The illustrated natural history, Volume 2; Volume 1251862 |
Other editions - View all
Illustrated Natural History for Young People (Classic Reprint) John George Wood No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
abdomen adult America Australia base beak beautiful Bee-eater bill blue body branches breast breeding British birds cage central feathers cere chestnut chin claws colour common covered creature crest Crow curious curved deep Dunlin Eagle edges eggs England extremely Falcon feeding feet female flight flocks fourth quills longest Genus grass green grey greyish ground Habitat habits hawk hind toe Hoopoe Humming-birds inches inhabitant insects Jabiru known larvæ legs little bird male bird mandible mottled native nearly nest Nightjar nostrils Outer toe Parrot peculiar perch Peregrine Falcon placed plumage plumes prey pure white quill-feathers quills longest remarkable resemblance season seen seldom short sides slender snowy white sometimes Sparrow species spot streak Sub-family SUN-BIRD swallow Tail long tail-feathers Tarsi throat Thrush tint Titmouse toe long total length tree upper surface upper tail-coverts uttering Vulture wing-coverts Wings long yellow young birds
Popular passages
Page 577 - The birds continued to pour in, the fires were lighted, and a magnificent as well as wonderful and almost terrifying sight presented itself. The pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above another, until solid masses, as large as hogsheads, were formed on the branches all round. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, and falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded.
Page 107 - Mourn not for the Owl, nor his gloomy plight ! The Owl hath his share of good, If a prisoner he be in the broad daylight, He is lord in the dark greenwood ! Nor lonely the bird nor his ghastly mate, They are each unto each a pride ; Thrice fonder, perhaps, since a strange, dark fate, Hath rent them from all beside...
Page 322 - ... dewy morning, while the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song rises preeminent over every competitor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere accompaniment.
Page 578 - ... off in a direction quite different from that in which they had arrived the evening before, and at sunrise all that were able to fly had disappeared. The...
Page 719 - ... when it is perfectly formed, the shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or string : next come the legs of the bird hanging out, and, as it groweth greater, it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth, and hangeth onely by the bill : in short space after it commeth to full maturitie, and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowle bigger than a mallard, and lesser than a goose...
Page 559 - He is of a gay and frolicsome disposition, and half a dozen of the fraternity are frequently seen diving and vociferating around the high dead limbs of some large tree, pursuing and playing with each other, and amusing the passenger with their gambols. "Their note or cry is shrill and lively, and so much resembles that of a species of treefrog which inhabits the same tree that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the other.
Page 572 - In April Come he will. In May He sings all day. In June He alters his tune. In July He prepares to fly. In August Go he must.
Page 13 - The force to keep up the momentum of a body moving in a horizontal plane in the air (in which there is so little friction) cannot be great, and this force is all that is wanted. The movement of the neck and body of the condor, we must suppose, is sufficient for this. However this may be, it is truly wonderful and beautiful to see so great a bird, hour after hour, without any apparent exertion, wheeling and gliding] over mountain and river.
Page 719 - But what our eyes have seen and our hands have touched" continues 'the Author, doubtless with full sincerity, " we shall declare. There is a small island in Lancashire called the Pile of Foulders, wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have been cast thither by...
Page 323 - Bartram has beautifully expressed it, " he bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or recall his very soul, which expired in the last elevated strain.