210 Field Notes. 
Professor Miall, and that society lasted till 1876. Largely 
through the exertions of Dr. Willis, a new start was made in 
1884. That society has gone on flourishing until a few years 
ago, and it is only during recent times that it has fallen from 
its prosperity. 
= THE WONDERS OF FILEY. 
From the daily press we learn that ‘a fall of sandstone 
in the cliffs of Hebberstone Bay on the Yorkshire coastline near 
Filey has disclosed a rich collection of fossils. Delicate ferns, 
bellumites (sic), ammonites, with nautilus, oyster, mussel and 
cockle shells, perfectly petrified, are so thickly strewn on the 
faces of the fallen blocks, several of which are tons in weight, 
that a chisel can scarcely be placed between them. Many of the 
bellumites (sic) are nine inches and a foot (sic) in length, but the 
softness of the sandstone in the newness of its exposure permits 
of many of them being easily worked out by a knife. There 
are hundreds of separate fossils in each of the blocks. The 
district has long held a peculiar interest for geologists.’ With 
this last sentence we fully agree, and it is hkely to continue to 
hold ‘a peculiar interest,’ so long as this particular journalist 
remains there. 
eee ee 
York District Bird Notes.—The following is a lst of 
dates of arrivals of most of the local summer visiting species, 
and in the majority of instances, the dates of appearance are 
even later than last year :— 
Ring-Ouzel-s ~~ March roth» WkedStartaise: = May 13th 
Swallow. 2. .- = April’ zznd"| Blackcapaee 3 
Lesser Whitethroat re | Garden Warbler - 
Chit (Chath ss: April 28th | Wood Warbler . i 
Willow Warbler = | Sedge Warbler . - 
White Wagtail . a | House Martin 
Swallows (numbers) Ee Sandpiper. - 
Cuckoo x . Yellow W agtail . May 14th 
Landrail (one) . is Turtle Dove . Ae 
Nightjar 2° 2 May 6th | Wheatear : 7 
Swift (several) . May 11th | Sandmartin. . May 21st 
(numbers) May 13th 
I heard the first Snipe ‘drumming’ on March 11th, and 
on March 16th I noticed a flock of about sixty Wild Geese 
(species uncertain), flying over Huntington in a south-east 
direction, at the time there was half a gale blowing from 
the north-east. The Whimbrel occasionally visits this dis- 
trict during May, when passing north on its annual journey 
to its nesting haunts, a pair being seen feeding on some 
ploughed land at Wigginton, on May 15th.—SyDNEY H. SMITH, 
York, May 23rd, 1911. 
Naturalist 
