The Natural History of Ireland, Volume 3Reeve, Benham and Reeve, 1851 - Birds |
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Page 351
... Moor , moor the barge , ye gallant crew ! And , gentle ladye , deign to stay ! Rest thee in Castle Ravenscheuch , Nor tempt the stormy frith to - day . " The blackening wave is edged with white ; To inch and rock the sea - mews fly ...
... Moor , moor the barge , ye gallant crew ! And , gentle ladye , deign to stay ! Rest thee in Castle Ravenscheuch , Nor tempt the stormy frith to - day . " The blackening wave is edged with white ; To inch and rock the sea - mews fly ...
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Common terms and phrases
adult bird adult male appeared April arctic arctic terns August autumn bean goose Belfast Bay bill black-backed bred breeding breeding-haunt brent geese brent goose cliffs coast colour common common tern Cork cormorant diving Dublin eggs feathers February feeding female fish flight flock flying frequently fresh-water gannet goose grebe guillemot gull harbour head herring-gull hirundo immature inches informed Ireland island islet January Jardine June Kerry killed kittiwake lake Larne Lough Larus latter lesser black-backed gull Linn locality Lough Neagh March mentioned miles month nests nidify noticed observed obtained occasionally pair petrels plumage pochards procured puffin R. J. Montgomery razorbill remarked river Lagan rocks roseate scaup Scotland season seen Selby shooter shore shot skua species specimen Sterna stomach Strangford Lough summer teal terns toe and nail tufted ducks visited Wexford wigeon wild ducks wild-fowl wing winter yards Yarrell young birds
Popular passages
Page 344 - Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew ! And, gentle ladye, deign to stay ! Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch, Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day. " The blackening wave is edged with white : To inch* and rock the sea-mews fly; The fishers have heard the Water-Sprite, Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh.
Page 345 - In regions mild of calm and serene air, Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot Which men call Earth, and, with low-thoughted care.
Page 191 - ... inches from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail when spread as far as possible flat.
Page 344 - ... driven out of the ground by severe floods; and the fish on which they prey in fine weather in the sea, leave the surface, and go deeper in storms. The search after food, as we have agreed on a former occasion, is the principal cause why animals change their places.
Page 4 - Thou hast a home, Beautiful bird ! thou voyagest to thine home, Where thy sweet mate will twine her downy neck With thine, and welcome thy return with eyes Bright in the lustre of their own fond joy. And what am I that I should linger here...
Page 214 - They are so numerous that we have frequently seen an uninterrupted line of them extending full half way over the bay, or to a distance of more than three miles, and so close together that thirty have fallen at one shot. This living column, on an average, might have been about six yards broad, and as many deep ; so that, allowing sixteen birds to a cubic yard, there must have been nearly four millions of birds on the wing at one time.
Page 213 - Hill, from the myriads of small birds of that name which frequent its base, and appear to prefer its environs to every other part of the harbour. " They are so numerous that we have frequently seen an uninterrupted line of them extending full half way over the bay, or to a distance of more than three miles, and so close together that thirty have fallen at one shot.
Page 405 - At the south end of the Isle of Man lies a little islet, divided from Man by a narrow channel, called the Calf of Man, on which are no habitations but only a cottage or two lately built. This islet is full of rabbits, which the Puffins coming yearly dislodge, and build in their burroughs.
Page 227 - July, the old ones show vast affection towards them, and seem totally insensible of danger in the breeding season. If a parent is taken at that time, and suspended by the wings, it will, in a sort of despair, treat itself most cruelly, by biting every part it can reach ; and the moment it is loosed, will never offer to escape, but instantly resort to its unfledged young...
Page 254 - Here the ganet soares high into the sky to espy his prey in the sea under him, at which he casts himself headlong into the sea, and swallows up whole herrings in a morsell. This bird flys through the ship's sailes, piercing them with his beak.