Ornithology Of Shakespeare

121 652

". I L L, I A II a H A X E S I J l! A H K

ORNITHOLOGY

SHAKESPEARE.

'R1TICALLY EXAMINED, EXPLAINED, AND LLLU SI RATED.

JAMES EDMUND CHARTING, F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

MEMBER OF Till- UKITIbH OKNITHOLOCilbTss' LNIuN,

AUTHOR OK " THK LIRDb OF MIDDLESEX."

ETC., ETC

L O N DON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW,

MDCCCLXXI.

PREFACE.

i ~\F no other author, perhaps, has more been written

than of Shakespeare. Yet whatever other knowledge

. s commentators professed, few of them appear to have

ien naturalists, and none, so far as I am aware, have

:amined his knowledge of Ornithology.

An inquiry upon this subject, undertaken in the first

- stance for my own amusement, has resulted in the
' ; n S^ n S together of so much that is curious and enter-
./ning, that to the long list of books already published
v.oout Shakespeare, I have been bold enough to add yet
<>.:. >ther. In so doing, I venture to hope that the reader

- .* y so far appreciate the result of my labour as not to
.* isider it superfluous.

-is regards the treatment of the subject, a word or two

- i' explanation seems necessary. In 1 866, from the notes

ij.td then collected, I contributed a series of articles on
..'. birds of Shakespeare to The Zoologist. In these
,-;..:les, I referred only to such birds as have a claim to be
British, and omitted ' alTnoHce of domesticated

vni PREFACE.

species, I had not then considered any special arrange-
ment or grouping, but noticed each species seriatim in the
order adopted by Mr. Varrell in his excellent " History of
British Birds." Since that date, I have collected so much
additional information on the subject, that, instead of
eighty pages (the extent of my first publication;, three
hundred have now passed through the printers' hands.
With this large accession of material, it was found abso-
lutely necessary to re-arrange and re-write the whole. The
birds therefore have been now divided into certain natural
groups, including the foreign and domesticated species, to
each of which groups a chapter lias been devotee! ; and I
have thought it desirable to give, by way of introduction,
a sketch of Shakespeare's general knowledge of natural
history and acquaintance with field-sports, as bearing
more or less directly on his special knowledge of Orni-
thology, which I propose chiefly to consider.

After I had published the last of the series of articles
referred to, I received an intimation for the first time, that,
twenty years previously, a notice of the birds of Shake-
speare had appeared in the pages of The Zoologist. I
lost no time in procuring the particular number which
contained the article, and found that, in December, 1846,
Mr. T. \V. Barlow, of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, had, to
a certain extent, directed attention to Shakespeare's
knowledge as an Ornithologist. His communication,
however, did not exceed half a dozen pages, in which

PREFACE. ix

space he has mentioned barely one-fourth of the species
to which Shakespeare has referred. From the cursory
nature of his remarks, moreover, I failed to discover
a reference to any point which I had not already inves-
tigated. It would be unnecessary for me, therefore, to
allude to this article, except for the purpose of acknow-
ledging that Mr. Barlow was the first to enter upon what,
as regards Shakespeare, may be termed this new field
of research.

The labour of collecting and arranging Shakespeare's
numerous allusions to birds, has been much greater than
many would suppose, for not only have I derived little or
no benefit from the various editions of his works which
I have consulted, but reference to a glossarial index, or
concordance, has, in nine cases out of ten, resulted in dis-
appointment It is due to Mr. Staunton, however, to
state that I have found some of the foot-notes to his
library edition of the Plays very useful.

Although oft-times difficult, it has been my endeavour,
as far as practicable, to connect one with another the
various passages quoted or referred to, so as to render the
whole as readable and as entertaining as possible. With
this view, many allusions have been passed over as being
too trivial to deserve separate notice, but a reference to
them will be found in the Appendix at the end of the
volume,* where all the words quoted are arranged, for

~* Such words are there enclosed in brackets [ ].

X PREFACE.

convenience, in the order in which they occur in the plays
and poems,

In spelling Shakespeare's name, I have adopted the
orthography of his friends Ben Jonson and the editors of
the first folio.*

As regards the illustrations, it seems desirable also to
say a few words.

In selecting for my frontispiece a portrait of Shake-
speare as a falconer (a character which I am confident
could not have been foreign to him), I have experienced
considerable difficulty in making choice of a likeness.

Those who have made special inquiries into the authen-
ticity of the various portraits of Shakespeare, are not
agreed in the results at which they have arrived. This is
to be attributed to the fact that, with the exception of the
Droeshout etching, to which I shall presently state my
objection, no likeness really exists of which a reliable
history can be given without one or more missing links in
the chain of evidence.

There are four portraits which have all more or less
claim to be considered authentic. These are "the Jansen
portrait," 1610 ; "the Stratford bust," prior to 1623 J "the
Droeshout etching," 1623; and "the Chandos portrait,"
of which the precise date is uncertain, but which must

* Amongst the entries in the Council Book of the Corporation of Stratford,
during the period that John Shakespeare, the Poet's father, was a member of the
Municipal body (he filled the office of Chamberlain in 1573), the name occurs
one hundred and sixty-six times under fourteen different modes of spelling.

PREFACE. xi

have been painted some years prior to 1616, the year of
Shakespeare's death.

It would be impossible, within the compass of this
preface, to review all that has been said for and against
these four portraits. Neither will space permit me to
give the history of each in detail, I can only briefly
allude to the chief facts in connection with each, and state
the reasons which have influenced me in selecting the
Chandos portrait.

Mr. Boaden, who was the first to examine into the
authenticity of reputed Shakespeare portraits,* has
evinced a preference for the so-called u jansen portrait,"
in the collection of the Duke of Somerset, considering it
to have been painted by Cornelius Jansen, in 1610, for
Lord Southampton, the great patron, at that date, of art
and the drama.

The picture, indeed, bears upon the face of it an inscrip-
tion JE le 46 which gives much weight to the views

1610
expressed by Mr. Boaden.

It is certain that, in the year mentioned, Jansen was in
England, and that he painted several pictures for Lord
Southampton ; it is equally true, that at that date Shake-
speare was in his forty-sixth year. But Mr. Boaden fails
to prove that this particular picture was painted by

* " An Inquiry into the Authenticity of various Pictures and Prints, which, from
the decease of the Poet to our own times, have been offered to the public a*
Portraits of Shakespeare." By James Boaden. London, 1824.

Xli PREFACE.

Jansen, and that it was ever in the possession of Lord
Southampton, or painted by his order.

As a fine head, and a work of art, it is the one of all
others that I should like to think resembled Shakespeare,
could its history be more satisfactorily detailed.

Many regard as a genuine portrait, the Bust at Strat-
ford-on-Avon, which is stated to have been executed by
Gerard Johnson, and " probably" under the superinten-
dence of Dr. John Hall. The precise date of its erection
is not known, but we gather that it was previous to 1623,
from the fact that Leonard Digges has referred to it in
his Lines to the Memory of Shakespeare, prefixed to
the first folio edition of the Plays published in that year.
Mr. Wivell relies very strongly on the circumstance of its
having been originally coloured to nature.* Hence tra-
dition informs us that the eyes were hazel, the hair and
beard auburn. It must be admitted, however, that a
portrait after death can never be so faithful as a picture
from the life, while no sculptor who examines this bust
can maintain that it was executed from a cast."f

Those who approve of the Droeshout etching, published
in 1623, as a frontispiece to the first folio, find a strong
argument in favour of its being a likeness in the com-
mendatory lines by Ben Jonson, which accompany it.

* "An Inquiry into the History, Authenticity, and Characteristics of the
Shakespeare Portraits. " By Abraham Wivell. London, 1827.

t The Stratford Portrait was doubtless painted from the bust, and probably
about the time of the Garrick Jubilee, 1769.

PREFACE. xiii

Jonson knew Shakespeare well, and he says of this
picture :

ifc This figure that thou here seest put,
It was for gentle Shakespeare cut ;
Wherein the graver had a strife
With Nature to outdoo the life,
O, could he but have drawne his wit
As well in brasse as he hath hit
His face, the print would then surpasse
All that was ever writ in brasse ;
But since he cannot, reader, looke
Not on his picture, but his booke."

As a work of art it is by no means skilful, and is con-
fessedly inferior not only to other engravings of that day,
but also to other portraits by Martin Droeshout.

That it bore some likeness to Shakespeare as an actor,
I do not doubt, but that it resembled him as a private
individual when off the stage, I cannot bring myself to
believe. The straight hair and shaven chin which are not
found in other portraits having good claims to be
considered authentic, and the unnaturally high forehead,
which would be caused by the actor's wearing the wig of
an old man partially bald, suggest at once that when
the original portrait was taken, from which Droeshout
engraved, Shakespeare was dressed as if about to sustain
a part in which he was thought to excel as an actor.

Boaden has conjectured that this portrait represents
Shakespeare in the character of old Knowell, in Ben

XIV PREFACE.

Jonson's Every Man in Jiis Humour, a part which"
he is known to have played in 1598, and this would
easily account for Ben Jonson's commendation.*' This
conjecture is so extremely probable, that I have no
hesitation in endorsing it.

We come, then, now to "the Chandos portrait." With
the longest pedigree of any, it possesses at least as much
collateral evidence of probability, and is, moreover,
important as belonging to the nation.f It has been
traced back to the possession of Shakespeare's godson,
William, afterwards Sir William, Davenant, and all that
seems to be wanting materially, is the artist's name.
The general opinion is, that it was painted either by
Burbage or Taylor, both of whom were fellow-players
of Shakespeare. It is styled the Chandos portrait from
having come to the trustees of the National Portrait
Gallery from the collection of the Duke of Chandos
and Buckingham, through the Earl of Ellesmcre, by
whom it was purchased and presented. The history
of the picture, so far as it can be ascertained, is as
follows :

It was originally the property of Taylor, the player

* Boadcn adds: "Let it be remembered in aid of this inference that tradition
has invariably assigned to him, as an actor, characters in the decline of life, and
that one of his relatives is reported to have seen him in the part of old Adam,
the faithful follower of Orlando, in that enchanting pastoral comedy As You
Like It" Op. cit., p. 22.

f "Life Portraits of William Shakespeare," by J. Hain Friswell. London,
1864.

PREFACE. XV

(our poet's Hamlet), by whom, or by Richard Burbage.
It was painted.*

Taylor dying about the year 1653, at the advanced
age of seventy/)- left this picture by will to Davenant.:;;
At the death of Davenant, who died intestate in 1663,
it was bought, probably at a sale of his effects, by
Betterton, the actor.

While in Better-ton's possession, it was engraved by
Van der Gucht, for Rowe's edition of Shakespeare, in
1709. Betterton dying without a will and in needy
circumstances, his pictures were sold. Some were bought
by Bullfinch, the printseller, who sold them again to
a Mr. Sykes. The portrait of Shakespeare was pur-
chased by Mrs. Barry, the actress, who afterwards sold it
for forty guineas to Mr. Robert Keck, of the Inner Temple.

While in his possession, an engraving was made from
it, in 1719, by Vertue, and it then passed to Mr.
Nicholls, of Southgate, Middlesex, who acquired it on
marrying the heiress of the Keck family.

The Marquis of Caernarvon, afterwards Duke of
Chandos, marrying the daughter of Mr. Nicholls, it

* We have, unfortunately, no proof that Joseph Taylor, the player, ever
painted portraits. There was a contemporary, however, named John Taylor, who
was an artist, and it is possible that these two have been confounded.

Boaden refers the picture to Burbage, "who is known to have handled the
pencil." Op. cit., p. 49.

f Taylor was thirty-three when Shakespeare died in 1616, and survived him
thirty-seven years.

J This will, it appears, is not to be found (Wivell, Op. cit., p. 49), but it matters
little, if we are assured that Davenant possessed the picture.

XVI PREFACE.

then became his Grace's property. When his pictures
were sold at Stowe, in September, 1848, this portrait
was purchased for three hundred and fifty-five guineas
by the Earl of Ellesmere, who, in March, 1856, presented
it to the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, in
whose hands it still remains.

Notwithstanding this pedigree, the picture has been
objected to on the ground that the dark hair and
foreign complexion could never have belonged to our
essentially English Shakespeare. Those who make this
objection, seem to forget entirely the age of the portrait,
and the fact that it is painted in oil and on canvas, a
circumstance which of itself is quite sufficient, after
the lapse of two centuries and a half, to account for
the dark tone which now pervades it, to say nothing
of the numerous touches and retouches to which it has
been subjected at the hands of its various owners.

Notwithstanding the missing links of evidence, it
seems to me that, having traced the picture back to
the possession of Shakespeare's godson, we have gone
far enough to justify us in accepting it as an authentic
portrait in preference to many others. For we cannot
suppose that Sir William Davenant would retain in
his possession until his death a picture of one with
whom he was personally acquainted, unless he con-
sidered that it was sufficiently faithful as a likeness to
remind him of the original.

PREFACE. XVli

On the score of pedigree, then, and because I believe
that the only well-authenticated portrait (i.e., the Droe-
shout) represents Shakespeare as an actor, and not as
a private individual, I have selected the Chandos portrait
for my frontispiece.

By obtaining a reduced photograph of this upon uood,
from the best engraving, and " vignetting " it, I have been
enabled to place upon the left hand a hooded falcon,
drawn by the unrivalled pencil of Mr. Wolf, and thus
to entrust to the engraver, Mr. Pearson, a faithful likeness
of man and bird.

As regards the other illustrations, my acknowledg-
ments are due to Mr. J. G. Keulemans for the artistic
manner in which he has executed my designs, and to
Mr. Pearson for the careful way in which he has engraved
them.

With these observations, I conclude an undertaking
which has occupied my leisure hours for six years, but
which indeed has been, in every sense of the word,
" a labour of love."

Should the reader, on closing this volume, consider" its
design but imperfectly executed, it is hoped that he will
still have gleaned from it enough curious information to
compensate him for the disappointment.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.
SHAKESPEARE'S GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

His Love of Sport. Hawking. Fishing. Hunting. Fowling. Deer-Shoot-
ing. Deer-Stealing, "The Subtle Fox" and "Timorous Hare."
Coursing. Con ey-Catching. Wild Animals mentioned by Shakespeare.
His Knowledge of their Habits. Insects referred to in the Plays.
Shakespeare's Powers of Observation. Practical Knowledge of Falconry.
Love of Birds

CHAPTER I.

THE EAGLE AND LARGER BIKDb Ot PREY.

An "Eagle Eye." Power of Flight A good Omen. "The Bird of
Jove." The Roman Eagle. The "Ensign" of the Eagle Habits and
Attitudes. Eagles' Eggs. Longevity of the Eagle: its Age computed.
The Eagle trained for Hawking. The Vulture : its Repulsive Habits,
The Osprey : its Power over Fish. The Kite. The Kite's N 7 est.~
The Buzzard

CHAPTER II.

HAWKS AND HAWKING.

Explanation of Hawking Terms. The Falcon and Tiercel. The Qualities of
a good Falconer. The "Lure" and its Use. The "Quarry" The
Hawk's "Trappings." Jesses, Bells, and Hood.- An Unmunn'd Hauk.
The Cadge The Hawk's Mew. The Royal Mews. Origin of the
word "Mews." Imping. How to "Seel "a Hawk, A Hawk for the

XX CONTENTS.

PAC,E

Bush. Going "a-birding." The "Stanniel" or Kestrel. Origin of the
Two Names. The "Musket" or Sparrow-Hawk. Hawk and Hern-
shaw. Prices of Hawks. Hawk's Furniture. Hawk's Meat. Fal-
coner's Wages. Sundries 49

CHAPTER III.

THE OWL AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.

"The Bird of Juno." "The Favourite of Minerva." "The Bird of Wis-
dom." Sacred to Proserpine. Use in Medicine. The Bird of Ill-
Omen. Its Appearance by Day. Its Habits misunderstood. Its Utility
to the Farmer. A Curious Tradition. Its Note or Cry. An Owl
Robbing Nests. Evidence not conclusive. Its Retiring Habits. Its
" Five Wits." Its Fame in Song. The Owl's Good Night . . 83

CHAPTER IV.

THE CROWS AND THEIR RELATIONS.

The Raven : a Bird of 111 Omen. Its Supposed Prophetic Power. Its Deep
and Solemn Voice. The Raven's Croak foreboding Death. The
" Night-Raven " and "Night-Crow." The Raven's Presence on Battle-
fields. Its alleged Desertion of its Young.- The Rook and Crow.
The Crow-Keeper, and "Scare-Crow." The Chough. Russet-pated
Choughs. The Daw, Magpie, and Jay 99

CHAPTER V.

THE BIRDS OF SONG.

The Nightingale. "Lamenting Philomel." Singing against a Thorn.
Erroneously supposed to Sing only by Night. "Recording."
The Lark. "The Herald of the Morn." Singing at Heaven's Gate.
Song of the Hark. Soaring and Singing. Changing Eyes with Toad.
Lark-Catching. The Common Bunting. "The Throstle, with his
Note so True." Imitation of his Song. The Ouzel-Cock. The Robin-
Redbreast, or Ruddock. Covering the Dead with Leaves. " Redbreast
Teacher." "The Wren with Little Quill." Its Loud Song. The Spar-
row. "Philip Sparrow." Providence in the Fall of a Sparrow.- The
Hedge-Sparrow and Cuckoo. " The Cuckoo's Bird." " Ungentle Gull."
"The Plain Song Cuckoo Gray." The Song of the Cuckoo. Cuckoo
Songs. The Wagtail, or Dishwasher. Bird-catching. Springes. Gins.
Bat-fowling. Its Two Significations. Bird-Lime, Bird-Bolts, and
Birding-Pieces ... . . 123

CONTENTS. xxi

CHAPTER VI.

THE BIRDS UNDER DOMESTICATION.

Cock. "Cock-Crow." " Cock-shut-time." " Cock-a-Hoop." " Cock and
Pye." Cock-Fighting. Ancestry of the Domestic Cock. The Peacock.
Its Introduction into Europe, and Ancient Value, In Request for the
Table. The Turkey. Date of Introduction into England. Shakespeare's
Anachronism. Pigeons. First used as Letter-Carriers. A Present of
Pigeons. Meaning- of ' ' Pigeon-Liver'd." Pigeon-Post. Mode of
Feeding the Young. The Barbary Pigeon, The Rock-Dove. Doves
and Dovecotes. The "Doves of Venus." "The Dove of Paphos."--
"As True as Turtle to her Mate:" "as Plantage to the Moon."
Mahomet's Dove. A Dish of Doves. The Goose. "Green-Geese,"
and "Stubble-Geese." "Cackling home to Camelot." "The Wild-
Goose Chase." The Swan. "The Bird of Apollo." Song of the
Swan. Habits of the Swan. The Swan's Nest. As Soft as Swan's-
down. " Juno's Swans. "Cygnets 167

CHAPTER VII.

THE GAME-BIRDis AND "QUARRY" FLOWN AT BV FALCONERS.

Sporting in Shakespeare s Day. The Pheasant. Date of its Introduc-
tion into Britain. Ancient Value of Game. Game-Preserving. Game-
Laws. Partridge-Hawking. Anecdote of Charles I. Quails. Quail-
Fighting. The Lapwing. Feigning to be Wounded. Running as
soon as Hatched. The Heron, or Hernshaw. Heron-Hawking. Hawk
and Hernshaw. Heron at Table. The Woodcock. Springes for Wood-
cocks. How to Make a Springe. A Gin. "The Woodcock's Head."
The Snipe 209

CHAPTER VIII.

WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL.

"A Flight of FowL" Habit of Wounded Birds. " Duck- Hunting. "
Swimming " like a Duck." Wild-fowling in Shakespeare's Day.
"The Stalking-Horse." "The Caliver." " The Stale." Wild-Geese.
Sign of Hard Weather. The Barnacle Goose. Barnacles. Wild
Fowl. Divers and Grebes. The " Loon." The " Di-dapper." The
Cormorant. Its Voracity. Fishing with Cormorants. The King's Cor-
morants. Their "Keep" at Westminster. Fishing at Thetford. -The
* Master of the Cormorants. Entries in State Papers. The Home of
the Cormorant The Sea-side. Shakespeare's Sea-cliffs and "Sea-
mells." Gulls and Gull-Catchers ... .... 235

PWiE

HIS KB INCLUDED IN THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS,

rFlilit ol tie Ki

mwer.-r

laHoid "lartleL"-Tle Swab's Herb!
State's Sterile "Os% 11JI Eatinj ta-taif i tic
,-Tte PetarFeeinj its tajrtl its BWrExptation
istence of a Pelican in tie Enp Fens,-
Conclusion 271

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

L THE HEAD AXD TAIL PIECES FROM DESIGNS BV TlIF, AUTHOR."

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, adapted from the Chandos Portrait by

J. Wolf, engraved by G. Pearson Frontis.

Deer-Shooting, drawn by J. G. Keulemans, engraved by G. Pearson . i

Rabbit and Beagle ,, ti .22

Goshawk and Hare ti . . 23

Wliite-tailed Eagle in Trap TI . . 4 3

Falcon and Wild Duck , , tt <g

The Jesses ,, M . . 58

The Bells ,, ,, . . 60

The Hood ,, tt .61

The Cadge M . . 63

Imping ,, f , . 68

The Keeper's Tree M g 2

Owl Mobbed by Small Birds ^ ff . 83

Long-eared Owl , , M . , 93

Rooks and Magpies ,, M . . 99

Jay Stealing Eggs ,, M . . 122
Blackbird, Thrush, Nightingale, ]

and Wren j " " . . 123

Bird-Trap ,, M . r 62

Birding-Piece of Prince Charles , , , , . . 165

Sparrow and Trap ,, . . 166

Turkey, Peacock, and Pigeon ,, M . 167

Dog and Wounded Duck , , , , . 208

Pheasant and Partridges ,, ,, . 209

A Springe for Woodcocks , , M . 229

Quails Fighting ,, . 234

Wild-Fowl Alighting , , , , . 235

Caliver of the Sixteenth Century , , , , . 242

The Barnacle Goose , , , , . 247
The Barnacle Goose Tree, |

From Aldrov&ndus \

The Barnacle Goose Tree ) *

From Gerard )

Barnacles. From Nature. ,, > 2 53

Black-headed Gull . . 270

Kingfisher and Swallows , 2 7*

Pelican and Young ,, .298

INTRODUCTION

"DEFORE proceeding to examine the ornithology of
Shakespeare, it may be well to take a glance at
his knowledge of natural history in general.

Pope has expressed the opinion that whatever object of
nature or branch of science Shakespeare either speaks of
or describes, it is always with competent if not with
exclusive knowledge. His descriptions are always exact,
his metaphors appropriate, and remarkably drawn from
the true nature and inherent qualities of each subject.
There can indeed be little doubt that Shakespeare must
have derived the greater portion of his knowledge of
nature from his own observation, and no one can fail to be
delighted with the variety and richness of the images
which he has by this means produced.

Whether we accompany him to the woods and fields,
midst "daisies pied and violets blue," or sit with him
"under the shade .of melancholy boughs/' whether we

B

2 INTRODUCTION.

follow him to lt the brook that brawls along the wood," or
to that sea " whose rocky shore beats back the envious
.siege of watery Neptune," we are alike instructed by his
observations, and charmed with his apt descriptions.
How often do the latter strike us as echoes of our own
experience, sent forth in fitter tones than we could find.

A sportsman is oft-times more or less a naturalist. His
rambles in search of game bring him in contact with
creatures of such curious structure and habits, with insects
and plants of such rare beauty, that the purpose of his
walk is for the time forgotten, and he turns aside from
sport, to admire and learn from nature.
''""That Shakespeare was both a sportsman and a
naturalist, there is much evidence to show. During the
age in which he lived "hawking" was much in vogue.
Throughout the Plays, we find frequent allusions to this
sport, and the accurate employment of terms used exclu-
sively in falconry, as well as the beautiful metaphors
derived therefrom, prove that our poet had much practical
knowledge on the subject. We shall have occasion later
to discuss his knowledge of falconry at greater length.
It- will suffice for the present to observe that there are
many passages in the Plays which to one unacquainted
with the habits of animals and birds, or ignorant of
hawking phraseology, would be wholly unintelligible, but
which are otherwise found to contain the most beautiful
and forcible metaphors. As instances of this may be

INTRODUCTION. :

that 'passage in Othello (Act iii. Sc. 3), where the Mooi
compares his suspected wife to a "haggard falcon," anc
the hawking scene in Act ii. of the Second Part of Kin
Henry VI*

Shakespeare, although a contemplative man, appears tc
have found but little "recreation" in fishing, and the mosl
enthusiastic disciple of Izaak Walton would find it difficull
to illustrate a work on angling with quotations from
Shakespeare. He might refer us to Twelfth Night (Act ii
Sc. 5), where Maria, on the appearance of Malvolio, ex-
claims, ." Here comes the trout that must be caught with
tickling ;" and to the song of Caliban in The Tcmpcsi
(Act ii. Sc. 2), "No more dams I'll make for fish."
Possibly, by straining a point or two, he might ask with
Benedick, in Much Ado about Nothing (Act i. Sc. I),
" Do you play the flouting Jack ?"

