i6o 



[Proc. B.N.F.C., 



may be seen in the grounds of Shane's Castle. The short time at 

 the disposal of the party only admitted of a hurried walk through 

 a portion of the park, and returning to the station they were soon 

 on their homeward journey. Belfast was reached soon after seven 

 o'clock, everyone well satisfied with the results of the day's 

 excursion, and with the comparatively fine weather with which 

 they were favoured. During the day the entomologists had every 

 opportunity of indulging in their favourite pursuit; for, notwith- 

 standing the slight and very brief showers which fell at intervals 

 during the day, the spring broods of Lepidoptera were to be seen 

 in numbers. The small " Copper " (Lyccena Phlceas) was met 

 and captured, and the "Orange-tip" and "Common White" were 

 in abundance. The botanists could not boast of the discovery of 

 any special rarities, but to the naturalist nothing is common, and 

 many interesting plants were met with. The graceful flower of the 

 Buck-bean ( Menyanthes trifoliata), so seldom seen by dwellers in 

 towns, was gathered, as also the less beautiful but scarcer J ack-by- 

 the-hedge (Alliaria officinalis). Several specimens were also found 

 of a singular variety or " sport " of the wood horse-tail ( Equisetum 

 sylvaticum). This curious form bore not only the usual terminal 

 fruit-bearing spike, but, in addition, smaller spikes at the ends of 

 the branches of the upper whorls, and in some cases axillary spikes 

 as well. Several of the party were in quest of the smaller forms of 

 Cryptogamia, and were fairly rewarded, two of the less common 

 mosses being found at Ballynoe, viz., Politrichum gracile, and 

 Entosthodon fasiculare. 



On Saturday, J2th June, to 



GLYNN AND GLENOE. 



Notwithstanding that the sky and the barometer both indicated 

 coming showers, a good number of ladies and gentlemen as- 

 sembled at the Northern Counties Railway Station, and took 



