110 



The Naturalist. 



York Nurseries, I picked off the ground a very fine female example of this 

 species. It had evidently not been there long, as it was in very fresh 

 condition. There is no record of this siricid from the York neighbour- 

 hood since 1875 ; this is therefore the more remarkable, since the last 

 notice of it was a notice of it taken flying on the top of York Minster 

 (see Transactions of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, Parts I. & II.) 

 Odynerus pictus. — I discovered two or three colonies of this insect during 

 the past summer making their earthen cells on some hard glass lights. 

 They formed them on the glass, and, curiously enough, I was able to see 

 the larvse in the interior as they progressed from the egg to maturity. 

 The cells were filled by the parents with sawfly larvse, and fastened up. 

 Here is a wonderful instance of forethought or sagacity ; the parent 

 knows exactly what size to build the cell so as to contain sufficient food 

 for its larva. — T. Wilson, Holgate, York, Jan. 16th, 1883.- 



OBITUARY.— Jas. Yarley. — Another representative of the old school 

 of working naturalists passed away on Sunday, Jan. 7th, in the person of 

 James Varley. Born May 3rd, 1817, at Primrose Hill, Huddersfield, he 

 lived for sixty-four years within a comparatively short distance of the same 

 spot. His taste for Natural History was evidently early developed, for 

 he was, I believe, one of the founders of the Huddersfield Naturalists' 

 Society, which is now perhaps the oldest provincial society of the kind in 

 the United Kingdom ; and thirty years ago his name appears to have been 

 a household word with the naturalists of the West Riding, whilst he was 

 also well known as a successful collector by the leading lepidopterists of 

 the country. My own almost earliest lessons in the science were received 

 from him, and I well remember the fear and trembling with which, as a 

 small schoolboy, I used to take my specimens to him to name, and the 

 joy and excitement I felt when, on one of my earliest visits, he presented 

 me with my first half-dozen larvse of Saturnia carpini. In the year 1864 

 he somewhat excited the entomological world by rearing from a very large 

 quantity of larvse a good series of the deep black-bordered variety of 

 Abraxas grossulariata, which, although re^Deatedly bred in Yorkshire 

 since, up to that time appears to have been quite unknown. The form 

 at present very properly bears his name — variety Varleyata. Besides 

 entomology, he took equal interest in ornithology, and of both lepidopfcera 

 and birds he formed extensive and rich collections. His health failing, 

 and becoming reduced in circumstances, he sold the former, several years 

 ago, to Mr. Bennett, of Bradford, but his fine collection of birds was, I 

 think, still in his possession at the time of his death. Of late years he 

 has been unable to do as active work in his favourite pursuits as formerly, 

 but his numerous notes and his papers in this journal will be evidence ta 

 our readers of the keen interest he still took in all matters pertaining to 

 them. He was twice president of the Huddersfield Naturalists' Society— 

 the last time during the year 1880. Mr. S. L. Mosley, Beaumont Park^ 

 near Huddersfield, intends writing a sketch of Mr. Varley's life, and will 