But our poet seems to have considered

" The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,
And greedily devour the treacherous bait."

dlnch Ado y Act iii, Sc. I .f

* These passages will be found duly criticised in Chapter II.

f In the following passage from The Tempest, Shakespeare, apropos of fish, gives
one of many proofs of his knowledge of human nature. Trinculo comes upon the
strange form of Caliban lying fiat on the sands : "What have we here? A man,
or a fish? dead or alive? A fish : he smells like a rish : a very ancient and fish-
like smell ; a kind of, not of the newest, poor-John. A strange fish J Were I in
England now (as once I was), and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool
there but would give a piece of silver : there would this monster make a man :

4 INTRODUCTION.

His forte lay more in hunting and fowling than in
fishing,* and in all that relates to deer-stalking (as prac-
tised in his day, when the deer was killed with cross-bow
or bow and arrow), to deer-hunting with hounds, and to
coursing, we find him fully informed.

In the less noble art of bird-catching f he was probably
no mean adept, while the knowledge which he displays of
the habits of our wild animals, as the fox, the badger, the
weasel, and the wild cat, could only have been acquired by
one accustomed to much observation by flood and field.

On each of these subjects a chapter might be written,
but it will suffice for our present purpose to draw attention
only to some of the more remarkable passages in support
of the assertions above made.

Deer-shooting was a favourite sport of both sexes in
Shakespeare's day, and to enable the ladies to enjoy it in
safety, "stands," or " standings/' were erected in many
parks, and concealed with boughs. From these the
ladies with bow and arrow, or cross-bow, shot at
the deer as they were driven past them by the keepers.

any strange beast there makes a man : when they will not give a doit to relieve a
lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian ! " Tempest, Act ii.

SC. 2.

* The author of "The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, 1496," makes the
following quaint remarks on the superiority of " Fysshynge" over " Huntynge" :
4 ' For huntynge, as to myn entent, is too laboryous, for the hunter must alwaye
renne and followe his houndes : traueyllynge and swetynge full sore. He blowyth
tyll his lyppes blyster. And when he weenyth it be an hare, full oft it is an hegge
hogge. Thus he chasyth and wote not what."

t The subject of Bird-catching will be fully discussed in a subsequent chapter.

INTRODUCTION. 5

Queen Elizabeth was extremely fond of this sport, and
the nobility who entertained her in her different pro-
gresses, made large hunting parties, which she usually
joined when the weather was favourable. She frequently
amused herself in following the hounds. " Her Majesty,"
says a courtier, writing to Sir Robert Sidney, "is well
and excellently disposed to hunting, for every second day
she is on horseback, and continues the sport long." * At
this time Her Majesty had just entered the seventy-
seventh year of her age, and was then at her palace at
Oatlands. Often, when she was not disposed to hunt
herself, she was entertained with a sight of the sport.
At Cowdray Park, Sussex, then the seat of Lord Montagu
(1591), Her Majesty one day after dinner saw " sixteen
bucks, all having fayre law r e, pulled downe with grey-
hounds in a laund or lawn."*f-

No wonder, then, that the ladies of England, with the
royal example before their eyes, found such delight in
the chase during the age of which we speak, and not
content with being mere spectators, vied with each other
in the skilful use of the bow.

To this pastime Shakespeare has made frequent
allusion.

In Love's Labour's Lost, the first scene of the fourth
act*is laid in a park, where the Princess asks,

* Letter from Rowland White to Sir Robert Sidney, dated isth Sept. 1600.
f Nichols 1 " Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of Queen
Elizabeth," vol. iii. p. 90. (1788-1805.)

6 INTRODUCTION.

" Then, forester,* my friend, where is the bush
That we must stand and play the murtherer in ? "

To which the forester replies,

" Hereby, upon the edge of yonder coppice ;
A ' stand ' where you may make the fairest shoot."

And in Henry VI. Part III. Act iii. Sc. i,

11 Under this thick-grown brake we '11 shroud" ourselves ;
For through this laund anon the deer will come ;
And in this covert will we make our f stand/
Culling the principal of all the deer."

Again, in Cymbcline (Act iii. Sc. 4), " When thou hast
ta'en thy ' stand/ the elected deer before thee." Other
passages might be mentioned, but it will be sufficient
to refer only to The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act v.
Sc. 5), and to the song in As You Like It (Act iv.
Sc. 2), commencing " What shall he have that kill'd the
deer?"

Deer-stealing in Shakespeare's day was regarded only as
a youthful frolic. Antony Wood (" Athen. Oxon." i. 371),
speaking of Dr. John Thornborough, who was admitted a
member of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1570, at the age

# " A forester is an officer of the forest sworn to preserve the vert and venison
therein, and to attend the wild beasts within his bailiwick, and to watch and
endeavour to keep them safe, by day and night. He is likewise to apprehend all
offenders in vert and venison, and to present them to the Courts of the Forest, to the
end they may be punished according to their offences." The Gtutleman' s Recrea-
tion* 1686.

INTRODUCTION. 7

of eighteen, and who was successively Bishop of Limerick
and Bishop of Bristol and Worcester, informs us, that he
and his kinsman, Robert Pinkney, tf seldom studied or
gave themselves to their books, but spent their time
in the fencing schools, and dancing schools, in stealing
deer and conies, in hunting the hare and wooing girls."

Shakespeare himself has been accused of this indiscre-
tion. The story is first told in print by Rowe, in his " Life
of Shakespeare " : " He had, by a misfortune common
enough to young fellows, fallen into ill company, and
amongst them some tht made a frequent practice of
deer-stealing engaged him more than once in robbing a
park that belonged to Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote,
near Stratford. For this he was prosecuted by that
gentleman, as he thought somewhat too severely ; and in
order to revenge that ill-usage, he made a ballad upon
him. And though this, probably the first essay of his
poetry, be lost, yet it is said to have been so very bitter,
that it redoubled the prosecution against him to that
degree, that he was 'obliged to leave his business and
family in Warwickshire, for some time, and shelter him-
self in London."

Mr. Staunton, in his library edition of Shakespeare's
Plays, says : " What degree of authenticity the story pos-
sesses will never probably be known. Rowe derived his
version of it no doubt through Betterton ; but Davies
makes no allusion to the source from which he drew his

8 INTRODUCTION.

information, and we are left to grope our way, so far as
this important incident is concerned, mainly by the light
of collateral circumstances. These, it must be admitted,
serve in some respects to confirm the tradition. Shake-
speare certainly quitted Stratford-upon-Avon when a young
man, and it could have been no ordinary impulse which
drove him to leave wife, children, friends, and occupa-
tion, to take up his abode among strangers in a distant
place.

" Then there is the pasquinade, and the unmistakable
identification of Sir Thomas Lucy as Justice Shallow,
in the Second Part of Henry IV., and in the opening
scene of The Merry Wives of Windsor. The genuine-
ness of the former may be doubted ; but the ridicule
in the Plays betokens a latent hostility to the Lucy
family, which is unaccountable, except upon the
supposition that the deerstealing foray is founded on
facts."

The more legitimate sport in killing deer was by means
of blood-hounds, and in The Midsummer Night's Dream
we are furnished with an accurate description of the dogs
in most repute :

" My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,
So flew'd, so sanded ; and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew ;
Crook-knee'd, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls ;
Slow In tmrsuit. but match'd in mouth like bells.

INTRODUCTION. g

Each under each. A cry more tuneable
Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn."

Act. iv. Sc. i.

In the Comedy of Errors (Act Iv. Sc. 2), Dromio of
Syracuse alludes to " a hound that runs counter, and yet
draws dry foot well," and in the Taming of the Shrew
we have the following animated dialogue :

"Lord. Saw'st thou not, boy, how Silver made it good
At the hedge-corner, in the coldest fault ?
I would not lose the dog for twenty pound.
Huntsman. Why, Belman is as good as he, my lord ;
He cried upon it at the merest loss,
And twice to-day pick'd out the dullest scent :
Trust me, I take him for the better dog."

Many more such instances might be adduced, but the
reader might perhaps be tempted to exclaim, with Timon
of Athens :

" Get thee away, and take thy beagles with thee."

Act iv. Sc. 3.

We will therefore only glance at that amusing scene
in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Act v. Sc. 5), where
Falstaff appears in Windsor Forest, disguised with a
buck's head on. "Divide me," says he, "like a brib'd-
buck, each a haunch : I will keep my sides to myself,
my shoulders for the fellow of this walk, and my horns
I bequeath your husbands."

C

10 INTRODUCTION.

We have here an allusion to the ancient method of
" breaking up " a deer.* " The fellow of this walk " is the
forester, to whom it was customary on such occasions to
present a shoulder. Dame Juliana Berners, in her " Boke
of St. Albans," 1496, says,

" And the right shoulder, wheresoever he be,
Bere it to ft\e foster, for that is fee."

And in Turbervile's "Book of Hunting," 1575, the
distribution of the various parts of a deer is minutely
described.

The touching description of a wounded stag, in As You
Like It, can scarcely escape notice. Alluding to "the
melancholy Jaques," one of the lords says,

" To-day my lord of Amiens and myself
Did steal behind him, as he lay along
Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out
Upon the brook that brawls along this wood ;
To the which place a poor sequestred stag,
That from the hunters' aim had ta'en a hurt,
Did come to languish ; and, indeed, my lord,
The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans,
That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat

"We say the deer is ' broken up,' the fox and hare are 'cased.' " T/ie Gentle-
man s Recreation. 1686.

From this ancient practice, too, is derived the phrase, "to eat humble pic,"
more correctly written " um&le pie." This was a venison pasty, made of the
umbles (heart, liver, and lungs), and always given to inferiors, and placed low
down on the table when the squire feasted publicly in the hall.

INTRODUCTION 1 1

Almost to bursting ; and the big round tears
Cours'd one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase ; and thus the hairy fool,
Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,
Stood on th' extremest verge of the swift brook,
Augmenting it with tears." Act ii. Sc. I.

Although the deer, as the nobler animal, has received
more attention from our poet than the fox and the hare,
yet the two last-named are by no means forgotten :

" The fox [who] barks not when he would steal the lamb "
(Henry VL Part II. Act iii. Sc. i) ;

who, when he " hath once got in his nose," will " soon
find means to make the body follow 1 ' (Henry VI. Part III.
Act iv. Sc. 7) ; and

" Who ne'er so tame, so cherish'd and lock'd up,
Will have a wild trick of his ancestors "

(Cymbclinc, Act v. Sc. 2) ;

receives his share of notice, although it is not always in
his praise, and " subtle as the fox " has become a proverb
(Cymbdine, Act iii. Sc. 3).

From the "subtle fox" to the "timorous hare," the
transition is easy. What "more a coward than a hare"?
(Twelfth Night, Act iii. Sc. 5.)

In Roxburgh and Aberdeen, as we learn from Jamie-
son's " Scottish Dictionary," a hare is termed " a bawd,"

1 2 INTRODUCTION.

and the knowledge of this fact enables us to understand
the dialogue in Romeo and Juliet, which would otherwise
be unintelligible :

" Mercutio. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd ! So ho !
Romeo. What hast thou found ?
Mercutio. No hare, sir." Act ii. Sc. 4.

That coursing was in vogue in Shakespeare's day, and
practised in the same way as at present, we may infer
from such expressions as "a good hare-finder " (Much
Ado, Act i. Sc. i), " Holla me like a hare" (Coriolanus,
Act i. Sc. 8), and " I see you stand like greyhounds in the
slips, straining upon the start " (Henry V. Act iii. Sc. i).

Rabbits were taken, and no doubt poached, in the
same way then as now ; for we read of the coney * " that
you see dwell where she is kindled" (As You Like 'It,
Act iii. Sc. 2) struggling "in the net." (Henry VI. Part III,
Act i. Sc. 4.)

The Brock f or Badger (Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc; 5) ";
^

* "The coney is called the first year ' a rabbet,' and afterwards ' an old coney.'
He is a beast of the warren, and not a beast of venery." The Gentleman's
Recreation. 1686. *

f- Brock is the old name for badger, and we still find the word occurring in
many names of places, possibly thereby indicating localities where the badger was
formerly common. Of these may be mentioned, Brockhurst in Shropshire,
Brockenhurst in Kent, Brockenborough in Wiltshire, Brockford in Suffolk,
Brockhall in Northampton, Brockhampton in Oxford, Dorset, Gloucester, and
Herefordshire, Brockham Green in Surrey, Brockholes in Lancashire and York*
shire, Brock-le-bank in Cumberland, Brocklesby in Lincolnshire, Brockley in
Somersetshire, Brockley in Suffolk, Brockley Hill in Kent; Brockley Hill in
Hertfordshire, Brockmoor in Staffordshire, Brockworth in Gloucestershire.

INTRODUCTION. 13

the Wild Cat who "sleeps by day" (Merck, of Venice,
Act ii. Sc. 5, and Pericles, Act iii. Intro.) ; "the quarrelous
Weasel" (Oymbclme, Act iii. Sc. 4, and Henry IV. Part I.
Act ii. Sc. 3) ; "the Dormouse of little valour" (Twelfth
Night, Act iii. Sc. i) ; "the joiner Squirrel" (Romeo and
Juliet^ Act i. Sc. 4), whose habit of hoarding appears to
have been well known to Shakespeare (Midsummer
Nights Dream, Act iv. Sc. 2) ; and " the blind Mole/' who
" casts copp'd hills towards heaven " (Pericles, Act i.
Sc. i) ; '* all these are mentioned in their turn, while
the Bat " with leathern wing," f " the venom Toad," '* the
thorny Hedgehog," J "the Adder blue/' and the "spotted
Snake with double tongue," are all called in most aptly by

We cannot forget Titania's directions to her fairies in
regard to Bats :

"Some war with rear mice for their leathern wings,
To make my small elves coats "

(Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act ii. Sc. 2) ;

* See also Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 3.

f In the Midland Counties, the bat is often called leathern-wings. Compare the
high G erman ' * leder-ma us."

t . . . . " hedgehogs which
Lie tumbling in my bare-foot way, and mount
Their pricks at my footfall." Tempest, Act ii. Sc. z,

$ " JRere-mouse " from the old English " hrere-mus" literally a raw mouse. The
adjective " rere " is still used in Wiltshire for " raw." The bat is also known as the
"rennie-mouse" or " reiny-mouse," although Miss Gurney, in her "Glossary of
Norfolk Words," gives " ranny " for the shrew-mouse. The old name of "Hitter-
mouse," "fluttermouse," or "fiiddermouse," from the high German, "feder-
maus" does not appear in Shakespeare's works.

14 INTRODUCTION.

nor the comfortable seat which Ariel appears to have
found " on the bat's back " (Tempest, Act v. Sc. i).

The following striking passage must also be familiar to
readers of Shakespeare :

4 * Ere the bat hath flown

His cloister'd flight ; ere, to black Hecate's summons,
The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums,
Hath rung night's yawning peal,
There shall be done a deed of dreadful note."

'Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 2.

In a printed broadside of the time of Queen Anne,
in the collection^ the Society of Antiquaries of London,
is the following curious fable relating to the Bat :

"615. THE BIRDS AND BEASTS. A Fable.

" Once the Birds and Beasts strove for the prerogative :
the neuter Batt, seeing the Beasts prevail, goes to them
and shows them her large forehead, long ears, and teeth :
afterwards, when the Birds prevail'd, the Batt flies with
the Birds, and sings chit, chit, chat, and shows them her
wings.

" Hence Beakless Bird, hence Winged Beast, they cry'd ;
Hence plumeless wings ; thus scorn her either side,

"LONDON. PRINTED FOR EDW. LEWIS,

FLOWER-DE-LUCE COURT, FLEET STREET. 1710. '

INTRODUCTION. 1 5

In alluding to the " venom toad " as " mark'd by the
destinies to be avoided/' Shakespeare probably only treated
it as other writers had done before him, and, without any
personal investigation of the matter, ranked it with the
viper and other poisonous reptiles, when in fact it is per-
fectly harmless,

,

' The habit which the snake has, in common with other
reptiles, of periodically casting its skin or slough, is fre-
quently alluded to in the Plays, where that covering is
sometimes called " the enamelled skin }1 (^lidsummcr
Night's Dream, Act ii. Sc. i) ; at other times the " casted
slough" (Henry V. Act iv. Sc. I, and Twelfth Night,
Act iii. Sc. 4) ; and the " shining checkered slough "
(Henry VI. Part II. Act iii. Sc. D.

It is difficult to say why the Adder is supposed to be
deaf, unless because it has no visible ears but then the
term would apply to other reptiles. Shakespeare has
several times alluded to this. In the Second Part of King
Henry VI. Act iii. Sc. 2, Queen Margaret asks the
King,

" What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf ?"

And in Troilus and Cressida, Act ii. Sc. 2, Hector
says to Paris and Troilus,

" Pleasure and revenge

Have ears more deaf than adders to the voice
Of any true decision."

1 6 INTRODUCTION.

Again, in Sonnet CXII., "the adder's sense" is referred
to in such a way as to leave no doubt of the poet's
impression that adders do not hear.

" Caliban. Sometime am I

All wound with adders, who, with cloven tongues
Do hiss me into madness."

Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 2.

The " eyeless venom'd worm " referred to in Timon of
Athe?is, Act iv. Sc. 3, is of course the Slow- worm (Anguis
frag His).

The observant naturalist must doubtless have remarked
the partiality evinced by snakes and - other reptiles for
basking in the sun. Shakespeare has noticed that

" The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun."

Titus Andronicus, Act ii. Sc. 3.
And

" It is the bright day that brings forth the adder ;
And that craves wary walking."

Julius C&sar, Act ii. Sc. I.

In Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 2, allusion is made to the won-
derful vitality which snakes possess, and to the popular
notion that they are enabled, when cut in two, to reunite
the dissevered portions and recover :

" We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it ;
Shell close and be herself."

IXTRODUCTIUX. 1 7

Passing to the insect world, we may well be astonished
at the number of species to which Shakespeare has alluded.
Although the same attention has not been given to the
insects as to the birds, the following have, nevertheless,
been noted. Many others, doubtless, have been overlooked.

The Beetle (Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 2 ; King Lear, Act iv.
Sc. 6; Pleasure for Pleasure, Act iii. Sc. I). The Grass-
hopper (Romeo and Jidict, Act i. Sc. 4). The Cricket,
(Pericles, Act iii. Introduction ; Winter's - Tale, Act ii.
Sc. I ; Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 4 ; Cymbeline, Act ii.
Sc. 2). The Glowworm (Hamlet, Act i. Sc. $) ; and the
Caterpillar (Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 4 ; Henry VI.
Part II. Act iii. Sc. I ; Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc. I ;
Romeo and Juliet, Act. i. Sc. i). The Butterfly (Troilus
and Cress ida, Act iii. Sc. 3 ; Midsummer Xighfs Dream,
Act iii. Sc. i) ; and Moth (Merchant of Venice, Act ii.
Sc. 9 ; King John, Act iv. Sc. i). The House-fly (Titus
Andronicns, Act iii. Sc. 2). The small Gildeci-fly (King
Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6). The Blow-fly (Love's Labour's Lost,
Act v. Sc. 2 ; Tempest, Act iii. Sc. i) ; and the Gad-fly,
or Brize (Troilus and Cressida, Act i. Sc. 3). The Grey-
coated Gnat (Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 4 ; Comedy of
Errors, Act ii. Sc. 2 ; the Wasp (Taming of the Shrew,
Act ii. Sc. i ; Two Gentlemen of l^crona, Act i. Sc. 2 ;
Henry VIII. Act iii. Sc. 2) ; the Drone (Hemy V. Act i.
Sc. 2) ; and the Honey-bee (numerous passages).

To three only of these shall we direct further attention :

D

1 8 INTRODUCTION.

firstly, because a more extended notice of all would be
beyond the limits of the present work ; and, secondly,
because the Entomology of Shakespeare has been already
dealt with elsewhere.*

These three are the Bee, the Drone, and the Fly, and we
select quotations in reference to these in order to illustrate
Shakespeare's knowledge of the subject on which he
wrote ; the lessons to be learnt from his allusions ; and the
sympathy which he has manifested for all living creatures.

What better picture of the interior of a hive can be found
than the following ? How well are the duties of the
inmates described !

" For so work the honey bees,
Creatures that, by a rule in nature, teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king, and officers of sorts :
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home ;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad ;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds ;
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tent-royal of their emperor ;
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold,
The civil citizens kneading-up the honey ;

* "The Natural History of the Insects mentioned in Shakspeare's Plays," by
Robert Patterson, isrno. Lond. 1841.

INTRODUCTION. ]Cj

The poor mechanic porters crowding in

Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate ;

The sad-ey'd justice, with his surly hum,

Delivering o'er to executors pale

The lazy yawning drone. I this infer,

That many things, having full reference

To one consent, may work contrariously ;

As many arrows, loosed several ways,

Come to one mark ; as many ways meet in one town ;

As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea ;

As many lines close in the dial's centre ;

So may a thousand actions, once afoot,

End in one purpose, and be all well borne

Without defeat."

Hcmy r. Act i. Sc. 2,

" The lazy yawning drone " is frequently alluded to as
the type of idleness and inactivity (Pericles, Act ii. Sc. I ;
Henry VI. Part II, Act Hi. Sc. 2).

And we are counselled

" Not to eat honey, like a drone,
From others' labours."

Pericles, Act i. Sc. 4. .

Who does not remember the scene in which Titus
Andronicus reproves his brother Marcus for killing a fly at
dinner ?

20 INTRODUCTION.

"Marcus. Alas, my lord, I have but kill'd a fly.
Titns. But how if that fly had a father and mother ?
How would he hang his slender gilded wings,
And buzz lamenting doings in the air !
Poor harmless fly !

That, with his pretty buzzing melody,
Came here to make us merry! and thou hast
kill'd him/ 1

Titus Andronicus, Act iii. Sc. 2.

This is but one of the many lessons taught us by
Shakespeare in his allusions to the animal world, and the
kindly spirit which characterizes all his dealings with
animals is frequently exemplified throughout the Plays ;
perhaps nowhere so clearly as in Measure for Measure,
Act iii. Sc. i, where we are told

" The sense of death is most in apprehension ;
And the poor beetle that we tread upon,
In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great

As when a giant dies."

i
Probably fenough has been said to show the reader that

Shakespeare's knowledge of natural history was by no
means slight, and if it be thought to have been only
general, it was, at all events, accurate. The use which he
has made of this knowledge, throughout his works, in
depicting virtue and vice in their true colours, in pointing
out lessons of industry, patience, and mercy, and in

INTRODUCTION. 21

showing the profit to be derived from a study of natural
objects, is everywhere apparent.

The words of the banished- -Duke, in As You Like h
(Act ii. Sc. i), seem to no one so applicable as to Shake-
speare himself. He

"Finds tongues in trees, books in the running' brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything/*

But to come to the Ornithology. The accurate observa-
tions on this subject, the apt allusions, and the beautiful
metaphors to be met with throughout the Plays, may be
said to owe their origin mainly to three causes. Firstly,
Shakespeare had a good practical knowledge of Falconry,
a pastime which, being much in vogue in his day, brought
under his notice, almost of necessity, many wild birds,
exclusive of the various species which were hawked at
and killed. Secondly, he was a great reader, and, pos-
sessing a good memory, was enabled subsequently to
express in verse ideas which had been suggested by
older authors. Thirdly, and most important of all, he was
a genuine naturalist, and gathered a large amount of
information from his own practical observations. In all
his walks, he evidently did not fail to note even the
most trivial facts in natural history, and these were
treasured up in his memory, to be called forth as occasion
required, to be aptly and eloquently introduced into his
works.

