The illustrated natural history, Volume 2; Volume 125 |
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abdomen America appearance base beak beautiful becomes bill bird blue body branches breast broad brown called claws close colour common considerable covered creature crest curious curved dark deep distance Eagle edges eggs England extremely feathers feed feet female five flight flocks four frequently Genus grass green grey ground habits head inches inhabitant insects kind known leaves legs length living localities lower male manner marked native nature nearly neck nest never nostrils notes observed passing perch placed plumage pointed portions possesses powerful prey quills longest remaining remarkable resemblance rich runs scales season seems seen short sides similar slender sometimes soon species streak strong surface swallow tail third throat tint tree upper usually various whole wings yellow young
Popular passages
Page 579 - 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 109 - 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 324 - ... 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 580 - ... 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 561 - 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 574 - 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 15 - 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 325 - 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.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The illustrated natural history, Volume 2; Volume 125 The illustrated natural history, John George Wood |
| Author | John George Wood |
| Published | 1862 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | 11 Sep 2006 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |