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 29
... wonder for years afterwards . I saw myself one of the yeoman prickers single out a stag from the herd , and must confess that it was the most curious feat of activity I ever beheld , superior to anything in Mr. Astley's riding - school ...
... wonder for years afterwards . I saw myself one of the yeoman prickers single out a stag from the herd , and must confess that it was the most curious feat of activity I ever beheld , superior to anything in Mr. Astley's riding - school ...
Page 37
... wonder how the young ones would manage , or whether they would be left to starve . Το my great surprise I found the old birds carrying mud one morning , and most carefully closing the aperture of the nest upon the young ones who were ...
... wonder how the young ones would manage , or whether they would be left to starve . Το my great surprise I found the old birds carrying mud one morning , and most carefully closing the aperture of the nest upon the young ones who were ...
Page 61
... wonder that the stone curlew , charadrius oedicnemus , should be mentioned by the writers as a rare bird ; it abounds in all the champaign parts of Hampshire and Sussex , and breeds , I think , all the summer , having young ones , I ...
... wonder that the stone curlew , charadrius oedicnemus , should be mentioned by the writers as a rare bird ; it abounds in all the champaign parts of Hampshire and Sussex , and breeds , I think , all the summer , having young ones , I ...
Page 84
... wonder to find that the organs of that little animal , when put in motion , gave a sensible vibration to the whole building ! This bird also sometimes makes a small squeak , repeated four or five times ; and I have observed that to ...
... wonder to find that the organs of that little animal , when put in motion , gave a sensible vibration to the whole building ! This bird also sometimes makes a small squeak , repeated four or five times ; and I have observed that to ...
Page 90
... wonder . If one looks into the writers on that subject , little satisfaction is to be found . Ingenious men will readily advance plausi- ble arguments to support whatever theory they shall choose to maintain ; but then the misfortune is ...
... wonder . If one looks into the writers on that subject , little satisfaction is to be found . Ingenious men will readily advance plausi- ble arguments to support whatever theory they shall choose to maintain ; but then the misfortune is ...
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The Natural History of Selborne: Observations on Various Parts of Nature ... Gilbert White No preview available - 2018 |
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 Linnĉus 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...