Clare Island Survey— Land and Fresh-water Mollasca. 23 41 



. _ Erris. 



Almost the entire district is heavily peat- covered, and were it not for the 

 small patches of native scrub along some of the river courses — as at Glen- 

 castle, a wild pass on the lonely road between Belmullet and Bangor — and 

 the sandy areas along parts of the coast, the list for this division of the county 

 would be a meagre one indeed. In these small areas of woodland, a typical 

 "western" fauna is always to be found. That along the shore of Bellagh- 

 cragher Bay, about a mile north of Mulranny, proved to be one of the most 

 interesting sanctuaries met with during the survey, and here several species 

 occurred which were not met with elsewhere in Erris. The chief species of 

 interest occurring at Bellaghcragher are Limax maximus, Zonitoides excavalus, 

 Punctum pygmaeum, Hygromia fusca, Aeanthinula lamellata, Bnlea perversa, 

 Pupa anglica, and Vertigo substriata. At Glencastle the main feature was 

 the extraordinary abundance of Hyalinia nitidula, which, though generally 

 distributed throughout West Mayo, is not often really common. 1 



Quite a different fauna exists along the shores of Achill Sound at Curraun 

 village. Here sand-dunes and dry stony ground form the chief features, and 

 Vidlonia pulchella, Relicella itala, H. intersects, Helix nspersa, and H. nemoralis 

 occur in thousands. Of the last-mentioned many remarkable varieties were 

 taken by our party in September, 1909. On the Boulder-clay cliffs which 

 face towards the south, a colony of var. roseozonata was discovered, living and 

 resting under the leaves of the Colt's-foot (Tussilago Farfara) and apparently 

 feeding on the orange fungus which attacks the leaves of this plant. Among 

 the band-formula variations, 12000, 12300, 12034, 00345, and 00305 may be 

 mentioned, while the fourth and fifth bands in many examples showed a 

 tendency to split into a number of hair-like streaks. (Plate II, fig. 52.) 

 The fresh-water fauna of the district is almost nil, streams, peat-holes, and 

 drains forming the only . habitats throughout the greater portion of it. In 

 Carrowmore Lough Pliysa fqntinalis — a small stunted form — was taken, this 

 large lake appearing to be its most westerly habitat in this neighbourhood. 

 Some interesting dwarf forms of Limnaea pereger occur, but the most peculiar 

 is that living in Carrowmore Lough. This is of a commonplace lacustrine 

 form in shape, but is so beautifully and evenly striated that its surface has 

 a distinctly silky appearance in a strong light. 



Owing to the great extent of this district and the little time available for 

 its survey, the absentees from the following list need not be commented upon, 



1 I have on several occasions noted that in places where H. nitidula was common, S. cellaria 

 was absent, but this may have been merely a coincidence. 



j$. I. A. 1>R00., VOL. XXXI. F 23 



