Q2 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



anatomy very minutely, and showed its relationship with that of 

 other members of the class. 



The attention of the Society was called to a communication from 

 Mr. Darwin, which appeared in a recent number of " Nature," 

 in which he writes that near Beckenham, Kent, he had observed, 

 for above twenty years, that every spring the flowers of the prim- 

 rose, and sometimes also of allied species, were cut oflf and strewn 

 about — presumably by birds — and that this year the destruction 

 has been greater than ever. He asks whether this fact has been 

 noticed in other j^arts of Britain, as having a bearing on the ques- 

 tion of its being a new habit or instinct of birds. Several letters, 

 chiefly affirmative, appeared in " Nature." 



Mr. Thomas King stated that he had observed it, for the first 

 time, this spring at Innellan, with respect to both pi'imroses and 

 cowslips — the former in the woods and in the garden, the latter in 

 the garden only. In most instances he did not observe the cut-ofi' 

 portions ; they had either been eaten or carried away. He never 

 saw the birds at work, and could not therefore say what species 

 committed the depredations. 



Mr. Allan M'Aulay said he had been informed that bullfinches 

 destroyed the blossom of the peach for the sake of the nectar. 



19th May, 1874. 

 Mr. Peter Cameron, jun., Vice-President, in the chair. 



SPECIMENS EXHIBITED. 



By Mr. George Horn. — Two rare plants ; Euonymus Europmus 

 from Bothwell woods, and Paris quadrifolia from Kilsyth. 



By Mr. Alexander Watt. — The following mosses from the 

 Whangie : — Blindia acuta, Rhahdoweissia denticulata, and Jfyp- 

 num denticulatum ; Aspid'mm Jilix-mas, var. jyaleacea, from the 

 neighbourhood of the Whangie ; and Peplis portula from Craigton 

 Dam and the reservoir in the Kilpatrick Hills. 



By Mr. J, E,. Watson. — Specimens of the Parsley Fern 

 {Cryptoyramme crispa), from a new locality in the Kilpatrick 

 Hills, where it occurs in some abundance, and very luxuriant in 

 growth. 



By Mr. James Allan —(For Mr. Turner of Stirling), The very 

 curious eggs of the earth-worm (Lumbricus terrestris). Each 



