i8o Notes ofi the Microfungi of the Forth Area. [Sess. 



saints in heaven, when Thou hast provided bad men with such 

 enjoyments on earth." 



I told the keeper about the merlin's nest, and, shortly- 

 after, I saw the old birds and the four young nailed to a 

 board near the kennel, and I could not help thinking it was 

 the best place for them. Think of the sufferings of other 

 birds, of the young left to perish from cold and hunger in the 

 nest, owing to their parents having become the victims of the 

 merlins. Will any one call himself a bird-preserver, and yet 

 say " Don't kill the merlin " ? I am a believer in the greatest 

 good to the greatest number, and I have often thought of the 

 happiness that would prevail among the feathered tribe on 

 the banks of that lonely mountain burn when they became 

 aware of their immunity from danger by the destruction of 

 the hawks. 



[Specimens of stuffed birds were exhibited.] 



XII.— NOTES ON THE MICROFUNGI OF THE 

 FORTH AREA. 



l.—PHYCOMYCETES AND USTILAGINEJE. 

 By Mr D. A. BOYD, Corresponding Member. 



{Read April 22, 191J,. 1 ) 



Im the following notes, an attempt will be made to gather 

 together existing records of the occurrence of species of 

 Phycomycetes and Ustilagineae in localities within the Forth 

 Area, so far as these have come under the writer's notice. 

 Such records, however, are comparatively few in number 

 when contrasted with those reported for the North-east and 

 South-west regions of Scotland. So far as our own district 

 is concerned, it is evident that much less attention has been 

 devoted by local mycologists to the parasitic moulds, smuts, 



1 Revised, October 1915. 



