Gilbert White

The parish I live in is a very abrupt, uneven country, full of hills and woods, and therefore full of birds.

A district produces the greatest variety which is the most examined.

These circumstances, trivial as they may seem, have their importance; since without them we could never have come to any certainty.

The tortoise, like other reptiles, has an arbitrary stomach as well as lungs; and can refrain from eating as well as breathing for a great part of the year.

When I hear fine music I am afraid I do not enough attend to it. I cannot help stopping and filling my mind with the sweetness of the sounds.

A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air as well as by their colours and shape.