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I8 Transactions.and is very irregular in making its appearance in tliis country,many yeai's passing without one being seen or heard of here.Some years ago I had one sent me which had been shot in theneighbourhood of Sanquhar. In the month of June I had a malepuffin or coulterneb (Fratercula arctica) sent me from the neighbourhoodof Kirkcudbright. It breeds in great numbers uponAilsa Craig. In the same month I received a fine specimen ofthe golden eagle (Aquila chryscvtus), trapped in Glencoe. Itmeasured about tliree feet in length, and seven feet in the stretchof the wings. These birds are scarce now, even in their nativeHighlands. In September I received two oyster catchers(Hdimatojms ostraleffusj, which had been knocked down andkilled, among a great many others, by a tremendous whirlwindthat occurred upon the 5th of tliat month in the neighbourhoodof the Brow Well. Many of the birds were dashed against awire fence, and had their heads cut off almost as clean as if ithad been done with a knife. Some of our small birds had theirnumbers sadly reduced by a severe winter we had some years ago;but they now seem as plentiful as ever. I may also add that inthe month of August a curious specimen of the bat, taken inTroqueer parish, was sent to me. It resembles the common batin its form and colour, but is a full third larger.sure of its specific name.I am not quiteII. Ifotes on Local Botany /or 1886. By Dr A. Davidson.Last year when I had the honour of addressing you I hazai-dedthe opinion that it was probably the last time I would be able torecord anything new for this district, but I am happy to say Ihave again been so foi'tunate as to make a few new, and Itrust, not unimportant additions to the Flora of Dumfriesshire.I almost require to apologise for making so small a record thebasis of a paper, but your energetic secretary, rightly desiringall papers to be of local interest, would take no denial.So far asthe theory of this principle was concerned, I entirely concurredwith him, but I cannot say I quite agreed with the demand for apractical pi'oof of my adherence.The season has altogether been unfavourable for field botanists.The most severe of winters was followed by a cold spring and atardy and inclement summer. The coltsfoot fiowers opened theirpetals for a few days in the last week of March, only to closethem beneath a fresh snowfall, and not till near the middle of
——Transactions. 9April were they again seen. The primroses first appeared onApril 13; and four days later the first blossoming of the woodanemone, the butterbur, the barren strawberry, and the goldensaxifrage were recorded.Tiie first record of a plant new to the county was made by MrJ. Black. When we were tramping Sanquhar Moor one Mayevening he plucked what seemed to be a very stout form of thecommon cotton grass, Eriophoruin anffiistifolmm. This onexamination we considered to be tlie variety elaihis Koch, and onreferring to Mr Arthur Bennett it was confirmed.I subsequentlyfound it in a few other places, but nowhere so abundant or typicalas on Glenmaddie Craig, at an altitude of 1350 feet. Here alsoI may state I found Draba verna and Cochlearia officinalis, theformer being at a higher altitude here than has, as far as I amaware, yet been recorded. The next in order of time was CarexHornschuchiana, Hoppe, a var. otfulva, which is fairly abundanton the moist clayey soils of the higher hills. When this Societyvisited Lochmaben, two varieties of the creeping willow weregathered. The one was the common var. S. argentea ; the othervar., S. ascendens, is new to the district. A fescue I havepreviously recorded as Festuca sciuroides, Roth, I have now determinedto be Festuca Myurus, Lin. It is not uncommon. Thecommon corn mint, Mentha arvensis, so well known about Dumfries,has not been observed in Upper Nithsdale, but is sparinglyrepresented by Mentha arvensis, vai-. nummularia. This seasonI have made special investigation of our Hieracia, or Hawk weeds,and I have no doubt, on fuller investigation, Dumfriesshire willcompare favourably with most other counties. In our local listwe have only seven species recorded, viz. Hieracium :Pilosella,H. pallidum, H. murorum, U. Iricura, H. sylvatict(,m, H. umhellatnm,and H. boreale. Of these //. pallidum has not been foundin recent years. Of the remaining six, Pilosella and boreale areno doubt common. H. murorum and //. sylvaticum, as far as Ihave observed, are errors. H. Iricum and iimhellatum are nodoubt correct, though the latter must surely be found in otherplaces than Tynron and Sanquhar. In Sanquhar district, ofwhich I can only speak, the following are found :H. Pilosellais common ; //. vulyatum. and //. tridentatum, likewise common,have in the local list been named murorum and sylvaticum. H.vul(/atum, var. maculalum, is not uncommon in the woods nearSanquhar ; and H. unibellatum grows on the Nith near Knocken-•2
Page 1: THE TRANSACTIONS•^^g^feJOURNAL OF
Page 4 and 5: —" How charming is Divine Philoso
Page 6 and 7: ——————CONTENTSPaficSecr
Page 8 and 9: I2 Transactions.crops in the old wo
Page 10 and 11: 4 Transactions.Glasgow Geological S
Page 12 and 13: —Transactions.5th November, 1886.
