Bird Specimens

Famous quotes containing the words bird and/or specimens:

    Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
    Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
    This bird of dawning singeth all night long,
    And then they say no spirit dare stir abroad,
    The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
    No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
    So hallowed, and so gracious, is that time.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    If the individuals who compose the purest circles of aristocracy in Europe, the guarded blood of centuries, should pass in review, in such manner as that we could, at leisure, and critically inspect their behavior, we might find no gentleman, and no lady; for, although excellent specimens of courtesy and high-breeding would gratify us in the assemblage, in the particulars, we should detect offence. Because, elegance comes of no breeding, but of birth.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)