The Natural History of SelborneHarper, 1842 - 335 pages |
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Page 18
Gilbert White. in old times , a vast oak , * with a short squat body , and huge horizontal arms extending almost to the extremity of the area . This venerable tree , sur- rounded with stone steps , and seats above them , was the delight ...
Gilbert White. in old times , a vast oak , * with a short squat body , and huge horizontal arms extending almost to the extremity of the area . This venerable tree , sur- rounded with stone steps , and seats above them , was the delight ...
Page 26
... short date , I am not qualified to give the mean quantity . * I only know that From May 1 , 1779 , to the end of the year , there fell From Jan. 1 , 1780 , to Jan. 1 , 1781 From Jan. 1 , 1781 , to Jan. 1 , 1782 From Jan. 1 , 1782 , to ...
... short date , I am not qualified to give the mean quantity . * I only know that From May 1 , 1779 , to the end of the year , there fell From Jan. 1 , 1780 , to Jan. 1 , 1781 From Jan. 1 , 1781 , to Jan. 1 , 1782 From Jan. 1 , 1782 , to ...
Page 33
... short in two . Another temptation to idleness and sporting was number of rabbits , which possessed all the hillocks and dry places ; but these being inconvenient to the huntsman on account of their burrows , when they came to take away ...
... short in two . Another temptation to idleness and sporting was number of rabbits , which possessed all the hillocks and dry places ; but these being inconvenient to the huntsman on account of their burrows , when they came to take away ...
Page 52
... short remiges . It cannot , I suppose , with any propriety be called an English bird , and yet I see , by Ray's Philosophical Letters , that great flocks of them , feeding on haws , appeared in this kingdom in the winter of 1685 . The ...
... short remiges . It cannot , I suppose , with any propriety be called an English bird , and yet I see , by Ray's Philosophical Letters , that great flocks of them , feeding on haws , appeared in this kingdom in the winter of 1685 . The ...
Page 54
... short - winged , soft - billed birds , which come trooping in such numbers in the spring , I am at a loss even what to suspect about them . I watched them narrowly this year , and saw them abound till about Michaelmas , when they ...
... short - winged , soft - billed birds , which come trooping in such numbers in the spring , I am at a loss even what to suspect about them . I watched them narrowly this year , and saw them abound till about Michaelmas , when they ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound Alauda Andalusia animals appear April autumn birds of passage birds of prey blackcap brood build called chaffinches colour Comb Wood common buzzard congeners coppice cuckoo curious DEAR SIR district eggs feed feet fern-owl fieldfares fields flocks frequently frost garden Greatham ground Hanger hatched haunt hedges hirundines hirundo house-martins hundred inches insects late legs LETTER Linnĉus manner martins mentioned migration morning Motacilla natural neighbour neighbourhood nest never night observed owls parish perhaps ponds prey procure quadrupeds Raii rain redwings remarkable remiges retire ring-dove ringousels rooks roost season seems seen Selborne shot sing snow soon sort species spring stone curlew strange summer birds suppose Sussex swifts tail thrushes tion titmouse trees vast village weather whinchats whitethroat wild wings winter Wolmer Forest wonder woodcocks Woodlark woods young
Popular passages
Page 83 - For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Page 331 - July 20, inclusive, during which period the wind varied to every quarter, without making any alteration in the air. The sun, at noon, looked as blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured ferruginous light on the ground and floors of rooms ; but was particularly lurid and bloodcoloured at rising and setting. All the time the heat was so intense that butchers...
Page 92 - Amusive birds ! say where your hid retreat, When the frost rages and the tempests beat ? Whence your return, by such nice instinct led, When Spring, soft season, lifts her bloomy head? Such baffled searches mock man's prying pride, The God of Nature is your secret guide!
Page 232 - When these junci are thus far prepared they must lie out on the grass to be bleached, and take the dew for some nights and afterwards be dried in the sun.
Page 77 - It is, I find, in zoology as it is in botany: all nature is so full, that that district produces the greatest variety which is the most examined.
Page 279 - Sounds do not always give us pleasure according to their sweetness and melody ; nor do harsh sounds always displease. We are more apt to be captivated or disgusted with the associations which they promote, than with the notes themselves. Thus the shrilling of the field-cricket, though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously delights some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer ideas of everything that is rural, verdurous and joyous.
Page 183 - ... which had built in a bank in my fields. This bird, a friend and myself had observed as she sat in her nest, but were particularly careful not to disturb her, though we saw she eyed us with some degree of jealousy. Some days after, as we passed that way, we were desirous of remarking how this brood went on; but no nest could be found, till I happened to take up a large bundle of long green moss, as it were carelessly thrown over the nest, in order to dodge the eye of any impertinent intruder.
Page 204 - ... ranging to distant downs and commons even in windy weather, which the other species seem much to dislike; nay, even frequenting exposed sea-port towns, and making little excursions over the salt water. Horsemen on wide downs are often closely attended by a little party of swallows for miles together, which plays before and behind them, sweeping around, and collecting all the sculking insects that are roused by the trampling of the horses...
Page 290 - But as he avoids heat in the summer, so, in the decline of the year, he improves the faint autumnal beams, by getting within the reflection of a...
Page 37 - 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.