Jan., 1922] HUNTER — SCOLOPENDRIUM IN NEW YORK STATE 
35 
lie in the same ravine with colony IV, and are in fact extensions of that 
colony. Colony III occurs on the south slope of a shallow portion of the 
ravine. The plants grow near the top of the slope, much higher than is 
usual, and the shallowness of the ravine leaves them considerably exposed. 
Field notes taken during the 191 6 census say, with regard to this colony, 
that "while the plants here seem to be vigorous they are smaller, less 
abundant in a given area, and much more exposed; the habitat more nearly 
resembles . . . the upland forest." The decrease in number of plants 
revealed by the second census may be taken to indicate that this small 
colony has moved somewhat too far out of the habitat most suitable for 
the species. 
Colony V is located on nearly level ground at the opposite end of the 
ravine containing colony IV. This unusual habitat for Scolopendrium 
has already been mentioned as occurring also in part of the Green Pond 
substation, but has been found nowhere else. As at colony III, the plants 
are smaller and more widely scattered. Here also the decrease in numbers 
is explained by the exposed habitat. 
Colony VI, which also showed a decrease in numbers of plants, presents 
a different situation. This colony is located on the south slope of a deep 
ravine, under conditions thoroughly typical for Scolopendrium. At the 
time of the first census it was noted that many of the plants were very 
superficially rooted; field notes say that "large plants grow on rocks covered 
with mosses and liverworts." At the time of the second census a condition 
of drought prevailed in this ravine and these rock coverings of humus were 
completely desiccated. As a consequence, only those plants which were 
rooted in crevices between rocks and in other moister situations had sur- 
vived. It is to be noted that the prothallia which usually occur in these 
more sheltered situations have increased in this colony at the same time that 
young and mature plants have decreased in number. 
The second census also brought out the fact that not only may colonies 
change rapidly in number of individuals, but an increase in one portion 
of a colony may be accompanied by a decrease in another area of the same 
colony. For example, the notes of the 191 6 count of colony IV show that 
at that time the larger number of plants occurred in the eastern portion 
of the ravine. In 1920 the western portion of the colony contained by 
far the greater number of plants. It is hoped to learn more about this 
shifting of populations within colonies and its relation to the fluctuations in 
total number of individuals by annual counts of the colonies of the James- 
ville Woods substation. 
The results of the two counts already completed make it certain that 
at the present time the number of plants of Scolopendrium in the Jamesville 
Woods area is increasing. As stated above, a similar conclusion is indicated 
for the Perryville Falls station by comparison of the conditions there in 
1919 and in 1920. These two sets of exact data, considered in connection 
