The Natural History of Selborne: With Observations on Various Parts of Nature and the Naturalist's CalendarBell & Daldy, 1870 - 416 pages |
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Page xvi
... build new ones by ten days or a fortnight . He speaks with some degree of triumph to having ricked his meadow hay in delicate order , and that Thomas had seen a pole - cat run across his garden . He records the circumstance of boys ...
... build new ones by ten days or a fortnight . He speaks with some degree of triumph to having ricked his meadow hay in delicate order , and that Thomas had seen a pole - cat run across his garden . He records the circumstance of boys ...
Page 3
... from the leafy dell , * A kind of arbour on the side of a hill . * A grotesque building , contrived by a young gentleman , who used on occasion to appear in the character of a hermit . By fancy plann'd ; as once th ' inventive maid B 2.
... from the leafy dell , * A kind of arbour on the side of a hill . * A grotesque building , contrived by a young gentleman , who used on occasion to appear in the character of a hermit . By fancy plann'd ; as once th ' inventive maid B 2.
Page 22
... building of dry walls against banks , a valuable species of fencing , much in use in this village ; and for mending of roads . This rug is ragged and stubborn , and will not hew to a smooth face ; but is very durable : yet , as these ...
... building of dry walls against banks , a valuable species of fencing , much in use in this village ; and for mending of roads . This rug is ragged and stubborn , and will not hew to a smooth face ; but is very durable : yet , as these ...
Page 46
... build their nests amidst the straws of the corn above the ground , and sometimes in thistles . They breed as many as eight in a litter , in a little round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat . † One of these nests I procured ...
... build their nests amidst the straws of the corn above the ground , and sometimes in thistles . They breed as many as eight in a litter , in a little round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat . † One of these nests I procured ...
Page 49
... builds its nest in the same form and of the same materials as its parent , and for the most part in a similar situation ; but he thinks that , if the eggs were transposed into the nest of some nearly related species , and the produce ...
... builds its nest in the same form and of the same materials as its parent , and for the most part in a similar situation ; but he thinks that , if the eggs were transposed into the nest of some nearly related species , and the produce ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound animal appear April April 14 April 22 autumn bees birds of passage breed brood called chaffinches cold colour common cuckoo curious DAINES BARRINGTON DEAR district dogs eggs feed feet female fieldfares fields flies flocks forest frequently frost garden Gilbert White grass ground haunt hirundines hirundo house-martins inches insects July July 13 July 22 June June 11 June 22 June 9 late legs LETTER Linnæus male manner March March 26 MARKWICK mentioned migration mild morning naturalist nest never night observed perhaps plants prey quadrupeds rain remarkable rooks says season seems seen SELBORNE Sept showers sings snow soon species spring stone curlew strange summer suppose swallows swifts tail THOMAS PENNANT titmouse trees vast village vols weather WHITE wild wings winter wonder woods wren young
Popular passages
Page 296 - 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 212 - ... anguish, and threatened with the loss of the use of the limb. Against this accident, to which they were continually liable, our provident forefathers always kept a shrew-ash at hand, which, when once medicated, would maintain its virtue for ever. A shrew-ash was made thus:* — Into the body of the tree, a deep hole was bored with an auger, and a poor devoted shrew-mouse was thrust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt, with several quaint incantations, long since forgotten.
Page 210 - ... his finger on the hives, and so take the bees as they came out. He has been known to overturn hives for the sake of honey, of which he was passionately fond. Where metheglin was making he would linger round the tubs and vessels, begging a draught of what he called bee-wine. As he ran about he used to make a humming noise with his lips, resembling the buzzing of bees. This lad was lean and sallow, and of a cadaverous complexion ; and, except in his favourite pursuit, in which he was wonderfully...
Page 146 - 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 33 - 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.