The Oligochseta of the Forth Area. Ill 



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under my notice, 1 and the same remark applies to the coast sandhills. With 

 these exceptions their distribution is very general, extending from sea-level, 

 just above high-water mark, to the tops of the highest hills. Mr Friend tells 

 me he has a record of a Lumbricid from the summit of Ben Lomond (3192 ft.) 

 on the Forth and Clyde water-shed, and I have found Allolobophora chlorotica 

 close to the top of Stuc-a-Chroin (3189 ft.). On a steep hillside at 

 Balquhidder, early in April, I found the following species at from 1000 to 

 1500 ft.: — Eiseniella tetraedra, Eisenia rosea, Allolobophora caliginosa, A. 

 chlorotica, and Lumbricus rubellus. They occurred chiefly under stones on 

 the margin of a rill where Saxifraya aizoides and other sub-alpine plants 

 were growing on mica-slate debris. In the " Tay " area I have found (August 

 1905) A. chlorotica, Bendrobcma mammalis? (immature), and L. castanetts, on 

 wet mossy ledges, at 2500 to 2700 ft., and L. castaneus ? (irnm.), at 3250 ft., 

 on the Tarmachans ; while in July 1906 I had B. mammalis from about 

 the roots of Br aba rupestris at the summit of Ben Lawers, close on 4000 ft. 

 L. terrestris and some others appear to restrict themselves very much to the 

 cultivated districts. Gardens, fields, old pastures, and the heaps of scrapings 

 to be seen on most roadsides all provide the worm-hunter with rich 

 collecting-grounds, as do also the margins of streams and lakes where 

 several species, such as the amphibious Eiseniella tetraedra, are fond of 

 lurking under stones or in the mud. Others, again, belonging to the sub- 

 genera Dendrobcena and Bimastus, are usually found under the bark of 

 decaying trees and old stumps or among dead leaves. I have never seen a 

 Lumbricid within the salt-water zone. Several of the Enchytraeidse, however, 

 are littoral species living under stones and rotting seaweed at and below 

 high-water mark. One species, Enchytrmus albidus, occurs both in this 

 littoral habitat and in manure in inland localities. Marionina sphagnetorum 

 is usually found in peaty soil on elevated moors, but I have obtained it near 

 sea-level in Fife. Three Tubificids dwell in the mud of the Estuary between 

 tide-marks, while a fourth makes its home in the mud in the shallows 

 of fresh-water lochs and slow streams. The members of the other aquatic 

 families seem to prefer the weedy ponds of the lowlands, but I have found 

 Lumbricuhcs variegatus plentiful among sphagnum in peat-pools on an 

 upland moor. The deep-water Stylodrilus gabretece (Vejd.) may be expected 

 to occur in the large lochs at the head of the valley, seeing it is common 

 in Loch Tay and Loch Lomond (C. H. Martin 2 ), but 1 have had no 

 opportunity of looking for it. 



. 1 The abundance of humus acids may have to do with their absence. 

 2 " Notes on some Oligocheets found on the Scottish Lake Survey," Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., 

 vol. xxviii. p. 21, 1907. 