22

INTRODUCTION.

Apart from the consideration that a poet may be
expected, almost of necessity, to invoke the birds of song,
Shakespeare has gone further, and displays a greater
knowledge of ornithology, and a greater accuracy in his
statements, than is generally the case with poets. How,
far we shall succeed in proving this assertion, it will be for
the reader of the following pages to determine.

- CHAPTER I.

THE EAGLE AND THE LARGER BIRDS OF PREY.

A T the head of the diurnal birds of prey, most authors
haye agreed in placing the Eagles. Their large size,
powerful flight, and great muscular strength, give them a
superiority which is universally admitted. In reviewing,
therefore, the birds of which Shakespeare has made men-
tion, no apology seems to be necessary for commencing
with the genus Aqnila.

Throughout the works of our great dramatist, frequent
allusions may be found to an eagle, but the word " eagle 1f
is almost always employed in a generic sense, and in a
few instances only can we infer, from the context, that a
particular species is indicated. Indeed, it is not im-
probable that in the poet's opinion only one species of
eagle existed. Be this as it may, the introduction of an
eagle and his attributes, by way of simile or metaphor,
has been accomplished by Shakespeare with much beauty
and effect. Considered as the emblem of majesty, the

24 POWER OF VISION,

eagle has been variously styled <f the king of birds/' " the
royal bird," "the princely eagle/' and "Jove's bird," while
so great is his power of vision, that an " eagle eye " has
become proverbial.

" Behold, his eye,

As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth
Controlling majesty. 11

Richard IL Act iii. Sc. 3.

The clearness of vision in birds is indeed extraordinary,
and has been calculated, by the eminent French naturalist
Lacep&de, to be nine times more extensive than that of
the farthest-sighted man. The opinion that the eagle
possessed the power of gazing undazzled at the sun, is
of great antiquity. Pliny relates that it exposes its
brood to this test as soon as hatched, to prove if they be
genuine or not. Chaucer refers to the belief in his
" Assemblie of Foules" :

" TJiere mighten men the royal egal find,
That with his sharp look persith the sonne."

So also Spenser, in his " Hymn of Heavenly Beauty/'

" And like the native brood of eagle's kind,
On that bright sun of glory fix their eyes."

It is not surprising, therefore, that Shakespeare has
borrowed the idea :

AN EAGLE EVE. 25

" Nay, if thou be that princely eagle's bird.
Show thy descent by gazing 'gainst the sun."

Henry VL Part III. Act ii. Sc. i.
Again

" What peremptory eagle-sighted eye
Dares look upon the heaven of her brow,
That is not blinded by her majesty ? "

Love's Labour's Lost, Act iv. Sc. 3.

But in the same play and scene we are told
" A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind."

And in this respect Paris was said to excel :

" An eagle, madam,

Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye,
As Paris hath."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 5.

The supposition that the eye of the eagle is green
must be regarded as a poetic license. In all the species
of this genus with which we are acquainted, the colour of
the iris is either hazel or yellow. But it would be absurd
to look for exactness in trifles such as these.

The power of flight in the eagle is no less surprising
than his power of vision. Birds of this kind have been
killed which measured seven or eight feet from tip to tip
of wing, and were strong enough to carry off hares, lambs,

E

26 POWER OF FLIGHT.

and even young children. This strength of wing is not
unnoticed by Shakespeare :

" This was but as a fly by an eagle."

Antony and Cleopatra, Act ii. Sc. 2.

And

" An eagle flight, bold, and forth on,
Leaving no track behind."

Timon of Athens, Act i. Sc. I.

This last line recalls to mind the following allusion to
the flight of the Jerfalcon : " Then prone she dashes
with so much velocity, that the impression of her path
remains on the eye, in the same manner as that of the
shooting meteor or flashing lightning, and you fancy that
there is a torrent of falcon rushing for fathoms through
the air."*

Spenser, in the fifth book of his " Faerie Queene "
(iv. 42), has depicted the grandeur of an eagle on the
wing :

" Like to an eagle in his kingly pride
Soring thro' his wide empire of the aire
To weather his brode sailes."

But notwithstanding his great powers of flight, we are
reminded that the eagle is not always secure. Guns,
traps, and other engines of destruction are directed against
him, whenever and wheresoever opportunity occurs :

* Mudie, " Feathered Tribes of the British Islands," i. p. 82.

A GOOD OMEN*. 2;

" And often, to our comfort, shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold
Than is the full-wing'd eagle/'

Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 3.

With the Romans, the eagle was a bird of good omen.
Josephus, the Jewish historian, says the eagle was selected
for the Roman legionary standard, because he is the king
of all birds, and the most powerful of them all, whence he
has become the emblem of empire, and the omen of
victory.*

Accordingly, we read in Julius C<zsar> Act v. Sc. I :

" Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign
Two mighty eagles fell ; and there they perch' d,
Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands."

This incident is more fully detailed in North's " Plu-
tarch/' as follows: "When they raised their campe,
there came two eagles, that flying with a marvellous force,
lighted upon two of the foremost ensigns, and alwaies fol-
lowed the souldiers, which gave them meate and fed them,
untill they came neare to the citie of Phillipes ; and there
one day onely before the battell, they both flew away."

The ensign of the eagle was not peculiar, however, to
the Romans. The golden eagle, with extended wings,
was borne by the Persian monarchs,-)- and it is not impro-

* " De Bello Judico," iii 5. t Xenophon, "Cyropaedia," vii.

28 THE BIRD OF JOVE.

bable that from them the Romans adopted it ; while the
Persians themselves may have borrowed the symbol from
the ancient Assyrians, on whose banners it waved until
Babylon was conquered by Cyrus.

As a bird of good omen, the eagle is often mentioned
by Shakespeare :

|C I chose an eagle, and did avoid a puttock."

Cymbeline, Act i. Sc. 2.

The name " Puttock " has been applied both to the
Kite and the Common Buzzard, and both were considered
birds of ill omen.

In Act iv. Sc. 2, of the same play, we read,

" I saw Jove's bird, the Roman eagle, wing'd
From the spungy south to this part of the west,
There vanished in the sunbeams."

This was said to portend success to the Roman host.
In Izaak Walton's " Compleat Angler," we are furnished
with,, a reason for styling the eagle " Jove's bird." The
falconer, in discoursing on the merits of his recreation with
a brother angler, says, " In the air my troops of hawks
soar upon high, and when they are lost in the sight of
men, then they attend upon and converse with the gods ;
therefore I think my eagle is so justly styled Jove's
servant in ordinary."

" For the Roman eagle,
From south to west on wing soaring aloft,

THE ROMAN EAGLE. 29

Lessen'd herself, and in the beams o r the sun

So vanish'd : which foreshadowed our princely eagle,

The imperial Caesar, should again unite

His favour with the radiant Cymbeline,

Which shines here in the west. 1 '

Cymbdine, Act v. Sc. 5.

In a paper " On the Roman Imperial and Crested
Eagles/' * Mr. Hogg says, " The Roman Eagle, which
is generally termed the Imperial Eagle, is represented with
its head plain, that is to say, not crested. It is in appear-
ance the same as the attendant bird of the * king of gods
and men/ and is generally represented as standing at the
foot of his throne, or sometimes as the bearer of his
thunder and lightning. Indeed he also often appears
perched on the top of his sceptre. He is always con-
sidered as the attribute or emblem of ' Father Jove.' "

A good copy of this bird of Jupiter, called by Virgil
and Ovid " Jovis armiger," from an antique group, repre-
senting the eagle and Ganymedes, may be seen in BelFs
"Pantheon," vol. i. Also "a small bronze eagle, the
ensign of a Roman legion," is given in Duppa's " Travels
in Sicily" (2nd ed, 1829, tab. iv.). That traveller states,
that the original bronze figure is preserved in the Museum
of the Convent of St. Nicholas d'Arcun, at Catania. This
Convent is now called Convento di S. Benedetto, ac-

* " Annals and Magazine of Natural History." June, 1864.

30 THE ENSIGN OF THE EAGLE.

cording to Mr. G. Dennis, in his " Handbook of Sicily/'
(p. 349); and he mentions this ensign as "a Roman
legionary eagle in excellent preservation."

From the second century before Christ, the eagle is said
to have become the sole military ensign, and it was mostly
small in size, because Florus (lib. 4, cap. 12) relates that
an ensign-bearer, in the wars of Julius Caesar, in order to
prevent the enemy from taking it, pulled off the eagle
from the top of the gilt pole, and hid it by placing it
under cover of his belt.

In later times, the eagle was borne with the legion,
which, indeed, occasionally took its name, " aquila" This
eagle, which was also adopted by the Roman emperors
for their imperial symbol, is considered to be the Aquila
heliaca of Savigny (imperialis of Temminck), and resembles
our golden eagle, Aquila chrysactos, in plumage, though
of a darker brown, and with more or less white on the
scapulars. It differs also in the structure of the foot. It
inhabits Southern Europe, North Africa, Palestine, and
India. Living examples of this species may be seen at
the present time in the Gardens of the Zoological Society.

Sicilius, in Cymbelinc (Act v. Sc. 4), speaking of the
apparition and descent of Jupiter, who was seated upon
an eagle, says,

" The holy eagle

Stoop'd, as to foot us : his ascension is
More sweet than our blest fields : his royal bird

HABITS AND ATTITUDES. 31

Prunes the immortal wing, and cloys his beak,
As when his god is pleas'd."

"Prune" signifies to clean and adjust the feathers, and
is synonymous with plume. A word more generally used,
perhaps, than either, is preen.

Cloys is, doubtless, a misprint for cleys, that is, claims.
Those who have kept hawks must often have observed
the habit which they have of raising one foot, and
whetting the beak against it. This is the action to
which Shakespeare refers. The same word occurs in
Ben Jonson's " Underwoods," (vii. 29) thus :

" To save her from the seize
Of vulture death, and those relentless cleys"

The verb " to cloy " has a very different signification,
namely, " to satiate," "choke," or "clog up." Shakespeare
makes frequent use of it.

In " Lucrece " it occurs :

" But poorly rich, so wanteth in his store,
That, cloy'd with much, he pineth still for more."

And again, in Richard IL (Act i. Sc. 3) :
" O, who can hold a fire in his hand,
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus ?
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite,
By bare imagination of a feast ? J>

See also Henry V. Act ii. Sc. 2.

32 EAGLE'S EGGS.

Sometimes the word was written "accloy;" as, for in-
stance, in Spenser's " Faerie Queene " (ii. 7)

" And with uncomely weeds the gentle wave accloycs"

And in the same author's "Shepheard's Calendar " (Feb-
ruary," 135)

" The mouldie mosse which thee accloyeth"

It is clear, therefore, that the word occurring in the
fourth scene of the fifth act of CynHbelinc, should be written
cleys, and not cloys.

But to return from this digression ; there is a passage in
the first act of Henry V. Sc. 2, which seems to deserve
some notice while on the subject of eagles, i. e. ;

" For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking, and so sucks her princely eggs/'

That the weasel sucks eggs, and is partial to such fare,
is very generally admitted. Shakespeare alludes to the
fact again in As You Like It (Act ii. Sc. 5), where
Jaques says : " I can suck melancholy out of a song, as
a weasel sucks eggs." But whether the weasel has ever
been found in the same situation or at such an altitude as
the eagle, is not so certain. A near relative of the weasel,
however, namely, a marten-cat, was once found in an
eagle's nest. " The forester, having reason to think that
the bird was sitting hard, peeped over the cliff into the

1-ONGEVITY OF THE EAGLE. 33

eyrie. To his amazement, a marten was suckling her
kittens in comfortable enjoyment/'*

The allusion above made to the " princely eggs/'
reminds us of the princely bird which laid them, and
those who have read the works of Shakespeare and who
has not ? must doubtless remember the beautiful simile
uttered by Warwick when dying on the field of Barnet :

" Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge,
Whose arms gave shelter to ih^ princely eagle/'

Henry VI. Part III. Act v. Sc. 2.

The conscious superiority of the eagle is depicted by
Tamora, who tells us :

" The eagle suffers little birds to sing,

And is not careful what they mean thereby,
Knowing that with the shadow of his wing
He can at pleasure stint their melody."

Titus Andronicus, Act iv. Sc. 4.

The great age to which this bird sometimes attains has
been remarked by most writers on Ornithology. The
Psalmist has beautifully alluded to it where he says of the
righteous man, " His youth shall be renewed like the
eagle's/* A golden eagle, which had been nine years in
the possession of Mr. Owen Holland, of Conway, lived
thirty-two years "with the gentleman who made him a

* Colquhoun, "The Moor and the Loch/' p. 330. And this is not an isolated
instance. See Newton, "Qotheca Wblleyana," Part I- P-

34 LONGEVITY OF THE EAGLE :

present of it, but what its age was when the latter
received it from Ireland is unknown.* Another, that died
at Vienna, was stated to have lived in confinement one
hundred and four years.-f- A white-tailed eagle cap-
tured in Caithness, died at Duff House in February,
1862, having been kept in confinement, by the late Earl
of Fife, for thirty-two years. But even the eagle may
be outlived. Apemantus asks of Timon :

" Will these moss'd trees,
That have outliv'd the eagle, page thy heels,
And skip when thou point'st out ? "

Timon of Athens, Act iv. Sc. 3.

The old text has " moyst trees." The emendation,
however, which was made by Hanmer, is strengthened
by the line in As You Like It (Act iv. Sc. 3) :

" Under an oak, whose boughs were moss'd with age."

In an old French "riddle-book/' entitled "Demands
Joyous," which was printed in English by Wynkyn de
Worde in 1511 (a single copy only of which is said to be
extant), is the following curious "demande" and "re-
sponse." It is here transcribed, as bearing upon the sub-
ject of the age of an eagle :

" Dem. What is the age of a field-mouse ?
Res. A year. And the life of a hedgb-hog is three

* Pennant, " British Zoology." f Yarnell, "History of British Birds."

ITS AGE COMPUTED. 3;

times that of a mouse ; and the life of a dog is three
times that of a hedge-hog ; and the life of a horse is three
times that of a dog ; and the life of a man is three times
that of a horse ; and the life of a goose is three times that
of a man ; and the life of a swan is three times that of a
goose ; and the life of a swallow is three times that of a
swan ; and the life of an eagle is three times that of a
swallotv ; and the life of a serpent is three times that of
an eagle ; and the life of a raven is three times that of a
serpent ; and the life of a hart is three times that of a
raven ; and an oak groweth 500 years, and fadeth 500
years."

The Rev. W, B. Daniel alludes* to "the received
maxim that animals live seven times the number of years
that bring them to perfection/ 1 upon which computation
the average life of an eagle would be twenty-one years.
But this maxim is founded' on a misconception. Fleurens,
in his treatise " De la Longevite Humaine," says that the
duration of life in any animal is equal to five times the
number of years requisite to perfect its growth, and
that the growth has ceased when the bones have finally
consolidated with their cpiphyscs, which in the young are
merely cartilages.

Like many other rapacious birds, eagles are very fond
of bathing, and it has been found essential to supply them
with baths when in confinement, in order to keep them

* " Rural Sports, ' vol. i, p, 24*.

36 EAGLES TRAINED FOR HAWKING.

in good health. The freshness and vigour which they
thus derive is alluded to in Henry IV, (Part I. Act iv.
Sc. i) :
" Hotspur. Where is his son,

The nimble-footed mad-cap Prince of Wales,

And his comrades ?

Vernon. All furnish'd, all in arms ; . . .

Like eagles having lately bath'd."

The larger birds of prey are no less fond of washing,
though they care so little for water to drink, that it has
been erroneously asserted that they never drink. " What
I observed," says the Abbe Spallanzani,* " is, that eagles,
when left even for several months without water, did not
seem to suffer the smallest inconvenience from the want of
it, but when they were supplied with water, they not only
got into the vessel and sprinkled their feathers like other
birds, but repeatedly dipped the beak, then raised the
head, in the manner of common fowls, and swallowed
what they had taken up. Hence it is evident that they
drink."

In Persia, Tartary, India, and other parts of the East,
the eagle was formerly, and is still to a certain extent,
used for hunting down the larger birds and beasts. In
the thirteenth century, the Khan of Tartary kept upwards
of two hundred hawks and eagles, some of which had been
trained to catch wolves ; and such was the boldness and

* " Dissertations," vol. i. p. 173.

TIRING. 37

power of these birds, that none, however large, could
escape from their talons.*

Burton, in his "Anatomy of Melancholy," } quoting
from Sir Antony Shirley's " Travels," says : " The Musco-
vian Emperours reclaim eagles, to let fly at hindes, foxes,
&c., and such a one was sent for a present to Queen
Elizabeth."

A traveller to the Putrid Sea, in 1819, wrote: u Wolves
are very common on these steppes ; and they are so bold
that they sometimes attack travellers. \Ve passed by a
large one, lying on the ground with an eagle, which had
probably attacked him, by his side. Its talons were nearly
buried in his back ; in the struggle both had died." *

Owing to the great difficulty in training them, as well
as to the difficulty in obtaining them, eagles have rarely
been trained to the chase in England, Some years since,
Captain Green, of Buckden, in Huntingdonshire, had a
fine golden eagle, which he had taught to take hares and
rabbits ; and this species has been found to be more
tractable than any other.

Whether Shakespeare was aware of the use of
trained eagles or not, we cannot say, but he has in

* See Pennant's "Arctic Zoology," ii. p. 195; Sir J. Malcolm's "Sketches of
Persia; " Johnston's "Sketches of Indian Field Sports; " Atkinson's "Travels in
Oriental and Western Siberia," and Burton's "Falconry in the Valley of the
Indus."

t Folio, 1676. Part ii. p. 169.

X " Memoirs of Stephen Grellet," i. p. 459.

See ' ' The Naturalist " for May, 1837.

38 THE EAGLE'S EYRIE.

many cases employed hawking terms in connection with

this bird :

" That hateful duke,

Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,
Will cost my crown, and, like an empty eagle,
Tire on the flesh of me and of my son ! "

Henry VI. Part III. Act i. Sc. I.

The meaning of the word tire is thus explained by
falconers. When a hawk was in training, it was often
necessary to prolong her meal as much as possible, to
prevent her from gorging ; this was effected by giving her
a tough or bony bit to tire on ; that is, to tear, or pull at.

" Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast,

Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh, and bone,
Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste,

Till either gorge be stufFd, or prey be gone."

Vemis and Adonis.

So also, in Timon of Athens (Act iii. Sc. 6), one of the
lords says :
" Upon that were my thoughts tiring when we encounter'd."

In the following passage, two hawking terms are used in
connection with the eagle :

" Know, the gallant monarch is in arms,
And, like an eagle o'er his aiery, towers,
To souse annoyance that comes near his nest."

King John, Act v. Sc. 2,

THE FATAL rfWuOP. 59

This passage has been differently rendered, by removing
the punctuation between "aiery 1 ' and ( * towers," and
reading the former "airey" or "airy," and making
" towers " a substantive. But the meaning of the passage,
as it stands above, seems to us sufficiently clear.

"Aiery" is equivalent to "eyrie," the nesting-place.
The word occurs again in Richard III. (Act i. Sc. 3) :

" Our aiery buildeth in the cedar's top ;"
and,

" Your aiery buildeth in our aiery s nest."

The verb "to tower/' in the language of falconry,
signifies "to rise spirally to a height." Compare the
French "tour" As a further argument, too, for reading
" towers " as a verb, and not as a substantive, compare the
following passage from Macbeth^ which plainly shows that
Shakespeare was not unacquainted with this word as a
hawking term :

"A falcon towering in her pride of place. ^

Macbeth, Act ii. Sc. 4.

The word " souse," above quoted, is likewise borrowed
from the language of falconry, and, as a substantive, is
equivalent to "swoop. 1 * It would seem to be derived
from the German "sausen," which signifies to rush with
a whistling sound like the wind; and this is certainly
expressive of the " whish " made by the wings of a falcon
when swooping on her prey.

There is a good illustration of this passage in Drayton s

40 THE VULTURE :

" Polyolbion," Song xx., where a description of hawking
at wild-fowl is given. After the falconers have put
.up the fowl from the sedge, the hawk, in the words
of the author, having previously "towered," "gives it a
souse." Beaumont and Fletcher also make use of this
word as a hawking term in The Chances, iv. I ; and it
occurs in Spenser's "Faerie Queene," Book iv. Canto v. 30.

A notice of the various hawks made use of by falconers,
and mentioned by Shakespeare, might be here properly
introduced, but it will be more convenient to reserve this
notice for a separate chapter, and confine our attention
for the present to the larger diurnal birds of prey which,
like the eagles, are seldom, if ever, reclaimed by man.

Of these, excluding the eagle, Shakespeare makes men-
tion of four the Vulture, the Osprey, the Kite, and the
Buzzard.

Those who are acquainted with the repulsive habits of
the Vulture, led as he is by instinct to gorge on carrion,
will best understand the allusions to this bird which are to
be met with in the works' of Shakespeare.

What more forcible expression can be found to indicate
a guilty conscience than "the gnawing vulture of the
mind"? (Titus Andronicus, Act v. Sc. 2.)

" There cannot be
That vulture in you, to devour so many."

Macbeth, Act iv. Sc, 3.

When King Lear would denounce the unkindness of a

ITS REPULSIVE HAB1T>. 4!

daughter, which he could never forget, laying his hand
upon his heart, he exclaims :

fi O Regan, she hath tied
Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here."

King Lear, Act ii. Sc. 4.

One of the worst wishes to which Faistafif could give

&

vent when in a bad humour, was :

" Let vultures gripe thy guts T'

Wives of Windsor, Act i. Sc. 3.

And the same idea is expressed in Henry IV. (Part II.
Act v. Sc. 4) :

" Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also !"

Occasionally we find the word 4t vulture " employed as
an adjective :

" Her sad behaviour feeds her vulture folly."

Liicrcce.
And

" Whose vulture thought doth pitch the price so high."

Venus and Adonis.

The structure of the Osprey is wonderfully adapted to
his habits, and an examination of the feet of this bird will
prove how admirably contrived they are for grasping and
holding a slippery fish. Mr. St. John, who had excellent
opportunities of studying the Osprey in his native haunts,
says :* " I generally saw the osprey fishing about the
lower pools of the rivers near their mouths ; and a

* "Tour in Sutherland," vol. i. p. 113.

G

eautnui signt 11: is. me long-wingea Dira novers ^as a
estrel does over a mouse), at a considerable distance
bove the water, sometimes on perfectly motionless wing,
nd sometimes, wheeling slowly in circles, turning his head
nd looking eagerly down at the water. Pie sees a trout
/hen at a great height, and suddenly closing his wings,
Irops like a shot bird into the water, often plunging com-
Jetely under, and at other times appearing scarcely to
ouch the water, but seldom failing to rise again with a
;ood-sized fish in his talons. Sometimes, in the midst of
iis swoop, the osprey stops himself suddenly in the most
.brupt manner, probably because the fish, having changed
fcs position, is no longer within range. He then hovers,
.gain stationary, in the air, anxiously looking below for
he re-appearance of the prey. Having well examined
>ne pool, he suddenly turns off, and with rapid flight
akes himself to an adjoining part of the stream, where
le again begins to hover and circle in the air. On
naking a pounce into the water, the osprey dashes up
.he spray far and wide, so as to be seen for a consider-
ible distance."

After this description, it is easy to understand the allu-
sion of Aufidius, who says :

" I think he'll be to Rome,
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it

By sovereignty of nature."

Coriolamts, Act iv. Sc. 7.

ITS POWER OVER FISH. 43

Mr. Staunton thinks that the image is founded 0:1 the
fabulous power attributed to the osprey of fascinating the
fish on which he preys. In Peele's play of The Battle t<f
Alcazar, 1594 (Act i. Sc. i), we read :

" I will provide thee of a princely osprey.
That, as he flieth over fish in pools,
The fish shall turn their glistering bellies up,
And thou shalt take thy liberal choice of all."

Another of the birds of prey mentioned by Shake-
speare is "the lazar Kite 11 (Henry V. Act ii, Sc. IK
Although a large bird, and called by some the royal
Kite (Jfifcits regalis}) it has not the bold dash of many
of our smaller hawks in seizing live and strong prey, but
glides about ignobly, looking for a sickly or wounded
victim, or for offal of any sort.

