410 Mr. Terdon's "Additions to the Muscology of the Border ^^ 



moss-grown pollards and old posts wliicli tliey frequent. 

 They also are not free from the charge of plundering the fruit 

 garden, and commit great mischief among cherries, plums, and 

 wall-fruit generally. In their habits they are very shy, and 

 dodge about, when in a tree, to keep a limb if possible between 

 themselves and the observer. Pennant, in his British 

 Zoology, states that this species puts the point of the bill into 

 the crack or limb of a large tree and makes quick tremulous 

 motion with its head, thereby occasioning a sound, as if the 

 tree was splitting, which alarms the insects and induces them 

 to quit their recesses. This, the Editor says, it repeats during 

 the spring, in the same spot, every minute or two for half an 

 hour, and will then fly to another tree, generally fixing itself 

 near the top for the same purpose. I am not informed as to 

 the Pious major remaining in this country in winter ; but 

 the specimen shot in Edington Hill wood was certainly killed 

 in the shooting season, and if my memory is right, about the 

 month of November or December. 



Corrections of " Additions to the Muscology of the Border, ^^ 

 puhlished in the Transactions of the Club for 1865. By 

 Archibald Jerdon. 



Sphagnum compactum. I am informed by a friend that 

 my plant is not that species, but merely a compact growing 

 variety of the common S. cymhifolium. 



Bryum crudum. I find that my specimens belong to B. 

 Wahlenhcrgii, and not to this species. I have found the true 

 B. crudum however growing sparingly on rocks on the 

 western Eildon Hill, and also on rocks in the Bizzle, so that 

 we have both species on the Border. The foliage of B. 

 Wahlenbergii is very pale and glaucous, but has always a 

 dull appearance, whereas that of B. crudum has a yellowish 

 tint and a glittering appearance, and the two species can 

 generally be distinguished by these marks, even without 

 fruit. 



Bryum uUginosum. This should have been named B. 

 pseudotriquetrum. As far as I am aware B. uUginosum has 

 not been found in the district. 



