266 Field Note. 



There were certainly traces of a large quadrangular enclosure, from the 

 remaining ridges of which about 20 tons of stone had been removed to 

 the adjoining farm-yard. An examination of these showed that they 

 were mainly of Millepore Oolite, some of which had clearly been dressed. 

 The field was also well strewn with ' Roman tiles,' and these proved to be 

 roof tiles of probably sixteenth century date. Towards the centre of the 

 ' camp ' was a deep well, protected by brushwood. The farmer informed 

 us that this was 11 1 yards deep, and that the well was lined with dressed 

 stones. The only coins known to have been found on the site were two 

 silver sixpences issued at York by Cattle & Barber in 181 1. A careful 

 review of the evidence, therefore, seemed to point to the fact that a farm- 

 stead occupied this site in the sixteenth century, and that, like the 

 ' amphitheatre ' close by, the evidence of Roman date was not forth- 

 coming. Thus the long-cherished evidences of Roman occupation in 

 this district vanished. An adjoining field had years ago yielded the remains 

 of a chariot burial — and other interesting relics of the Early Iron Age — 

 now in the York Museum. The party ' dropped ' into Market Weighton, 

 the said ' drop ' being a little jaunt of about six miles ; consequently the 

 geologists are hardly able to quite agree with the reference to the ' limited 

 area ' referred to at the beginning of this report by our more youthful and 

 energetic secretary. 



Mutilia europaea. — A specimen of the Solitary Ant found 

 during the latter part of May at Keys beck, Goathland, and 

 now in the collection of Mr. I. L. Rowland, appears to have 

 only recently emerged from the pupa state. The captor 

 suggests that the insect emitted a low buzzing when first 

 handled, if this is characteristic of the Mutillida;, it shows, 

 considering their habits, a species of camouflage rather re- 

 markable ! The following is a description of this specimen : — 

 Thorax, both above and below dull red, shiney ; Legs, black, 

 covered with short bristles ; Eyes, large and black ; Antennce, 

 thick at base, tapering, slate colour ; Abdomen, black and 

 heavy, having a narrow gold band near the junction with the 

 thorax and two other bands near the extremity ; the latter are 

 broken above and appear as a double row of gold spots with 

 their convex side towards the head ; below, all three bands are 

 continuous as narrow gold lines. Length, 11 to 12 mm. Two 

 more specimens were taken on June 22nd on the Moor near the 

 head waters of the River Derwent. One of these is in the 

 possession of the writer and is much smaller than the insect 

 above described, the single band does not appear below the 

 abdomen, its colour and that of the spots is silvery rather than 

 golden, the spots apparently having parallel edges ; as the 

 abdomen is almost denuded of hair it has possibly suffered 

 from wear and tear during its short life. There is a patch of 

 yellow pollen on one side of the thorax near the base of the 

 legs. A fourth specimen was found by me many years ago near 

 this latter locality. Further information as to the appearance 

 of this insect on our local moors may be found in Frank Elgee's 

 ' Moorlands of North East Yorkshire,' page 268. — Joseph T. 

 Sewell, Whitby. 



Naturalist, 