" And kites

Fly o'er our heads, and downward look on US T
As we were sickly prey."

Julius Casar, Act v. Sc. i.

" Ere this

I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal/'

Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 2.

" A prey for carrion kites."

Henry VL Part II. Act^v. Sc. 2.

44 THE- KITE,

From the ignoble habits of the bird, the name " kite "
became a term of reproach :

" You kite ! "

Antony and Cleopatra, Act iii. Sc. 13,
And

" Detested kite ! "

King Lear ^ Act i. Sc. 4.

When pressed by hunger, however, the kite becomes
more fearless ; and instances have occurred in which a
bird of this species has entered the farmyard and boldly
carried off a chicken.

" Wer J t not all one, an empty eagle were set
To guard the chicken from a hungry kite,
As place Duke Humphrey for the king's protector ? "
Henry VL Part II. Act iii. Sc. I.

The synonym "puttock" is sometimes applied to the
kite, sometimes to the common buzzard. In the following
passage, where reference is made to the supposed murder
of Gloster by Suffolk, it evidently has reference to the
former bird :

" Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak ? "

Henry VI. Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

With the ancients the kite appears to have been a bird
of ill-omen. In Cymbclinc (Act. i. Sc. 2), Imogen says :

A BIRD OF ILL-oMEX. 4;

44 I cho.se an eagle, and did avoid a puttock."

And the superiority of the eagle is again adverted to
by Hastings, in Richard III. (Act i. Sc. I) :

i{ More pity that the eagle should be mew'd.
While kites and buzzards prey at liberty."

The intractable disposition of the kite is thus noticed :

" Another way I have to man my haggard,
To make her come, and know her keeper's call ;
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites,
That bate, and beat, and will not be obedient/'

Taming of the Shrew ^ Act iv. Sc. I.

A wild hawk was sometimes tamed by watching it
night and day, to prevent its sleeping. In " An approved
treatyse of Hawks and Hawking," by Edmund Bert,
Gent., which was published in London in 1619, the author
says : " I have heard of some who watched and kept
their hawks awake seven nights and as many days, and
then they would be wild, rammish, and disorderly." This
practice is often alluded to by Shakespeare :

" You must be watcJidzxz you be made tame, must you ?"

Troilus and Cressida, Act iiL Sc. 2.

" 1 11 watch him. tame/'

Othdio* Act iii. Sc. 3.

46 HABITS OF THE KITE.

" But I will watch you from such wate/iing now."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iv. Sc. 4.

The habit which the kite has, in common with other
rapacious birds, of rejecting or disgorging the undigested
portions of its food, such as bones and fur, in the shape of
pellets, was apparently well known to Shakespeare, for
he says :

" If charnel-houses and our graves must send
Those that we bury back, our monuments

Shall be the maws of kites.'*

Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 4.
And again,

" Thou detestable maw : . . .
Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth."

Romeo and Juliet, Act v. Sc. 3.

Another curious fact in the natural history of the kite
is adverted to in the Winters Tale (Act iv. Sc. 2). It is
there said,

" When the kite builds, look to lesser linen/ 1

This line may be perhaps best illustrated by giving a
description of a kite's nest which we have seen, and which
was taken many years ago in Huntingdonshire. The
outside of the nest was composed of strong sticks ; the
lining consisted of small pieces of linen, part of a saddle-
girth, a bit of a harvest glove, part of a straw bonnet,

THE KITE'> NEST. 47

pieces of paper, and a worsted garter. In the midst of
this singular collection of materials \vere deposited two
eggs. The kite is now almost extinct in England, and a
kite's nest, of course, is a great rarity. The Rev. H. B.
Tristram, speaking of the habits of the Egyptian kite
(Mik'us sEgyptitts), says:* "Its nest, the marine store-
shop of the desert, is decorated with whatever scraps of
bournouses and coloured rags can be collected ; and to
these are added, on every surrounding branch, the cast-off
coats of serpents, large scraps of thin bark, and perhaps
a bustard's wing/ 1

We have alluded to the Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) in the
passage above quoted from Richard III., and also to the
synonym " puttock," which was sometimes applied to this
bird ; as well as to the kite.

Mr. St. John, who was well acquainted with the common
buzzard, thought that in all its habits it more nearly
resembled the eagle than any other kind of hawk.-f-

In the following passage, it seems probable, as suggested
by Mr. Staunton, that a play upon the words is intended,
and that " buzzard " in the second line means a beetle, so
called from its buzzing noise :

" O slow-wing'd turtle ! shall a buzzard take thee ?
Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard."

Taming of the Shrew* Act ii. Sc. I .

- " The Great Sahara," p. 392. f " Tour in Sutherland," vol. v. p. 121.

4 3

THE BUZZARD.

Neither the kite nor the buzzard were ever trained for
hawking, being deficient both in speed and pluck.

The former, however, was occasionally "flown at" by
falconers, although oftener for want of a better bird, than
because he showed much sport.

Both are now far less common than in Shakespeare's
day. The increased number of shooters, and the war of
extermination which is carried on by gamekeepers,
inevitably seal their doom.

CHAPTER II.

HAWKS AND HAWKING.

those who have ever taken part in a ha\vking
excursion, at must be a matter of some surprise
that so delightful a pastime has ceased to be popular.
Yet, at the present day, perhaps not one person in
five hundred has ever seen a trained hawk flown. In
Shakespeare's time things were very different. Every
one who could afford it kept a hawk, and the rank
of the owner was indicated by the species of bird which
he carried. To a king belonged the gerfalcon ; to a
prince, the falcon gentle ; to an earl, the peregrine ; to
a lady, the merlin ; to a young squire, the hobby ; while
a yeoman carried a goshawk ; a priest, a sparrowhawk ;
and a knave, or servant, a kestrel. But the sport was
attended with great expense, and much time and attention
were required of the falconer before his birds were per-
fectly trained, and he himself a proficient.

This, combined with the increased enclosure and

H

JO THE AGE OF HAWKING.

Cultivation of waste lands, has probably contributed as
much as anything to the decline of falconry in England.

During the age in which Shakespeare lived, the sport
was at its height, and it is, therefore, not surprising that
he has taken much notice of it in his works, and has
displayed a considerable knowledge on the subject.

In the second part of King Henry VI. Act 2, we find a
scene laid at St. Alban's, and the King, Queen, Gloster,
Cardinal, and Suffolk appearing, with falconers halloaing.
We quote that portion of the scene which refers more
particularly to the sport :

" Qiiecn. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,

I saw not better sport these seven years' day :
Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high ;
And, ten to one, old Joan* had not gone out.

King. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,
And what a pitch she flew above the rest !
To see how God in all his creatures works !
Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.

Snff. No marvel, an it like your majesty,

My lord protector's hawks do tower so well ;
They know their master loves to be aloft,
And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch*

Glo. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind

That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.

* The name, no doubt, of a favourite falcon.

HAWKING TERMS. ; I

Card. I thought as much ; he'd be above the clouds.

* * T* ^

Believe me, cousin Gloster,

Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly,
We had had more sport."

" Flying at the brook " is synonymous with " hawking
by the river," and shows us that the party were in pursuit
of water-fowl. Chaucer speaks of

u Ryding on, hawking by the river.
With grey goshawk in hand."

"Point" The fluttering or hovering over the spot
where the u quarry " has been "put in."

"Pifc/i? The height to which a hawk rises before
swooping.

" How high a pitch his resolution soars !"

Richard II. Act i. Sc. I.

" Tower." A common expression in falconry, signifying
to rise spirally to a height. Compare the French " tour?
The word occurs again in Macbeth, Act ii. Sc. 4, with
reference to a fact which we might well be excused for
doubting, did we not know that it was related as an
unusual circumstance :

" On Tuesday last,

A falcon, touring in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd."

52 THE FALCON AND TERCEL.

Many of the incidents connected with Duncan's death
are not to be found in the narrative of that event, but are
taken from the chronicler's account of King Duffe's
murder. Among the prodigies there mentioned is the one
referred to by Shakespeare. "Monstrous sightes also,
that were seene without the Scottishe kingdome that year,

were these There was a sparhauke also

strangled by an owle." We have known a Tawny Owl
to kill and devour a Kestrel which had been kept in the
same aviary with it.

By "tow'ring in her pride of place," is here understood
to mean circling at her highest point of elevation. So in
Massinger's play of The Guardian, Act i. Sc. 2 :

" Then for an evening flight
A tiercel gentle which I call, my masters,
As he were sent a messenger to the moon,
In such a place, flies, as he seems to say
See me or see me not."

By the falcon is always understood the female, as
distinguished from the tercel, or male, of the peregrine or
goshawk. The latter was probably called the tercel, or
tiercel, from being about a third smaller than the falcon.
Some authorities, however, state that of the three young
birds usually found in the nest of a falcon, two of them are
females and the third a male ; hence the name of tercel.*

* Tardif, "Treatise on Falconry."

THE TERCEL-GENTLE. S3

By others, again, the term is supposed to have been
derived from the French gcntil, meaning neat or hand-
some, because of the beauty of its form.

There appears to be a great deal of confusion in the
nomenclature of the hawks used in falconry. The same
name has been applied to two distinct species, and the
same species, in different states of plumage, has received
two or more names. With regard to the ''tercel/' as
distinguished from the "tercel-gentle/ 1 it would appear
that the former name was given to the male goshawk, and
the latter to the male peregrine ; for the peregrine being a
long-winged hawk, and the more noble of the two, the
word "gentle," or *'gentil/ J was applied to it with that
signification.

In this view we are supported to some extent by quaint
old Izaak Walton. In his " Compleat Angler/' there is
an animated conversation between an angler, a hunter,
and a falconer, each of whom in turn commends his own
recreation. The falconer gives a list of his hawks, and
divides them into two classes, viz. : the long-winged and
short-winged hawks. In enumerating each species in
pairs, he gives first the name of the female, and then that
of the male : among the first class we find

The gerfalcon and jerkin,

The falcon and tercel-gentle, &c.

In the second class we have

54 DOCILITY OF THE FALCON.

The eagle and iron,*

The goshawk and tercel, &c.

From this we may conclude that the name tercel-
gentle was applied to the male peregrine, a long-winged
hawk, to distinguish it from the tercel, or male goshawk,
a short-winged hawk.

The female falcon, from her greater size and strength,
was always considered superior to the male stronger in
flight :

*' As confident as is the falcon's flight

Against a bird."

Richard II. Act i. Sc. 3.

And possessing more powerful talons :

" So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons/'

Henry VL Part III. Act i. Sc. 4.

She was more easily trained, and capable of being flown
at larger game. Hence Shakespeare asserts

" The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks i' the river.' 1
Trottits and Cressida, Act iii. Sc. 2.

Sometimes we find the word " tercel " written " tassel," as
in Romeo and Jzdict (Act ii. Sc. 2) :

" O, for a falconer's voice,
To lure this tassel-gentle back again ! "

* No doubt a corruption of " erne," a name which is still given to the sea eagle
(Aquila atticilla}.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD FALCONER. 55

Spenser almost invariably spells the word in this way.*
To understand the allusion to the falconers voice, it
should be observed that after a hawk had been flown, and
had either struck or missed the object of her pursuit, the
" lure " (which we shall presently describe) was thrown up
to entice her back, and at the same time the falconer
shouted to attract her attention.

Professor Schneider, in a Latin volume published at
Leipsic, in 1788,-}- thus enumerates the qualities of a good
falconer : " Sit mediocris staturae ; sit perfect! ingenii ;
bonae memorise ; levis auditu ; acuti visus ; fiomo wagn&
vocis ; sit agilis et promptus ; sciat natare," &c. &c.

Each falconer had his own particular call, but it was
generally somewhat like

" Hillo, ho, ho t boy ! come, bird, come ! "

Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 5.

The " lure " was of various shapes, and consisted merely
of a piece of iron or wood, generally in the shape of a
heart or horseshoe, to which were attached the wings of
- some bird, with a piece of raw meat fixed between them.
A strong leathern strap, about three feet long, fastened to
it with a swivel, enabled the falconer to swing it round his
head, or throw it to a distance. With high-flying hawks,

* See his " Faene Queene," Book III. Canto 4.

f This scarce volume, of which we are fortunate enough to possess a copy,
contains the work of the Emperor Frederic II., "De arte vroandi cum a vibos ; "
Albettus Magnus, " De Falconibus ;" as also a digest of Hnbner's worit, " Snr !e
vol des oiseaux de prole," and other ancient and rare works on Falconry.

5 6 THE LURE AND ITS USE.

however, it was often found necessary to use a live pigeon,
secured to a string by soft leather jesses, in order to recall
them.*

The long-winged hawks were always brought to the
lure, the short-winged ones to the hand :

" As falcon to the lure, away she flies."

Venus and Adonis.

The game flown at was called in hawking parlance the
" quarry," and differed according to the hawk that was
used. The gerfalcon and peregrine were flown at herons,
ducks, pigeons, rooks, and magpies ; the goshawk was
used for hares and partridges ; while the smaller kinds,
such as the merlin and hobby, were trained to take black-
birds, larks, and snipe. The French falconers, however, do
not appear to have been so particular :

"We'll e'en to J t like French falconers, fly at anything
we see." Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 2.

The word " quarry" occurs in many of the Plays.
" This ' quarry* cries on havoc."-|-

Hamlet> Act v. Sc. 2.

* Salvin and Brodrick, "Falconry in the British Islands," pp. 38, 39.
f To " cry on" anything was a familiar expression formerly. In Othello (Act v.
Sc. i), we read

" Whose noise is this that ' cries on r murder ? "
And in Richard III, (Act v. Sc. 3), Richmond says :

" Methought, their souls, whose bodies Richard murder' d,

Came to my tent, and ' cried on* victory.*'
To "cry havoc" appears to have been a signal for indiscriminate slaughter.

THE QUAKRY. 57

In the language of the forest, " quarry " also meant a
heap of slaughtered game. So, In Coriolanus {Act iii.
Sc. i), Caius Marcius says:

16 And let me use my sword, I *d make a * quarry *
With thousands of these quartered slaves/'

The beauty of the following passage, from its being
clothed in technicalities, will be likely to escape the notice
of those who are not conversant with hawking phrase-
ology ; but an acquaintance with the terms employed will
elicit admiration at the force and beauty of the metaphor.

Othello, mistrusting the constancy of Desdemona
towards him, and comparing her to a hawk, exclaims :

"If I do prove her haggard \

Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings,
I 'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,

To prey at fortune."

Ot/iello, Act iii. Sc. 3.

By " haggard " is meant a wild-caught and unreclaimed
mature hawk, as distinguished from an " eyess," or nest-
ling ; that is, a young hawk taken from the " eyrie " or
nest.

The expression, " Cry havoc, kings!" occurs in King John, Act iL Sc. 2; and
again in Julius C&sar, Act iii. Sc. i :

" Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."
In Coriolanus (Act iii. Sc. i), Menenius says

" Do not cry Jfav0c> where yon should bat hunt
"With modest warrant/'

58 HAWK'S TRAPPINGS.

" There is, sir, an aiery of children, little eyases, that cry

out."

Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 2.

By some falconers "haggards" were also called "pas-
sage hawks," from being always caught when in that state,
at the time of their periodical passage or migration. As
will be seen hereafter, the word "haggard" occurs fre-
quently throughout the Plays.

The "jesses " were two narrow strips of leather, fastened
one to each leg, the other ends being attached to a swivel,
from which depended the " leash." When the hawk was
flown, the swivel and leash were taken off, the jesses and
bells remaining on the bird.

Some of the old falconers' directions on these points
are very quaint. Turbervile, in his " Book of Falconrie,"
I S75> speaking of the trappings of a hawk, says : " Shee
must haue jesses of leather, the which must haue knottes
at the ende, and they should be halfe a foote long, or
there about ; at the least a shaftmeete betweene the
hoose of the jesse, and the knotte at the ende, whereby
you tye the hauke."

THE JESSES. 59

In the modern " jesse/' however, there are no knots. It
is fastened in this wise. The leg of the hawk is placed
against the "jesse," between the slits A and B. The end A
is then passed through the slit B, and the end C in turn
through the slit A. The swivel, with its dependent leash, is
then attached to slit C ; and the same with the other leg.

Othello says :

" I 'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,
To prey at fortune/'

Falconers always flew their hawk against the wind. If
flown down the wind, she seldom returned. When, there-
fore, a useless bird was to be dismissed, her owner flew
her " down the wind ; " and thenceforth she shifted for her-
self, and was said " to prey at fortune."

The word " haggard/' as before observed, is of frequent
occurrence throughout the Plays of Shakespeare. In the
Taming of the Shrew (Act iv. Sc. 2), Hortensio speaks of
Bianca as "this proud disdainful haggard? In Much Ado
about Nothing (Act iii. Sc. i), Hero, alluding to Beatrice,
says

" I know, her spirits are as coy and wild
As haggards of the rock."

In Twelfth Night (Act iii. Sc. i), Viola says of the
Clown :

" This fellow 's wise enough to play the fool ;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit :

60 THE BELLS.

He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time ;
And, like tJie haggard, check at every feather
. That comes before his eye."

To " check " is a term used in falconry, signifying to
" fly at/' although it sometimes meant to " change the bird
in pursuit."* The word occurs again in the same play
(Act ii. Sc. 4), and in Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 7.

Besides the "jesses," the " bells " formed an indispens-
able part of a hawk's trappings. These were of circular
form, from a quarter to a full inch in diameter, and made
of brass or silver, and were attached, one to each leg of
the bird, by means of small slips of leather called
"bewits." The use of bells was to lead the falconer by
their sound to the hawk when in a wood, or out of
sight

* Salvin and Brodrick, "Falconry in the British Islands."

THE HOOD. 6 1

" As the ox hath his bow,* sir, the horse his curb, and
the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires." As You
Like It, Act iii. Sc. 3.

So in Henry VI. Part III. Act L Sc. i

" Nor he that loves him best,
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells."

Again

" Harmless Lucretia, marking what he tells
With trembling fear, as fowl hears falcon* s bells"'

Liicrecc.

The "hood," too, was a necessary appendage to the
trained falcon. This was a cap or cover for the head,
which was not removed until the " quarry " was started, in
order to prevent the hawk from flying too soon.

* His "bow," that is, his "yoke," Some editions read "low;" an evident
mistake*

62 AN " UNMANN'D " HAWK.

The Constable of France, speaking of the valour of the
Dauphin, says :

" Tis a hooded valour, and when it appears it will bate"

Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 7.

The allusion is to the ordinary action of a hawk, which,
when unhooded, bates, or flutters. But a quibble may be
here intended between " bate," the hawking technical, and
" bate," to dwindle or abate. The word occurs again in
Romeo and Juliet (Act iii. Sc. 2)

" Hood my unmanned blood, bating in my cheeks.'*

And to those not conversant with the terms employed
in falconry, this line would be unintelligible. An
" unmanned " hawk was one not sufficiently reclaimed to
be familiar with her keeper, and such birds generally
" bated," that is, fluttered or beat their wings violently in
their efforts to escape.

Petruchio, in The Taming of the Shrew, gives us a
lesson in reclaiming a hawk when speaking thus of
Catherine :

" My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty,
And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorg'd,
For then she never looks upon her lure.
Another way I have to man my haggard,
To make her come, and know her keeper's call,
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites

THE CADGE. 63

That bate, and beat, and will not be obedient.
She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat ;
Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not/'
Taming of the Shrew, Act iv. Sc. I.

The word " stoop," sometimes written " stoup " (Spenser's
"Faerie Queene," Book I. Canto XI. 18), and "swoop"
(Macbeth, " at one fell swoop "), signifies a rapid descent
on the " quarry." It occurs again in Henry V. Act iv.
Sc. I :

"And though his affections are higher mounted than
ours, yet, when they stoop, they stoop with the like wing."

The hawks, when carried to the field, were borne on
'the cadge," as shown in the engraving;: the person

64 THE HAWK'S "MEW."

carrying it being called "the cadger." The modern
word " cad," now generally used in an opprobrious sense,
is in all probability an abbreviation of " cadger," and
therefore synonymous with " servant " or common fellow.
Florizel, addressing Perdita, in the Winters Tale (Act
iv. Sc. 3), says,

" I bless the time

When my good falcon made her flight across
Thy father's ground ; "

for this was the occasion of his first meeting her.

In the following passage from Measure for Meastire,
(Act iii. Sc. i), there occurs a word in connection with
falconry, which requires some explanation,

" This outward-sainted deputy,
Whose settled visage and deliberate word
Nips youth i' th' head, and follies doth enmew
As falcon doth the fowl."

The verb " to mew," or " enmew," signifies to enclose or
shut up, owing its origin to the word "mews," the place
where the hawks were confined :

" To-night she 's mew'd up."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 4.

Gremio, speaking of Bianca to Signer Baptista, says,

if Why, will you mew her ? "

Taming of the Shrew, Act i. Sc. I.

ORIGIN OF THE WORD u MEW." 65

A question presently solved by Tranio, who says :-

" And therefore has he closely mciJd her up,
Because she will not be annoy 'd with suitors."

The word "mew," derived from the old French 4 * ' muc"
signifies a change, or moult, when birds and other animals
cast their feathers, hair, or horns. Hence Latham
observes that " the mew is that place, whether it be
abroad or in the house, where you set down your
hawk during the time she raiseth or reproduceth her
feathers/'

It was necessary to take great care of a hawk in her
mewing time. In " The Gentleman's Academie/' edited
by Gervase Markham, 1595, there are several sections on
the mewing of hawks, from one of which it may be learnt
that the best time to commence is in the beginning of
Lent ; and if well kept, the bird will be mewed, that is,
moulted, by the beginning of August.

" Forthcoming from her darksome

Faerie Quecnc, Book I. Canto v. 20.

The Royal hawks were kept at the mews at Charing
Cross during many reigns (according to Stowe, from the
time of Richard IL, in 13/7), but they were removed by
Henry VIII., who converted the place into stables. The
name, however, confirmed by the usage of so long a period,
remained to the building, although, after the hasdcs were

K

66 THE ROYAL MEWS.

withdrawn, it became inapplicable. But, what is more
curious still, in later times, when the people of London
began to build ranges of stabling at the back of their
streets and houses, they christened those places " mews,"
after the old stabling at Charing Cross.

The word " enmew," quoted above in the passage from
Measure for Measure, would seem rather to signify here,
" to seize upon," or " to disable." It is sometimes written
" enewe." In N ash's " Quaternio ; or, a Fourefold Way
to a Happie Life," published in 1633, it occurs in a
spirited description of hawking at water-fowl : " And to
hear an accipitary relate againe how he went forth in a
cleare, calme, and sunshine evening, about an houre before
the sunne did usually maske himselfe, unto the river,
where finding of a mallard, he whistled off* his falcon,
and how shee flew from him as if shee would never have
turned head againe, yet presently upon a shOote came in ;
how then by degrees, by little and little, by flying about
and about, shee mounted so high, until shee had lessened
herselfe to the view of the beholder to the shape of a
pigeon or partridge, and had made the height of the moon
the place-}* of her flight ; how presently, upon the landing
of the fowle, shee came downe like a stone and enewed it,
and suddenly got up againe, and suddenly upon a second
landing came down againe, and missing of it, in the

* Compare, ante, pp. 57-59, " I 'd whistle her off," &c.

t Compare, ante, p. 52, "A falcon tow' ring in her pride of place," c.

THE FOWL ENMEWED. 67

do\vne course recovered it beyond expectation, to the
admiration of the beholder at a long flight."

Another method of spelling the same word may be
instanced by the following quotation from Turbervile's
"Book of Falconrie," 1575 :

** And if shee misse, to mark her how shee then gets up

amaine,

For best advantage, to cneaw the springing fowle
againe."

In the days of falconry* a peculiar method of repairing
a broken wing-feather was known to falconers by the
term " imping." The verb " to imp/' appears to be derived
from the Anglo-Saxon "impan," signifying to graft, or
inoculate ; and the mode of operation is thus described in
a scarce pamphlet by Sir John Sebright, entitled " Obser-
vations on Hawking" :

" When any of the flight or tail-feathers of a hawk are
accidentally broken, the speed of the bird is so injured,
that the falconer finds it necessary to repair them by an
expedient called ' imping.'

