An Outline of the Smaller British Birds,: Intended for the Use of Ladies and Young Persons |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
amid appears April Architecture of Birds autumn Barnacle Goose beautiful billed birds blackbird Blackcap bough British Birds Buffon bunting bush called chaffinch common cuckoo Daines Barrington ducks dwelling eggs elegant feathered feed FIELDFARE finch flies flight flitting flocks FLYCATCHER frequently goatsucker golden-crested wren grey habits hawk heard hedge HEN HARRIER Hist hole insects lark leaves LESSER REDPOLE linnet little bird martin melody Montagu moor hen Naturalist nest night nightingale observer perched plumage prey rear their young remarks robin round says sea pie sedge warbler seeds seen Selborne Selby shores shrubberies sing singular skylark small birds sometimes song songster soon sparrow species spot spring summer visiters swallow sweet tail thrush titmice titmouse tree tribe voice waders wagtail warbler watched whilst whitethroat wild willow Wilson wing winter visiters woods wren yellow bunting
Popular passages
Page 40 - 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 coigne 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 114 - ... :—About an hour before sunset (for then the mice begin to run) they sally forth in quest of prey, and hunt all round the hedges of meadows and small enclosures for them, which seem to be their only food. In this irregular country we can stand on an eminence and see them beat the fields over like a setting-dog, and often drop down in the grass or corn.
Page 92 - To hear the lark begin his flight And singing startle the dull night From his watch-tower in the skies, Till the dappled dawn doth rise...
Page 51 - ... green meadows of England in autumn, for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy, and for the palms of Africa. He has always objects of pursuit, and his success is secure. Even the beings selected for his prey are poetical, beautiful, and transient. The...
Page 27 - Saturday. Nothing can be more amusing than the whisper of this little bird, which seems to be close by though at a hundred yards distance; and, when close at your ear, is scarce any louder than when a great way off.
Page 18 - The blackcap has in common a full sweet, deep, loud, and wild pipe; yet that strain is of short continuance, and his motions are desultory; but when that bird sits calmly and engages in song in earnest, he pours forth very sweet but inward melody, and expresses great variety of soft and gentle modulations, superior, perhaps, to those of any of our warblers, the nightingale excepted.
Page 50 - ... is unknown to him, and he leaves the green meadows of England in autumn, for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy, and for the palms of Africa : he has always objects of pursuit, and his success is secure.
Page 62 - ... each note lower and lower, till the last is scarcely heard, pausing a moment or two betwixt every note, and you will have some idea of the moaning of the largest goat-sucker in Demerara.
Page 61 - When the moon shines bright, you may have a fair opportunity of examining the goat-sucker. You will see it close by the cows, goats, and sheep, jumping up every now and then, under their bellies. Approach a little nearer — he is not shy, ' he fears no danger for he knows no sin.' See how the nocturnal flies are tormenting the herd, and with what dexterity he springs up and catches them as fast as they alight on the belly, legs and udder of the animals. Observe how quiet they stand, and how sensible...
Page 41 - Summer long is the swallow a most instructive pattern of unwearied industry and affection ; for, from morning to night, while there is a family to be supported, she spends the whole day in skimming close to the ground, and exerting the most sudden turns and quick evolutions. Avenues, and long walks under hedges, and pasture-fields, and mown meadows where cattle graze, are her delight, especially if there are trees interspersed ; because in such spots insects most abound.