The Natural History of SelborneJohn Van Voorst, 1843 - 398 pages |
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Page ix
... never attracted attention , nor . elicited a remark from any previous observer , show the assiduity with which he watched nature , and his eagerness to glean all that could be learnt with respect to the ways and habits of his favourite ...
... never attracted attention , nor . elicited a remark from any previous observer , show the assiduity with which he watched nature , and his eagerness to glean all that could be learnt with respect to the ways and habits of his favourite ...
Page xiii
... never persuade himself to quit the beloved spot , which was , indeed , a peculiarly happy situation for an observer . He was much esteemed by a select society of intelligent and worthy friends , to whom he paid occasional visits . Thus ...
... never persuade himself to quit the beloved spot , which was , indeed , a peculiarly happy situation for an observer . He was much esteemed by a select society of intelligent and worthy friends , to whom he paid occasional visits . Thus ...
Page 10
... never could meet with an entire specimen ; nor could I ever find in books any engraving from a per- fect one . In the superb museum at Leicester House , permission was given me to examine for this article ; and though I was disappointed ...
... never could meet with an entire specimen ; nor could I ever find in books any engraving from a per- fect one . In the superb museum at Leicester House , permission was given me to examine for this article ; and though I was disappointed ...
Page 13
... never becoming slippery in frost or rain ; is excellent for dry walls , and is sometimes used in buildings . In many parts of that waste it lies scattered on the surface of the ground ; but is dug on Weaver's Down , a vast hill on the ...
... never becoming slippery in frost or rain ; is excellent for dry walls , and is sometimes used in buildings . In many parts of that waste it lies scattered on the surface of the ground ; but is dug on Weaver's Down , a vast hill on the ...
Page 18
... never were any fallen trees hidden in the mosses of the southern counties . " But he was mistaken ; for I myself have seen cottages on the verge of this wild district , whose timbers consisted of a black hard wood , looking like oak ...
... never were any fallen trees hidden in the mosses of the southern counties . " But he was mistaken ; for I myself have seen cottages on the verge of this wild district , whose timbers consisted of a black hard wood , looking like oak ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound Andalusia animal appear April autumn birds of passage birds of prey breed British Birds British Zoology brood called Cambridgeshire chaffinches colour crista galli cuckoo curious Daines Barrington district eggs feeding feet female fern-owl fieldfares fishes flocks former frequently frost garden gentleman genus Gibraltar Gross-beak ground Hanger haunt hedges hirundines hirundo house-martins inches insects instance known late legs LETTER Linnĉus male manner martins mentioned migration morning Motacilla Natural History naturalist neighbourhood nest never night numbers observed owls pair perhaps procure quadrupeds rain remarkable remiges retire ring-dove ring-ousels rooks says season seems seen Selborne sing snow soft-billed soon species spring stone-curlew strange summer birds suppose Sussex Swaffham Bulbeck swallow swifts tail THOMAS PENNANT tion titmouse toads trees vast village weather White white-throat wild willow-wren wings winter wonder Woodlark woods Yarrell young Zoology
Popular passages
Page 323 - 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 381 - Of glory obscured ; as when the sun, new risen, Looks through the horizontal misty air Shorn of his beams ; or from behind the moon, JOHN MILTON. 345 In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs.
Page 96 - 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 191 - MILTOK. but scout and hurry along in little detached parties of six or seven in a company ; and sweeping low, just over the surface of the land and water, direct their course to the opposite continent at the narrowest passage they can find.
Page 306 - Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem to want ballast. 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...
Page 85 - 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 2 - The covert of this eminence is altogether beech, the most lovely of all forest trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy foliage, or graceful pendulous boughs.
Page 27 - 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.
Page 261 - ... moist pastures, by the sides of streams, and under hedges. These rushes are in best condition in the height of summer, but may be gathered, so as to serve the purpose well, quite on to autumn.
Page 226 - In Sweden she builds in barns, and is called ladu swala, the barn-swallow. Besides, in the warmer parts of Europe there are no chimneys to houses, except they are English-built: in these countries she constructs her nest in porches, and gateways, and galleries, and open halls. Here and there a bird may affect some odd, peculiar place ; as we have known a swallow build down the shaft of an old well, through which chalk had been formerly drawn up for the purpose of manure; but, in general, with us...