" This curious process consists in attaching to the part
that remains an exact substitute for the piece lost. For
this purpose the falconer is always provided with pinions
(right and left) and with tail-feathers of hawks, or with

* It will be observed that, in these pages, falconry is treated as a thing of the
past, as indeed it is a sport now almost obsolete, and but few comparatively are
acquainted with its technicalities.

68 IMPING.

the feathers separated from the pinion carefully preserved
and numbered, so as to prevent mistake in taking a true
match for the injured feather. He then with a sharp
knife gently parts the web of the feather to be repaired at
its thickest part, and cuts the shaft obliquely forward, so
as not to damage the web on the opposite edge. He
next cuts the substitute feather as exactly as possible at
the corresponding point and with the same degree of
slope.

" For the purpose of uniting them, he is provided with
an iron needle with broad angular points at both ends,
and after wetting the needle with salt-and-water, he
thrusts it into the centre of the pith of each part, as
truly straight and as nearly to the same length in each
as may be.

"When this operation has been skilfully performed,
the junction is so neat, that an inexperienced eye would
hardly discern the point of union, and as the iron rusts
from having been wetted with brine, there is little or no
danger of separation."

After this explanation, the meaning of the following
lines is clear :

SEELING. 69

" If then we shall shake off our slavish yoke,
Imp out our drooping country's broken wiug."

Richard IL Act ii. Sc. i.

Passages such as this are likely enough to be overlooked
by the majority of readers, but it is in such chiefly that
the ornithologist sees a proof that Shakespeare, for the
age in which he lived, possessed a surprising knowledge of
ornithology.

Besides "imping," there was another practice in use,
now happily obsolete, termed " seeling," to which we find
several allusions in the Plays. It consisted in sewing a
thread through the upper and under eyelids of a newly-
caught hawk, to obscure the sight for a time, and accustom
her to the hood.

Turbervile, in his " Book of Falconrie," 1575, gives the
following quaint directions " how to seele a hawke " :
"Take a needle threeded with untwisted thread, and
(casting your Hawke) take her by the beake, and put the
needle through her eye-lidde, not right against the sight of
the eye, but somewhat nearer to the beake, because she
may see backwards. And you must take good heede that
you hurt not the webbe, which is under the eye-lidde, or
on the inside thereof. Then put your needle also through
that other eye-lidde, drawing the endes of the thread
together, tye them over the beake, not with a straight
knotte, but cut off the threedes endes neare to the knotte,
and twist them together in such sorte, that tfee eye-Iidd

70 HOW TO SEEL A HAWK.

may be raysed so upwards, that the Hawke may not see
at all, and when the threed shall ware loose or untyed,
then the Hawke may see somewhat backwardes, which is
the cause that the threed is put nearer to the beake. For
a Sparrow-hawke should see somewhat backwardes, and a
Falcon forwardes. The reaso is that if the Sparrow-
hawke should see forwardes, shee would beate off her
feathers, or break them when she bateth upon the fist, and
seeing the companie of men, or such like, she would bate
too much."

In Antony and Cleopatra (Act iii. Sc. 13) we read

" The wise gods sccl our eyes."
And in the same play (Act v. Sc. 2) Seleucus says :

" Madam,

I had rather seel my lips, than, to my peril,
Speak that which is not."

In his beautiful soliloquy on sleep, Henry IV., addressing
the fickle goddess, exclaims,

" Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast
Sccl up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious surge ?"

Henry IV. Part II. Act iii. Sc. i.

The word occurs again in Othello (Act i. Sc. 3)

"When light-wing' d toys
Of feather'd Cupid seel with wanton dulness," &c.

QUAINT RECIPES. jl

And in the same play (Act lii. Sc. 3)

" She that, so young, could give out such a seeming,
To seel her father's eyes up close as oak. 1 '

In the last line it is more probable, considering the use
of the technical term ** seel," above explained, that Shake-
speare wrote " close as hawk's."

Sir Emerson Tennant, in his " Sketches of the Natural
History of Ceylon," speaking of the goshawk (p. 246),
says : " In the district of Anarajapoora, where it is
trained for hawking, it is usual, in lieu of a hood, to
darken its eyes by means of a silken thread passed
through holes in the eyelids." This practice of " seeling "
appears to be of some antiquity, but has happily given way,
to a great extent, to the more merciful use of the hood.

The old treatises on falconry contain numerous quaint
recipes for the various ailments to which hawks are
subject. From one of these we learn that petroleum is
nothing new, as some people now-a-days would have us
believe. Turbervile, writing in 1575, says, in his " Booke
of Falconrie " : " An other approued medecine is to
annoint the swelling of your hawkes foot with Oleum
petrcelium (which is the oyle of a rocke) and with oyle of
white Lillies, taking of each of these like quantity, the
blood of a pigeon, and the tallow of a candle, heating
all these together a little at the fire. This unguent wil
throughly resolue the mischief." P. 25$,

72 GOING A-BIRDING.

Hawking was sometimes called "birding." In the Merry
Wives of Windsor (Act iii. Sc. 3-), Master Page says,

"I do invite you to-morrow morning to my house to
breakfast ; after, we '11 a-birding together ; I have a fine
hawk for the bush."

This was probably a goshawk, for, being a short-winged
hawk and of slower flight, this species was considered the
best for a woody district, or, as Shakespeare terms it, " the
bush."

In the same play (Act iii. Sc. 5) Dame Quickly, re-
ferring to Mistress Ford, says, " Her husband goes this
morning a-birding;" and Mistress Ford, herself, says (Act
iv. Sc. 2), " He 's a-birding, sweet Sir John."

But it seems that birding was not always synonymous
with hawking, for, later on in the last-mentioned scene,
we read as follows :

" Falslaff. What shall I do ? I '11 creep up into the
chimney.

Mrs. Ford. There they always use to discharge their
birding-pieces?

The word "hawk," as in the case of -the eagle, is
almost invariably employed by Shakespeare in its generic
sense :

" Dost thou love hawking ? thou hast hawks will soar
Above the morning lark."

Taming of the Shrew > Induction, Sc. 2.

THE KESTREL. 73

In Henry V. (Act iii. Sc. 7), the Dauphin, when speak-
ing in praise of his horse, says,

" When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk/*

And in the first part of Henry VI. (Act ii. Sc. 4), the
Earl of Warwick boasts that

" Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch ;

I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgment."

Again,

" Twenty crowns !

1 11 venture so much of my hawk or hound,
But twenty times so much upon my wife."

Taming of the Shrew, Act v. Sc. 2.

In two instances only does Shakespeare allude to a
particular species of hawk. These are the Kestrel and
Sparrowhawk.

When Malvolio, in Twelfth Night (Act ii. Sc. 5), finds
the letter which Maria has purposely dropt in his path,
Sir Toby Belch, looking on from ambush, exclaims, in
sporting terms :

" And with what wing the stanniel checks at it ! "

Here stanniel is a corruption of standgale, a name for
the kestrel hawk, and Malvolio is said to " check at " the
letter, just as a kestrel hovers over a mouse or other
object which has suddenly attracted its attention.

74 THE SPARROWHAWK.

It is true that the reading of the folios here is stallion ;
but the word wing, and the falconers* term checks, abun-
dantly prove that a bird must be meant. Sir Thomas
Hanmer, therefore, proposed this correction, which all
subsequent editors have received as justifiable.

The origin of the word " kestrel " is somewhat un-
certain. By some it is derived from " coystril," a knave
or peasant, from being the hawk formerly used by persons
of inferior rank, as we learn from Dame Juliana Berners,
in her " Boke of St. Albans." This opinion is strength-
ened by the reading " coystril," in Twelfth Night (Act i.
Sc. 3), and "coistrel," in Pericles (Act iv. Sc. 6). A
different spelling again occurs in "The Gentleman's
Recreation/' by Ric. Blome (folio, London, 1686), where
the word is written "castrell."

The sparrowhawk is only mentioned once by Shake-
speare, and the passage is one which might be very
easily overlooked by any one not conversant with the
language of falconry. In the Merry Wives of Windsor,
Mrs. Ford addresses Falstaff's page with

" How now, my eyas-musket? "
" Musket "* was the name given by the falconers of old

* The weapon of this name, the most important of small fire-arms, is said to
have borrowed its title from this the most useful of small hawks, in the same way
that other arms as the falcon, falconet, and saker have derived their names
from larger and more formidable birds of prey. Against this view it is asserted
that the musket was invented in the fifteenth century by the Muscovites, and owes
its name to its inventors. See Bescherelle, "Diet. Nat.," and "The Target: a
Treatise upon the Art Military," 1756.

HAWK AND HERNSHAW. 75

to the male sparrowhawk ; " eyas " or " eyess," as before
explained, signifying- a nestling, or young bird from the
eyrie or nest. In the above speech, Mrs. Ford probably
intended to imply no more than we should now-a-days
mean by the expression " a perky little fellow."

The words of Hamlet with reference to a hawk must be
familiar to all readers of Shakespeare, the more so,
possibly, because the passage in question appears to have
puzzled many commentators :

" I am but mad north-north-west : when the wind is
southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw?

Hamlet, Act. ii. Sc. 2.

The explanation is simple enough. The last word
should be " hernshaw," the old name for the heron. It is
not every one who knows a hawk from a heron when he
sees it, although it is scarcely possible to conceive two
birds more unlike in appearance. Hamlet's statement,
then, is simply to the effect that he only feigned madness
when it suited his purpose ; at other times he could even
outwit the many, and see a distinction where they, from
ignorance, would fail.

The ingenuity which has been exercised in a laudable
endeavour to interpret this passage is really surprising*
"An ingenious friend," says the Athenmmp "suggests
the following explanation : ' Among the ancient

* December 3<>th, 1865.

76 HAWK AND HERNSHAW.

tians, the hawk signified the Etesian, or northerly wind
(which, in the beginning of summer, drives the vapour
towards the south, and which, covering Ethiopia with
dense clouds, there resolves them into rains, causing the
Nile to swell), because that bird follows the direction
of that wind Job xxxix. 26). The heron, hern, or hern-
" shaw signified the southerly wind, because it takes its flight
from Ethiopia into Upper Egypt, following the course of
the Nile as it retires within its banks, and living on the
small worms hatched in the mud of the river. Hence the
heads of these two birds may be seen surmounting the
canopi used by the ancent ^Egyptians to indicate the rising
and falling of the Nile respectively. Now Hamlet, though
feigning madness, yet claims sufficient sanity to distinguish
a hawk from a hernshaw when the wind is southerly ; that
is, in the time of the migration of the latter to the north,
and when the former is not to be seen. Shakespeare may
have become acquainted with the habits of these migrat-
ing birds of Egypt through a translation of Plutarch, who
gives a particular account of them, published in the middle
of the sixteenth century by Thomas North/ "

The present chapter, embodying, as it does, a treatise
on hawking, illustrated by quotations from Shakespeare,
would scarcely be complete without some reference to the
prices paid for hawks, and to the expenses of keeping
them, at the period at which Shakespeare lived. These
particulars may be gleaned from scattered entries in

VALUE OF HAWKS. 77

certain " Household Books " and " Privy Purse Accounts "
of noble owners, which the invaluable labours of anti-
quaries have placed within reach of the curious.

We have been at some pains to collect and arrange the
following entries, believing that the information which
they supply will be far more interesting to the reader if
allowed to remain in the form in which we have found

it:

PRICES OF HAWKS.

I tin the viij daye paied to Walshe for

so moche money by him layed out

for one goshawke and ij fawcons . iij li.
Itm the xv daye paied for v fawcons

and a tarsell viij li,

Itm the iij daye paied in rewarde to

S r Richard Sandes s'vfit for the

bringing of a saker to the king at

hampton court e .... vs.

I tin the same daye paied for fyve fifawcons vij li. vj s. viij d.
Itm the iij daye paied to a stranger

called Jasper, fawconer, for vj sakers

and v sakeretts at viij corons a pece

which amot s to jg viij corons . . xx li. x s. viij d.
Itm the viij daye paied to maister

Walshe for so much money by him

paied for goshawks the which the

king*s grace bought upon the cage . iij li.

78 VALUE OF HAWKS.

Itm to iij of maister Skevington's sVfits
in rewarde for bringing iij hobbyes
to the king's grace . . . .iij li.

Itm the xj daye paied to a sVfit of
Maister Saint John in rewarde for
bringing a caste of hawks . . xx s.

Itm the viij daye paied to a s'vnt of
the due of Ferrers in rewarde for
bringing of a caste of fawcons to
the king's grace at Westm . . xxiij li. vj s. viij d.

Itm the xix daye paid to a s'vnt of
Maister Walshe's for bringing of a
caste of Laneretts to the king's
grac in rewarde .... x s.

Itm the xxvij daye paied to the Abbot
of Tewxbury sVftt in rewarde for
bringing a caste of Launners to the
king's grace xx s.

Itm the xvj daye paied to Augustyne
the fawconer for viij hawks at vj
Angells a pece,whiche amounteth to xviij li.

HAWKS' FURNITURE.

Itm the iiij daye paied for ij dousin of

hawks' hoods at iij s. iiij d. le dousin vj s. viij d.

Itm the same daye paied for iij hawks'

gloves at vj s. viij d. le glove . . xx s.

KEEP OF HAWKS. -9

Itm the same day paied for vj dousin
gilte bells at iij corons le dousin ,

MEAT,

Itm the xx daye paied to Philip Ciampe

for the mete of ij hawks after the

rate of ij d. by the daye from the

xx daye of Aprill unto the xviij

day of Novembre .... xxv s.

Itm the xxj daye paied to James the

henne taker for hawks' mete . x s.

Itm the xj daye paied to Hans the

fawconer for hawks' mete . . xiiij s. iiij d.

Itm to the same Hugh paied the same

daye for the mete of v hawks by

the same space that is to saye for

one quarter of a yere ; evy hawke

at one penny by the daye . . xxxviij s. vj d.
Itm the xyj daye to maister Hennage

for the birds' mete . . . . xij d.

Itm the v day to Nicholas Ciampe for

the mete of iiij hawks fro the x

daye of Maye unto the xxiij daye

of June after one peny a daye for

a hawke ...... xv s.

Itm to the same John Evans for the

mete of iiij hawks by the space of

80 KEEP OF HAWKS.

Ixxxxvij dayes for evy hawke one

penny by the daye .... xxxij s. iiij d.

FALCONERS' WAGES.
Itm the vij daye paied to John Evans

for his bourde wages for one quarter

due at our Lady daye laste paste . xxx s. v d.

Itm the Ix daye paied to the same John

Evans for his bourde wages fro

Mydsom tyll Michelmas after iiij d.

by the daye ..... xxx s. v d.

Itm the xxvj daye paied to Nicholas

Clampe one of the fawconers for

his wages due for one quarter ended

at Easter laste paste ... Is.

Itn the same daye paied to the same

Clampe for his bourde wages from

the xxv daye of Decembre unto

the laste daye of this mohethe the

which amounts to cxxvij dayes, at

iiij d. by the daye. . . . xlij s. iiij d.

SUNDRIES.

Itm the vth daye paied to old Hugh in
rewarde when his hawks went to
the mewe ..... xl s,

Itm the xxv daye paied to Walter in

rewarde for a Jerfawcon that dyed . xl s.

SUNDRIES. 8 1

Itm the same daye paied to one that

toke up a Lanner that had been

lacking a hole yere .... x 3.

Itiii the laste daye paied unto Nicholas

Clampe for keeping of a lanneret

called ' Cutte ' for one hole yere at

j d. a daye ..... xxx s. v d,

Itrfi the xxvij daye paied to a sVfit of

my lorde Brayes in rewarde for

taking up of a fawcon of the kings

in Bedfordshire .... vj s. viij d.

Itm the xvij daye paied to one Richard

Mason for taking up of a fawcon of

the kings besides Hartford . . vj s. viij d.

Itm the xiij daye paied to a s'viit of

my lorde Darcys in rewarde for

taking up of a hawke of the kings

and bringing hir to Yorke place . vij s. vi d.

Itm the xiij daye paied to lohn Weste

of the garde to ryde into the

contry for an hawke by the kings

comande* . . . . . xx 5.

Itm the xxviij daye paid to Willm
- Tyldesley, grome of the Chambre,

for lying oute to take hawkes by

the kings comande* .... x s.

Itm the xiiij paied to a sVfit of maister

M

82 SUNDRIES.

Skevingtons in rewarde for bringing

hawkes out of Irlande ... xl s.

Itm the x daye paied to Garard the
fawconer in rewarde for taking of a
fawcon and a tarsell . . . Ivj s.

Itm the xj daye of Marche paied to
Garrat and Richard the fawconers
in rewarde for finding the Herons . x s.

The interest which attaches to these curious extracts
must excuse us with the reader for their length.

We cannot peruse them without being carried back, in
spirit, to an age in which, for all that concerns sport, we
would fain have lived to bear a part Alas ! that so
delightful a pastime as hawking should have declined, and
that we should live to see our noble falcons gibbeted, like
thieves, upon " the keeper's tree."

CHAPTER III.

THE OWL AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.

A S Jove assumed the shape of an Eagle, so Juno selected
that of an Owl, for, as Aldrovandus tells us, it was not
decorous that the queen of heaven should take on herself
the likeness of any small or vulgar bird, but rather that
she should be embodied in one whose reign by night was
equal with that of the eagle by day. The owl has usually
been regarded as a bird of ill omen, and superstitiously
considered a messenger of woe. The Athenians alone
among the ancients seem to have been free from this
popular prejudice, and to have regarded the owl with
veneration rather than abhorrence, considering it as the
favourite of Minerva, and the image of wisdom. The
Romans viewed the owl with detestation and dread. By
them it was held sacred to Proserpine: its appearance
foreboded unfortunate events, and, according to Pliny, the
city of Rome underwent a solemn lustration in conse-
quence of an owl having accidentally strayed into the
Capitol.

84 ITS USE IN MEDICINE.

In the ancient pharmacopoeia, which savoured not a
little of magic, the owl appears to have been "great medi-
cine." Ovid tells us that this bird was used wholesale in
the composition of Medea's gruel :

" Et strigis infames ipsis cum carnibus alas."

While, according to Horace, the old witch Canidia made
use of the feathers in her incantations :

" Plumamque nocturnse strigis."

The " owlet's wing " was an ingredient of the cauldron
wherein the witches prepared their "charm of powerful
trouble" (Macbeth, Act iv. Sc. i) ; and, with the character
assigned to it by the ancients, Shakespeare, no doubt, felt
that the introduction of an owl in a dreadful scene of a
tragedy would help to make the subject come home more
forcibly to the people, who had, from early times, asso-
ciated its presence with melancholy, misfortune, and
death. Accordingly, we find the unfortunate owl stig-
matized at various times as the "obscure," "ominous,"
"fearful/' and "fatal" "bird of night." Its doleful cry
pierces the ear of Lady Macbeth while the murder is
being done :

" Hark ! Peace I It was the owl that shriek'd,
The fatal bellman which gives the stern'st good night."

Macbeth, Act ii. Sc. i.

And when the murderer rushes in immediately after-
wards, exclaiming,

A BIRD (tt ILL OMEX. 85

" I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise ?*'
She replies,

" I heard the owl scream."
And later on

" The obscure bird clamour'd the live-long night."

Macbeth, Act ii. Sc. 2.

The awe, no doubt, with which this bird is regarded by
the superstitious, may be attributed in some measure to
the fact of its flying by night.

" Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,

The time when screech-owls cry and ban-dogs howl/'
Henry VL Part II. Act L Sc. 4.

And yet, strange to say, the appearance of an owl by day
is by some considered equally ominous :

" The owl by day,
If he arise, is mocked and wondered at/ 1

Henry VL Part III. Act v. Sc. 4.

" For night-owls shriek, where mounting larks should
sing."

RicJiardIL Act iii. Sc. 3.

Should an owl appear at a birth it is said to forbode ill-
luck to the infant King Henry VL, addressing Gloster,
says,

86" ITS HABITS MISUNDERSTOOD.

" The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign."

Henry VL Part III. Act v. Sc. 6.

While upon any other occasion its presence was supposed
to predict a death, or at least some dire mishap :

" The screech-owl, screeching loud,
Puts the wretch, that lies in woe,
In remembrance of a shroud."

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act v. Sc. 2.

When Richard III. is irritated by the ill-news showered
thick upon him, he interrupts the third messenger with

" Out on ye, owls ! nothing but songs of death ? "

Richard III. Act iv. Sc. 4.

It is curious how wide-spread is the superstition regard-
ing certain birds, and particularly the owl. Even amongst
the Land Dayaks of Borneo, the owl is considered a bird
of ill omen. Mr. Spenser St. John, in his " Life in the
Forests of the Far East," observes with regard to omens
(vol. i. p. 202) :

" If a man be going on a war expedition, and has a slip
during his first day's journey, he must return to his village,
especially if by the accident blood be drawn, for then,
should he proceed, he has no prospect but wounds or
death. If the accident occur during a long expedition,
he must return to his last night's resting place. In some
tribes, if a deer cry near a party who are setting out on

ITS UTILITY TO THE FARMER. 87

a journey, they will return. When going out at night to
the jungle, if the scream of a hawk, or an owl, or of a
small kind of frog be heard, it is a sign that sickness will
follow if the design be pursued ; and again, if the screech
of the two former be heard in front of a party on the war-
path, it is an evil sign, and they must return. Omens
derived from the cry of birds are always sought previously
to setting out on a journey, and before fixing on a spot to
build new houses, or to prepare their farms."

Far from bringing any ill-luck to our dwellings, owls
are really of the greatest service to us in destroying great
numbers of vermin. A Swiss naturalist, speaking of the
quantity of field-voles which are annually destroyed by
owls and buzzards, says :*

" C'est un fait curieux que rhomme s'acharne tout
particuli&rement a detruire ses meillures amis, et qu'il
poursuive de ses maledictions les tres qui le servent le
mieux, Je joindrai done ma faible voix a celle de bien
d'autres naturalistes pour demander que Ton protege les
premieres de ces betes.

" Les hibous et les chouettes, bien loin de Jeter de
mauvais sorts sur nos demeures, prennent au contralre,
un grand soin de nos mtdrts. Ces oiseaux exterminent,
en efFet, bien plus de souris que n'en pourront prendre
jamais les meilleurs taupiers. Les buses n'ont nulle-

* Victor Patio, "Les Campagnols du Bassin du Leroan." Bale, Geneve, et
Paris. 1867. P. 16.

88 A CURIOUS TRADITION.

ment merite leur place sur la porte de nos granges, et
plutot que de les tuer, Ton ferait bien mieux d'etablir
chez nous, comme cela s'est fait avec succes dans
certaines localites, de hauts perchoirs dans nos campagnes
pour attirer ces oiseaux bienfaisants."

Among the many curious legends which exist with
reference to this bird, we may mention one to which
Shakespeare has alluded in Hamlet :

" They say the owl was a baker's daughter."

Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 5.

Mr. Staunton, in his edition of Shakespeare's Plays, says
this has reference to a tradition still current in some parts
of England. " Our Saviour went into a baker's shop where
they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The
mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into
the oven to bake for him, but was reprimanded by her
daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too
large, reduced it considerably in size. The dough,
however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and
presently became of an enormous size. Whereupon
the baker's daughter cried out, ' Wheugh ! wheugh !
wheugh ! ' which owl-like noise, it is said, probably
induced our Saviour, for her wickedness, to transform her
into that bird."

Mr. Douce represents this story as still current amongst
the common people in Gloucestershire.* According to

* " Illustrations of Shakespeare, and of Ancient Manners." 1807.

A CURIOUS TRADITION. No

Xuttall, the north country nurses would have it that the
owl was a daughter of Pharaoh, and when they heard it
hoot on a winter's night, they sang to the wondering child

" Oh ! 6 6 6, 6 6 ;

I once was a king's daughter, and sat on my father's knee,
But now I 'm a poor hoolet, and hide in a hollow tree."

There is much difference of opinion amongst naturalists
as to whether the power of hooting and shrieking is
possessed by the same species. In the following passage
from Jiilius C&sar (Act i. Sc. 3), both sounds are at-
tributed to the same bird :

*' Yesterday the bird of night did sil,
Even at noonday, upon the market-place,
Hooting and shrieking/'

It is generally supposed that the common barn or white
owl does not hoot, but only shrieks, and is, in fact, the
bird always alluded to as the " screech-owl/' while the
brown owls (Strix otns, brachyotu$ y and alnco) are the
hooters

" The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots."

