The Natural History of SelborneSociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1893 - 345 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
abound aëre Andalusia animal appear April autumn birds of passage birds of prey blackcap brood build called chaffinches colour common common buzzard cuckoo curious DEAR SIR district eggs feed feet fieldfares fields flocks frequently frost garden Gibraltar GILBERT WHITE Greatham ground Hanger hatched haunt hedges hill hirundines hirundo HOOPOE house-martins hundred inches insects late legs LETTER Linnæus manner martins mentioned migration morning Motacilla natural history neighbourhood neighbouring nest never Newton Valence night observed perhaps ponds procure quadrupeds rain redwings remarkable remiges retire ring-dove ringousels rooks season seems seen Selborne sing snow soft-billed birds soon species spring stone stone curlew strange summer birds suppose Sussex swallow swifts tail titmouse trees vast village weather whitethroat wild wings winter Wolmer Forest wonder woodcocks Woodlark woods wren young
Popular passages
Page 327 - 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 279 - Swinging slow with sullen roar; Or if the air will not permit, Some still removed place will fit, Where glowing embers through the room Teach light to counterfeit a gloom, Far from all resort of mirth, Save the cricket on the hearth, Or the bellman's drowsy charm To bless the doors from nightly harm.
Page 8 - ... and each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous task. But, when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, and acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. So the ravens built on, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal day arrived in which the wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of February, when those birds usually sit.
Page 136 - Qualis spelunca subito commota columba, Cui domus et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi, Fertur in arva volans, plausumque exterrita pennis 215 Dat tecto ingentem, mox aere lapsa quieto Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas : Sic Mnestheus, sic ipsa fuga secat ultima Pristis Aequora, sic illam fert impetus ipse volantem.
Page 197 - May, which consists, like that of the house-martin, of a crust or shell composed of dirt or mud, mixed with short pieces of straw, to render it tough and permanent ; with this difference, that whereas the shell of the martin is nearly hemispheric, that of the swallow is open at the top, and like half a deep dish : this nest is lined with fine grasses and feathers, which are often collected as they float in the air. Wonderful is the address which this adroit bird shows all day long in ascending and...
Page 262 - Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no dispatch ; herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies ; but these vast hollow wings are necessary in carrying burdens, such as large fishes, and the like ; pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of clashing their wings the one against the other over their backs with a loud snap ; another variety, called tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.
Page 184 - ... the superstructure. On this occasion the bird not only clings with its claws, but partly supports itself by strongly inclining its tail against the wall, making that a fulcrum, and, thus steadied, it works and plasters the materials into the face of the brick or stone. But then, that this work may not, while it is soft and green, pull itself down by its own weight, the provident architect has prudence and forbearance enough not to advance her work too fast, but by building only in the morning,...
Page 155 - Men that undertake only one district are much more likely to advance natural knowledge than those that grasp at more than they can possibly be acquainted with : every kingdom, every province, should have its own monographer.
Page 44 - ... and blind. As this nest was perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter respectively so as to administer a teat to each ? Perhaps she opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them again when the business is over ; but she could not possibly be contained herself in the ball with her young, which moreover would be daily increasing in bulk. This wonderful procreant cradle, an elegant instance of the efforts of instinct, was found in a wheat-field suspended in the head of a thistle.
Page 225 - ... but one solitary hen. These two incongruous animals spent much of their time together in a lonely orchard, where they saw no creature but each other. By degrees, an apparent regard began to take place between these two sequestered individuals. The fowl would approach the quadruped with notes of complacency, rubbing herself gently against his legs ; while the horse would look down with satisfaction, and move with the greatest caution and circumspection, lest he should trample on his diminutive...