The Natural History of Selborne and The Naturalist's Calendar |
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Page 27
... seen within the limits of Wolmer , nor were the red deer of Wolmer ever known to haunt the thickets or glades of the Holt . " In Rot . Inquisit . de statu forest . in Scaccar . 36 Edw . III . , it is called Aisholt . " 66 In the same ...
... seen within the limits of Wolmer , nor were the red deer of Wolmer ever known to haunt the thickets or glades of the Holt . " In Rot . Inquisit . de statu forest . in Scaccar . 36 Edw . III . , it is called Aisholt . " 66 In the same ...
Page 37
... seen in the same dead season . A crossbill ( loxia curvirostra ) was killed last year in this neigh- bourhood . Our streams , which are small , and rise only at the end of the village , yield nothing but the bull's head or miller's ...
... seen in the same dead season . A crossbill ( loxia curvirostra ) was killed last year in this neigh- bourhood . Our streams , which are small , and rise only at the end of the village , yield nothing but the bull's head or miller's ...
Page 39
... seen no black - caps lately . I forgot to mention that I once saw , in Christ Church College quadrangle in Oxford , on a very sunny warm morning , a house- martin flying about , and settling on the parapet , so late as the 20th November ...
... seen no black - caps lately . I forgot to mention that I once saw , in Christ Church College quadrangle in Oxford , on a very sunny warm morning , a house- martin flying about , and settling on the parapet , so late as the 20th November ...
Page 41
... seen , in small flocks , in districts where the larch is plentiful . With its peculiar curved mandibles , it extracts the seeds from the fir - cones . The birds vary greatly in size and colour , according to age and sex . They are ...
... seen , in small flocks , in districts where the larch is plentiful . With its peculiar curved mandibles , it extracts the seeds from the fir - cones . The birds vary greatly in size and colour , according to age and sex . They are ...
Page 63
... seen the viper open her mouth and admit her helpless young down her throat on sudden surprises , just as the female opossum does her brood into the pouch under her belly , upon the like emergencies ; and yet the London viper- catchers ...
... seen the viper open her mouth and admit her helpless young down her throat on sudden surprises , just as the female opossum does her brood into the pouch under her belly , upon the like emergencies ; and yet the London viper- catchers ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound animals appear April autumn Berne birds birds of prey Bishop of Winchester breed called canons chaffinches chapter-house church common convent cuckoo curious DEAR district eggs election feet female field fieldfares forest frequent frost garden ground Gurdon haunt hirundines hirundo house-martins inches insects John July July 13 July 22 June June 11 June 22 June 9 Knights Templars late Linnĉus manner manor March migration nest never Newton Valence night NOTE TO LETTER November observed parish perhaps person Peter Berne ponds preceptory prior priory of Selborne probably rain remarkable season seems seen Selebourne Sept sings Sir Adam snow species spring stone-curlew summer suppose swallow swift Templars titmouse trees vast vicar village weather White wild wings winter Wolmer wonder woodcocks woods Wyndesor young
Popular passages
Page 140 - 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 74 - 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 181 - ... in a lonely orchard, where they saw no creature but each other. By degrees an apparent regard began to take place between these two sequestered individuals. The fowl would approach the quadruped with notes of complacency, rubbing herself gently against his legs ; while the horse would look down with satisfaction, and move with the greatest caution and circumspection, lest he should trample on his diminutive companion. Thus, by mutual good offices, each seemed to console the vacant hours of the...
Page 188 - ... was plastered with loam, and carefully swathed up. If the parts coalesced and soldered together, as usually fell out where the feat was performed with any adroitness at all, the party was cured; but where the cleft continued to gape, the operation, it was supposed, would prove ineffectual. Having occasion to enlarge my garden not long since, I cut down two or three such trees, one of which did not grow together.
Page 189 - ... it is supposed that a shrew-mouse is 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, aud threatened with the loss of the use of the limb.
Page 82 - While o'er the cliff th' awaken'd churn-owl hung, Through the still gloom protracts his chattering song ; While, high in air, and poised upon his wings, Unseen, the soft enamour'd woodlarkf sings : These, Nature's works, the curious mind employ, Inspire a soothing melancholy joy : As fancy warms, a pleasing kind of pain Steals o'er the cheek, and thrills the creeping vein ! Each rural sight, each sound, each smell combine ; The tinkling sheep-bell, or the breath of kine ; The new-mown hay that scents...
Page 310 - 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...
Page 208 - ... the rain washes the earth away; and they affect slopes, probably to avoid being flooded. Gardeners and farmers express their detestation of worms; the former because they render their walks unsightly and make them much work: and the latter because, as they think, worms eat their green corn. But these men would find that the earth without worms would soon become cold, hard-bound, and void of fermentation; and consequently sterile...
Page 208 - For to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds, which are almost entirely supported by them, 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...
Page 156 - Faunists, as you observe, are too apt to acquiesce in bare descriptions, and a few synonyms : the reason is plain ; because all that may be done at home in a man's study, but the investigation of the life and conversation of animals is a concern of much more trouble and difficulty, and is not to be attained but by the active and inquisitive, and by those that reside much in the country.