The Natural History and Antiquities of SelborneJ. and A. Arch, 1837 - 640 pages |
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Page 31
... grasses ; and by maintaining their geese and their stock of young cattle at little or no expense . The manor farm of the parish of Greatham has an admitted claim , I see ( by an old record taken from the Tower of London ) , of turning ...
... grasses ; and by maintaining their geese and their stock of young cattle at little or no expense . The manor farm of the parish of Greatham has an admitted claim , I see ( by an old record taken from the Tower of London ) , of turning ...
Page 32
... grass , upon which the sheep feast luxuri- ously . - RENNIE . 7 The description of the conflagration arising from the heath - fires here mentioned , reminds the scholar of the stubble - burning described in Vir- gil's Georgics , i . 84 ...
... grass , upon which the sheep feast luxuri- ously . - RENNIE . 7 The description of the conflagration arising from the heath - fires here mentioned , reminds the scholar of the stubble - burning described in Vir- gil's Georgics , i . 84 ...
Page 38
... grass , and has no high covert ; and the red deer attached to it would have been limited for their provender almost exclusively to the lichens , the heath tops , and the twigs of the very few stunted bushes that occur here and there on ...
... grass , and has no high covert ; and the red deer attached to it would have been limited for their provender almost exclusively to the lichens , the heath tops , and the twigs of the very few stunted bushes that occur here and there on ...
Page 57
... grass or wheat * . One of these nests I procured this autumn , most arti- ficially platted , and composed of the blades of wheat ; perfectly round , and about the size of a cricket - ball ; with the aperture so ingeniously closed , that ...
... grass or wheat * . One of these nests I procured this autumn , most arti- ficially platted , and composed of the blades of wheat ; perfectly round , and about the size of a cricket - ball ; with the aperture so ingeniously closed , that ...
Page 58
... grass were very artificially woven together , the latter being first slit by the action of the little animal's teeth into more or less minute bands or strings . No other substance was used in the construction of the nest , which was ...
... grass were very artificially woven together , the latter being first slit by the action of the little animal's teeth into more or less minute bands or strings . No other substance was used in the construction of the nest , which was ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound animal appears April autumn birds bishop Bishop of Winchester blackcap breed cage called canons church cock colour common curious DEAR SIR district eggs feed feet female fieldfares flies frequent frost garden genus Gilbert White grass ground Hanger hedges Hirundines Hirundo house martins inches insects Item July July 14 July 22 June June 12 June 9 late legs lesser whitethroat LETTER Linnæus male manner MARKWICK migration natural history neighbourhood nest never night nightingale observed parish Pennant pheasant Priory of Selborne probably rain remarkable sand martin says season sedge warbler seems seen Selborne Sept sing snow song species spring stickle-back stone curlews summer swallow swifts Sylv Sylvia tail tion titmouse trees village warbler weather whitethroat wild willow wren wings winter woods wren young
Popular passages
Page 398 - Less than archangel ruined, and the excess Of glory obscured ; as when the sun, new risen, Looks through the horizontal misty air Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon, In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs.
Page 297 - ... afflicted with cruel anguish, and threatened with the loss of the use of the limb. Against this accident, to which they were continually liable, our provident fore-fathers always kept a shrew-ash at hand, which, when once medicated, would maintain its virtue for ever. A shrewash was made thus :* — Into the body of the tree a deep hole was bored with an auger, and a poor devoted shrew-mouse was thrust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt, with several quaint incantations long since forgotten.
Page 159 - The powers of its wing were wonderful, exceeding, if possible, the various evolutions and quick turns of the swallow genus. But the circumstance that pleased me most was that I saw it distinctly more than once put out its short leg while on the wing, and, by a bend of the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any part of its prey with its foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished...
Page 250 - But then nothing is more common than for the house sparrow, as soon as the shell is finished, to seize on it as its own, to eject the owner, and to line it after its own manner. After so much labour is bestowed in erecting a mansion, as Nature seldom works in vain, martins will breed on for several years together in the same nest, where it happens to be well sheltered and secure from the injuries of weather.
Page 88 - ... distance; and, when close at your ear, is scarce any louder than when a great way off. Had I not been a little acquainted with insects, and known that the grasshopper kind is not yet hatched, I should have hardly believed but that it had been a locust whispering in the bushes.
Page 294 - ... and at once disarm them of their weapons, and suck their bodies for the sake of their honey-bags. Sometimes he would fill his...
Page 241 - No part of its behaviour ever struck me more than the extreme timidity it always expresses with regard to rain; for though it has a shell that would secure it against the wheel of a loaded cart, yet does it discover as much solicitude about rain as a lady dressed in all her best attire, shuffling away on the first sprinklings, and running its head up in a corner.
Page 35 - Now scarcely moving through a reedy pool, Now starting to a sudden stream, and now Gently diffus'd into a limpid plain ; A various group the herds and flocks compose, Rural confusion ! on the grassy bank Some ruminating lie ; while others stand Half in the flood, and often bending, sip The circling surface.
Page 332 - Th' autumnal bulb, till pale, declining days ? The GOD of SEASONS ; whose pervading power Controls the sun, or sheds the fleecy shower : He bids each flower His quickening word obey, Or to each lingering bloom enjoins delay.
Page 214 - Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.