Perigee

“ She sought relief in action on the floor of the lagoon. There were several oysters, but they were scattered. It was necessary to travel far and remain under a long time—a very long time. But there was a pearl in every one, and were they not her children, hers and Ah Fang's? A pearl in every one! The refrain sang in her ears. Her sleek body left trails of phosphorescent light as it darted here and there in the inky water. A pearl in every one! ”

“ And here we see the advantage of his peculiar colouring—the various soft shades of buff and brown and grey, which at a short distance harmonise with the surroundings, and render him invisible. When perching on a tree he makes himself invisible in another way: his habit is to perch, not crossways on a branch, but lengthways. He rises from the ground when almost trodden on, and goes away with a silent flight, darting this way and that in an eccentric course, and looking more like a great grey mottled and marbled moth than a bird. ”

“ W. H. Robinson of Lancaster, in a letter in the Field of January 28, 1922, after stating from his own experience that the peregrine can overtake the golden plover and the curlew with the greatest ease, says:
“To my mind one of the fastest things I have [70] ever witnessed is the last effort of a peregrine in chase of a wild duck when, fast as is the accelerated speed of a mallard, it seems almost to be standing still in the air when the peregrine stoops over it.” ”

“ So we sat together on the deck of the Great Western, quite dry for a wonder, exchanging sheep's-eyes and confidences, mutually happy in each other's society. Meanwhile the captain was arranging his plans for an immediate purchase of such pearls as he might find in possession of the natives, and for a fresh search for pearl oysters at the earliest possible hour. There were no pearls on hand. What are pearls to a man who has as many wives, children, and cocoa-nuts as he can dispose of? Pearls are small and colorless. ”

“ Driving a peg, with great nicety, into the ground, at the precise spot where the beetle fell, my friend now produced from his pocket a tape measure. Fastening one end of this at that point of the trunk of the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it till it reached the peg and thence further unrolled it, in the direction already established by the two points of the tree and the peg, for the distance of fifty feet—Jupiter clearing away the brambles with the scythe. ”

“ We walked and talked beneath the trees—
⁠Bird-haunted, flowering trees of June—
⁠The roses purpled in the moon;
We breathed their fragrance on the breeze—
Young Percy's voice is tuned to clear
Deep tones, as if his heart were deep:
This night it fluttered on my ear
As young birds flutter in their sleep.
My own voice faltered when I said
How very sweet such hours must be
With one we love. At that word he
Shook like the aspen overhead:
"Must be!" ”

“ Upon a mossy stone, the lower half of which lay in a bright brook, Peregrine sate down with a firm resolution to reflect on his strange adventures, and, if possible, find the Ariadne clue which might show the way out of this labyrinth of mysteries. The murmurs of the leaves, returning at equal intervals, the monotonous babbling of the waters, the constant clap, clap of a distant mill, soon formed a ground which regulated the thoughts so that they no longer rushed wildly together without time or rhythmus, but became an intelligible melody. ”

“ In the feathered world there are many different races, and as occupation stamps men into different classes, so is it possible to trace their likenesses among birds. The eagle has from time immemorial been looked upon as the king of birds, and the Peregrine is of the blood royal. ”

“ It was no more in his nature to snub a child than to strike an animal.
“I often bring flowers,” pursued the little maid. “First there are daffodils and primroses to bring. They are very fresh and sweet. Later come bluebells and herb Robert. They are not so pleasant-scented. Next come roses and honeysuckle. They are the most fragrant of all. In the autumn there are always leaves, which are as pretty as flowers, when they are red and gold. Now there is holly.”
“That is pretty too,” said Peregrine. ”

“ The inhabitants of Perugia swear by the healthy nature of their air, and indeed, were it not for the winds, the most fragile constitution would probably flourish in the high hill city. But it must be confessed that there come days when man and horse quiver like dead leaves before the tempest, and when the very houses seem to rock. Indeed, it would be almost impossible to exaggerate the arctic power of a Perugian whirlwind. Yet the average temperature is mild, and myrtles grow to the size of considerable trees in the villa gardens round the town. ”

