90 



THE NATURALIST. 



which I received from W. M. Crowfoot, Esq., of Beccles, (in whose posses- 

 sion they now are) ; he says, " the nest of Raillon's Crake, containing four 

 eggs, was taken "by a poor man at Potter Heigham, on the 9th of June, the 

 nest was rather small and loosely constructed, and placed in a hed of reeds 

 growing in water. The old birds were seen but not identified." 



Garganey. May 7, an adult male, Surlingham broad. 



Black Tern. May 7, an adult male, Surlingham broad. 

 3, West Pottery ate, Norvnch. 



^^TOTES EESPECTII^G THE BOTANY OF PLYM VALLEY AKD 



ITS J^EIGHBOTJEHOOD. 



By T. K. Archer Briggs. 



Erom having resided many years at Plymouth, I have had frequent 

 opportunities of studying the varied botany of the valley of the Plym, and 

 purpose in this httle paper saying something about the most remarkable 

 plants that are to be met with in the vale between Long Bridge, about three 

 miles from Plymouth, and Shaugh Bridge about four or five miles higher up 

 the river. On the right bank a little above the former place stands Leigham 

 House, and the lawn here is one of the few stations in the neighbourhood of 

 Plymouth for the Cowslips, Primt^/a veris, L., a plant very uncommon in the 

 S.W. of Devon, though the nearly allied Primrose, P. vulgaris, adorns most 

 of our woods and hedge-banks in early spring ; where its lovely flowers in 

 some of the wooded rocks of this valley are mingled with the delicate ones 

 of the Wood Anemone, Ane^none nemorosa, L. One low wooded spot here 

 produces the Daffodil^ Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, L., with us, quite a com- 

 mon species in orchards, but more rare in woods and copses, though found 

 frequently enough in them to make its claim to be regarded as truly indige- 

 nous, indisputable. Two or three months later in the season two strikingly 

 handsome plants (about Plymouth allied in their distribution,) the Columbine 

 Aquilegia vulgaris, L., and Bastard Balm, Mellitis MelissopTiylliim, L., adorn 

 bushy spots on the hill sides, and court sun light rather more than does the 

 Anemone. On a sand-bank in the bed of the river between Long and Plym 

 Bridges, I last year detected a patch of the rapidly spreading American 

 Monkey Flower, Mimulus Mens, Willd., doubtless derived originally from 



