The Natural History of SelborneConstable and Company, 1829 - 343 pages |
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Page 27
... feeding . During this great proportion of the day , they drop much dung , in which insects nestle ; and so supply food for the fish , which would be poorly subsisted but from this contin- gency . Thus Nature , who is a great economist ...
... feeding . During this great proportion of the day , they drop much dung , in which insects nestle ; and so supply food for the fish , which would be poorly subsisted but from this contin- gency . Thus Nature , who is a great economist ...
Page 35
... feeding in the walks , many times in the day ; and seemed dis- posed to breed in my outlet ; but were frighted and persecuted by idle boys , who never let them be at rest . * Three gross - beaks ( loxia coccothraustes ) ap- peared some ...
... feeding in the walks , many times in the day ; and seemed dis- posed to breed in my outlet ; but were frighted and persecuted by idle boys , who never let them be at rest . * Three gross - beaks ( loxia coccothraustes ) ap- peared some ...
Page 40
... feeding on haws , appeared in this kingdom in the winter of 1685. * The mention of haws puts me in mind that there is a total failure of that wild fruit , so conducive to the support of many of the winged nation . For the same severe ...
... feeding on haws , appeared in this kingdom in the winter of 1685. * The mention of haws puts me in mind that there is a total failure of that wild fruit , so conducive to the support of many of the winged nation . For the same severe ...
Page 47
... fed her with insects whenever I could get them ; and she always preferred them to every other kind of food that I offered her . When this mouse was first put into her cage , a piece of fine flannel was fold- ed up into the dark part of ...
... fed her with insects whenever I could get them ; and she always preferred them to every other kind of food that I offered her . When this mouse was first put into her cage , a piece of fine flannel was fold- ed up into the dark part of ...
Page 60
... fed . But at last a tame raven , kenning him as he put forth his head , gave him such a severe stroke with his horny beak as put out one eye . After this accident , the creature languished for some time and died . I need not remind a ...
... fed . But at last a tame raven , kenning him as he put forth his head , gave him such a severe stroke with his horny beak as put out one eye . After this accident , the creature languished for some time and died . I need not remind a ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound Alauda Andalusia animal appear April autumn birds of passage birds of prey Blackcap breed British Zoology brood called chaffinches colour congeners cuckoo curious district dogs drupeds echo eggs feeding feet female fieldfares fish flocks forest frequently frost garden genus Gibraltar gralla Greatham ground Hanger haunt hedges hirundines hirundo house-martins inches insects late legs letter Linnæus mandible manner martins mentioned migration morning Motacilla natural history naturalist nest never night observed once owls parish perhaps procured quadrupeds RAII rain rastellum redwings remarkable remiges retire ring-dove ringousels season seems seen Selborne shot sing snow soft-billed soon sort species spring stone curlew strange summer birds suppose Sussex swallow swifts tail tion titmouse torpid trees vast village weather white-throat wild wings winter Wolmer wonder woodcocks Woodlark woods yards young Zoology
Popular passages
Page 67 - 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 320 - 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 78 - 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 219 - ... seldom failing to strip them with the nicest regularity. 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 226 - 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. As the ceremonies necessary for such a consecration are no longer understood, all succession is at an end, and no such tree is known to subsist in the manor or hundred. As to that on the Plestor, " The late Vicar stubb'd and burnt it...
Page 238 - For to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it; and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine manure...
Page 4 - In the midst of this spot stood, 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, surrounded with stone steps, and seats above them, was the delight of old and young, and a place of much resort in summer evenings ; where the former sat in grave debate, while the latter frolicked and danced before them.
Page 168 - Nothing can be more assiduous than this creature night and day in scooping the earth and forcing its great body Into the cavity; but, as the noons of that season proved unusually warm and sunny, it was continually interrupted, and called forth, by the heat in the middle of the day; and though I continued there till the 13th of November, yet the work remained unfinished.
Page 261 - There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the attention even of the most incurious — they spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish; and when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity.
Page 6 - ... sat on. At last, when it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest; and, though her parental affection deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which brought her dead to the ground.