The Natural History of SelborneHarper, 1842 - 335 pages |
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Page 16
... kind of white land , neither chalk nor clay , neither fit for pasture nor for the plough , yet kindly for hops , which root deep into the freestone , and have their poles and wood for charcoal growing just at hand . This white soil ...
... kind of white land , neither chalk nor clay , neither fit for pasture nor for the plough , yet kindly for hops , which root deep into the freestone , and have their poles and wood for charcoal growing just at hand . This white soil ...
Page 22
... kind of terra lapidosa , or hardened clay , as soon as they were exposed to the rains and frost they mouldered away . These seemed as if they were a very recent production . In the chalk - pit at the northwest end of the Hanger , large ...
... kind of terra lapidosa , or hardened clay , as soon as they were exposed to the rains and frost they mouldered away . These seemed as if they were a very recent production . In the chalk - pit at the northwest end of the Hanger , large ...
Page 42
... kind of information to which I have been attach- ed from my childhood . As to SWALLOWS ( hirundines rustica ) being found in a torpid state during the winter in the Isle of Wight or any part of this country , I never heard any such ...
... kind of information to which I have been attach- ed from my childhood . As to SWALLOWS ( hirundines rustica ) being found in a torpid state during the winter in the Isle of Wight or any part of this country , I never heard any such ...
Page 49
... kind of carrion or offal . The house - martins have eggs still , and squab . The last swift I observed was about the 21st of August ; it was a straggler . young . Redstarts , fly - catchers , whitethroats , and reguli non cristati still ...
... kind of carrion or offal . The house - martins have eggs still , and squab . The last swift I observed was about the 21st of August ; it was a straggler . young . Redstarts , fly - catchers , whitethroats , and reguli non cristati still ...
Page 53
... kind which assemble in those parts . But what struck me most was , that from the time they be- gan to congregate , forsaking the chimneys and houses , they roosted every night in the osier - beds of the aits or islets of that river ...
... kind which assemble in those parts . But what struck me most was , that from the time they be- gan to congregate , forsaking the chimneys and houses , they roosted every night in the osier - beds of the aits or islets of that river ...
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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 Linnĉus 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...