“ The usual legend is, that at certain seasons of the year, the pearl-oysters rise to the surface of the water in the morning, and there open their shells and imbibe the dewdrops; these, aided by the breath of the air and the warmth of the sunlight, are, in the course of time, transformed into lustrous pearls; but if the air and the sunlight are not received in sufficient quantities, the pearls do not attain perfection and are faulty in form, color, and luster. ”

“ As Kadir Munshi says, “pearls have no pedigree”; their beauty is not to be traced to their origin, but exists wholly in the excellence of the surroundings in which they develop.
The pearl-bearing mollusks are luxurious creatures, and for the purpose of protecting their delicate bodies they cover the interior of their shells with a smooth lustrous material, dyed with rainbow hues, and possessing a beautiful but subdued opalescence. ”

“ The foliage was too thick to allow of Peregrine being perceived, perched as he was aloft, one arm entwining a bough, the other clutching the hare, which for the moment lay panting, too frightened for struggle. It is not in the nature of things for hares to climb trees; nor was the actual occurrence one likely to dawn on the unaided imagination. Baffled, perplexed, the huntsmen stood among the baying harriers, scratching their heads, flicking their boots with their riding crops, swearing meanwhile each after his own particular form and fancy. ”

“ It is constantly under the necessity of flying at its fastest (which the eagle is not) in order to secure its food; in other words, to use the language of a stalker in discussing this question with me: “The peregrine requires a warm diet, and lives on its prey. ”

“ A few only escape untoward happenings. The fortunate, born where the mollusk gathers and spreads its choice secretions of mother-of-pearl, with room to grow on every side, are nursed in the lap of good fortune and uncheckered, round out layer by layer to perfection.
But some are not so fortunate. In some way [113] cramped, they are held against the unyielding shell and grow flat on one side. These are the button pearls. Others either from an irregular rolling, or unequal action of the mollusk's mantle, become imperfectly round. ”

“ But now, having learned by a couple of centuries of persecution that they have become unpopular, the hawks avoid humanity and all its ways. Even the common species keep out of sight as much as possible, and some have left the country altogether, or retired to the wildest portions of the islands. The peregrine, for instance, is found at times only here and there in Scotland—and occasionally on cliffs on the Cornish, Welsh, or Cumbrian coasts—and its eyrie is there, as a rule, in the midst of the most desolate scenery. ”

“ Of course, every fresh bird that you try has some characteristic which has to be studied; that is where some of the sport comes in. The stumbling block in the case of adult Peregrines is the extreme rapidity of the sudden turn of the head. ”

“ An old pear which originated in Gloucestershire, Eng., previous to the year 1805 and which is widely known as a remarkably fine perry pear much grown in Herefordshire. It is early, tender of flesh, and “if it drops ripe from the tree it bursts from the fall, whence probably the name.” Fruit medium to below, turbinate, dull greenish-yellow on the shaded side and dull brownish-red next the sun, covered with rough, russet dots; calyx open; stem slender; flesh white, with a brisk, sweet flavor. ”

“ To seek her Perigot, yet cannot hear
His Voice; my Perigot, she loves thee dear
That calls.
Per. See yonder where she is, how fair
She shows, and yet her breath infefts the air.
Amo. My Perigot.
Per. Here.
Amo. Happy.
Per. Hapless first: It lights on thee, the next blow is the worst.
Amo. Stay Perigot, my love, thou art unjust.
Peri. Death is the best reward that's due to lust. ”

“ A foot high or less, erect, strongly stoloniferous, forming large patches; leaves narrow and more or less involute, dark or dull green, mostly nearly as long as the culm; staminate spike 1⁄2 ́ (rarely 3⁄4 ́) long, usually dull brown or brown-purple, sessile or very nearly so; pistillate spikes 1–3, contiguous or the two lower rarely 1⁄2 ́ apart, all sessile and usually dark-colored, the lowest bract very short or at least rarely prominent; perigynium short- or round-ovate, hairy.—Dry fields; our commonest species. ”

