[Illustration: The Kerry Slug, showing the manner in which its coloration mimics clusters of lichen among which it lives.] [Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ 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 caerulea_) 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 _Lycaena artexerus_. [Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Wolf Spider (_Pisaura mirabilis_) spinning nest for young.]