The Natural History of Selborne: With Miscellaneous Observations and Explanatory NotesBell and Daldy, 1862 - 426 pages |
From inside the book
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Page 54
... swallow's going under water in the beginning of September , as he would of his poultry going to roost a little be- fore sunset . An observing gentleman in London writes me * Swallows are always found near to rivers in considerable ...
... swallow's going under water in the beginning of September , as he would of his poultry going to roost a little be- fore sunset . An observing gentleman in London writes me * Swallows are always found near to rivers in considerable ...
Page 55
... swallow society ; the rash , the im- petuous , the imprudent , or the unfortunate ; which occur in all associations , and who cease to be " known " by more for- tunate swallows . - ED . LETTER XIII . S in one of your former letters OF ...
... swallow society ; the rash , the im- petuous , the imprudent , or the unfortunate ; which occur in all associations , and who cease to be " known " by more for- tunate swallows . - ED . LETTER XIII . S in one of your former letters OF ...
Page 59
... swallows roosting on the aits of the Thames : nor can I hear any more about those birds which I suspected were merula torquatæ . As to the small mice , I have farther to remark , that though they hang their nests for breeding up amidst ...
... swallows roosting on the aits of the Thames : nor can I hear any more about those birds which I suspected were merula torquatæ . As to the small mice , I have farther to remark , that though they hang their nests for breeding up amidst ...
Page 70
... swallow , Martin , Sand - martin , Cuckoo , Nightingale , Blackcap , Whitethroat , Middle willow - wren , Swift , Stone curlew ,? Turtle - dove ,? Grasshopper - lark , Landrail , Largest willow - wren , Redstart , Goatsucker , or fern ...
... swallow , Martin , Sand - martin , Cuckoo , Nightingale , Blackcap , Whitethroat , Middle willow - wren , Swift , Stone curlew ,? Turtle - dove ,? Grasshopper - lark , Landrail , Largest willow - wren , Redstart , Goatsucker , or fern ...
Page 91
... swallow , as it pursues , like it , its insect prey with a light and wavering wing ; its soft and compact plumage giving it a noiseless movement resembling that of the owls as they fit through the air . The goat - sucker is furnished ...
... swallow , as it pursues , like it , its insect prey with a light and wavering wing ; its soft and compact plumage giving it a noiseless movement resembling that of the owls as they fit through the air . The goat - sucker is furnished ...
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Natural History of Selborne: With Its Antiquities, Naturalist's Calendar, Etc. Gilbert White No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
abound Andalusia animals appear April autumn birds birds of prey breed brood called chaffinches colour common common buzzard congeners cuckoo curious curlew district eggs feed feet female fern-owl fieldfares fields flies flocks forest frequently frost garden ground Hanger haunt hawk hedges hirundines Hirundo HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON house-martins inches insects known late le ham legs LETTER Linnæus M'Gillivray male manner martins migration morning Motacilla natural history naturalist neighbouring nest never night observed owls pair perhaps ponds prey procured quadrupeds remarkable remiges retire ring-dove ring-ousels rooks says season seems seen SELBORNE shot sing snow soft-billed song soon species spring stone-curlew strange summer suppose Sussex swallow swifts tail THOMAS PENNANT thrush tion titmouse trees vast Vespertilio village weather white-throat wild wings winter Wolmer wonder woodcocks Woodlark woods wren young
Popular passages
Page 80 - 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 408 - Arch-Angel ruin'd, 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 182 - No part of its behaviour ever struck me more than the extreme timidity it always expresses with regard to rain ; for though it has a shell that would secure it against the wheel of a loaded cart, yet does it discover as much solicitude about rain as a lady dressed in all her best attire, shuffling away on the first sprinklings, and running its head up in a corner.
Page 199 - Thus careful workmen when they build mud walls (informed at first perhaps by this little bird) raise but a moderate layer at a time, and then desist ; lest the work should become top-heavy, and so be ruined by its own weight. By this method in about ten or twelve days is formed an hemispheric nest with a small aperture towards the top, strong, compact, and warm ; and perfectly fitted for all the purposes for which it was intended.
Page 278 - ... it is supposed that a shrewmouse ia of so baneful and deleterious a nature, that wherever it creeps over a beast, be it horse, cow, or sheep, the suffering animal is afflicted with cruel anguish, and threatened with the loss of the use of the limb.
Page 158 - 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 184 - Zoology (the stoparola of Ray) builds every year in the vines that grow on the walls of my house. A pair of these little birds had one year inadvertently placed their nest on a naked bough, perhaps in a shady time, not being aware of the inconvenience that followed. But...