Electric field observations made near the neutral sheet of the magnetotail provide additional support for the view that reconnection occurs in the near-earth region of the tail. Southward turnings of the magnetic field that start at, or shortly after, substorm onsets are accompanied by enhancments in the dawn-to-dusk electric field, resulting in a tailward E¿B drift velocity. Both the magnetic and the electric fields in the tailward-flowing plasma are nonuniform and vary with inferred spatial scales of several RE in the events examined in this paper. These non-uniformities may be the consequence of the tearing-mode process. The E¿B flow was also towards the neutral sheet and away from midnight in the events studied.