A history of British birds, Volume 4 ;Volume 55 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
Ardea ash-colour autumn barred bill blackish brown bluish breast breed brownish black Cambridgeshire Caspian Sea centre chesnut chin claws colour Cornwall crown crustacea dark brown darker Devonshire DOTTEREL dull DUNLIN dusky black dusky brown edges eggs feather the longest female flight flocks four in number Godalming greater and lesser green greenish greyish black greyish brown greyish white ground head HERON inches insects Ireland iris larvæ Legs and toes length Leonard Jenyns lesser wing coverts Lincolnshire Little Bittern male margined MONTAGU nape neck nest Norfolk Norway orange Orkney ounces outer pale brown pale reddish pale yellowish paler PENNANT PLOVER plumage purple quill feather reddish brown rufous SANDPIPER Scotland seen SELBY shafts shot Siberia sides Sir William Jardine SNIPE species spots Stork streak summer Sutherlandshire Swanpool Sweden Swinhope TEMMINCK tertiaries throat tinged tipped with white Tringa upper tail coverts winter yellow yellowish brown Yorkshire young birds
Fréquemment cités
Page 155 - Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
Page 41 - Fear ye not me ? saith the Lord : will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it ; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though they roar, yet can they not pass over ill But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart, they are revolted and gone1.
Page 138 - The common people are of opinion, that it thrusts its bill into a reed that serves as a pipe for swelling the note above its natural pitch; while others, and in this number we find Thomson the poet, imagine that the bittern puts its head under water, and then violently blowing produces its boomings.
Page 69 - I immediately recognised them as Turnstones. Not wishing to disturb them, anxious at the same time to witness their operations, and observing that a few paces nearer them there was a deep hollow among the shingle, I contrived to creep into it unobserved.
Page 164 - ... its unwieldy pinions, and forcibly blowing the air from the lungs with audible expirations. Whenever it is approached, the expulsion of air, accompanied by repeated nodding of the head, is provoked.
Page 69 - I was now distant from them about ten yards, and had a distinct and unobstructed view of all their movements. In these there was evinced that extraordinary degree of sagacity and perseverance which comes under the notice only of those who watch the habits of the lower creation with patience and assiduity, and which, when fully and accurately related, is not unfrequently...
Page 71 - Creator. When they appeared to have done and to be satisfied, I arose from my place of concealment. On examining the fish, I found it to be a specimen of the common cod (Morthua vulgar is) : it was nearly three feet and a half long, and it had been embedded in the sand to about the depth of two inches.
Page 70 - Lowering themselves upon their breasts close to the sand, they managed to push their bills underneath the fish, which they made to rise to about the same height as before; afterwards, withdrawing their bills, but without losing the advantage they had gained, they applied their breasts to the object. This they did with such force, and to such purpose, that at length it went over and rolled several yards down a slight declivity. It was followed to some distance by the birds themselves before they could...
Page 70 - Their mutual congratulations being over, they all three set to work, and, after labouring vigorously for a few minutes in removing the sand, they came round to the other side, and, putting their breasts simultaneously to the fish, they succeeded in raising it some inches from the sand, but were unable to turn it over. It went down again into its sandy bed to the manifest disappointment of the three. Resting, however, for a space, and without leaving their respective positions, which were a little...
Page 60 - ... and his old friends, who received him very cordially. Security was productive of insolence; what was at first obtained with caution, was afterwards taken without reserve: he frequently amused himself with washing in the bowl which was set for the dog to drink out of, and while he was thus employed, he shewed marks of the greatest indignation if either of his companions presumed to interrupt him.