132 Anniversary Address. 



ping shelving rock. The bright unclouded sunshine of the 

 morning was made more beautiful when reflected from the masses 

 of dark green Marchantia polymorpha, which covered the bases 

 of the sandstone rocks." 



The party, joined by their colleagues at the foot of the dean, 

 traversed the coast southwards. In passing along the shore, the 

 following plants were observed in considerable abundance : — 

 Ilippophae rhamnoides, Poa glauca, Glaucium luteum, Blysmus 

 rufus, Populus tremula, Ligusticum Scoticum, Trifolium fragife- 

 rum, and a beautiful pink-coloured variety of Lychnis diurna. 

 On the beach, Fucus ceranoides was found for the first time; 

 subsequent investigation has, however, proved it to be frequent 

 on our coast. An eager but unsuccessful search was made in 

 the rocks near the Pees' mouth for remains of Old-red-sand- 

 stone fish. 



To Mr. Hepburn we are indebted for some interesting zoo- 

 logical jottings. " Having," he says, "joined the party some 

 time after they had left Dunglas Dean, and our subsequent route 

 embracing no woodland, no opportunity occurred for noting the 

 appearance of summer birds with the exception of swallows, 

 chiefly the house martin (Hirundo urbica), which is exceedingly 

 abundant about the rocky shores of the Cove of Dunglas. There 

 is no extent of permanent pasture ; corn waves on the brink of 

 the cliffs, whose base is washed by the sea twice in the twenty- 

 four hours ; hence we may reasonably presume that the numbers 

 of insects which in their larva state find food in the beds of 

 algae, and in their perfect form exercise their powers of flight 

 and faculties in the immediate neighbourhood, must far exceed 

 what is generally supposed. Two or three kestrels were ob- 

 served sailing along the face of the cliffs, but there were no 

 waders along the shore, and no water birds in the offing. The 

 sky was too much overcast and the wind too strong for the en- 

 joyment of insects; and none of the party being provided with 

 a sweep net, only a few of the more common butterflies and 

 humble bees were observed. Of Diptera, Rhingia campestris 

 haunted a small patch of turnip in flower, and a species of Sar- 

 gus flitted sluggishly about the buttercups. A fine specimen of 

 that beautiful bee, Bombus Scrimshiranus, was seen in a bramble 

 thicket near the mouth of the Pees' Burn, the very spot where, 

 according to Dr. Johnston, it has repeatedly occurred to Prideaux 



