The Natural History of SelborneJohn Van Voorst, 1843 - 398 pages |
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Page 33
... strange it is , that the swift , which seems to live exactly the same life with the swallow and house- martin , should leave us before the middle of August invariably ! while the latter stay often till the middle of October ; and once I ...
... strange it is , that the swift , which seems to live exactly the same life with the swallow and house- martin , should leave us before the middle of August invariably ! while the latter stay often till the middle of October ; and once I ...
Page 36
... strange to me . Though mutilated , " qualem dices antehac fuisse , tales cum sint reliquiæ ! " It haunted a marshy piece of ground in quest of wild - ducks and snipes ; but , when it was shot , had just knocked down a rook , which it ...
... strange to me . Though mutilated , " qualem dices antehac fuisse , tales cum sint reliquiæ ! " It haunted a marshy piece of ground in quest of wild - ducks and snipes ; but , when it was shot , had just knocked down a rook , which it ...
Page 45
... ( strange as it is ) of their retiring under water . * A Swedish naturalist is so much persuaded of that fact , that he talks , in his Calendar of Flora , as familiarly of the swallow's going under water in the beginning of September , as ...
... ( strange as it is ) of their retiring under water . * A Swedish naturalist is so much persuaded of that fact , that he talks , in his Calendar of Flora , as familiarly of the swallow's going under water in the beginning of September , as ...
Page 64
... strange that the matter with regard to the venom of toads has not been yet settled . That they are not * Both toads and frogs are oviparous , and the mode of repro- duction is , in all essential points , the same in the two species ...
... strange that the matter with regard to the venom of toads has not been yet settled . That they are not * Both toads and frogs are oviparous , and the mode of repro- duction is , in all essential points , the same in the two species ...
Page 73
... strange clergyman , who , after expressing com- passion for her situation , told her , that if she would make such an application of living toads as is men- tioned , she would be well . " Now , is it likely that this unknown gentleman ...
... strange clergyman , who , after expressing com- passion for her situation , told her , that if she would make such an application of living toads as is men- tioned , she would be well . " Now , is it likely that this unknown gentleman ...
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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 Linnæus 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...