186 THE YOUNG 



Food* — Small insects of all kinds, and 

 also various sorts of berries, such as elder, 

 currant, rasp, &c. 



In Confinement these birds are easily 

 kept upon German paste, small worms, meal 

 worms, &c. 



Habitat* — This is 0113 of the common- 

 est warblers that visit this country, fre- 

 quenting copses, plantations, rough pieces, 

 and gardens. It frequents all suitable parts 

 of England, but is rarer in Scotland and 

 Ireland, 



Abroad it is common in most parts of 

 Europe, found in Persia, abundant in Pales- 

 tine, and nearly throughout Africa. 



Nest ■ — The nest is constructed of small 

 grass stems loosely put together, and lined 

 with finer grass stems and a little horse 

 hair. Is is placed in a low bramble or briar 

 bush or among nettles or other herbage at 

 from one to two feet from the ground. The 

 bird is very impatient when the vicinity of 

 the nest is approached. From the material 

 of which the nest is composed, the bird is 

 called "small strea" (straw) in many parts 

 of Yorkshire. 



Eggs. — The number of eggs vary from 

 four to six. The ground colour is greenish 

 white, sometimes brownish white, more or 

 less blotched with brownish green and ashy 

 grey. They vary much in tint and extent 

 of markings. 



Varieties. — The eggs are very variable : 

 the ground colour sometimes white, some- 

 times buff, and sometimes green. 



THE LIFE OF A YORKSHIRE 

 NATURALIST. 



Chap. III.— His Bird Fancy. 

 It has already been stated that Varley 

 was of delicate health, and finding that 



NATUEALTST. 



fresh air and out-door exercise were the 

 best medicines he could take, he indulged 

 pretty freely. Every leisure hour was 

 spent in the lanes, or wood, or fields, either 

 with the old gun, bird-nesting, or pursuing 

 butterflies ; and the sight of the preserved 

 specimens done by the neighbour already 

 mentioned, had roused in him a strong 

 desire to possess similar treasures. 



He seems to have dene little, if anything, 

 towards the formation of a collection before 

 his marriage. In fact, marriage, it often 

 happens, is the real start of a man's life. 

 Before marriage his parents seldom en- 

 couraged him to strike out into new paths, 

 of which they do not happen to see the 

 advantage ; all his actions are subject to 

 critical supervision, and he is kept within 

 fixed groves. But when he becomes mas- 

 ter of his own home, however humble, he 

 can act more freely, and if he has anything 

 in him, then is generally the time when he 

 begins to show it. If he be assisted or en- 

 couraged by his wife, it happens often 

 enough that it is the commencement of his 

 success. Varley, after his marriage went to 

 live at Clayton West, and threw his mind 

 thoroughly into the work of natural history. 



The interest in stuffed birds, began by 

 Johnny-at-Bum, seems to have gradually 

 spread, not only through the neighbourhood 

 of Huddersfield, but the same had taken 

 place in Leeds, Halifax, and other surround- 

 ing places ; also at Staleybridge, Oldham, 

 and in many other districts of Lancashire 

 and Yorkshire, and birdstuffers and insect 

 hunters fairly swarmed. 



Paddock, one of the suburbs of Hudders- 

 field, at that time and for many years after, 

 was a noted place for naturalists. It has 

 always had one or more public-houses, 

 where stuffed birds have formed an attrac- 

 tive feature. Then, such a house was kept 

 by a man named Dodson, and it was made 

 a meeting place for birdstuffers and insect 

 men who came there from many miles 



