176
LAND AND FRESH WATER MOLLUSCA.
there were roughly speaking, 120.6 He had collected in the Becontree Hundred
and the southern portions of the forest, and the results were somewhat as
follows : out of the (about) 45 aquatic species in Britain, he had found in the
Becontree Hundred, 32 ; and of the 75 terrestrial species, about 35 ; making
together about 67 species out of the 120. He hoped to add a few species to this
list, and he would take an opportunity during the winter session of exhibiting
his specimens, and detailing the results of his "rambles in search of shells" in
his own neighbourhood.
Mr. W. Cole, referring to Mr. Harting's proposed catalogue of the molluscs of
Epping Forest, suggested that the forest district should be taken to include the
land set out as forest in the perambulation of Charles I. (1642). This would give
a somewhat wider extent of country, which could easily be defined, and he
suggested that a plan of the district, showing the limits of the forest, as fixed
by the perambulation, should be published by the club, to serve as a guide to the
compilers of lists of the fauna and flora of the forest.
Mr. White suggested that members willing to aid in the compilation of a
list of the mollusca should work together, so that the whole county could be
systematically and carefully explored. Many species might be expected to occur,
for instance, near Saffron Walden, which would be wanting elsewhere. He also
thought that every effort should be made to get together a good and representative
collection in the club's museum, and only the co-operative efforts of a number of
members could do this.
Mr. Harting was very pleased to see that some interest would probably be
aroused in this subject, and that we might hope to have valuable aid from several
of the members of the Club. He called attention to the great paucity of published
information on the Essex Mollusca ; he could only call to mind one book which
even alluded to the subject, and that was "The History and Antiquities of
Harwich and Dovercourt," by Silas Taylor and Samuel Dale (about 1732). He
hoped that the efforts of the Club would soon supply this deficiency in the
natural history of the county.
Stauropus fagi, L., near Brentwood.—On July 18th, I found an almost
black form of the female "Lobster-moth" near the ruins of Thorndon Hall. She
has laid about thirty eggs —R. G. Williment, Brentwood.
Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella naevia, Boddaert) near Colchester.—
Both Yarrell and Morris state that this bird has been noticed in Norfolk, Suffolk,
and several other counties, but neither mention it as occurring in Essex. I have
known it to breed more than once at the "Bath Hills," just on the Norfolk side
of the river Waveney, opposite Bungay Common; but on Sunday last (August 7th) I
watched a pair of these birds for some seconds, within ten yards of me, in a glade of
the" High Wood" at Colchester. I was leaning on a gate, and perfectly still, when
the male, with tail spread, flew from one side of the covert, alighting in the glade,
and, followed by the female, ran, in the "mouse like" manner peculiar to them,
into the thick grass and bushes on the other side. I believe that this warbler is
not very uncommon in the east and south of England, but being remarkably shy,
and keeping to the densest parts of heaths and woods, it is rarely observed,—
Frederick Spalding, Colchester Museum, August 13th, 1887.
6 The last edition of the Conchological Society's "List of British Land and Freshwater
Mollusca (1883)" enumerates 46 aquatic species (including one whose claims to rank as British
is not thoroughly established) and 86 terrestrial species (including three doubtful species),
making in all 132 species ; or excluding the doubtful ones, 128. Mr. Laver catalogues (Trans
Essex Field Club, vol. ii., p. 88) 75 species as inhabiting the Colchester district.— Ed.