The Natural History of Selborne: With Observations on Various Parts of Nature, and The Naturalist's Calendar[G.] Bell, 1878 - 416 pages |
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Page 3
... winter , nine gallons of water in a minute , at a time when many of the wells failed , and all the ponds in the vales were dry . and the higher part of Wolmer forest . Round Selborne the stratification is very regular . The Hanger ...
... winter , nine gallons of water in a minute , at a time when many of the wells failed , and all the ponds in the vales were dry . and the higher part of Wolmer forest . Round Selborne the stratification is very regular . The Hanger ...
Page 20
... winter's morning they have discovered these trees in the bogs by the hoar frost , which lay longer over the space where they were concealed , than on the surrounding morass . Nor does this seem to be a fanciful notion , but consistent ...
... winter's morning they have discovered these trees in the bogs by the hoar frost , which lay longer over the space where they were concealed , than on the surrounding morass . Nor does this seem to be a fanciful notion , but consistent ...
Page 21
... winter , but breed there in the summer ; such as lapwings , snipes , wild - ducks , and , as I have dis- covered within these few years , teals . Partridges in vast plenty are bred in good seasons on the verge of this forest , into ...
... winter , but breed there in the summer ; such as lapwings , snipes , wild - ducks , and , as I have dis- covered within these few years , teals . Partridges in vast plenty are bred in good seasons on the verge of this forest , into ...
Page 23
... winter , when the hinds were also carried off , such fine chases were exhibited as served the country people for matter of talk and wonder for years afterwards . I saw myself one of the yeomen - prickers single out a stag from the herd ...
... winter , when the hinds were also carried off , such fine chases were exhibited as served the country people for matter of talk and wonder for years afterwards . I saw myself one of the yeomen - prickers single out a stag from the herd ...
Page 28
... winter this covert is also fre- quented by foxes , and sometimes by pheasants ; and the bogs produce many curious plants . By a perambulation of Wolmer forest and the Holt , made in 1635 , and in the eleventh year of Charles the First ...
... winter this covert is also fre- quented by foxes , and sometimes by pheasants ; and the bogs produce many curious plants . By a perambulation of Wolmer forest and the Holt , made in 1635 , and in the eleventh year of Charles the First ...
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Common terms and phrases
abound Andalusia animals appear April autumn 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 hundred inches insects known late le ham legs LETTER Linnæus male manner martins migration morning Motacilla natural history naturalist neighbouring nest never night observed owls pair perhaps ponds prey probably 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 9 - Many were the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at this eyry : the difficulty whetted their inclinations, and each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous task ; but when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, and acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. So the ravens built on, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal day arrived in which the wood was to be levelled. It was...
Page 419 - 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 30 - On the grassy bank Some ruminating lie ; while others stand Half in the flood, and often bending sip The circling surface.
Page 396 - Down, where they wheel round in the air, and sport and dive in a playful manner, all the while exerting their voices, and making a loud cawing, which, being blended and softened by the distance that we at the village are below them, becomes a confused noise or chiding; or rather a pleasing murmur, very engaging to the imagination, and not unlike the cry of a pack of hounds in hollow, echoing woods, or the rushing of the wind in tall trees, or the tumbling of the tide upon a pebbly shore.
Page 212 - The shell or crust of the nest is a sort of rustic work full of knobs and protuberances on the outside : nor is the inside of those that I have examined smoothed with any exactness at all ; but is rendered soft...
Page 53 - ... roll across the table without being discomposed, though it contained eight little mice that were naked and blind. As this nest was perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter respectively so as to administer a teat to each? Perhaps she opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them again when the business is over; but she could not possibly be contained herself in the ball with her young, which moreover would be daily increasing in bulk. This wonderful procreant cradle, an elegant...
Page 193 - 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.