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act ii. Sc. 2.

But Mn Colquhoun, speaking of the white or barn owl,
says,* " It does hoot, but very rarely. I heard one six
times in succession, and then it ceased" Sir William

* " The Moor and the Loch. '

90 NOTE OF THE OWL.

Jardine once shot a white owl in the act of hooting ;
and Mr. Boulton, of Beverley, Yorkshire, describes * the
note of one of these birds which he had reared from
the nest, and kept in confinement for fifteen months,
as follows : " It does hoot exactly like the long-eared
owl, but not so frequently. I use the term * hoot ' in
contradistinction to 'screech/ which it often does when
irritated."

In Gardiner's " Music of Nature " the note of the brown
owl is thus rendered :

bt f r

h-r-p-f-f-f^,

. - I* . -

Mr. Colquhoun, to whom allusion has just been made,
says, that the music of the white or barn owl is a little
different from that of the brown owls. It is only one
prolonged cadence, lower and not so mournful as that of
the tawny fellow.

It would appear that owls do not keep to one note. A
friend of Gilbert White's remarked that most of his owls
hooted in B flat, but that one went almost half a note
below A. The pipe by which he tried their notes was a
common half-crown pitchpipe. A neighbour, also, of the
Selborne naturalist, who was said to have a nice ear,
remarked that the owls about Selborne hooted in three
different keys : in G flat (or F sharp), in B flat, and A

* " The Zoologist" for 1863, p. 8,765.

AJN OWJL KUJBiUNG NESTS. 91

flat. He heard two hooting to each other, the one in
A flat, the other in B flat.

It did not appear, however, whether the sounds pro-
ceeded from different species of brown owls, or from
different individuals of the same species.

Another question in the life-history of the owl is
raised by the following passage from Macbeth (Act iv.

Sc. 2) :

4< For the poor wren,

The most diminutive of birds, will fight,
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl."

This defence of their young by birds has often been
noticed by Shakespeare :

" Unreasonable creatures feed their young ;
And though man's face be fearful to their eyes,
Yet, in protection of their tender ones,
Who hath not seen them (even with those wings
Which sometimes they have us'd with fearful flight)
Make war with him that climb'd unto their nest,
Offering their own lives m their young's defence ? "

Henry VI. Part III. Act ii. Sc, 2.

We are not aware, however, that an owl has ever been
caught in the act of robbing a nest, and, indeed, it would not
be easy to detect him, from the fact of his preying by night.
Nevertheless, there is presumptive evidence to support
the charge. A writer in 77ar Field, of 2gth June, 1867,

92 EVIDENCE NOT CONCLUSIVE.

sa y S : Standing in my garden in Bedford Park,
Croydon, an evening or two since, I saw a white owl fly
to a sparrow's nest lodged on a water-spout under the
roof of the house, and as though that visit was not
successful, he repeated it, and then went to a nest on the
next house, in the same way. It was too dark for me to
see if he succeeded in his marauding expedition against
the poor sparrows. Is it a common occurrence for an owl
to go robbing nests ? I never saw it done before, though
I have lived all my life in the country, and of course seen
this favourite bird skimming over the water meadows for
its supper." To this communication the editor adds the
following note : " This fact is extremely interesting, and,
we think, generally unknown. It would, however, have
added much to the interest, had the robbery actually
been proved ; it does not seem quite certain that this
was the owl's object in visiting the roof."

- Some years ago, having made the discovery that some
stock-doves were building in the \vooden spire of our
village church, we commissioned the parish clerk to secure
a pair of young birds as soon as they were ready
to fly. He made several attempts for this purpose,
paying occasional visits to see how the young birds were
getting on, when, on going to the nest, as he supposed for
the last time, to carry them off, he found it empty. This
happened three or four times, and he was much puzzled
to account for it. The birds could not have flown they

ITS CHARACTER MALIGXKD. 93

were not old enough. Xo one else could have taken them,
for the church could not be entered without the key, which
he always kept. Had rats carried them off? The clerk
said there were none. Had there been any, he must have
heard or seen them on one or other of his many visits to
the church, or at least have found signs of their presence.
But this was never the case. He stated, however, that a
pair of barn owls lived in the same spire, and he thought
that they were the culprits, taking the young ones, as he
said, as soon as they were fat enough, to save themselves
the trouble of hunting out of doors. Be this as it may,
we feel bound to say, on behalf of the owls, they were
never caught in the fact, and that the parent stock-doves
were not deterred from laying again and again, and at
length rearing a brood. Charles \Vaterton, whose name
will be familiar to all naturalists, argues strongly against
the notion of the barn owl robbing dove-cotes. He
says* : " When farmers complain that the barn owl
destroys the eggs of their pigeons, they lay the saddle on
^the wrong horse. They ought to put it on the rat.

" Formerly, I could get very few young pigeons till the
rats were excluded effectually from the dove-cot. Since
that took place, it has produced a great abundance every
year, though the barn owls frequent it, and are encouraged
all around it. The barn owl merely resorts to it for
repose and concealment. If it were really an enemy to

* " Essays on Natural History/* ist Series, p. 14.

94 ITS RETIRING HABITS.

the dove-cot, we should see the pigeons in commotion as
soon as it begins its evening flight> but the pigeons heed
it not ; whereas if the sparrowhawk or hobby should
make its appearance, the whole community would be up
at once proof sufficient that the barn owl is not looked
upon as a bad or even a suspicious character by the
inhabitants of the dove-cot."

Its habit of breeding in retired situations is alluded to
in Titus Androniciis> Act ii. Sc. 3 :

" Herjs never shines the sun ; here nothing breeds,
Unless the nightly owl."

And Shakespeare has truly characterized the appearance
of this bird on the wing, when he speaks of

". The night-owl's lazy flight."

Henry VL Part III. Act ii. Sc. il

Why the owl has been called the " bird of wisdom " it
is not easy to determine. Possibly because it can see in
the dark, and is the only bird which looks straightforward.
Shakespeare frequently alludes to its " five wits," and the
readers of Tennyson's poems will no doubt remember the
lines :

"Alone, and warming his Jive wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits."

With our early writers the five senses appear to have
been generally called the "five wits." Chaucer, in the

ITS FIVE WITS. 95

" Parsone's Tale, 11 says : " Certes delites been after the
appetites of the "five wittes ; T as sight, hereing, smelling,
savouring, and touching." But it is not clear ho\v this
proverbial phrase became connected with the owl, nor
what is the origin of " warming " the wits,

" Petrnchio. Am I not wise ?

Katharine. Yes, keep you warm?

Taming of the Shrew, Act ii. Sc. i.

" If he have wit enough to keep himself warm?

Mitch Ado; Act i. Sc. i.
" Bless Hay five wits?

King Lear y Act iii. Sc, 4, and Act Hi. Sc. 6.

The allusion above made to Tennyson's well-known
poem, reminds us of the quaint and characteristic song in
the last scene of Love's Labour s Lost :

III.
" When icicles hang by the \vall,

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,

And milk comes frozen home in pail ;
When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,

To- who ;

Tu-whit, to-who, a meny note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot

96 ITS FAME IN SONG.

IV.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,

And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,

And Marian's nose looks red and raw ;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,

To-who ;

Tu-whit, to-who, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot/ 1

Nor do we forget Ariel's song in The Tempest (Act v.
Sc. i)

" Where the bee sucks, there lurk I ;
In a cowslip's bell I lie,
There I couch when owls do cry."

Amongst the fairies, at least, the owl seems to have found
friends, and is generally represented as a companion in
their moonlight gambols :

" This is the fairy land ! O, spite of spites !
We talk with goblins, owls, and elvish sprites."

Comedy of Errors^ Act ii. Sc. 2.

The folio of 1623 omits "elvish," but the folio of 1632
has " elves," which Rowe changed to " elvish."

The following quotation we have some hesitation in
introducing, for there appears to be a difference of reading,
which quite alters the sense :

ITS COMRADES. 97

44 No, rather, I abjure all roofs, and choose

To be a comrade with the wolf and owl,
Necessity's sharp pinch."

King Lear, Act ii. Sc. 4.

Mr. Collier, taking into consideration the last line,
reads :

" To be a comrade with the wolf, and howl
Necessity's sharp pinch,"

And this seems more likely to be the correct reading.
Albeit, in support of the former version, the following
passage in Lncrccc has been adduced :

" No noise but owls' and wolves' death-boding cries/ 1

It is not to be supposed that Shakespeare was always
a firm believer in the popular notions respecting animals
and birds to which he has made allusion. In many cases
he had a particular motive in introducing such notions,
although possibly aware of their erroneous nature, and he
evidently adopted them only to impart an air of reality to
the scenes which he depicted, and to bring them home
more forcibly to the impressionable minds of his auditors,
to whom such " folks-lore " would be familiar. This is
notably the case as regards the owl, and no one can read
the first scene in the second act of Macbeth, or the
fourth scene in the first act of Henry VL (Part II.),

u

98 THE OWL'S GOOD NIGHT.

without feeling the impressive effect produced by the
introduction of a bird which is held in such detestation
by the ignorant, but which naturalists have shown to be
not only harmless, but useful

But

"The owl, night's herald, shrieks, 'tis very late/'

Venus and Adonis.

And, therefore, with Boyet, in Loves Labour's Lost (Act
iv. Sc. i), we will say :

" Good night, my good owl."

CHAPTER IV.

THE CROWS AND THEIR RELATIONS.

a superficial observer of nature, there may appear
to be a much greater resemblance between the Raven,
the Crow, the Rook, and the Jackdaw, than we find to be
actually the case. At the same time, so different to them
in outward appearance are the Jay and Magpie, that it
may appear extraordinary to class them all together.
Nevertheless, while each, of course, has its distinguishing
characters, all are included in the first section of the
family of crows.

The Raven (Corvns corax), from his size and character,
naturally takes the lead. Go where we will over the face of
the wide world, the well-known hoarse croak of the raven is
still to be heard. He was seen perched on the bare rocks,
looking over the dreary snows of the highest points visited
in the Arctic Expeditions. Under the burning sun of
the equator he enjoys his feast of carrion. He was dis-
covered in the islands of the Pacific Ocean by Captain

100 THE RAVEN,

Cook ; and in the lowest Southern or Antarctic regions,
other travellers have found him pursuing his cautious
predatory life, just as in England.*

From the earliest times the raven, with his deep and
solemn voice, has always commanded attention, and
superstitious people have become impressed with the idea
that there is something unearthly in his nature and
ominous in his voice.f By the Romans this bird was
consecrated to Apollo, and regarded as a foreteller of
good or evil. Through a long course of centuries this
character has clung to him ; and even to this day, there
are many who believe that the raven's croak predicts a
death.

No wonder, then, that Shakespeare has taken advantage
of this wide-spread belief, and has introduced the raven
into many of the solemn passages of his Plays, to carry
conviction to the minds of the people, and render his
images the more impressive. He frequently alludes to
"the ill-boding raven : "

" It conies o'er my memory,
As doth the raven o'er the infectious house,

Boding to all."

Othello, Act iv. Sc. I.

Thersites, in Troilus and Cressida (Act v. Sc. 2),
says,

* Stanley's " Familiar History of Binds," p. 179.

f An excellent dissertation on the organ of voice in the raven will be found in
the second volume of Yarrell's f ' British Birds/* 3rd ed. p. 72

A BIRD OF ILL OMEN. IOI

" Would I could meet that rogue Diomed ; I would
croak like a raven ; I would bode, I would bode."

In the play of Henry VL Suffolk vainly endeavours to
cheer up the King, who has swooned on hearing of
Gloster's death, saying:

" Comfort, my sovereign ! gracious Henry, comfort ! "

But the King, likening his message to the ill-boding note
of a raven, replies :

** What, doth my lord of Suffolk comfort me ?
Came he right now to sing a raven's note,
Whose dismal tune bereft my vital powers ;
And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,
By crying comfort from a hollow breast,
Can chase away the first-conceived sound ? "

Henry VL Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

After Balthazar has sung his well-known song, " Sigh no
more, ladies," (Aluch Ado, Act ii. Sc. 3,) Benedick observes
to himself, "An he had been a dog that should have
howled thus, they would have hanged him : and I pray
God his bad voice bode no mischief. I had as lief have
heard the night-raven, come what plague could have come
after it."

Willughby thought that the so-called "night-raven"
was the bittern. Speaking of the curious noise produced
by the latter bird, he says : " This, I suppose, is the

102 THE NIGHT-CROW :

bird which the vulgar call the night-raven, and have a
great dread of.' 5 *

The bittern was one of the very few birds which Gold-
smith, in his " Animated Nature/' described from personal
observation, and he, too, calls it the " night-raven." Its
hollow boom, he says, caused it to be held in detestation
by the vulgar. u I remember, in the place where I was
a boy, with what terror the bird's note affected the whole
village ; they considered it as the presage of some sad event,
and generally found, or made one to succeed it. If any
person in the neighbourhood died, they supposed it could
not be otherwise, for the night-raven had foretold it ; but
if nobody happened to die, the death of a cow or a sheep
gave completion to the prophecy."

Sometimes it was called the night-croiv

" The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time."

Henry VL Part III. Act v. Sc. 6.

Shakespeare has introduced an allusion to the raven with
much effect, in the fifth scene of the first act in Macbeth,
where an attendant enters the chamber of Lady Macbeth
to announce

" The king comes here to-night
Lady M. Thou 'rt mad to say it !

Is not thy master with him ? who, were't so,
Would have informed for preparation.

* Willughby's " Ornithology," folio, 1678. Book I. p. 25.

ITS SUPPOSED PROPHETIC PuWEK. 103

Attend. So please you, it is true : our thane is corning :

One of my fellows had the speed of him ;

Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more

Than would make up his message.
Lady M. Give him tending ;

He brings great news. {Exit Attendant.

The raven himself is hoarse

That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan

Under my battlements."

On this passage Johnson remarks : " The messenger, says
the servant, had hardly breath to make up his message ;
to which the lady answers mentally, that he may well
want breath ; such a message would add hoarseness to
the raven. That even the bird whose harsh voice is
accustomed to predict calamities, could not croak the
entrance of Duncan but in a note of unwonted harsh-
ness."

The preference which the raven evinces for "sickly
prey," or carrion, is not unnoticed by the poet :

" Now powers from home, and discontents at home,
Meet in one line ; and vast confusion waits,
As doth a raven on a sick-fallen beast,
The imminent decay of wrested pomp."

King John* Act iv. Sc. 3,
And again

104 IT S PRESENCE ON BATTLE-FIELDS.

" Ravens

Fly o'er our heads, and downward look on us,
As we were sickly prey."

Julius C&sar, Act v. Sc. 3.

In Henry V. (Act iv. Sc. 2) we have a graphic picture of
a distressed army followed by ravens on the look-out for
corpses :

" Yond island carrions, desperate of their bones,
Ill-favour'dly become the morning field :
Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose,
And our air shakes them passing scornfully.
And their executors, the knavish crows,
Fly o'er them all, impatient for their hour."

It is most probable that the supposed prophetic
power of the raven, respecting battles and bloodshed,
originated in its frequent presence on these occasions,
drawn to the field of slaughter by an attractive banquet
of unburied bodies of the slain. Hence poets have
described this bird as possessing a mysterious knowledge
of these things. The Icelanders, notwithstanding their
endeavours to destroy as many as they can, yet give
them credit for the gift of prophecy, and have a high
opinion of them as soothsayers. And the priests of the
North American Indians wear, as a distinguishing mark
of their sacred profession, two or three raven skins,
fixed to the girdle behind their back, in such a

ITS FOOI>. 105

manner that the tails stick out horizontally from
the body. They have also a split raven skin on the
head, so fastened as to let the beak project from the
forehead.*

The solitary habits of this bird during the nesting
season are thus alluded to :

u A barren detested vale T you see, it is ;
The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
O'ercome with moss and baleful misseltoe :
Here never shines the sun ; here nothing breeds,
Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven."

Titus Andronicus, Act ii. Sc. 3.

And a curious belief is mentioned with regard to the
rearing of its young :

" Some say that ravens foster forlorn children,
The whilst their own birds famish in their nests."

Titus Andronicus, Act ii. Sc. 3.

It would appear, from some passages in the sacred
Scriptures, that the desertion of their young had not
escaped the observation of the inspired writers. It was
certainly a current belief in olden times, that when the
raven saw its young ones newly hatched, and covered
with down, it conceived such an aversion that it forsook
them, and did not return to the nest until a darker
plumage had shown itself. And to this belief commenta-
tors suppose the Psalmist alludes when he says: "He

* Stanley's " Familiar History of Birds," p. rSS.

106 ALLEGED DESERTION OF YOUNG.

givctk to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which
cry'' (Psalm cxlvii. 9.) And again, in Job, " Who pro-
videthfor the raven his food? When his young ones cry
unto God, they wander for lack of meat? (Job xxxviii. 41.)

In Batman " upon Bartholome his book, ' De proprieta-
tibus Rerum/ folio, 1582," we find the following passage
bearing upon the question : " The raven is called Conws
of Corax. It is said that ravens birdes (i.e., young ravens)
be fed with deaw of heaven all the time that they have
no black feathers by benefite of age." (Lib. xii. c. 10.)

Izaak Walton, in his " Compleat Angler," speaking of
fish without mouths, which "are nourished and take
breath by the porousness of their gills, man knows not
how,'* observes that u this may be believed if we con-
sider that when the raven hath hatched her eggs, she
takes no further care, but leaves her young ones to the
care of the God of nature, who is said in the Psalms
(Psal. cxlvii. 9) 'to feed the young ravens that call upon
him/ And they be kept alive, and fed by a dew or
worms that breed in their nests ; or some other ways that
we mortals know not/*

Shakespeare, no doubt, had the words of the Psalmist in
his mind when he wrote

" And He that doth the ravens feed,
Yea, providently caters for the sparrow,
Be comfort to my age 1 "

As You Like It, Act ii. Sc. 3.

RAVENS' FEATHEK>. 107

We read in the First Book of Kings, xvii. 4, that when
the prophet Elijah fled from the tyranny of King Ahab,
and concealed himself by the brook Cherith, God com-
manded the ravens to feed him there. The remembrance
of this passage may have been in our poet's mind when he-
penned the following lines in the Winters Talc. Anti-
gonus, ordered by Leontes to expose the infant Perdita
to death, says, with a touch of pity :

" Come on, poor babe :
Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens

To be thy nurses ! n

Winter's Talc, Act if. Sc. 3.

As in the case of the owl, it appears that ravens' feathers
were employed by the witches of old in their incantations ;
for it was believed that the wings of this bird carried
contagion with them wherever they appeared. Marlowe,
in his Jew of Malta, speaks of

. " the sad presaging raven, that tolls
The sick man's passport in her hollow beak,
And in the shadow of the silent night
Doth shake contagion from her sable wings."

Hence the curse which Shakespeare puts into the mouth
of Caliban :

w As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen,

Drop on you both !"

^ Act i. Sc. 2.

108 A BLACK CHARACTER.

Here " wicked " may be taken to mean pernicious or
destructive the antonym being "virtuous," as in the
expression "the virtuous properties of plants." A bad
sore is described, in an old tract on hawking (Harl. MS.
2,340), as "a wykked felone."

As the type of blackness, both as regards colour and
character, we find the raven frequently contrasted with
the white dove, the emblem of all that is pure and gentle.

" Who will not change a raven for a dove ?"

Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii. Sc. 2.

" I '11 sacrifice the lamb that I do love,
To spite a raven's heart within a dove."

Twelfth Night, Act v. Sc. i.

" Beautiful tyrant ! fiend angelical !

Dove-feather'd raven !

. .

Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 2.

The quarto (1599) and folio here read, "ravenous, dove-
feather'd raven/' &c.

As colour is intensified by contrast, so we read

" Whiter than snow upon a raven's back."

So the undated quarto. Other editions have the emen-
dation

VARIATION IN COLOUR. IO9

" Whiter than new snow on a raven's back."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 2.

We have seen a variety of the jackdaw of a dirty
yellowish-white colour ; it could scarcely be called <{ amber-
colour'd." No doubt other members of the genus Corrus
have occasionally been observed to \-ary quite as much in
their plumage. Shakespeare says,

" An amber-colour'd raven was well noted."

Love's Labour's Lo$t> Act iv. Sc. 3.

No doubt it was ; quite as much as a white blackbird.
This apparent contradiction of terms is in reality no myth.
We have seen three or four albino varieties of the black-
bird, and could give a tolerably long list of dark-plumaged
birds of which pure white, or almost pure white, varieties
have been found. This may be the result of disease, or
of old age, drying up the animal secretions, and causing
the absence of colour which we call white. According to
ancient authors, ravens were formerly white, but were
changed to black for babbling. The great age to which the
raven sometimes attains has been alluded to In the first
chapter, where some reference is made to "ancient "eagles,
and tame ravens have been known to outlive several
masters who owned them successively. But birds, like all
things else, succumb to time. Shakespeare tells us,

I io THE CARRION CROW I

" Time's glory is to calm contending Kings, ....
To fill with worm-holes stately monuments, . . .
To pluck the quills from ancient ravens' wings."

Liter cce.

Next to the raven, the Carrion-Crow (Corvus corone)
claims our attention, from his close relationship to his
larger congener. So closely, indeed, does he resemble the
raven upon a slightly modified scale, that we might also
fancy him

" A crow of the same nest/ 1

All's Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. 3.

Like him, he leads a predatory life, carrying off young
game-birds, chickens, and eggs ; and where he cannot
obtain a fresh meal, he has no objection to carrion and
offal of all kinds. Should a sheep die in the field, the
crows of the neighbourhood are sure to be attracted to it.

" The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
And crows are fatted with the murrain flock,"

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act. ii, Sc. I.

Gamekeepers, knowing this propensity, and having an
eye to the better preservation of pheasants' eggs for the
future, avail themselves of the opportunity, when a sheep
dies, to place a little strychnine in the mouth and eyes,
and on a second visit they are seldom disappointed in
finding two or three dead crows.

ITS PREDATORY HAUITx III

Throughout the Plays \ve meet with frequent allusions
to the crow, and its partiality for carrion. In the fifth act
of Cymbclinc a scene is laid in a field between the British
and Roman camps, where the following dialogue takes
place :

" British Captain. Stand ! who's there ?

Posthumtts. A Roman,

Who had not now been drooping here, if seconds
Had answer'd him.

British Captain. Lay hands on him ; a dog !
A leg of Rome shall not return to tell
What crows have peck'd them here."

Cymbclinc, Act. v. Sc, 3.
Again

"Boy. Mine host Pistol, you must come to my
master, and you, hostess ; he is very sick, and would
to bed

Host. By my troth, hell yield the crow a pudding one

of these days.' 1

Henry V. Act ii. Sc. I.

The Duke of York, on the field of St. Albans, boasting
of his victory over Lord Clifford, says, in reply to the
Earl of Warwick :

" The deadly-handed Clifford slew rny steed,
But match to match I have encountered him,

112 FOOD FOR CROWS.

And made a prey for carrion kites and crows
Even of the bonny beast he lov'd so well."

Henry VI. Part IL Act v. Sc. 2.

Cassius, on the eve of battle, augured a defeat because,

as he said,

" Crows

Fly o'er our heads, and downward look on us,
As we were sickly prey ; their shadows seem
A canopy most fatal, under which
Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost."

Julius C&sar, Act v. Sc. i.

In the third act of Cymbdine (Sc. i), when Caius
Lucius, the Roman Ambassador, comes to demand tribute
from the British King, he is met with a flat refusal, and
Cloten, one of the lords in waiting, deriding his threat of
war, says :

" His Majesty bids you welcome. Make pastime
with us a day or two, or longer : if you seek us after-
wards in other terms, you shall find us in our salt-
water girdle : if you beat us out of it, it is yours ; if
you fall in the adventure, our crows shall fare the better
for you ; and there's an end."

Alexander Iden, addressing the lifeless body of Jack
Cade, whom he had just slain, exclaims :

" Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels
Unto a dunghill, which shall be thy grave,

BLACK AS A CROW. 113

And there cj^it off thy most ungracious head :
Which I will bear in triumph to the king.
Leaving thy trunk for crozes to feed upon"

Henry VI. Part II. Act iv. Sc. ID.

Many similar instances might be brought forward.

As in the case of the raven, we find the crow, as the
emblem of blackness, contrasted with the white dove :

" With the dove of Paphos might the crow
Vie feathers white,"

Pericles, Act iv. Introd.

