Ornithological Dictionary of British Birds |
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Page xx
... appear to me to be unprofitable fancies or pernicious errors . Such is indeed one of the most difficult and dangerous tasks which an author can undertake , -difficult , because it requires very laborious research and careful ...
... appear to me to be unprofitable fancies or pernicious errors . Such is indeed one of the most difficult and dangerous tasks which an author can undertake , -difficult , because it requires very laborious research and careful ...
Page xxiii
... appear to me ( though not to many others ) to be very inferior , and show , most obvi- ously , that he grasped at what was beyond his reach , or rather what he had not leisure , or could not procure sufficient informa- tion to perfect ...
... appear to me ( though not to many others ) to be very inferior , and show , most obvi- ously , that he grasped at what was beyond his reach , or rather what he had not leisure , or could not procure sufficient informa- tion to perfect ...
Page xxviii
... appear in the same light . Pitying the dry drudgery of the authors who have spent their hours in thus nibbling down nature to their own narrow measure- ments , and laying their works on the shelf , where they are destined to remain ...
... appear in the same light . Pitying the dry drudgery of the authors who have spent their hours in thus nibbling down nature to their own narrow measure- ments , and laying their works on the shelf , where they are destined to remain ...
Page xxix
... appears to have taken such deep root , as to threaten , like some sorts of noxious weeds , to be incapable of being eradicated ; for by far the greater number of recent works upon the subject ... appear in the form LINNEAN SYSTEM . xxix.
... appears to have taken such deep root , as to threaten , like some sorts of noxious weeds , to be incapable of being eradicated ; for by far the greater number of recent works upon the subject ... appear in the form LINNEAN SYSTEM . xxix.
Page xxx
George Montagu James Rennie. in which the works of creation appear in the form of petty , muti- lated scraps , out of all proportion with the originals ; and each and all of their descriptions may be easily proved to be grossly inaccu ...
George Montagu James Rennie. in which the works of creation appear in the form of petty , muti- lated scraps , out of all proportion with the originals ; and each and all of their descriptions may be easily proved to be grossly inaccu ...
Other editions - View all
Ornithological Dictionary of British Birds (Classic Reprint) George Montagu No preview available - 2017 |
Ornithological Dictionary of British Birds (Classic Reprint) George Montagu No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
Angl Anim appear Arct ash-colour Bank Swallow bars base Bechst Bechstein belly bill bill black bird breast breed Briss Buff Chaffinch chin cinereous claws colour Cuckoo d'Orn Deut Dict Dorset drams Duck dunlin dusky black edged eggs Falcon feathers feet female ferruginous Flem frequently Gallinule genus genus thus characterised Gmel green grey ground Gull head hind inches insects irides hazel Lath Latham legs length Linn Linnæus linnet male mandible margined marked meadow pipit moss naturalists nature neck nest observed ounces outer pale plumage quill-feathers quills Raii rufous rump Sandpiper says scapulars season seen shot sides sometimes song specimen spots streaked Supp Syst tail coverts Tasschenb Temm Temminck throat tipped with white toes trachea tree upper mandible variety Vög webs weight whitish wing coverts winter yellow yellowish Zool
Popular passages
Page 396 - And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
Page 553 - This castle hath a pleasant seat ; the air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses. BAN. This guest of summer, The temple-haunting martlet, does approve By his loved mansionry that the heaven's breath Smells wooingly here : no jutty, frieze, Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle : Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed The air is delicate.
Page 155 - Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear, as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around ! At this moment the eager looks of the eagle are all...
Page 400 - 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 32 - ... 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 only by the bill.
Page 37 - who have walked in an evening by the sedgy sides of unfrequented rivers, must remember a variety of notes from different water-fowl ; the loud scream of the wild goose, the croaking of the mallard, the whining of the lap-wing, and the tremulous neighing of the jack-snipe. But of all those sounds there is none so dismally hollow as the booming of the bittern.
Page xvii - The jay, the pie, and e'en the boding owl That hails the rising moon, have charms for me. Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh, Yet, heard in scenes where peace for...
Page 32 - ... and also the trunks and bodies, with the branches of old and rotten trees cast up there likewise, whereon is found a certain spume or froth, that in time breedeth...
Page 157 - The nest of this species is generally fixed on a very large and lofty tree, often in a swamp or morass, and difficult to be ascended. On some noted tree of this description, often a pine or cypress, the bald eagle builds, year after year, for a long series of years.
Page 279 - ... ejected, as is done by all birds of prey, being dried on purpose to form the nest, they are scattered about the floor of the hole in all directions, from its entrance to its termination, without the least order or working up with the earth, and all moist and fetid.