THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 315
Mr. E. T. Newton exhibited a metacarpal bone of an ox, from near
Cromer, which had been curiously gnawed by rodents.
Mr. Nicholson exhibited a nest of Vespa germanica, which he had taken
from the clayey bank of a pond at Oak Hill, Woodford, on October 24th,
1920. He also exhibited specimens of various parasites or commensals
of wasps and their nests, including the beetle Metaecus paradoxus, larvae
of another beetle, a species of Cryptophagus, some mites (Glycyphagus),
the ichneumonid Sphecophaga vesparum, and the dipteron Volucella
pellucens.
The President exhibited a large series of British lichens which, as dupli-
cate specimens from the national collection, had been that morning granted
to the Club's Museum by the Trustees of the British Museum.
Mr. J. H. Owen then gave a lecture entitled "Further Notes on the
Sparrow-Hawk," which he illustrated by a series of some 80 lantern photo-
graphs of exceptional merit. At the close of a very interesting lecture,
a discussion ensued, in which Messrs. Miller Christy, Glegg, Horn and
Thompson, and Miss Hibbert-Ware, took part ; and Mr. Owen replied to
the numerous questions asked.
A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Owen for his lecture, and
the meeting terminated.
EASTER VISIT TO COLCHESTER (527th Meeting).
Thursday, 24TH March to Monday, 28th March, 1921.
By various routes and at different times on the appointed Thursday,
the Members of the party made their way to the Red Lion Hotel in the
High Street until, as Chaucer has it:—
"At night was come in-to that hostelrye
Wel nyne and twenty in a companye
Of sondry folk "—
the "house party" who formed the nucleus of our Club meetings in this
ancient town—the oldest in England—which regards London as its younger
sister.
An early start was made on the Friday morning (a few enthusiasts
were already afoot and sightseeing before breakfast !) when Mr. Alderman
Gurney Benham, F.S.A., who throughout the visit acted as a most admir-
able "guide, counsellor and friend," came to our Hotel to take charge of
the party soon after 9 o'clock, and was introduced to the Members.
The proceedings commenced in glorious weather with a visit to Holy
Trinity Church, and the monument therein to Dr. William Gilberd, the
famous Elizabethan scientist, physician to Queen Elizabeth, and pioneer
in the science of magnetism and electricity. Passing by Scheregate the
company made their way to St. Botolph's Priory Church ruins which
were seen to great advantage in the brilliant sunshine. Mr. Gurney
Benham here gave an account of St. Botolph's Priory and its church,
mentioning that the parochial church of St. Botolph existed before the
Priory in Saxon times and that in connection with it was a community
of priests. About the year 1093 this community decided to form a priory
fo the Augustinian Order, and this foundation, the first of the Order in