Again

" Lawn as white as driven snow ;
Cyprus black as e'er was crow."

Winters Tale, Act iv. Sc. 5.

Here we have not only the crow contrasted with snow,
but also Cyprus, a thin transparent black stuff, somewhat
like crape, placed in contradistinction with lawn, which is
a white material, like muslin.*

" So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows."

ROMCO and Jtdiet, Act i Sc. 5.

* Compare, " A Cyprus, not a bosom, hides mf heart."

Twelfth NxgM, Act iii. Sc, i.

114 CROW-KEEPER AND SCARE-CROW.

" Compare her face with some that I shall show,
And I will make thee think thy swan a crow."

Ro?neo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 2.

Beatrice says (Much Ado about Nothing, Act i. Sc. i),
" I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a
man swear he loves me ;" but then this was meant to be
personal, for Benedick, whom she addressed, was not .a
favoured suitor. She might have added, with Dromio, in
the Comedy of Errors, Act iii. Sc. i :

"We '11 pluck a crow together."

This saying appears to be of some antiquity, but the
origin .of it is not very clear.

The custom of protecting newly sown wheat from the
birds by keeping a lad to shout, or putting up a " scare-
crow," is no doubt an old one. Shakespeare makes allu-
sion to both methods :

"That fellow handles his bow like a croiv-keeper"

King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6.

That is like a boy employed to keep the crows from the
corn. So again

" Scaring the ladies like a crow-keeper'"

Ronteo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 4.

The rustic, although entrusted with a bow and arrows,
was not expected to have much skill in archery, and

THE CHOUGH. 115

Roger Ascham, in his u Toxophilus/' when speaking of a
clumsy archer, has a similar comparison to that in the
passage just quoted : " Another coureth downe and layeth
out his buttockes, as though hee should shoote at crowes."'

" We must not make a scare-crow of the law,
Setting it up to fear * the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape, till custom make it
Their perch, and not their terror."

Measure for Measure, Act ii. Sc. I.

Lord Talbot relates that, when a prisoner in France, he
was exhibited publicly in the market-place :

" Here, said they, is the terror of the French,
The scare-crotc that affrights our children so.' 1

Henry VL Part I. Act i. Sc. 4.

And FalstafT, alluding to his recruits on the march to
Shrewsbury, says of them :

" No eye hath seen such scare-crows"

Henry IV. Part I. Act iv. Sc. 2.

Associated with the crow by many of the poets is the
Red-legged Crow, or Chough the Cornish Chough, as it
is sometimes called, from its being considered a bird
peculiar to the south-west coast of England. Since this
last name was applied to it, the study of ornithology has

* "To fear,' that is, "to frighten,"

Il6 THE CHOUGH AND CROW.

become so universally courted, that it can scarcely be
necessary to show that the geographical distribution of
the species is much wider than was formerly supposed.

The old song of "The Chough and Crow "will probably
be remembered as long as the English language lasts.

Shakespeare has introduced both these birds in a fine
description of Dover Cliff. It is not improbable that
the chough, which affects precipices and sea-cliffs, may
once have frequented the cliffs at Dover ; but whatever
may have been the case formerly, this haunt, if it ever was
one, has long since been deserted. Shakespeare, at all
events, has placed this bird in a situation most natural
to it :

" Come on, sir ; here 's the place : stand still. How

fearful

And dizzy 't is, to cast one's eyes so low !
The crows and chougJis, that wing the midway air,
Show scarce so gross as beetles : half way down
Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade !
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head :
The fishermen, that walk upon the beach,
Appear like mice ; and yond tall anchoring bark,
Diminished to her cock ; her cock, a buoy
Almost too small for sight : the murmuring surge,
That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes,
Cannot be heard so high. 1 11 look no more,

CHOUGH'S LANGUAGE. 117

Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight
Topple down headlong."

King Lear \ Act iv. Sc. 6.

The chough is easily tamed, and a prettier sight than
three or four of these birds, with their bright red legs and
bills, strutting about on a well-mown lawn, can scarcely be
conceived.

It is to be regretted that the species is not more
plentiful and more generally domesticated.

Instances, we believe, are on record of choughs being
taught to speak, but Shakespeare appears to have
entertained no great opinion of their talking powers. He
speaks of

*' Chough's language, gabble enough, and good enough."
Airs Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. i.

And probably there was a good deal more chattering
than talking, as we understand the term.

" There be

. . lords that can prate

As amply and unnecessarily

As this Gonzalo ; I myself could make

A chough of as deep chat. 1 '

Tempest, Act ii. Sc. I.

In Henry IV., in the scene where Falstaff, with the

Il8 VARIOUS CHOUGHS.

Prince and Poins, meet to rob the travellers at Gadshill,
Falstaff calls the victims " fat chuffs," probably from their
strutting about with much noise.

In the Winter's Talc, the rogue Autolycus appears as
a pedlar, and while drawing the attention of those around
him to his wares, he takes the opportunity to pick their
pockets. His power of persuasion was so great that, as
he himself said,

" They throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets
had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the
buyer : by which means I saw whose purse was best in
picture ; and what I saw, to my good use I remem-
bered."

He proceeds to compare them to choughs whom he had
allured by his chaff, and says :

" In this time of lethargy, I picked and cut most of
their festive purses; and had not the old man come in
with a whoobub against his daughter and the king's son,
and scared my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a
purse alive in the whole army." Winter's Tale, Act iv.
Sc-3-

The word " chough," it appears, was not always
intended to refer to the bird with red legs and bill, as
we may infer from the following passage in O'Flaherty's
"West or H'lar Connaught, 1684," p. 13: "I omit other

THE JACKDAW. 1 19

ordinary fowl and birds, as bernacles, wild geese, swans,
cocks -of -the -wood, woodcocks, choughs, rooks, Cornish
choughs, with red legs and bills" c. Here the first-men-
tioned choughs were in all probability jackdaws.

Shakespeare alludes to

" Russet-pated choughs, many in sort,
Rising and cawing at the gun's report."

^lidsumm^r Xighfs Dream, Act iii. Sc. 2.

Now the jackdaw, though having a grey head, would
more appropriately bear the designation of " russet-pated "
than any of his congeners. We may presume, therefore,
that this is the species to which Shakespeare intended
to refer. The head of the chough, like the rest of its
body, is perfectly black

The Jackdaw (Corvus moncdula) has not been so fre-
quently noticed by Shakespeare as many other birds, and
in the half-dozen instances in which it is mentioned, we
find it referred to as the " daw." The word occurs in
Coriolanus, Act iv. Sc. 5 ; Troilus and Cressida, Act I.
Sc. 2 ; Much Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Sc. 3 ; Twelfth
Night y Act iii. Sc. 4; and in a song in Loves Labours
Lost. Warwick, expressing his ignorance of legal matters,
says :

" But in these nice sharp quillets of the law,
Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw/*

Henry VI. Fart I. Act ii. Sc. 4,

120 THE MAGPIE.

And the crafty and dissembling lago remarks that

" When my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

For daws to peck at."

OtJiello, Act i. Sc. i.

With the ancients, much superstition prevailed in regard
to various species of the crow family ; and Shakespeare has
specially mentioned three of these as birds of omen :

" Augurs that understood relations have,
By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought forth
The secret'st man of blood.' 1

Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 4,

Even at the present day, there are many who profess to
augur good or evil from the flight of a magpie, or from
the number of magpies seen together at one time. An
old rhyme on the subject runs thus :

" One for sorrow, two for mirth ;
Three for a wedding, four for a birth."

The origin of the word magpie we have not heard
explained, but it is possible, from the manner in which
the name is spelled above, that " mag " may be an abbre-
viation of " maggot," pointing to a certain propensity of
the bird, which, however, is not peculiar. Those who have
spent much time in the country, must have observed not

THE RUOK. 12 j

only the magpie, but also the jackdaw and starling, busily
engaged in searching for insects on the back of a .sheep.

As in the case of the jackdaw, the magpie is sometimes
called by the latter half of his name :

" And chattering pies in dismal discords sung."

Henry VL Part III. Act v. Sc. 6.

Before taking leave of the crow family, we have yet to
notice another bird mentioned by Shakespeare, which is
nearly related to the crow. This is the Rook (forms
frngilcgns). But, notwithstanding the usefulness of the
bird, the poet has not said much in its favour. It is
noticed in the song in Lore's Labours Lost> and is in-
cluded amongst the birds of omen in the quotation lately
given from Macbeth.

In the 3Icrry Wives of Windsor, Act i. Sc. 3, we find
the expression " bully-rook, 1 ' and it would seem that this
epithet in Shakespeare's time bore much the same sig-
nification as "jolly-dog" does now-a-days. But it came
subsequently to have a more offensive meaning, and was
applied to a cheat and a sharper.

We had well-nigh forgotten the Jay (Corvus glandarins),
Winter's Tale (Act iv. Sc. 3), and only allude to it
now to show that Shakespeare has not omitted it from
his long list of birds. In Cymbdine, the name is applied
to a gaudily-dressed person :

" Some jay of Italy hath betray'd him."

Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 4.

122 THE JAY.

Nu doubt on account of the bright plumage of this bird.
" What, is the jay more precious than the lark,
Because his feathers are more beautiful ?"

Taming of the Shrew ^ Act iv. Sc. 3.

Caliban, addressing Trinculo, in The Tempest (Act ii.
Sc. 2), exclaims:

" I pr'ythee let me bring thee where crabs grow,
And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts ;
Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how
To snare the nimble marmozet ; I '11 bring thee
To clust'ring filberds, and sometimes I '11 get thee
Young sea-mells from the rock. Wilt thou go with me ?"

This tempting offer is irresistible, and Stephano inter-
rupts him at once by saying,

" I pr'ythee now, lead the way, without any more
talking.' 1

CHAPTER V.

THE BIRDS OF S<Oft;.

TF there is one class of birds more than another to
which poets in all ages have been indebted for
inspiration, and to which they have directed particular
attention, it is that which includes the birds of song.
Shakespeare, as a naturalist, could not have overlooked
them. -^Nor has he done so. These u light-wing'd Dryads
of the trees " have received at his hands all the praise
which they deserve, while oftentimes, for melody and
pathos, he may be said to have borrowed from their
songs himself.

Of all the singers in the woodland choir the Nightingale
(Luscinia p/tilomcla), by common consent, stands first. For
quality of voice, variety of notes, and execution, she is pro-
bably unrivalled. Hence T with poets, she has ever been the
chief favourite. Izaak Walton has truly said, " The nightin-
gale breathes such sweet loud music out of her little in-
strumental throat, that it might make mankind to think

124 THE NIGHTINGALE.

miracles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the
very labourer sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very
often, the clear airs, the sweet descants, the natural rising
and falling, the doubling and redoubling, of her voice,
might well be lifted above earth and say, Lord, what
music hast thou provided for the saints in heaven, when
thou affordest bad men such music on earth?" To "sing
like a nightingale " has passed into a proverb.

" She sings as sweetly as any nightingale."

Taming of the S/ircw, Act ii. Sc. i.

In Gardiner's " Music of Nature," the following passage
is given from the song of the Nightingale :

!J*

Although the male bird only is the songster, yet we
talk of her singing :

i( It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear ;
Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree ;*
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 5.

The origin of this change of sex is to be found, no

* According to Steevens, this is not merely a poetical supposition. "It is ob-
served/' he says, "of the nightingale that, if undisturbed, she sits and sings upon
the same tree for many weeks together ; " and Russell, in his "Account of Aleppo,"
tells us " the nightingale sings from 'the pomegranate groves in the day-time."

LAMENTING PHILOMEL. 1^5

doubt, in the old fable which tells us of the transformation
of Philomela, daughter of Pandion, King of Athens, Into
a nightingale, when Progne, her sister, was changed to a
swallow.*

Hence also the name Philomel, which is often applied
by the poets to this bird.

u Philomel, with melody,

Sing your sweet lullaby."
Song Midsummer Xighfs Dream, Act ii. Sc. 2.

if By this, lamenting Philomel had ended .
The well-tun'd warble of her nightly sorrow/*

Lucrecc.

" His Philomel must lose her tongue to-day."

Titus Andronicus, Act ii. Sc. 3.

The nightingale is again thus designated by Shake-
speare in Cymbellne, Act ii. Sc. 2, and elsewhere ; and
"the tragic tale of Philomel" is prettily referred to in
Titits Androniats, Act iv. Sc. I.

In one, if not more, of his poems he has noticed the odd
belief which formerly existed to the effect that the mourn-
ful notes of the nightingale are caused by the bird's leaning
against a thorn to sing !

" Every thing did banish moan,
Save the nightingale alone.

* * Ovid, Meiamorph." Book vi. Fab. 6.

126 SINGING AGAINST A THORN.

She, poor bird, as all forlorn,
Lean'd her breast up-till a thorn,
And there sung the dolefull'st ditty,
That to hear it was great pity.
* Fie, fie, fie,' now would she cry,
4 Tereu, tereu ! ' by and by ;
That, to hear her so complain,
Scarce I could from tears refrain ;
For her griefs, so lively shown,
Made me think upon mine own." #

The Passionate Pilgrim, xix.

Again, Lucrece, in her distress, invoking Philomel, says :

" And whiles against a thorn thou bear'st thy part,
To keep thy sharp woes waking/* Lucrece.

The same idea, too, has been variously expressed by
other poets than Shakespeare. Fletcher speaks of

" The bird forlorn

That singeth with her breast against a thorn ; "
and Pomfret, writing towards the close of the seventeenth
century, says :

" The first music of the grove we owe
To mourning Philomel's harmonious woe ;

* These lines, although included in most editions of Shakespeare's Poems,
are said to have been written by Richard Baraefield, and published in 1598 in a
volume entitled * f Poems in Divers Humors." (See Ellis's "Specimens of the
Early English Poets," vol. ii. p. 356, and F. T. Palgrave's "Golden Treasury of
the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language," p. 21.) The
11 Passionate Pilgrim " was not published until 1599.

SINGING AGAINST A THOKX. 127

And while her grief in charming notes expressed.
A thorny bramble pricks her tender breast.
In warbling melody she spends the night,
And moves at once compassion and delight."

Thus it was evidently believed by the poets, whether the
idea was founded on fact or not, that the nightingale
leaned her breast against a thorn when she gave forth
her mournful notes. The origin of such a belief it is not
easy to ascertain, but we suspect Sir Thomas Browne was
not far from the truth when he pointed to the fact that
the nightingale frequents thorny copses, and builds her
nest amongst brambles on the ground. He inquires
** whether it be any more than that she placeth some
prickles on the outside of her nest, or roosteth in thorny,
prickly places, where serpents may least approach her?'' 4 *
In an article upon this subject, published in "The
Zoologist/' for 1862, p. 8,029, tne & ev * -A- C. Smith has
narrated ** the discovery, on two occasions, of a strong
thorn projecting upwards in the centre of the nightingale's
nest." It can hardly be doubted, however, that this was
the result of accident rather than design ; and Mr. Hewit-
son, in his " Eggs of British Bjrds," has adduced two
similar instances in the case of the hedge-sparrow. We
may accordingly dismiss the idea that there is any real
foundation for such belief, and regard it as a poetic
license.

* "Sir Thomas Browne's Works" (Wilkin's ed.}. Vol. II. p. 537-

128 SINGING BY DAY AND NIGHT.

There is no doubt that one great charm in the song of
the nightingale is, that it is heard oftenest at eve, when
nearly every other bird is hushed and gone to roost. We
are thus enabled to pay more attention to it, and hear
the entire song. This evidently was Milton's idea when he
wrote, in " II Penseroso :"

u Sweet bird that shunn'st the noise of folly,
Most musical, most melancholy !
Thee, chauntress, oft the woods among,
I woo, to hear thy evening song."
Portia says, in The Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. I,

44 I think,

The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren."

But although she is usually supposed to withhold her
notes until sunset, and then to be the only songstress left,
she in reality sings in the day often as sweetly and as
powerfully as at night, but, amidst the general chorus of
other birds, her efforts are less noticed.* Valentine
declares that

" Except I be by Sylvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale."

Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act iii. Sc. i.

* Not only does the nightingale sing by day, but she is by no means the only
bird which sings at night. We have frequently listened with delight to the wood-
lark, skylark, thrush, sedge-warbler and grasshopper-warbler long after sunset,
and we have heard the cuckoo and corncrake at midnight.

RECORDING. I2 ^

And later on

" How use doth breed a habit in a man !
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns :
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And to the nightingale's complaining notes
Tune my distresses and record my woes.*'

Id. Act v. Sc. 4.

The word "record " here, refers to the singing of birds,
and, according to Douce, is derived from the recorder, a
sort of flute, by which they were taught to sing.*

The " recording " of young birds is indeed always very
different from their song, as is also the warble of old birds
after moulting, as Herr Bechstein has justly remarked.
" It is," he says, " a very striking circumstance, that birds
which continue in song nearly the whole year, such as the
redbreast, the siskin, and the goldfinch, are obliged, after
their moulting is over, to record, as if they had forgotten
their song. I am convinced, however, that this exercise
is. less a study than an endeavour to bring the organs of
voice into proper flexibility, what they utter being pro-
perly only a sort of warble, the notes of which have
scarcely any resemblance to the perfect song ; and by a
little attention we may perceive how the throat is gradually
brought to emit the notes of the usual song. This view,

* The "recorder" is mentioned in Midsxmntr JVtgAt's Dresm, Act v. Sc. i,
and in Hamlef, Act iii. Sc. .

!30 THE LARK,

then, leads us to ascribe the circumstance, not to defect of
memory, but rather to a roughness in the vocal organs,
arising from disuse. It is in this way that the chaffinch
makes endeavours during several successive weeks before
attaining to its former perfection, and the nightingale tries
for a long time to model the strophes of its superb song,
before it can produce the full extent of compass and
brilliancy." *

The nightingale has not more happily inspired our poets
than the Lark (Alauda arvertsis). Chaucer, Spenser, Milton,
Shelley, and Wordsworth have all sung the praises of this
famed songster ; while Shakespeare, in undying verse, has
paid many a tribute to "the blythesome bird." Let us, then,

" Leave to the nightingale her shady wood,"
and turn our attention to

" The lark, that tirra-lirra chants."

Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 2.

This " tirra-lirra " with the other notes of the bird is
well illustrated in the following lines :

" La gentille alouette avec son tire-lire,
Tire-lire, i lire, et tirelirau, tire
Vers la voute du ciel, puis son vol vers ce lieu
Vire, et desire dire adieu Dieu, adieu Dieu."

As the nightingale is called the " bird of eve," so has the

* Bechstein " OmithoIogischesTaschenbuch."

THE HERALD OF THii MORN. 33!

lark been named the " bird of dawn/' Shakespeare has
made frequent allusion to the early rising of the lark :

*' I do hear the morning lark."

Midsummer Xighfs Dream, Act iv. Sc. i ,

" It was the lark, the herald of the morn."

Romeo and Jztliet^ Act iii. Sc. 5.

" The busy day,
WaKd by the lark y hath rous'd the ribald crows."

Troilus and Cress Ida, Act iv. Sc. 2.

" Lo, here the gentle lark, weary of rest,
From his moist cabinet mounts up on high,
And wakes the morning, from whose silver breast
The sun ariseth in his majesty/'

Venus and Adonis.

Milton's allusion to the early singing of this bird will be
familiar to all :

" To hear the lark begin his flight,
And, singing, startle the dull night,
From his watch-tower in the skies,

Till the dappled dawn doth rise."

L * Allegro

While every musician must remember the song In
Cymbdine, adapted to music since Shakespeare's day by
an eminent composer :

SINGING AT HEAVEN'S GATE.

" Hark ! hark ! the lark at heaven's gate sings,

And Phoebus 'gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs

On chalic'd flowers that lies ;
And winking Mary-buds begin

To ope their golden eyes ;
With everything that pretty is,

My lady sweet, arise :

Arise, arise.

Cyntbeline, Act ii. Sc. 3.

The notion of singing " at heaven's gate " has been again
introduced by Shakespeare in one of his Sonnets :

" Like to the lark, at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven s gate"

While the same idea, coupled with the mention of
Phoebus, has been expressed by earlier poets. Chaucer,
in his " Knightes Tale," says :

" The busy larke, messager of daye,
Salueth in hire song the morwe gray :
And fyry Phebus ryseth up so bright,
That al the orient laugheth of the light/'

So also, Spenser, in his " Epithalamion," 1595 :
u Hark how the cheerefull birds do chaunt theyr laies,

And carroll of loves praise.
The merry larke hir mattins sings aloft,
The thrush replyes, the mavis descant playes,

THE PLOUGHMAN'S CL',H;K. 133

The ouzell shrills, the ruddock warbles soft,
So goodly all agree with sweet consent,
To this dayes merriment."

And Milton, in the " Paradise Lost/' Book v., has

" Ye birds
That, singing, up to heavens gate ascend."

The " rising of the lark " and the 4i lodging of the
lamb" have become synonymous with "morn" and " eve/'
(Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 7) ; and he that would rise early is
counselled to " stir with the lark " (Richard I IL Act v. Sc. 3;.

/ With the labourer whose avocation takes him across
/
/the fields at early dawn, the lark is always an especial

\favourite ; and Shakespeare would have it furnish some
indication of the time of day :

u When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,
And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks."

Song Lores Labours Lost.
Again

"O happy fair!

Your eyes are lode-stars, and your tongue's sweet air
More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear,
When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear/'
Midsummer Night's Dream, Act i. Sc. I.

When Juliet spoke disparagingly of the lark's song, it
was because she wished the night prolonged, and knew
that his voice betokened the approach of day :

134 SONG OF THE LARK.

" It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords, and unpleasing sharps.

Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes ;
O, now I would they had changed voices too !
Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 5.

The lark has ugly eyes, and the toad very fine ones ;
hence arose the saying that the lark and toad changed
eyes. Juliet wished they had changed voices too ; for
then, as Heath has suggested, the croak of the toad would
have been no indication of the day's approach, and conse-
quently no signal for Romeo's departure.

To the naturalist who walks abroad at early dawn, there
are few sights more pleasing than the soaring of a lark.
As the first ray of sunshine dispels the glistening dew-
drop and gently falls to earth, the lark, warmed by its
soft touch, mounts high in air, and joyfully proclaims
to all the advent of a new day. What glee is expressed
in the song of that small brown bird, which, as it soars
towards heaven and sings, teaches us the first duty of
the day gratitude to our Creator ! _, ;

" Higher still and higher

From the earth thou springest,
Like a cloud of fire ;

The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

SOARING AXI> SINGING. 155

What thou art we know not ;
What is most like thee ?

From rainbow clouds there flow not
Drops so bright to see
As from thy presence showers a rain of melody." *

The bird which could inspire such thoughts as these is
indeed noteworthy, and that poets in all ages have singled
it out as an especial favourite, can be no matter of
surprise.

Who does not remember those beautiful lines of
Wordsworth ?

" Leave to the nightingale her shady wood ;

A privacy of glorious light is thine,
Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood

Of harmony, \vith instinct more divine ;
Type of the wise, who soar but never roam
True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home !"

But to return to Shakespeare. Perhaps no bird has
received more notice at his hands than the one now under
consideration. To enumerate all the passages in which it
is mentioned, would probably only weary the reader. In
addition to those already named, " the shrill-gorg'd lark "
is alluded to in King Lear (Act iv. Sc. 6) ; while to sing
"as sweetly as the lark" has passed into a proverb
of Venice, Act v. Sc. i).

* Shelfey.

136 THE COMMON BUNTING.

Mention is made of this bird in Titus Andronicns
(Act ii. Sc. 3, and Act iii. Sc. I) ; in Cymbeline (Act in.
Sc. 6) ; and in Richard II. (Act iii. Sc. 3).

Formerly, a curious method of taking larks was prac-
tised by means of small pieces of looking-glass and red
cloth. These were made to move at a little distance from
the fowler by means of a string, and when the birds,
impelled by curiosity, came within range, they were taken
in a net. This practice is referred to by Shakespeare in

Henry VIIL

" Let his grace go forward,

And dare us with his cap, like larks."

Henry VIIL Act iii. Sc. 2.

The cap in this case was the scarlet hat of the Cardinal,
which it was intended to use as a piece of red cloth. It
seems probable, from the context, that the word "dare"
should be " draw."

