The Natural History of Selbourne: With Observations on Various Parts of Nature, and The Naturalist's Calendar |
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Page 23
... strange it is , that the swift , which seems to live exactly the same life with the swallow and house - marten , should leave us before the middle of August invariably ! while the latter stay often till the middle of October ; and once ...
... strange it is , that the swift , which seems to live exactly the same life with the swallow and house - marten , should leave us before the middle of August invariably ! while the latter stay often till the middle of October ; and once ...
Page 24
... 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 ...
... 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 ...
Page 27
... strange altera- tion immediately takes place in the defeated party : his gallant bearing forsakes him ; his gay colours fade away ; ; he becomes again speckled and ugly ; and he hides his disgrace among his peaceable companions . " It ...
... strange altera- tion immediately takes place in the defeated party : his gallant bearing forsakes him ; his gay colours fade away ; ; he becomes again speckled and ugly ; and he hides his disgrace among his peaceable companions . " It ...
Page 30
... ( 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 44
... strange that the matter with regard to the venom of toads has not been yet settled . That they are not noxious to some animals is plain ; for ducks , buzzards , owls , stone - curlews , and snakes , eat them , to my knowledge , with ...
... strange that the matter with regard to the venom of toads has not been yet settled . That they are not noxious to some animals is plain ; for ducks , buzzards , owls , stone - curlews , and snakes , eat them , to my knowledge , with ...
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The Natural History of Selbourne: With Observations on Various Parts of ... Gilbert White No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
abound Andalusia animals appear April April 14 April 20 autumn birds birds of prey breed brood called chaffinches cock cold colour common cuckoo curious DAINES BARRINGTON DEAR SIR discovered district eggs feed feet female fieldfare flies flocks frequently garden ground hard frost hatched haunt hirundines hirundo house-martens hundred inches insects January July July 13 July 22 June June 21 June 9 larvæ late legs LETTER Linnæus male manner March martens mentioned migration mild month natural naturalist nest never night November observed owls plants pond prey quadrupeds rain remarkable rooks says season seems SELBORNE Sept September shew shot showers sings snow soon species spring stone-curlew summer suppose swallow swift tail THOMAS PENNANT titmouse toads trees village weather wild wings winter woodcock woods wren young
Popular passages
Page 82 - Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? Or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, And warmeth them in the dust, And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, Or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, As though they were not hers; Her labour is in vain without fear; Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
Page 56 - 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 19 - 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 153 - ... unable to take their own food ; therefore they play about near the place where the dams are hawking for flies ; and, when a mouthful is collected, at a certain signal given, the dam and the nestling advance, rising towards each other, and meeting at an angle ; the young one all the while uttering such a little quick note of gratitude and complacency, that a person must have paid very little regard to the wonders of Nature that has not often remarked this feat.
Page 280 - 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 4 - 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.
Page 6 - The saw was applied to the but, the wedges were inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle, or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the dam sat on. At last, when it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest ; and, though...
Page 63 - When the still owl skims round the grassy mead, What time the timorous hare limps forth to feed ; Then be the time to steal adown the vale, And listen to the vagrant cuckoo's tale; To hear the clamorous...
Page 125 - 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 279 - July 20 inclusive, during which period the wind varied to every quarter, without making any alteration in the air. The sun, at noon, looked as blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured, ferruginous light on the ground, and floors of rooms ; but was particularly lurid, and bloodcoloured at rising and setting. All this time the heat was so intense, that butchers...