The Natural History of SelborneD. Appleton, 1898 - 381 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
abound Andalusia animals appear April autumn Berne birds birds of prey bishop bishop of Winchester blackcap breed brood called canons chaffinches chapter-house church common cuckoo curious DEAR SIR district eggs election feed feet female field fieldfares flocks frequently frost garden Gilbert White ground Gurdon Hanger haunt hawk hedges hirundines hirundo house-martins inches insects Knights Templars late le Ham legs LETTER Linnæus Magdalen College male manner MARKWICK migration morning nest never Newton Valence night NOTE ¹ observed owls parish perhaps ponds prior Priory Priory of Selborne probably procured quadrupeds remarkable retire ring-dove ring-ousels season seems seen Selborne Seleburne sing snow soon species spring stone-curlew strange summer suppose Sussex swallow swarm swifts tail tion titmouse trees vast vicar village weather WHITE wild willow-wren Winchester wings winter Wolmer Forest wonder woods young
Popular passages
Page 237 - 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 256 - Some trust in chariots, and some in horses : but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. . 8 They are brought down and fallen : but we are risen, and stand upright.
Page 191 - ... burdens, such as large fishes, and the like ; pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of clashing their wings the one against the other over their backs with a loud snap ; another variety, called tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.
Page 237 - July 2Oth 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 the time the heat was so intense that butchers...
Page x - For my own part, I think there is somewhat peculiarly sweet and amusing in the shapely figured aspect of chalk-hills in preference to those of stone, which are rugged, broken, abrupt, and shapeless. Perhaps I may be singular in my opinion, and not so happy as to convey to you the- same idea ; but I never contemplate these mountains without thinking I perceive somewhat analogous to growth in their gentle swellings and smooth fungus-like protuberances, their fluted sides, and regular hollows and slopes,...
Page 116 - 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 273 - An Account of all the Manors, Messuages, Lands, &c. in the different Counties of England and Wales, held by Lease from the Crown ; as contained in the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the State and Condition of the Royal Forests,
Page vi - Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, And still where many a garden flower grows wild, There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, The village preacher's modest mansion rose. A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year...
Page 163 - 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 favorite pursuit, in which he was wonderfully adroit, discovered no manner of understanding.
Page 7 - ... the fatal day arrived in which the wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of February, when those birds usually sit. The saw was applied to the butt, the wedges were inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the dam 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...