The Natural History of Selborne (page 1/3)

See all the images…

The Barn Owl (Strix flammea)

The barn owl, or white owl. [more...] [$]

Frontispiece: View Near Selborne

View looking, I imagine, towards the distant Church in the village of Selborne. There are deer in the foreground, under the shade of a large tree. [more...] [$]

The Brown Owl (Syrnium Aluco).

“When brown owls hoot their throats swell as big as a hen’s egg. I have known an owl of this species live a full year without any water. Perhaps the case may be the same with all birds of prey. When owls fly they stretch out their legs behind them as a balance to their large heavy heads, for as most nocturnal birds have large eyes and ears they must [...] [more...] [$]

The Raven (Corvus Corax)

There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens tht 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 ot the ground. When [...] [more...] [$]

Wych Elm.

“In the court of Norton farmhouse, a manor farm to the north-west of the village [of Selborne], on the white malms, stood within these twenty years a broad-leaved elm, or wych hazel, ulmus folio latissimo scabro of Ray, which, though it had lost a considerable leading bough in the great storm in the year 1703, equal to a moderate tree, yet, when felled, contained eight loads of lumber; and being too bulky for a carriage, was sawn off at seven feet above the butt, where it measured near eight feet in the diameter. This elm I mention to show to what a bulk planted elms may attain; as this tree must [...] [more...] [$]