A Year with the BirdsEducational Publishing Company, 1881 - 318 pages |
From inside the book
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Page 9
... seem to offer him their conso- lation . By his companionship with the objects of nature all pleasing sights and sounds have become anodynes for his sorrow ; and those who have this mental alembic for turning grief into poetic melancholy ...
... seem to offer him their conso- lation . By his companionship with the objects of nature all pleasing sights and sounds have become anodynes for his sorrow ; and those who have this mental alembic for turning grief into poetic melancholy ...
Page 16
... seem to me to be performed by a rapid trilling of these notes with their octave . No bird sings constantly in so regular time as is represented above , and the intervals between the high notes are very irregular . Both the time and the ...
... seem to me to be performed by a rapid trilling of these notes with their octave . No bird sings constantly in so regular time as is represented above , and the intervals between the high notes are very irregular . Both the time and the ...
Page 19
... seems to be the sentinel whom Nature has appointed to watch for the first gleam of dawn , which he always faith- fully announces before any other bird is awake . Two or three strains from his octave pipe are the signal for a gen- eral ...
... seems to be the sentinel whom Nature has appointed to watch for the first gleam of dawn , which he always faith- fully announces before any other bird is awake . Two or three strains from his octave pipe are the signal for a gen- eral ...
Page 20
... seem to be temporarily revived . They are very familiar and active , always flitting about our flower- gardens when they abound in marigolds and asters . The Hemp - Bird bears considerable resemblance to the Canary in his habits and the ...
... seem to be temporarily revived . They are very familiar and active , always flitting about our flower- gardens when they abound in marigolds and asters . The Hemp - Bird bears considerable resemblance to the Canary in his habits and the ...
Page 21
... seem as if they were governed by some rule that enabled them to time their voices , and to swell or diminish the volume of sound . Some of this effect is undoubtedly produced by the gradual manner in which the different voices join in ...
... seem as if they were governed by some rule that enabled them to time their voices , and to swell or diminish the volume of sound . Some of this effect is undoubtedly produced by the gradual manner in which the different voices join in ...
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Common terms and phrases
agreeable animated attractive autumn Baltimore Oriole beauty become silent birds Bluebird Bobolink branches brood Catbird cause charm cheerful chiefly chirping Clapper Rail colors Crow Daines Barrington delightful destroyed early earth eggs familiar feathers female fields flight flocks flowers foliage forest frequently garden Golden Robin Grackles granivorous grass green ground habits hear heard Hence hour House Sparrow hues insects larva larvæ leaves listen lively loud male mate meadows melancholy melodious Mocking-Bird modulated month morning motions musical Nature nest never night nocturnal notes numbers observed orchard pastures peculiar perch places plaintive pleasant pleasure plumage prey purple Purple Finch Purple Martin Quail rapid Red-Thrush Redwing remarkable repeated resembling Rose-breasted Grosbeak Scarlet Tanager season seems seen seldom sight sing singing-birds snow solitary song Song-Sparrow songster sounds species spring strain summer swallows Thrush trees tribe twilight utters Veery voice warblers warbling watch Whippoorwill wild wings winter Wood-Sparrow Woodpecker woods yellow young
Popular passages
Page 43 - Phew, shew, Wadolincon, see, see, Bobolincon, Down among the tickletops, hiding in the buttercups ! I know the saucy chap, I see his shining cap Bobbing in the clover there, — see, see, see !" Up flies Bobolincon, perching on an apple-tree, Startled by his rival's song, quickened by his raillery. Soon he spies the rogue afloat...
Page 45 - Every one's a funny fellow; every one's a little mellow; Follow, follow, follow, follow, o'er the hill and in the hollow! Merrily, merrily, there they hie; now they rise and now they fly; They cross and turn, and in and out, and down in the middle, and wheel about, With a "Phew, shew, Wadolincon! listen to me, Bobolincon!
Page 213 - Already with thee ! tender is the night, And haply the Queen Moon is on her throne, Clustered around by all her starry fays ; But here there is no light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.
Page 211 - it is stated, that " a cautious observer, having found a nest of five young jays, remarked, that each of these birds, while yet very young, consumed at least fifteen of these full-sized grubs in one day, and of course would require many more of a smaller size.
Page 43 - Every one's a funny fellow ; every one's a little mellow ; Follow, follow, follow, follow, o'er the hill and in the hollow! Merrily, merrily, there they hie; now they rise and now they fly; They cross and turn, and in and out, and down in the middle, and wheel about, — With a "Phew, shew, Wadolincon!
Page 229 - ... the beatings of their wings, as at this time the wings are not flapped, but are used in sailing swiftly in a circle, not many feet in diameter. A person might cause a sound somewhat similar, by blowing rapidly and alternately from one end to another across a set of small pipes consisting of two or three modulations. This performance is kept up till incubation terminates ; but I have never observed it at any other period.
Page 43 - FAMILY. A flock of merry singing-birds were sporting in the grove; Some were warbling cheerily, and some were making love: There were Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, Conquedle, — A livelier set was never led by tabor, pipe, or fiddle, — Crying, " Phew, shew, Wadolincon, see, see, Bobolincon, Down among the tickletops, hiding in the buttercups ! I know the saucy chap, I see his shining cap Bobbing in the clover there — see, see, see...
Page 27 - There are certain times of the day, as well as certain seasons of the year, when the birds are most musical. The grand concert of the feathered tribe takes place during the hour between dawn and sunrise. During the remainder of the day they sing less in Concert, though many species are very musical at noonday, and seem, like the nocturnal birds, to prefer the hour when others are silent. At sunset there is an apparent attempt to unite once more in chorus, but this is far from being so loud or so...
Page 45 - Oh, what a happy life they lead, over the hill and in the mead ! How they sing, and how they play ! See, they fly away, away ! Now they gambol o'er the clearing, — off again, and then appearing! Poised aloft on quivering wing, now they soar, and now they sing : — " We must all be merry and moving; we must all be happy and loving...
Page 313 - He is, besides, (though a little vain and silly, it is true, but not the worse emblem for that,) a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on.