Mollusks. 



8423 



splash, and looking towards the spot whence the sound proceeded, we 

 observe the kingfisher jubilantly return to the tree crunching one of 

 the river crayfish with evident satisfaction. " From the woods came 

 voices of the well-contented doves,"* the dove in this case being the 

 American turtle (Zenaidura caroliniensis). A little lower down several 

 green herons (Butorides virescens) and some "kill deer" plovers 

 (JEgialites vociferus) are wading about seeking what they may 

 devour. 



But, tired of wading, we cross the river to the railway, and walk 

 some distance along the line. Passing by the station we observe some 

 shady w r oods, towards which we turn. The trees are mostly the 

 American beech [Fagus ferrugined), with little undergrowth save 

 papaw bushes (Asimina). The May apples (Podophyllum peliatum) 

 are beginning to ripen, and about the roots of the trees we notice the 

 delicate green fronds of Adiantum pedatum. Some rotten logs are 

 lying about, which we turn over and hunt for land shells. After 

 about half an hour's search, w T e have obtained living specimens of 

 Helix albilabris, H. thyroidus, H. clausa, H. palliata, H. tridentata, 

 H. inflecta, H. alternata, H. striatella and H. perspectiva. After a 

 short rest we turn towards the river again. Just below a dam, on one 

 bank a section exposes alternations of the shales and clays of the 

 Hudson river group, which are Lower Silurian. Its most abundant 

 fossils here are f Strophomena alternata and S. planumbona of Hall, 

 Orthis Lynx, O. subquadrata, O. testudinaria and O. occidentalis, 

 Rhynchonella capax and R. modesta, Ambonychia radiata, Ciclonema 

 bilix, Orthoceras crebriseptum ; the delicate bryozoon Stenophora 

 fibrosa, and the trilobite so common in Ohio, the Calymene senaria of 

 Conrad, — probably identical with the well-known British species 

 Calymene Blumenbachii. Living under small pieces of timber lying 

 about on the damp grass, &c, we find Helix ligera, Bulimus margi- 

 natus, Pupa armifera, P. contracta, P. ovata, and Carycnium exiguum, 

 one of the smallest of the American land shells. 



But it has taken some time to collect these, it is getting dusk, and 

 the fireflies, called " lightning bugs" in the elegant phraseology of the 

 district, are beginning to appear; so we stroll gently homewards. 

 Many interesting Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, &c, were observed, but 

 these I have not enumerated, fearing lest I should overburden this 

 sketch with mere lists of species. 



* Tennyson's ' Gardener's Daughter.' 



f These fossils were kindly determined for me by my friend Mr. Billings, the 

 palaeontologist of the Canadian Geological Survey. 



