370 Rev. F. R. Simpson's Zoological Jottings. 



As on these hills we have the conditions of cold and mois- 

 ture there is an abundant growth of mosses, which, from the 

 decay of successive generations over the same ground, gradu- 

 ally form peat deposits. On the summit of Cheviot this peat 

 is soft — a moss flow ; but at lower levels it is more consoli- 

 dated, and on the gentler slopes and flat places has a depth 

 from a few inches to more than four feet. About a thousand 

 feet below the summit of Cheviot many small branches of 

 alder and birch, the largest being about one foot in circum- 

 ference, have been found, but neither fir nor oak. At lower 

 levels, however, oak of a considerable size has been dug out 

 of peat. The great forest of Cheviot does not appear, there- 

 fore, to have reached a higher altitude than 1600 feet above 

 the sea level. 



As sheep pastures chiefly, these hills are valuable. On 

 Cheviot itself the grasses are generally coarse ; Eriphorum 

 vaginatum springs up early in February or March, when 

 sheep are fond of it ; but at a later period, in June and July, 

 Scirpus c<Bspitosus, the deer's hair or ling, a sweet rush, comes 

 up on the lower grounds. Nardus stricta, the wire or black 

 bent, is abundant on the hills about Goldscleugh. The lower 

 hills about Ingram and along the Border and on the Beau- 

 mont are the most valuable sheep pastm-es, as the grasses 

 (especially Festuca ovina) which they yield, are of a finer 

 character. 



MISCELLANEA. 



Zoological Jottings at North Sunderland, 1867. 

 By Rev. F. R. Simpson, North Sunderland. 



April 23, Swallows {Hirundo rusticd) were first seen ; and 

 on the SOth the Redstart {Sylvia Phcenicurus). 



April 29th, the common Brown Butterfly ( Vanessa urticce), 

 first seen ; and on J une 10th the smaller white {Pieris Bapcs). 

 Of Butterflies there have been few this year. 



May 5th, the queen Wasp ( Vespa vulgaris) was first seen 

 abroad. 



September loth and 14th, the bulk of the Swallows de- 

 parted after a storm on the 12th ; and after October 14th 

 none were seen. 



