26 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Feb. 



Primroses and Cowslips are now showing above ground ; 

 the green sheen on the Brambles — an apt illustration of the 

 glories of light and shade — is one of the chief treasures in 

 the woodland just at this season ; whilst after a shower of 

 rain or a heavy dew, the dewdrops glisten in the sunbeams 

 like so many gorgeous sparkling gems. 



Spring is in the air. Nature lovers know the delight of 

 that first experience of early spring : it cannot be written 

 about, it must be felt to be appreciated. 



No summer visitors have reached us at the time of writing, 

 — if we except a female Blackcap which was seen in the 

 district towards the end of February, a truly phenomenal 

 occurrence, — but the likeness of two of the notes of the 

 mimicking Great Tit or Oxeye to those of the Chiff-chaff 

 reminds us that the little herald from the Mediterranean will 

 soon be due, and from now onward the careful student of 

 wild life has one continuous round of unalloyed pleasure 

 before him. 



Fossorial Hymenoptera. 



By Oswald H. Latter. 



Though in some respects inferior in interest to the Social 

 Hymenoptera, the Fossores form a very fascinating section 

 of the most highly gifted order of Insects. Active only dur- 

 ing the warmer season of the year, and even then display- 

 ing themselves only in bright sunshine, they come to be 

 associated in one's mind with glorious summer days and 

 hours of leisure spent in the open field in watching their 

 various habits and trying to learn something of their 

 ingenuity. A member of this group may be distinguished 

 from the other sting-bearing Hymenoptera without any great 

 difficulty — "hands" and eyes assisted by a fairly good lens 

 being all that is required. From the Bees (Anthophila) 

 they are readily separated by the simple, unbranched, non- 

 plumose hairs, and by the absence of any dilation of the 

 proximal joint of the tarsus of the posterior legs. The 

 former character, however, will not serve to differentiate 



