1909-1910.] 2 6q 



by Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I. A., and passed unanimously. 

 The Chairman read an interesting short paper on Richhill Castle, 

 written for the occasion by Major Berry, M.R.I. A., and the 

 election of Mrs. Herbert Turtle, Miss Ina Drummond, Miss Anna 

 Boylan, and Mr. Edward Bennett concluded the business. After 

 the meeting was ended Mrs. Berry showed the members over 

 Richhill Castle, which was built between i6ro and 1618 by one 

 Francis Sacheverel. The house, situated as it is on a hill exactly 

 facing, and but four miles distant from, Sir Phelim O'Neill's old 

 castle (Castleraw), had some stirring times in the rebellion of 

 164 1 -1 65 2. The members walked to Richhill Station, in time 

 for the 6-55 train, arriving in Belfast at 8-5 p.m. 



Field work was energetically carried on during the day, the 

 botanists of the party being specially active. Some of the most 

 interesting plants noted during the day were the following: — 

 Tanacetum vulgare, Geranium perenne, /uncus glaucus, Carex 

 pendula, C. strigosa, Epipactus latifolia, Alisma Plantago, 

 Mercurialis perennis, Allium ursinum, Medicago lupulina, and 

 sEthusa Cynapium. In Richhill demesne some specimens of 

 Digitalis purpurea, almost six feet in height, were observed, and one 

 specimen seen of the Broad-leaved Helleborine was two and a-half 

 feet high, and had forty-one flowers on the spike. The search for 

 Mollusca was disappointing work, as the weather was too dry for 

 collecting. Only fourteen species of land and fresh-water shells 

 were noted, mostly in the demesne, the best being Helix pulchella 

 and Hyalinia fulva. Numerous specimens of the four common 

 species of Woodlice were observed, but a specimen of Porcellio 

 IcBvis was taken in the garden — this being the second place in 

 Ulster in which this species has been found. Only twenty-three 

 species of birds were noted by the ornithologists of the party, the 

 paucity of the list being accounted for partly by the heat of the 

 day, but principally owing to the fact that at this season most of 

 the birds are undergoing the annual moult. The President's 

 prize for the best collection of invertebrates made during the day 