Page 16 and 17: \10 Tronmrtiotis.jig ; H. cracatum
Page 18 and 19: 12 Transactions.the rebellion of 17
Page 20 and 21: ..14 Transactions.Society were acco
Page 22 and 23: 61Trani^nctionH.constantly in motio
Page 24 and 25: 8;1Transactions." Meteorology," in
Page 26 and 27: —20 Tra/HsactioHS.Provost or Alde
Page 28 and 29: 22 Traitsactions.Scotland, as in th
Page 30 and 31: —24 Transactions.the Lower orWlii
Page 32 and 33: 26 Transactions.long supported and
Page 34 and 35: Languendo,—28 Transactions.Uh Mar
Page 36 and 37: DeiMag30 l^ranadtctiond.wood, shape
Page 38 and 39: 32 Transactions.in the sea for the
Page 40 and 41: 34 Transactions.a good deal here. I
Page 42 and 43: 36 Tran.sactions.not run by day, bu
Page 44 and 45: ;38 Transactions.\st April, 1887.Dr
Page 46 and 47: 40 Transnctio7is.guessed it to be o
Page 49 and 50: —Transactions. 41ancient British
Page 51 and 52: —Transactions.'43as the Milton Pa
Page 53 and 54: IWansactions. 46one I have noticed
Page 55 and 56: —Transactions 47Some two hundred
Page 57 and 58: •~?lATt. 1 =^YPr 1.© © ©€* e
Page 59: Tlats H .HOMPSON ,S;^TONE'Photo -Ti
Page 63: -RZZ-TlATX- IT.^T••MiGH BRINKSS
Page 67:
TiATE^ITHt: CiAcHANliOLU STONE(BOBG
Page 71 and 72:
—Trannactions. 49type.But its fel
Page 73 and 74:
Transactioiis. 51portion which is d
Page 75 and 76:
Transactions. 53considerable length
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—TransartionR. 55The genus Didymo
Page 79 and 80:
Transactions. 57while Mr Carruthers
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Field Meetings.59From the churchyar
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Field Meetings. 61was obtained. lu
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—Field ^feetin
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—Field Meetings.'65levying; duos.
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Field Meeting8. 67ings in the neigh
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Appendix.G'JNATURAL HISTORY DIVISIO
Page 93 and 94:
—Apprndix. 71smaller birds— by
Page 95 and 96:
wlio was an honorary burgess of the
Page 97 and 98:
— —Appr.ndix. 75—R. B."Table,
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Appendix. 77James Litiljohne, &c.,
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——;Appevi/ix. 79Manuscripts.
Page 103 and 104:
—"——Appendii: 81Thomas Huttou
Page 105 and 106:
——— ——————Appendi
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APPENDIX B.LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE S
Page 109 and 110:
,,,5th Nov.,3d Fel>y.,5th July,•2
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Vol 5 - Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian ...

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