FORGE VALLEY, YORKSHIRE. 
133 
wood is very varied. Beech, oak, wych elm, ash and maple 
abound ; Scotch fir, sycamore, mountain ash, larch, spruce, birch 
and lime are all present. Alders of considerable size line the 
river. The brushwood consists of hazel, spindle tree, elder and 
guelder rose. Hollies and spurge laurel show out in the winter 
months, with the broad leaves of the great drooping carex. 
As early as February, the green hellebore begins to lift its 
flowers and purple leaves above the turf, soon to be followed by 
the delicale adoxa, and the purple and white flowers of the sweet 
violet. In April, spring flowers appear in legions, wood anem¬ 
ones, primroses, crowfoot, toothwort; giving place in May to 
bluebells, campions, and wood-forget-me-nots. The scarcer 
plants that now appear are neottia nidus avis , Trientalis Europcea , 
lily of the valley, Lithospernum officinale and Actoea spicata , to be 
followed at midsummer by Spircea filipenduli, Pyrotas, Melica 
nutans , and whole banks of rock-rose, Then sheets of thyme 
bloom, and still later, Gentiana amaretla discloses its pale amethyst 
flowers, and sweet marjoram purples the dry slopes, and among 
there pygmies, a giant woolly-headed thistle ( Carduns creophorus ) 
here and there rears its splendid crown. 
Birds are, as might be expected, very numerous, though I am 
not aware that any particular varieties have been observed. In 
winter, flocks of bramblings sometimes appear—French linnets 
they call them here for some reason not easy to discover. Occa¬ 
sionally the flash of a kingfisher is seen darting up the river, or 
a goldfinch (redcap is the local name) is heard to pipe. Up 
above, the grey-backed crows sail to and fro in winter and a cur¬ 
lew will cross from moor to moor. In stormy weather, large 
numbers of seagulls come from the coast and mingle happily with 
flocks of rooks. 
Forge Valley is rather rich in mollusca. Helix fusa and H. 
sericea are both plentiful on dog mercury. The former climbs 
trees, and I have often found it in the umbrella when beating for 
insects. Clausilia laminata is very abundant. On an old wall 
near the mouth of the valley, Vestigo pusilla occurs sparingly. 
Balia perversa is abundant in similar positions. In the river itself 
are Valvata piscinabis , Planorlis albus, and Limnoea auricularia var. 
acuta. 
Of the beetles that have been found in the valley, Potaminus 
substriatus is the rarest and most interesting. Its habitat is mossy 
posts or chips of wood in the water. Other species worth re¬ 
cording are Cychrus rostiatus , Arnara bifrons, Hydroporus assimilis, 
Eros minutus , Telephorus alpinus, Chrysomela varians , Engis rufi- 
frons , and Triplex cene a. 
It will thus be seen that Forge Valley is a particularly interest¬ 
ing spot to the student—it is not less delightful to the artist—for 
at every season of the year it is beautiful—beautiful in spring 
when the wood anemone spreads a silver carpet on the slopes 
