Cage and Chamber-birds: Their Natural History, Habits, Food, Diseases, Management, and Modes of Capture

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H.G. Bohn, 1856 - Birds - 500 pages
 

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Page 306 - Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound ? Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will, Those quivering wings composed, that music still!
Page 306 - ... and frequent weighing of his wings, till the little creature was forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the storm was over; and then it made a prosperous flight, and did rise and sing, as if it had learned music and motion from an angel, as he passed sometimes through the air, about his ministries here below.
Page 77 - Many were the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at this eyry : the difficulty whetted their inclination, 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 in...
Page 103 - THERE is a bird, who by his coat, And by the hoarseness of his note, Might be supposed a crow; A great frequenter of the church, Where bishoplike he finds a perch, And dormitory too. Above the steeple shines a plate, That turns and turns, to indicate From what point blows the weather. Look up— your brains begin to swim, 'Tis in the clouds— that pleases him, He chooses it the rather.
Page 306 - Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond — Thrills not the less the bosom of the plain: Yet might'st thou seem, proud privilege! to sing All independent of the leafy spring. Leave to the nightingale her shady wood ; A privacy of glorious light is thine, Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with instinct more divine; Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam — True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home.
Page 82 - Scotch isles: they collect in great numbers as if they had been all summoned for the occasion. A few of the flock sit with drooping heads ; others...
Page 113 - The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long, That it had its head bit off by its young.
Page 47 - The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed time ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming*.
Page 390 - Art thou the bird whom man loves best, The pious bird with the scarlet breast, Our little English robin ; The bird that comes about our doors When autumn winds are sobbing? Art thou the Peter...
Page 80 - Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem to want ballast. There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the attention even of the most incurious — they spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish; and, when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak and seem to be falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are scratching themselves...

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