230 MR. NICHOLAS TEMPERLEY S REPORT OF 



( Verbascum nigrum) which is not plentiful in our district. Many 

 other more usual plants were found which need not be 

 enumerated here. Botanically this meeting was very successful, 

 both as to the number of species and their comparitive rarity. 



By the kind permission of the owner, Sir Arthur E. 

 Middleton of Belsay Castle, the party returned through the 

 beautiful woods of Allansford. Here they saw forestry carried 

 out on a modern scientific system. There are coniferous 

 plantations of various ages and species, the trees grown in 

 close order so as to produce tall straight timber with little taper 

 in the trunk, and without side branches and knots, Among 

 the species are Scot's pine, spruce, larch (western and 

 Japanese), Douglas (Oregon and Colorado), a few Weymouth 

 pines and others. All seem to be flourishing admirably, 

 except that in places the larch are affected by the canker, a 

 trouble for which there is yet no knovvn specific. 



In a clearing on the haugh-land there was a splendid 

 display of thousands of foxgloves, brilliant against the back- 

 ground of brown stems and green foliage of the spruce. 

 A delicate fringe of the path was here formed by the blue 

 columbine, a plant rarely seen wild in the north, and the carpet 

 was of purple and yellow wild pansy. 



Birds: The period of song was past, but the following 

 species were seen or heard : peewit, sandpiper, redstart, tree- 

 pipit, willow-wren, blackcap, lesser redpole. swift, swallow, 

 pied wagtail feeding its young. On a long farm building 

 without spouts quite a large colony of house martins had 

 built their nests under the eaves, and they were very busy 

 feeding their young. 



Insects : Although no rarities were reporteil by the experts, 

 species usually characteristic were found in ai)undance, includ- 

 ing meadow-brown butterfiy, connnon blue, small tortoise- 

 shell, small heath, the chimney-sweeper, dragon-flies, etc. 

 Myriads of the green tortrix moth {Tortrix viridana) evidently 

 just emerged from the pupa-state, were flying about over 

 some oaks in the Sneap. The caterpillar of this moth is very 



