Nest of Wood Ant at Killarney.
4. CLARE AND EAST GALWAY.—Our last district—West Cork and Kerry—was characterised by great ribs of slate and sandstone, and by an absence of limestone and the numerous plants which follow in its train. The present district forms a marked contrast, being largely composed of Carboniferous limestone. And the remarkable thing about these limestones is that they are over many miles totally devoid of any covering of soil or clay; the grey gnarled rock, fantastically carved and crevassed by the action of rain and weather, lies naked and bare. But in the crevices of the rock a wonderful variety of rare and beautiful plants abound. One or two of these have their home in the far south, like the plants we have lately considered, notably the little Close-flowered Orchid, Neotinea intacta, whose nearest station is about Nice. But the majority of the interesting species of these limestones are alpine plants, usually found at high elevations on mountains, which here form sheets of verdure down to the very edge of the sea. The Mountain Dryas (D. octopetala), the Bearberry (Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi), the lovely Spring Gentian (G. verna), and the Blue Moor-grass (Sesleria cærulea) are good examples, all of them growing in great abundance from the hill-tops down to the shore. It is this strange mingling of plants from the far south, from the far north, and from the mountains, which renders the West of Ireland so fascinating a field for the botanist. In the barren district of Clare, and in the adjoining Isles of Arran and south-west portion of county Galway, this peculiar flora may be seen in its greatest perfection. Some very rare insects have been taken in eastern Galway, including the Lepidoptera Nallia ancilla and Lycæna artexerus.
Photo—Welch, Belfast.
Wolf Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) spinning nest for young.
5. WEST GALWAY AND WEST MAYO.—In this district we have again a complete change of geology and of scenery. The grey limestones with rich grass and rare flowers filling every crevice are gone, and we are in a wild region of ancient metamorphic rocks—schists, quartzites, gneisses, and granites—which form wide moorlands, dotted with innumerable lakelets, with noble mountain groups rising over the wild boggy lowlands. To the student of metamorphism the geology of this area is of very high interest. The botanist finds himself once again, as in Kerry, in a focus of the southern flora already discussed. As stated above, Connemara contributes to the list of Pyrenean plants three Heaths, of which St. Dabeoc's Heath is the loveliest of the British representatives of the order. Here we may also meet again our old Kerry friends the London Pride, and on Inisbofin the Irish Spurge—plants which strictly avoid the limestone, as do the Heaths. The American element is represented by the Pipe-wort, which is common, and the little water plant, Naias flexilis, which grows near Roundstone. Of the three famous Heaths, St. Dabeoc's is abundant throughout Connemara, becoming rarer in Mayo. The Mediterranean Heath grows near Roundstone, and in immense abundance on the north side of Clew Bay, and again near the north-west corner of Mayo, extending inland as far as Lough Conn. Mackay's Heath is the rarest, being confined to the neighbourhood of Roundstone. As regards its fauna, Connemara and West Mayo yield fewer peculiar species than the south-west; but much remains to be done before it can be said that the zoology of this area is thoroughly known, and it offers a most promising field for the explorer.
6. SLIGO.—The visitor who makes Sligo his headquarters finds himself in a district of much variety and interest. This is a district that cannot be too highly recommended to the naturalist. To the geologist the fossiliferous limestones and the metamorphic rocks are alike of interest. The botanist naturally turns to the Ben Bulben Mountains, which harbour the richest group of alpine plants to be found in Ireland, including the pretty Arenaria ciliata, which does not grow elsewhere in the British Isles. To the zoologist a rich field lies waiting. A recent exploration of the limestone glens by a party of English and Irish conchologists has shown that in variety of land mollusca this district surpasses almost any other in these islands; and good results may be confidently expected in other invertebrate groups.
7. THE CENTRE.—The area comprised in the field of operations of the Great Southern and Western Railway Company include the southern half of the great Central Plain of Ireland and the lower course of the Shannon, the largest river in the British Isles. Towards the east the counties of Carlow and Kilkenny include much picturesque ground, especially along the courses of the rivers Nore and Barrow; and as picturesque ground implies the existence of hill and valley, wood and rock, the naturalist will find himself at home here. The flora is rich, though without any very marked features; the Nettle-leaved Bell-flower (Campanula Trachelium) being the most characteristic species. Regarding the fauna much has still to be learned. In Tipperary, Queen's County, and King's County we are in typical central plain country—great tracts of slightly undulating drift-covered Carboniferous limestone, the surface including wide pastures, cultivated ridges, and large areas of peat bog and marsh. The bogs, which form so peculiar a feature of the surface of Ireland, may be studied here over many miles of country. The noble Shannon, which winds slowly southward across the plain, widens at intervals into great lake-like expanses, of which Lough Derg is the largest, a place of much interest to the student of natural history. One plant which grows here, the Willow-leaved Inula (I. salicina), is found nowhere else in the British Isles; other characteristic Shannon plants are the Water Germander (Teucrium Scordium) and the rare Stone wort Chara tomentosa. Further west, in Limerick, a more varied surface prevails. Like Waterford and Cork, Limerick is a great centre for animals of the "Southern" distributional type, such as the Wood White Butterfly (Leptidia sinapis) the Brimstone Butterfly (Gonapteryx rhamm), and the Purple Hair-streak (Thecla quercus). The small but handsome Ground-beetle, Panogæus crux-major, is known in Ireland only from Finlough. This species has a typically "germanic" distribution in Great Britain. The Water-beetle Pelobius Hermanni, a very rare species, and the only British member of its family, occurs near Limerick and Cork. Cratloe Wood, by the Shannon near Limerick, may be specially recommended as a hunting-ground.
