The Natural History of Selborne: Observations on Various Parts of Nature : and The Naturalist's Calendar |
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Page 6
... females will allow themselves to be taken rather than desert their nests . The following instance , recorded by ... female was sitting , and it was naturally expected the motion of the pump - handle would drive her away . The young ...
... females will allow themselves to be taken rather than desert their nests . The following instance , recorded by ... female was sitting , and it was naturally expected the motion of the pump - handle would drive her away . The young ...
Page 26
... female was shot on the nest , which was of a slovenly , loose form , and shallow , not being so deep as those of the ... females . A pretty large flock made its appearance in the neighbourhood of Ambleside , Westmoreland , in November ...
... female was shot on the nest , which was of a slovenly , loose form , and shallow , not being so deep as those of the ... females . A pretty large flock made its appearance in the neighbourhood of Ambleside , Westmoreland , in November ...
Page 29
... female with young , both of which I have preserved in brandy . From the colour , shape , size , and manner of nesting , I make no doubt but that the species is nondescript . They are much smaller , and more slender , than the mus ...
... female with young , both of which I have preserved in brandy . From the colour , shape , size , and manner of nesting , I make no doubt but that the species is nondescript . They are much smaller , and more slender , than the mus ...
Page 32
... females at least fifty to one . This extraordinary occurrence brought to my mind the remark of Linnæus , that ... female flocks migrate from the other end of the island , or whether they come over to us from the Continent . * We ...
... females at least fifty to one . This extraordinary occurrence brought to my mind the remark of Linnæus , that ... female flocks migrate from the other end of the island , or whether they come over to us from the Continent . * We ...
Page 36
... females , and the latter were both male birds . On the grounds of Drumsheugh , the property of our friend Sir Patrick Walker , there was , some years ago , a beautifully mottled blackbird , which became so tame that it fed along EFFECT ...
... females , and the latter were both male birds . On the grounds of Drumsheugh , the property of our friend Sir Patrick Walker , there was , some years ago , a beautifully mottled blackbird , which became so tame that it fed along EFFECT ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound Andalusia animals appear April April 14 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 hatched haunt hirundines hirundo house-martens hundred inches insects January July July 14 June June 11 June 9 larvæ late legs LETTER Linnæus male manner March martens mentioned migration mild motacilla Natural History naturalist nest never night November observed owls plants prey quadrupeds rain redwings remarkable remiges ringousels rooks says season seems seen SELBORNE September shew shot showers sings snow soon species spring stone-curlew summer suppose swallow swift tail Temminck THOMAS PENNANT titmouse toads trees village weather wild wings winter Wolmer wood woodcock wren young
Popular passages
Page 80 - 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...
Page 268 - 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 61 - WHEN day declining sheds a milder gleam, What time the may-fly haunts the pool or stream; 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...
Page 267 - 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 blood-coloured at rising and setting. All the time the heat was so intense, that butchers...
Page 194 - ... would proceed but lamely without them ; by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants ; by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it ; and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass.
Page 110 - Part loosely wing the region, part more wise In common, ranged in figure wedge their way, Intelligent of seasons, and set forth Their airy caravan high over seas Flying, and over lands with mutual wing Easing their flight...
Page 121 - I saw it distinctly, more than once, put out its short leg while on the wing, and by a bend of the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any part of its prey with its foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished with a serrated claw...
Page 118 - 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.
Page 4 - ... sat on. At last, when it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest; and, though her parental affection deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which brought her dead to the ground.
Page 61 - J cry; To see the feeding bat glance through the wood ; To catch the distant falling of the flood ; While o'er the cliff th...