Chapter 9 of The Children's Book of Birds is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Children's Book of Birds is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake. The birds first cut a passage or hallway. Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight. But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns. At the end of this passage is the kingfisher nursery.
Chapter 9 of The Children's Book of Birds is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “The birds first cut a passage or hallway.”
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading “The birds first cut a passage or hallway.”
nonpasserine large-headed bird with a short tail and long sharp bill; usually crested and bright-colored; feed mostly on fish
From this reading “The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.”
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading “The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.”
a child's room for a baby
From this reading “At the end of this passage is the kingfisher nursery.”
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
From this reading “But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.”
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading “But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.”
In this reading “At the end of this passage is the kingfisher nursery.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the end of this passage is the kingfisher nursery.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The birds first cut a passage or hallway.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading The birds first cut a passage or hallway.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading At the end of this passage is the kingfisher nursery.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The birds first cut a passage or hallway.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading The birds first cut a passage or hallway.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
nonpasserine large-headed bird with a short tail and long sharp bill; usually crested and bright-colored; feed mostly on fish
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
for more time
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
a child's room for a baby
From this reading At the end of this passage is the kingfisher nursery.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
and nothing more
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading The birds first cut a passage or hallway.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
successive (without a break)
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a river or lake.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Sometimes this is only four feet long, and straight.
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
at the time that
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading But when stones or roots are in the way, it will be much longer and have many turns.
Chapter 9 of The Children's Book of Birds by Olive Thorne Miller holds 417 sentences, grouped into 84 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 9 holds 417 sentences of The Children's Book of Birds, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Children's Book of Birds by Olive Thorne Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 417 sentences, grouped into 84 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 9 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Children's Book of Birds by Olive Thorne Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3786 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41141 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41141, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 315 minutes of reading across 758 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Children's Book of Birds section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Children's Book of Birds to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Children's Book of Birds, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