“ Mother-of-pearl is the bright inside surface, or nacre, of the large oyster that gives us pearls, which are themselves composed of the same substance formed in a nodule around some intruding substance, like a grain of sand, which irritates the mollusk’s skin until it is made smooth and comfortable by this iridescent coating. ”

“ Perigynium mostly light green or whitish, usually thin and membranous, often somewhat inflated or loosely investing the achene, commonly smooth and shining (hairy in n. 46, sometimes in n. 47) , slender or oblong, attenuate to a distinct or long minutely toothed straight beak (or beakless or nearly so in [+] 1 and n. 55) ; pistillate spikes several or many, mostly loosely flowered and on filiform nodding or widely spreading peduncles; bracts leaf-like; terminal spike staminate or androgynous; stigmas 3. Mostly rather tall and slender upland species. ”

“ The serpent-pearls are seven-colored, the mussel-pearls five-colored. Both shine by night. Those most free from spots are the best. They grow within the mussel, and increase and decrease in size as the moon waxes and wanes."
Some one asked how the serpent- and sea-crane pearls could be told apart, and the wise man answered: "The animals themselves recognize them."
Then the emperor selected a serpent-pearl and a sea-crane pearl, put them together with a whole bushel of ordinary pearls, and poured the lot out in the courtyard. ”

“ A ten-penny-weight pearl in Vienna might weigh eight or nine pennyweights here in California, or it is more likely to weigh twelve. The things absorb certain moistures and chemicals from the air and sun, and shed those absorptions when kept in darkness or from the fresh air. Pearls die, so to speak; but are often restored to life by immersions in sea-water, their native element. ”

“ Those which are produced in a perfectly healthy state consist of numerous layers. It is wonderful, however, that they should be influenced thus pleasurably, by the state of the heavens, seeing that by the action of the sun the pearls are turned of a red color, and lose all their whiteness, just like the human body. Those which keep their whiteness the best are the pelagiæ, or main-sea pearls, which lie at too great a depth to be reached by the sun’s rays. ”

“ The answer to the question, Which of the two birds, the eagle or the peregrine, is the faster flier, must even on a horizontal flight be a matter of pure conjecture. On the one hand, the peregrine has the advantage of pointed wings which make for increased wing power and speed, whilst the eagle’s wings are rounded. ”

“ The “life” of a pearl is said to be fifty, one hundred, and perhaps even one hundred and fifty years; they certainly last for several generations. It has been asserted, without any particular authority, that pearls from the Pacific Ocean and those from Mexico do not last as long as those from the Orient, but this statement is questionable. ”

“ Young Twenty-Nine Days Old.
it was not impassiveness, as if one of us clicked his fingers all eyes were quickly turned to him, and as soon as the party broke up the females again scuttled under the rocks. But as I looked at my young nobles I wished all the egg collectors in the three Kingdoms could be present to see the true destiny of the Peregrine eggs they prize so much. ”

“ Wildfire is a high-strung creature requiring constant thought and attention and is consequently interesting, besides which—"
Here a shriek and hoarse shouts as, by means of whip and curb and spur, I swung the animal in question from the dangerous proximity of a shop window and checked his impulse to walk on his hind legs.
"Scarcely a lady's pad, Peregrine!" grinned Anthony, as I came perilously near upsetting a coster's barrow, to its owner's vociferous indignation. "Egad, a four-footed devil warranted to banish every other worry but himself!" ”

“ Whether the power of perching is entirely denied to it or not I am uncertain, but I never saw it fly into a tree, nor could I ever force it to take shelter on the branches. It usually frequents either sandy sterile districts covered with tufts of rank grass and herbage, or low swampy flats abounding with rushes and the other kinds of vegetation peculiar to such situations. ”