134 



The Irish Naturalist. 



IRISH SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL ZOOLOaiCAL SOCIETY. 



Recent gifts include a pair of Golden Pheasants from Mrs. Horne-Dyas, 

 a Peacock from Mr. Hornidge, Mergansers from Mr. H. B. Rathborne, 

 and a pair of Muscovy Ducks from Mrs. FitzPatrick. Two female Lion 

 cubs have been born in the Roberts House, the parents being " Fritz " 

 and " Sheila." 



BELFAST NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



May 15. — HoLYWOoD Foreshore. — This was a half -day excursion 

 to the section of the raised beach resting on Boulder-clay which had been 

 so well exposed by storms last winter. The raised beach here contains 

 worked fi'nts of a very early type, like those of Ballyholme, Larne, the 

 Kinnegar at Holywood, and Grimes Graves and- Gissbury in England. 

 Many of these were collected by members of the party, which numbered 

 over sixty. When all were assembled at the section the conductor, R. 

 J. Welch, called on Dr. Charlesworth, f.g.s. (who had brought a party 

 from the Queen's University), to give a short talk about the geology 

 of that pr.rticular corner of County Down. A visit was then paid to the 

 Carboniferous fossiliferous shales at Cultra, from which the party proceeded 

 to the residence of a member of the Club, F. A. Heron, for tea. One 

 s?nior and three new junior members were elected, and the party then 

 split up, some hurrying off to the Permian outcrop, now exposed at low 

 water, others visiting the garden and Mr. Heron's collection of living 

 birds, one of v/hich, a Nightingale, was of special interest, so few members 

 of the party had ever seen one in the flesh. Others finished their collecting 

 of various invertebrate groups. Six species of Isopods (woodlice) were 

 noted, including two of our ra,re species, Trichoniscits roseus and Hap- 

 lopthalnius Mengii. Good collections of Arachnids and Myriopods were 

 brought away for identification. 



DUBLIN NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



June 12. — Excursion to Balrothery Esker. — Sixteen members and 

 visitors, conducted by the President, started from Terenurc at 2.15 by 

 steam tram for Balrothery, whence they walked along the course of the 

 esker to Redcow, there turning to the right and returning by Drimnagh 

 and Dolphin's Barn, reaching town about 7 o'clock. The walk for the 

 first half of its length leading through the extremely picturesque lane 

 past the ruins of Tymon and Ballymount Castle proved interesting at 

 every stage, and most of the local plants associated with the locality 

 were identified, though it is to be feared that the Scale Fern {Cetera ch 

 officinarum) has vanished from an old habitat near Palljanount. The 

 common Dog Rose was in exceptionally good bloom for the early season ; 

 the Sweet Violet, though quite over, was found in its old abundance 

 below Tymon Castle, and among other local plants noticed were the 

 Greeter Knapweed {Centaurea Scahiosa), Henbit {Lamuim amplexicanle), 

 the critical and rather uncertainly distributed Ranunculus heterophyllus 



