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



It has been pointed out over and over again in various journals 

 and newspapers that owls and kestrels live chiefly on rats and 

 mice, and are most beneficial in clearing off enormous quanti- 

 ties of these pests. Rats will destroy all the eggs they can 

 get at, therefore keepers should, in their employers' interests, 

 preserve owls and kestrels as the deadly enemies of rats; but 

 ignorance and prejudice are hard to overcome, and so the 

 innocent suffer for the guilty. To add to their feelings of dis- 

 gust the members were shocked to observe that in most cases 

 the legs of the victims showed clear evidence of a lingering 

 and painful death by the odious pole-trap. Fortunately the 

 Pole-trap Bill, which has recently passed through Parlia- 

 ment, will put an end to such barbarity in future, which was 

 a disgrace to civilisation. 



Some damp, mossy glades in the woods were searched for 

 the smaller land-shells. Here the pretty little radiated snail, 

 hyalinia radiatula, was found, with its rare pale-green 

 variety ; the close rays on the shell being clearly visible with a 

 pocket lens. The lakes yielded abundance of one of the coil 

 shells, ylanorhis alhus, distinguished from the others by its 

 fine concentric striations, among other differences. Rather 

 fine specimens of the little valvata cristata were plentiful near 

 the margins, with some large pisidium fontinale. Near the 

 old castle the very local Umax flavus lives in old trees. This 

 bright-yellow slug is the common '' larder thief " of the 

 Dublin cellars, though it is so very local in the North- 

 East. One of the tree snails, halea, was observed on old trees, 

 but in small numbers. In the lakes the swan mussel, ana- 

 donta cygnea, is very plentiful, specimens measuring five 

 inches in length being not uncommon. 



From the standpoint of the botanist, the day was a most 

 successful one. Although nothing new was found, yet the 

 grand array of old friends gave satisfaction to every botanist. ^ 

 Soon after entering the demesne we passed by the lake, which 

 was well adorned with flowers. The marsh-marigolds gave 

 the banks a beautiful colour; while here and there amongst 

 them the ladies'-mantle, bugle, and the common borage were 



