The Natural History of SelborneHarper, 1842 - 335 pages |
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Page 30
... beginning of this century , amounted to about five hundred head , and made a stately appearance . There is an old keeper now alive , named Adams , whose great - grandfather ( mentioned in a perambulation taken in 1635 ) , grandfather ...
... beginning of this century , amounted to about five hundred head , and made a stately appearance . There is an old keeper now alive , named Adams , whose great - grandfather ( mentioned in a perambulation taken in 1635 ) , grandfather ...
Page 32
... beginning of this century , all this country was wild about deer - stealing . The Waltham blacks at length committed such enormities , that govern- ment was forced to interfere with that severe and sanguinary act called the Black Act ...
... beginning of this century , all this country was wild about deer - stealing . The Waltham blacks at length committed such enormities , that govern- ment was forced to interfere with that severe and sanguinary act called the Black Act ...
Page 36
... NOTE . - In the beginning of the summer , 1787 , the royal for- ests of Wolmer and Holt were measured by persons sent down by government . Within the present limits of the forest are three considerable 36 NATURAL HISTORY.
... NOTE . - In the beginning of the summer , 1787 , the royal for- ests of Wolmer and Holt were measured by persons sent down by government . Within the present limits of the forest are three considerable 36 NATURAL HISTORY.
Page 54
... beginning of September , as he would of his poultry going to roost a little before sunset . An observing gentleman in London writes me word that he saw a house - martin , on the 23d of last October , flying in and out of its nest in the ...
... beginning of September , as he would of his poultry going to roost a little before sunset . An observing gentleman in London writes me word that he saw a house - martin , on the 23d of last October , flying in and out of its nest in the ...
Page 85
... bird is most punctual in beginning its song exactly at the close of day ; so exactly , that I have known it Cressi Hall is near Spalding , in Lincolnshire . H strike up more than once or twice just at the. OF SELBORNE . 85.
... bird is most punctual in beginning its song exactly at the close of day ; so exactly , that I have known it Cressi Hall is near Spalding , in Lincolnshire . H strike up more than once or twice just at the. OF SELBORNE . 85.
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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 fieldfares fields flocks frequently frost garden Greatham ground Hanger hatched haunt hedges hirundines hirundo house-martins hundred inches insects late legs LETTER Linnæus manner martins mentioned migration morning Motacilla neighbour neighbourhood nest never night observed owls pair parish perhaps ponds prey procured quadrupeds Raii rain redwings remarkable remiges reptile 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 328 - 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 18 - 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 - Part loosely wing the region, part more wise In common, ranged in figure wedge their way, Intelligent of seasons, and set forth Their airy caravan high over seas Flying, and over lands with mutual wing Easing their flight...
Page 90 - 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 228 - 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 239 - ... 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 wormcasts, which, being their excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass.
Page 286 - 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 202 - Each species of hirundo drinks as it flies along, sipping the surface of the water ; but the swallow alone, in general, washes on the wing, by dropping into a pool for many times together : in very hot weather house-martins and bank-martins dip and wash a little..
Page 81 - I have reason to lament this want in my own country ; for such objects are very necessary ingredients in an elegant landscape.
Page 8 - Being of an unambitious temper, and strongly attached to the charms of rural scenery, he early fixed his residence in his native village, Till where he spent the greater part of his life in literary occupations, and especially in the study of Nature. This he followed with patient assiduity, and a mind ever open to the lessons of piety and benevolence, which such a study is so well calculated to afford. Though several occasions offered of settling upon a college living, he could never persuade himself...