kind of green food 

 that I have found H. obvoluta to eat is lettuce. I thought perhaps 

 they lived on small mosses upon the tree trunks, but during a long 

 trial I could never see that they ate any. They, however, greedily 

 devoured any kinds of fungi, preferably those of a soft watery nature. 

 I had a strong suspicion that they ate the very rotten beech wood, 

 but could never be sure." I am strongly of opinion that plant leaves 

 do not, as a rule in the wild state, form part of their food. In no 

 single instance have I found any of the snails on herbaceous plants. 

 Beech woods generally are almost destitute of herbaceous vegetation, 

 and in the denser portions this is particularly noticeable. 



Patches of dog's mercury sometimes occur on the outskirts, to- 

 gether with the wild anemone, but never yet have I found H. obvoluta 

 among or near either of these plants, although H. striolata occurs 

 quite commonly on the former plant. I am in agreement with 



