14 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



beat back the whole force of the Atlantic, 

 are of stupendous height — one of them, 

 Conachan, is about 1,300 feet high, and cut 

 down almost perpendicularly to the water's 

 edge. There are about seventy or eighty 

 inhabitants, whose habits, as may be readily 

 believed, are of the most primitive kind. 

 The live on the east side of the isle, where 

 is the only landing place, and grow a few 

 oats and potatoes. There I noticed the 

 corn marigold ( Chrysanthemum segeium ) 

 I also found the primrose in full bloom, the 

 bog pimpernel and the cotton rush. There 

 are no brambles to tear the net. The 

 insects I captured are, as follows : — 

 Crambus culmellus, Bactra lanceolana, Gly- 

 phipteryx thrasonella, and one of Anaitis 

 plagiata (which escaped) amongst the Lepi- 

 doptera ; Limniplrilus auricola, Polycentropus 

 irroratus, and Bercea pygmcea amongst the 

 Trichoptera ; Microphceus crassipes, Boli- 

 eophus atratus and nubilus amongst the 

 Diptera ; Lygus fabulinus and Jassus agres- 

 tis amongst the Hemiptera ; Nebria brevi- 

 eollis and a few common Harpalidoe under 

 stones amongst the Coleoptera ; and, of 

 course, the ubiquitous ear-wig Forficula 

 auricularia. In a book lent me by a fellow- 

 passenger — " An Account of the Isle of St. 

 Kilda, chiefly in reference to its natural 

 history," by John Macgilliveray, 1840— I see 

 the following butterfly and beetles men- 

 tioned : — Satyrus pamphilus, Elaphrus Lap- 

 ponicus, cupreus and tassalatus, Garabus 

 catenvlatus and granulatus, Byrrhus czneus, 

 and Geotrupes sylvaticus. 



Of the far-off island of St. Kilda,— 



Whose lovely race 

 Besign the setting sun to Indian worlds,— 



Macculloch says, — "The air is full of 



feathered animals ; the sea is covered with 



them (solan geese, fulmar petrels, puffins, 



&c.) ; the ground is speckled with them 



like a flowery meadow in May. The women 



look like feathered Mercurias, for their 



shoes are made of a gannet's skin. Every- 



thing smells of feathers. St. Kilda is far 

 out on the bosom of the broad Atlantic, 

 eighty miles west of the Butt of Lews, and 

 belongs to Macleod, of Macleod. 



After leaving St. Kilda and spending the 

 greater part of Sunday at Tarbert, in 

 Harris, I took leave of the pleasant captain 

 of the Hebridean and my fellow-passengers 

 at Dunnegan, in the Isle of Skye. My 

 exploits there in Harris and North Mist 

 may form matter for another article. I 

 must not forget to mention the shoal of 

 bottle-nose whales we saw disporting them- 

 selves in the briny ocean off the coast of 

 Skye. 



COLLECTING 

 ROUND PAISLEY, 

 RENFREWSHIRE. 



By A. Stewart, Paisley. 

 Reports from this part of the country are 

 not over numerous, and the few we have 

 seen were mostly penned by English visitors, 

 and consequently were only partial. Most 

 of these were from Perthshire, an occasion- 

 al one from Arran and the Northern islands. 

 No doubt these are the best districts that 

 have yet been discovered, but "There are 

 as good fish in the sea as ever came 

 out of it," and Scotland has got many ento- 

 mological surprises in store for those who 

 have the inclination and opportunity to seek 

 pastures new. The collecting ground round 

 Paisley is of a very varied character. To 

 the north, and about three miles distant, is 

 the Clyde, and between it and the town we 

 have some splendid tracks of heather and 

 pine. To the south, and about two miles 

 distant, we have the Gleniffer Braes, nearly 

 300 feet above sea level, on the top of which 

 is a long plateau, which extends over to the 

 Ayrshire coast. Great tracks of this are 

 moorland, with a sprinkling of pine woods 

 and stunted oaks: insects here are much 



