The Natural History of Selborne: With Observations on Various Parts of Nature; and the Naturalist's CalendarH.G. Bohn, 1854 - 416 pages |
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Page xii
... never make a verse in my life , so you must be content with plain prose . Having seen but little of this great world , conversed but little , read less , I feel myself much at a loss how to entertain so intelli- gent a correspondent ...
... never make a verse in my life , so you must be content with plain prose . Having seen but little of this great world , conversed but little , read less , I feel myself much at a loss how to entertain so intelli- gent a correspondent ...
Page xiii
... never been on horseback before , I found myself somewhat giddy with my airy jaunt . My purchaser , who was a good - humoured man , after showing me to some of his neighbours , and giving me the name of Timothy , took little further ...
... never been on horseback before , I found myself somewhat giddy with my airy jaunt . My purchaser , who was a good - humoured man , after showing me to some of his neighbours , and giving me the name of Timothy , took little further ...
Page xiv
... never divulged to any one before , is the want of society with my own kind . This reflection is always uppermost in my mind , but comes upon me with irresistible force every spring . It was in the month of May last that I resolved to ...
... never divulged to any one before , is the want of society with my own kind . This reflection is always uppermost in my mind , but comes upon me with irresistible force every spring . It was in the month of May last that I resolved to ...
Page 7
... Never to drown the world again : henceforth , " Till time shall be no more , in ceaseless round , " Season shall follow season : day to night , " Summer to winter , harvest to seed time , " Heat shall to cold in regular array " Succeed ...
... Never to drown the world again : henceforth , " Till time shall be no more , in ceaseless round , " Season shall follow season : day to night , " Summer to winter , harvest to seed time , " Heat shall to cold in regular array " Succeed ...
Page 22
... never becoming slippery in frost or rain ; is excellent for dry walls , and is sometimes used in buildings . In many parts of that waste , it lies * To surbed stone is to set it edgewise , contrary to the posture it had in the quarry ...
... never becoming slippery in frost or rain ; is excellent for dry walls , and is sometimes used in buildings . In many parts of that waste , it lies * To surbed stone is to set it edgewise , contrary to the posture it had in the quarry ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound animal appear April April 14 April 22 autumn birds of passage birds of prey breed brood cage called chaffinches cold colour common cuckoo curious DAINES BARRINGTON DEAR district dogs eggs feed feet female fieldfares flies flocks forest frequently garden Gilbert White grass ground haunt hedges hirundines hirundo house-martins inches Indian antelope insects July June June 17 late legs LETTER Linnæus male manner March March 17 March 26 MARKWICK mentioned migration mild morning natural history naturalist neighbourhood nest never night observed owls perhaps prey quadrupeds rain remarkable rooks says season seems seen SELBORNE showers sings snow soon species spring stone curlew suppose Sussex swallows swifts tail THOMAS PENNANT titmouse torpid trees vast village warm weather White wild wings winter Wolmer woods wren young
Popular passages
Page 300 - 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 108 - 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.
Page 146 - 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 with a serrated claw.
Page 166 - Thus careful workmen when they build mud walls (informed at first perhaps by this little bird) raise but a moderate layer at a time, and then desist ; lest the work should become top-heavy, and so be ruined by its own weight. By this method in about ten or twelve days is formed an hemispheric nest with a small aperture towards the top, strong, compact, and warm ; and perfectly fitted for all the purposes for which it was intended.
Page 150 - ... 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. If attended to, it becomes an excellent weather-glass ; for as sure as it walks elate, and as it were on tiptoe, feeding with great earnestness in a morning, so sure will it rain before night.
Page 136 - MILTO:;. but scout and hurry along in little detached parties of six or seven in a company ; and, sweeping low, just over the surface of the land and water, direct their course to the opposite continent at the narrowest passage they can find.
Page 225 - Earthworms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of Nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm.
Page 171 - Though I have now travelled the Sussex Downs upwards of thirty years, yet I still investigate that chain of majestic mountains with fresh admiration year by year; and I think I see new beauties every time I traverse it.
Page 157 - ... down in the grass or corn. I have minuted these birds with my watch for an hour together, and have found that they return to their nest, the one or the other of them, about once in five minutes...