194 NATURAL HISTOKY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



and September, in the autumnal ^migration — a subject largely entered 

 on by the late lamented Professor Kinahan in our Proceedings. 



Captain Hutton stated, in regard to the Bridled Guillemot, that he 

 had several times shot this bird in Yorkshire, at Flarnbororough Head, 

 where it occurred nearly as plentifully as the common Guillemot. 



Mr. Andrews mentioned that the Bridled Guillemot was not an 

 uncommon bird on the west coast of Ireland, though it is rare in col- 

 lections. 



The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to the various 

 donors of the foregoing. 



The Honorary Secretary, in the author's absence, read the. folio wing 

 paper : — 



Botanical Notes in the Midland Counties. By F. J. Foot, M. A., 

 P. E. G. S. I. 



The great central plain of Ireland, although generally monotonous 

 from its flatness, and affording but few attractions to the lover of fine 

 scenery, is by no means devoid of interest to the botanist. And yet 

 how many a one, bent on a summer's ramble through the wilds of 

 Kerry, Cork, or Connemara, flies by rail through the uninviting plain, 

 only longing to reach his destination, without knowing that he is pass- 

 ing by many interesting plants ! Although no actually rare plants 

 occur, yet some are occasionally met with, which one would hardly ex- 

 pect to find, several of them being by no means common, or at least 

 very local in their distribution. The River Shannon and its tributaries, 

 which drain the plain, form a great natural mode of conveyance for trans- 

 porting the seeds and spores of plants from one locality to another over 

 a very considerable area. The plain is chiefly composed of the carbon- 

 iferous limestone, from beneath which the older rocks occasionally 

 rise, forming hills, which, though seldom attaining 1000 feet in height, 

 are conspicuous features, relieving the general monotony of the land- 

 scape, besides affording for plants a change of soil and habitat. Having 

 been engaged for the last three years on my survey duty in the respec- 

 tive districts around Mullingar, Athlone, Ballinasloe, and Longford, I 

 venture to present to your notice a list of some of the more remarkable 

 plants that I met with. The counties, or parts of counties, which I 

 have examined are — East Galway, King's County, Westmeath, Long- 

 ford, and Boscommon, and are in provinces 24, 25, 27, proposed by 

 Professor Babington as convenient and natural divisions of the country 

 for botanical purposes, in a paper read before the Dublin University 

 Zoological and Botanical Association, February 18, 1859.* I shall 

 mention the plants in the succession of their Natural Orders. 



* " Hints towards a Cybele Hibernica," in " Natural History Review and Quarterly 

 Journal of Science" for October, 1859, p. 553 ; also, " Proceedings of the Dublin Univer- 

 sity Zoological and Botanical Association," vol. i., p. 246. 



