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THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



THE LIFE OF A YORKSHIRE 

 NATURALIST. 



{Continued jrom page i8o.) 



Chap. VII. — Letter. FROM Mr. Parkin, 

 Wakefield. 



It is with pleasure I reply to your letter, 

 in reference to our late friend James Varley. 

 I think it would be about the year 1870 when 

 first I came to know him, through the intro- 

 duction of the late Mr. Talbot. Soon after 

 that time our acquaintance grew into a 

 strong friendship, which I am happy to say 

 continued uninterrupted to his last days. 

 We frequently paid visits to each others' 

 homes, and corresponded on matters chiefly 

 relating to ornithology, announcing the 

 frequent additions to his rapidly increasing 

 collection. I have oft noticed his steady 

 perseverance, under many difficulties, in 

 procuring fresh additions by his own gun, oft 

 out at the break of day, and many times 

 getting a good drenching, yet never deterred 

 from the objects of his pursuits. But it was 

 not until the Summer of 1876 I learned to 

 know his true character as a naturalist, at 

 that time he paid me a visit to Brampton, 

 in Cumberland, a spot which seemed to 

 give fair scope for his enjoyment. Though 

 only in feeble health he was always on the 

 alert, ever working, either collecting mosses 

 for his cases, or carefully scanning every 

 nook or cranny, in search of ferns, and the 

 many interesting specimens of botany then 

 in bloom, the bole of each tree also not being 

 neglected, as evidenced by his well filled 

 pocket collecting boxes, when the day drew 

 to a close. During one of our evening 

 rambles by the side of the river Irthing, we 

 had the pleasure of finding a nest, containing 

 lour eggs of the Common Sandpiper, which 

 he speedily cleared of their contents, care- 

 fully packing them in cotton wool, for 

 safety in carriage home; as several more 



pairs of these birds were about, he deter- ■ 

 mined to be out early next morning, in hope 

 of procuring the young, and in this he was 



not disappointed. I shall not soon forget ■ 



his looks of satisfaction on handing me from ^ 

 his pocket a chip box, containing four little 

 beauties, which are now in his collection. 

 The evening we spent in skinning and 



mounting the little treasures, in hopes of ! 



more additions on the morrow. This he did, | 



finding two more, also a pretty nest and j 



eggs of the Pied Fly-catcher, also the pair ; 



of birds, which again found us ample work \ 

 for the evening. 



Next afternoon being beautifully fine, we 

 determined to try fresh ground, chiefly in 

 search of specimens in entomology. Re- 

 turning home at the dusk of evening, we 



observed some funny looking objects at the I 



edge of a projecting piece of rock, which on ■ 



drawing nearer proved to be two young of ] 



the Tawny Owl, on the look out for the j 



parent birds with their dainty meal. With : 

 a little scrambling up the rock, and a tussel 



with the young downeys, not exactly : 



escaping without a few scratches on the i 



hands, they were finally transferred to our i 



pockets, one each, which we kept some time i 



as pets, chiefly in order to study their \ 



peculiar positions. The morning following ; 



their capture, turned out too wet for outside ; 



work, so we determined on trying for a ; 



photograph of the two Owlets by the side of ] 



their new companion, in this we succeeded, i 



for the two youngsters sat fairly quiet as if j 



interested in our performance. i 



Visiting Gilsland the day before his re- 



turn, we were climbing a steep bank, which ' 



proved almost too much for him, we drew \ 



up a bit for a rest, when presently he espied ! 



a specimen of the Geometra order, he had 1 



not previously taken himself, he sprung to ; 

 his feet, saying, " look here, what a beauty, 



this makes me a new man, my tiredness is j 



entirely gone," and to work again he went i 



like a young one. We visited during his j 



i 