A bird which is often taken with larks, and which,
indeed, is not unlike one in appearance, is the Common
Bunting (Emberiza miliaria). In some parts of the
country it is known as the Bunting-Lark, and, from its size
and general colouring, a casual observer might easily
mistake it for one of the last-named species. No wonder,
then, that the old lord Lafeu says :

" I took this lark for a bunting."

AlFs Well that Ends Well, Act ii. Sc. 5.

THE THROSTLE. 137

It is somewhat singular that the Thrush * Tnrdns musicus},
a bird as much famed for song as either the nightingale or
the lark, has been so little noticed by Shakespeare. We
have failed to discover more than three passages in the
entire works of our great poet in which this well-known
bird is mentioned. It is referred to once in A Winters
Talc (Act iv. Sc. 2) ; once in Midsummer Xighfs Dream*
Act iii. Sc. i, where Bottom the weaver, in a doggrcl
rhyme, sings of

"The throstle, with his note so true ;"

and once again in T/ic Merchant of Venice (Act i. Sc, 2>,
where Portia, speaking of the French Lord Le Bon, and
alluding to his national propensity for a dance on every
available opportunity, remarks that

" If a throstle sing, he falls straight a-capering."

Many naturalists, who have paid particular attention to
the song of the thrush, have insisted upon its taking
equal rank as a songster with the more favoured nightin-
gale. Certain it is, that the notes of this bird, although
not so varied, nor so liquid, so to say, as those of
Philomel, are yet of a clear, rich tone, and have some-
thing indescribably sweet about them. "Listen/' says
Macgillivray, "to the clear, loud notes of that speckled
warbler, that in the softened sunshine pours forth his

T

138 THE THROSTLE.

wild melodies on the gladdened ear. What does it
resemble ?

"Dear, dear, dear

Is the rocky glen ;
Far away, far away, far away

The haunts of men.
Here shall we dwell in love,
With the lark and the dove,
Cuckoo and corn-rail,
Feast on the banded snail,

Worm and gilded fly :
Drink of the crystal rill
Winding adown the hill,
Never to dry.

With glee, with glee, with glee,

Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, here
Nothing to harm us, then sing merrily,
Sing to the lov'd ones whose nest is near.
Qui, qui, qui, kweeu, quip,
Tiurru, tiurru, chipiwi.
Too-tee, too-tee, chiu choo,
Chirri, chirri, chooee,
Quiu, qui, qui."

It must be admitted by all who have paid particular
attention to the song of the thrush, that this is a won-
derful imitation, so far as words can express notes. The

THE OUZEL. 159

first four lines, lines 7, 13, and 14, and the last five lines in
particular, approach remarkably close in sound to the
original ; and this is rendered the more apparent if we
endeavour to pronounce the words by whistling.

Intimately associated with the thrush is its congener
the Blackbird (Titrdus mcrula). Both visitors to our lawns
and shrubberies, they remind us of their presence, when
we do not see them, by their sweet, clear notes, and when
the cold of winter has made them silent, we are still
charmed with their sprightly actions, and the beauty of
their plumage.

The attracti\ r e appearance of the blackbird was not
overlooked by Shakespeare, who has mentioned him in
one of his songs :

" The ouzel-cock, so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill."

^lidsummcr Xighf$ Dream, Act iii. Sc. i.

When Justice Shallow Inquires of Justice Silence,
"And how doth my cousin ?" he is answered

" Alas, a black ouzel, Cousin Shallow."

King Henry IV, Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2 ;

an expression which was probably equivalent to the
modern phrase, a " black sheep."

Amongst the songsters of less note mentioned by
Shakespeare, are the Robin-redbreast (Erytftaca rnbecula)

140 THE REDBREAST.

and the Wren (Troglodytes vulgar is}. These two birds
have for centuries, from some unexplained cause, been
always associated together. The country people, in
many parts of England, still regard them as the male
and female of one species, and support their assertion
with an old couplet

" The robin-redbreast and the wren
Are God Almighty's cock and hen."

In these days, when so much more attention is paid to
ornithology than formerly, it will be hardly necessary to
observe that the two birds thus associated together are
not only of very distinct species, but belong to widely
different genera.

An old name for the redbreast is " ruddock " * the
meaning of which Is illustrated in the word " ruddy ;" and
the bird is still known by this name in some parts of
England.

Shakespeare has thus named it in one of his most
beautiful passages :

" With fairest flowers

Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
I '11 sweeten thy sad grave : thou shalt not lack
The flower that ? s like thy face, pale primrose, nor
The azur'd hare-bell, like thy veins ; no, nor
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,

* "The ruddock warbles soft." SPENSER'S Epithalamium, I. 82.

COVERING THE DEAD WITH LEAVES. 141

Out-sweeten'd not thy breath: the ruddock would.
With charitable bill, O, bill, sore-shaming
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie
Without a monument ! bring thee all this ;
Yea, and furr'd moss besides, when flowers are none,
To winter-ground thy corse."*

Cymbelinc, Act iv. Sc. 2,

Bishop Percy asks, " Is this an allusion to the ' Babes in
the Wood/ or was the notion of the redbreast covering dead
bodies general before the writing of that ballad ?" Mr.
Knight says, " There is no doubt that it was an old popular
belief, and the notion has been found in an earlier book
of natural history." John Webster, writing in 1638, says :

" Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren,
Since o'er shady groves they hover,
And with leaves and flowers do cover
The friendless bodies of unburied men.'*

Izaak Walton, in his " Compleat Angler," 1653, speaks
of " the honest robin that loves mankind, both alive and
dead? Possibly Shakespeare intended only to refer to the
ancient and beautiful custom of strewing the grave with
flowers.

With all birds it is the habit of the male to sing while

* Instead of "winter-ground" in the last line, Mr. Collier's annotator reads
"winter-guard ; " but " to winter-ground " appears to have been a technical term
for protecting a plant from the frost by laying straw or bay over it.

142 THE WREN WITH LITTLE QUILL.

courting the female. So, when Valentine asks Speed,
" How know you that I am in love ?" he gives, amongst
other reasons, that he had learnt " to relish a love-song
like a robin-redbreast." Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act ii.
Sc. i.

The meaning of the following dialogue does not seem
quite clear :

" Hotspur. Come, sing.
Lady Percy. I will not sing.

Hotspur. 'Tis the next way to turn tailor or be
redbreast teacher"

Henry IV. Part I. Act iii. Sc. i.

Possibly the allusion may be to the " recorder," by which
instrument birds were taught to sing.* Hotspur pays a
high compliment to the vocal powers of Lady Percy by
insinuating that her voice would excel the recorder ; and
as the bird most frequently taught to pipe is the bullfinch,
it is not improbable that this was the bird intended under
the title of " redbreast," and not the robin.

Intimately associated with the robin, as we have before
remarked, is

" The wren, with little quill."

Midsummer Night's Dream Song.

It must often have struck others, as it has us, that for
so small a throat, the wren has a wonderfully loud song.

* See ante, p. 129.

PUGNACITY OF THE WHEN. 143

There is not much variety or tone in it, but the note's
at once attract attention, and would lead any one un-
acquainted with them to inquire the author's name.

Portia evidently had no high opinion of the wren's song,
when she said,

4 * The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark,
When neither is attended ; and, I think,
The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren/'

Merchant of I "enice* Act v. Sc. i .

Lady Macduff was reminded of the wren when bewail-
ing the flight of her husband.

" Lady M. His flight was madness.
Ross. You know not

Whether it was his wisdom or his fear.
Lady M. Wisdom ! to leave his wife, to leave his

babes,

His mansion, and his titles, in a place
From whence himself does fly ? He loves us not ;
He wants the natural touch ; for the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight.
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl."

Macbeth, Act iv. Sc. 2.

There are three statements here which are likely to be

144 THE SPARROW.

criticised by the ornithologist. First, that the wren is
the smallest of birds, which is evidently an oversight.
Secondly, that the wren has sufficient courage to fight
against a bird of prey in defence of its young, which is
doubtful. Thirdly, that the owl will take young birds
from the nest. As to this last point, see ante, pp. 91-94.
Imogen has made mention of the wren, as follows :

" I tremble still with fear : but if there be
Yet left in heaven as small a drop of pity
As a wren's eye, fear'd gods, a part of it."

Cymbclinc, Act iv. Sc. 2.

And allusions to this little bird will be found in Twelfth
Night, Act iii. Sc. 2 ; Richard III. Act i. Sc. 3 ; King
Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6 ; Pericles, Act iv. Sc. 3 ; and Henry VI.
Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

" The Finch " is only once mentioned, i. e. in a song in
Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act iii. Sc. I. In Troilus and
Crcssida, however, when Thersites and Patroclus are
abusing each other (Act v. Sc. i), the former calls the
latter "finch-egg." But what species of Finch the poet
had in view, it is not easy to determine. It may have
been the Bullfinch, but it is more likely to have been the
Chaffinch, which has always been a favourite cage-bird
with the lower classes.

The Hedge-sparrow (Accentor modularis), a frequenter of
the same haunts, has been more frequently noticed by

PHILIP SPARROW. 145

Shakespeare than the wren. In many passages throughout
the Plays mention is made of kt the sparrow " without the
prefix " hedge " or ' house." Occasionally we are enabled,
from the context, to determine the species ; but as this is
not always the case, we propose to consider under one
head all that Shakespeare has said of either species.

The sparrow appears to have been early known by the
name of " Philip/' perhaps from its note, to which
Catullus alludes :

" Sed circumsiliens, modo hue, modo illuc,
Ad solam dominum usque pipilabat"

In Lyly's " Mother Bombie, "

-Cry

Phip 9 phip, the sparrows as they fly."

And Skelton, the Poet Laureate of Henry VIII.'s reign,
wrote a long poem entitled " Phylyppe Sparrow," on the
death of a pet bird of this species. Shakespeare thus
names it in King John (Act I. Sc. I ) :

" Gumcy. Good leave, good Philip.
Bastard. Philip! sparrow!"

We are told of Cressida, when getting ready to meet her
lover, that

" She fetches her breath so short as a new-ta'en sparrow."
Troilus and Cressida^ Act lii. Sc. 2,

Lucio, referring to Angelo, the severe Deputy Duke of
Vienna, says :

146 THE FALL OF A SPARROW.

" This ungenitured agent will unpeople the province
with continency ; sparrows must not build in his house,
because they are lecherous/' Measure for Measure, Act
Hi, Sc. 2.

Iris tells us that Cupid

" Swears he will shoot no more, but play with sparrows,

And be a boy right out,"

Tempest, Act iv. Sc. I.

In Troilusand Cressida, as well as in Hamlet, are passages
in which it is evident the poet had in his mind the words
of Matthew x. 29 :

" Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? And one
of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."

u I will buy nine sparrows for a penny, and his pia
mater is not worth the ninth part of a penny." Troilns
and Cressida, Act ii. Sc. I.

" There 's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow."

Hamlet y Act v. Sc. 2.

Again, in the following lines, there is an evident allusion
to Psalm cxlvii. 9 (" He feedeth the young ravens that
call upon him ") :

" And He that doth the ravens feed,
Yea, providently caters for the sparrow,
Be comfort to my age !"

As You Like It, Act ii. Sc. 3.

THE HEDGE-SI* AKRUW. 147

In Macbeth (Act i. Sc, 2;, and Midsummer Xighfs
Dream (Act iii. Sc. I), the sparrow is mentioned ; and tho
following passage in Henry 1 V. will doubtless be remem-
bered by all readers of Shakespeare's Plays :

*' Falstaff. .... "That sprightly Scot of Scots,
Douglas, that runs o' horseback up a hill perpendicular.

P. Henry. He that rides at high speed, and with his
pistol kills a sparrow flying.

Falstaff, You have hit it.

P. Henry. So did he never the sparrow/ 1 Henry fl r .
Part I. Act ii. Sc. 4.

The Fool in King Lear reminds us that it is in the
hedge-sparrow's nest that the Cuckoo (Cncitlits canorns)
frequently deposits her egg :

" For you know, nuncle, the hedge-sparrow fed the
cuckoo so long, that it had its head bit off by its young."
King Lear> Act i. Sc. 4.

Mr. Guest, in adopting the reading of the first folio,
observes (Phil. Pro., i. 280) that " in the dialects of the
North-western counties, formerly it was sometimes used
for its. So in the passage just quoted we have * For you
know/ &c., * that its had // head bit off by it young ;' that
is, that it has had its head, not that it had its head, as the
modern editors give the passage, after the second folio. 1 *

" So likewise, long before its was generally received, we
have it self commonly printed in two words, evidently

!4> 'iUE HEDGE-SPARROW A>"D CUCKOO.

under the impression that it was a possessive of the same
syntactical force with the pronouns in my self, your self,
her self."*

So in Timon of Athens (Act v. Sc. I;, we have

* The public body

feeling in itself

A lack of Timon's aid, hath sense withal
Of // own fall."

Again, in Winter's Tak (Act ii. Sc. 3) :

4< to // own protection."

And

" The innocent milk in it most innocent mouth."

Winter's Tale, Act Hi. Sc. 2.

The popular notion referred to by the poet in King
Lear, is again mentioned by Worcester in Henry IV.

" And, being fed by us, you us'd us so
As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird^
Useth the sparrow ; did oppress our nest,
Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk,
That even our love durst not come near your sight,
For fear of swallowing."

Henry IV. Part L Act v. Sc. i.

* " The English of Shakespeare," by G. L. Craik.

t That is, the young cuckoo. The expression occurs again in The Merry Wives
vf Windsor. Act !i. Sc. i :

" Take heed, ere summer comes, or cuckoo-birds do sing,"

THE HEDGE-SPARROW AND CCCKOu. 149

The ingratitude of the young cuckoo, which is said to
turn out the young of its foster parent as soon as it is
sufficiently strong, has given rise in France to the proverb
** Ingrat comrne un coucou."

The word " gull " above mentioned is usually applied
to the person " gulled," i.e. beguiled. Here it must either
mean the "guller," or it must have a special application to
the voracity of the cuckoo, as the sea-gull is supposed to
be so called from gulo onis.

We gather from Decker's " English Villanies " that for-
merly the sharpers termed their gang a warren, and their
simple victims rabbit-suckers, or conies. At other times
their confederates were called bird-catchers^ and their prey
gulls ; and hence it was common to say of any person who
had been swindled or hoaxed, that he was coney-catchcd
or gulled.

"Why, 'tis a7///, a fool P Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 6.

In a subsequent chapter we shall have occasion to refer
to various other passages in which the word gull is thus
employed. But to return to the cuckoo, and its foster
parent the hedge-sparrow :

" Why should the worm intrude the maiden bud,
Or hateful cuckoos hatch in sparrows' nests?" Lner*&*

The solution of this question is the more puzzling
from the fact that this parasitical habit is not common

j- THE CUCKOO.

to all species of the genus cuckoo. An American species
builds a nest for itself, and hatches its own eggs.

The habits of our English bird must always be as
much a marvel to us as its remarkable voice.

" He knows me, as the blind man knows the cuckoo,

By the bad voice."

Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. i.

' The plain song cuckoo gray,
Whose note full many a man doth mark,
And dares not answer, nay

for, indeed, who would set his wish to so foolish a
bird ? who would give a bird the lie, though he cry
'cuckoo ' never so ?" Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act iii.
Sc. i.

This passage always brings to our recollection those
beautiful lines which Wordsworth addressed "To the
Cuckoo/ 1 and which must be so well known to all.

The cuckoo, as long ago remarked by John Heywood,*
begins to sing early in the season with the interval of a
minor third ; the bird then proceeds to a major third,
next to a fourth, then a fifth, after which its voice
breaks, without attaining a minor sixth. It may,
therefore, be said to have done much for musical
science, because from this bird has been derived the

* "Epigrams (Black Letter), 1587."

THE CUCKOO,

minor scale, the origin of which has puzzled so many ;
the cuckoo's couplet being the minor third sung down-
wards. Kircher, however,* gives it thus :

In Gardiner's " Music of Nature " it is rendered as
follows :

Cue - koo, Cue - koo.

A friend of Gilbert White's found upon trial that the
note of the cuckoo varies in different individuals. About
Selborne Wood he found they were mostly in D. He
heard two sing together, the one in D, the other in D
sharp, which made a very disagreeable duet. He after-
wards heard one in D sharp, and about Wolmer Forest
some in C.

Gungl, in his " Cuckoo Galop, 11 gives the note of the
cuckoo as B natural and G sharp. Dr. Arne, in his music
to the cuckoo's song in Love's Labours Lost, gives it as
C natural and G.

And now "will you hear the dialogue that the two
learned men have compiled in praise of the owl and the
cuckoo? This side is Hiems, Winter; this Ver, the
Spring ; the one maintained by the owl, the other by the
cuckoo.

" Ver, begin :

* "Musurgia Utdvffsalis." 1650. p. 30.

THE CUCKOO.
I.

u When daisies pied,* and violets blue,
And lady-smocks + all silver white,

And cuckoo-buds^ of yellow hue,
Do paint the meadows with delight ;

The cuckoo then, on every tree,

Mocks married men, for thus sings he,

Cuckoo ;

Cuckoo, cuckoo, O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear.

dt that is parti-coloured, of different hues. So in The Merchant of Venice,

Act i, Sc. 3 :

11 That all the yeanlings (i.e. young lambs) which were streaked and^/of."

And in The Tempest, Caliban, alluding to the parti-coloured dress which Trin-
culo, as a jester, wore, says :

" What a pied ninny 's this."

Milton, in " L,' allegro," speaks of " meadows trim with daisies //?.'*
f " Lady-smocks" (Cardamine prahnsis], a common meadow plant appearing
early in the spring, and bearing white flowers. Sir J. E. Smith says they cover the
meadows as with linen bleaching, whence the name of "ladysmocks " is supposed
to come. Some authors say it first flowers about Ladytide, or -the Feast of the
AnnirQciatioa, hence its name.

* Botanists are not agreed as to the particular plant intended by ' ' cuckoo-buds."
Miller, in his *' Gardener's Dictionary," says the flower here alluded to is the
Ranunculus ^ft/te&a. One commentator on this passage has mistaken th&JLycAnzs
Jljs entitle or "cuckoo-flower" for "cuckoo-buds." Another writer says,
" cuckoo-flower " must be wrong, and believes "cowslip-buds" the true reading 1 ,
but this is clearly a mistake. Wattey, the editor of Ben Jonson's Works,
proposes to read "crocus-buds," which is likewise incorrect. Sidney Beisley,
the author of "Shakespeare's Garden/' thinks that Shakespeare referred
to the lesser celandine, or pilewort (Ranunculus ficaria), as this flower appears
early in Spring, and is in bloom at the same time as the other flowers named
in the song.

THE CTCKOn. r ; -

II.
When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,

And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks ;
When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws ;

And maidens bleach their summer smocks :
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men, for thus sings he,

Cuckoo ;

Cuckoo, cuckoo, O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear. 1 '

In the old copies the four first lines of the first stanza
are arranged in couplets thus :

" When daisies pied, and violets blue,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue,
And lady-smocks all silver white,
Do paint the meadows with delight."

But, as in all the other stanzas the rhymes are alternate,
this was most probably an error of the compositor. The
transposition now generally adopted was first made by
Theobald.

The notion which couples the name of the cuckoo with
the character of the man whose wife Is unfaithful to him,
appears to have been derived from the Romans, and is
first found in the middle ages in France, and in the
countries of which the modern language is derived from
the Latin. We are not aware that it existed originally

X

154 THK CUCKOO.

amongst the Teutonic race, and we have doubtless
received it from the Normans. The opinion that the
cuckoo made no nest of its own, but laid its eggs in that
of another bird, which brought up the young cuckoo to
the detriment of its own offspring, was well-known to the
ancients, and is mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny.
So in Antony and Cleopatra (Act ii. Sc. 6) :

4i Thou dost o'ercount me of my father's house ;
But since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
Remain in 't as thou may'st. 11

But the ancients more correctly gave the name of the
bird, not to the husband of the faithless wife, but to her
paramour, who might justly be supposed to be acting the
part of the cuckoo. They gave the name of the bird in
whose nest the cuckoo's eggs were usually deposited
" curruca " to the husband. It is not quite clear how,
in the passage from classic to mediaeval, the application of
the term was transferred to the husband.* In allusion to
this are the following lines of Shakespeare :

" For I the ballad will repeat,

Which men full true will find ;
Your marriage comes by destiny,
Your cuckoo sings by kind."

All's Well that Ends Well, Act i. Sc. 3.

# See Cham bens' s "Book of Days," i. 531.

CUCKOO SONGS. 155

This would appear to be only a new version of an old
proverb, for in "Grange's Garden," 4to, 1577, we h av e

" Content yourself as well as I,
Let reason rule your minde,
As cuckoldes come by destinie.
So cuckowes sing by kinde."

If Shakespeare is to be believed, marriage is not the
only thing that goes by destiny :

"The ancient saying is no heresy,
Hanging and wiving goes by destiny."

Merchant of Venice, Act ii. Sc. 9.

King Henry IV., alluding to his predecessor, says :

" So when he had occasion to be seen,
He was but as the cuckoo is in June,
Heard, not regarded."

Henry IV. Part I. Act iii. Sc. 2.

For in June the cuckoo has been in song for a month,
and is therefore less noticed than on its first arrival in
April, when listened to as the harbinger of Spring.

Apropos of the cuckoo's song, the following ballad is
considered to be the earliest in the English language now
extant. Its date is about the latter part of the reign of
Henry III., and it affords a curious example of the altera-
tions which our language has undergone since that time ;

' CUCKOO SONGS.

while the descriptions, which breathe of rural sights and
sounds, show that nature has suffered no change :

'* Sumer is icumen in, Summer is come in,

Lhudfe sing cuccu ; Loud sing cuckoo ;

Groweth sed and bloweth med, The seed groweth and the mead bloweth ,

And springeth the wde nu; And the wood shoots now ;

Sing cuccu. Sing cuckoo.

Awe bleteth after lamb, The ewe bleats after the lamb,

Lhouth after calve cu ; The cow lows after the calf;

Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth, The bullock starts, the buck verts,

Murie sing cuccu ; Merrily sing cuckoo ;

Cuccu, cuccu ; Cuckoo, cuckoo ;

Wei singes thu cuccu, Well singest thou cuckoo,

Ne swik thu naver nu." Mayest thou never cease.

This song is preserved amongst the Harleian MSS.,
No. 978, and is remarkable for being accompanied with
musical notes, and as being the oldest sample of English
secular music.

The Wagtail (Motacilla Yarrellii) has no claim to be
included amongst the birds of song, but as the latter are
chiefly small birds, and as Shakespeare has only alluded
to it once, we may be excused for introducing it in the
present chapter.

In an opprobrious sense, the word " wagtail " would

doubtless denote a pert, flippant fellow. Kent, in King

$
Lear (Act ii. Sc. 2), says,

" Spare my grey beard, you wagtail T

In many parts of the country this bird is called " dish-
washer/' and the name appears to be of some antiquity.
Turbervile, in his "Booke of Falconrie," 1575* speaking

BIRD-CATCHING. 157

of the various kinds o f animals and birds whose flesh
is proper for hawks to feed on, says (p. 137), -The
flesh of these flcsh-crowes (i.e. carrion crows), and of the
wagtayles (or dishwasher, as we tearme them, in Latin
called Motacilla), and the cormorant, is of euil nourish-
ment and digestion."

While on the subject of small birds in general, and
song birds in particular, it will be interesting to glance at
the methods which were formerly practised for catching
them. These methods were many and various in kind.
Springes, gins, bat-fowling, bird-lime, bird-bolts, and bird-
ing-pieces are all mentioned by Shakespeare.

The ''springe" and the " gin" we shall have occasion to
notice later in our remarks upon the Woodcock, for which
bird these snares were usually employed. The ancient
practice of " bat-fowling," or " bat-folding," is noticed in
" The Tempest" Act ii. Sc. i :

" Ho would so, and then go a bat-fowling"

In Markham's " Hunger's Prevention," 1600, are some
curious directions on this subject, which afford a very good
idea of the way in which this sport was practisec
formerly :

" For the manner of bat-fowling, it may be used eithei
with ncttes or without ncttes.

41 If you vse it without nettcs (which indeed is the mos'
common of the two), you shall then proceed in this manner

158 BAT-FOWLING.

First, there shall be one to carry the cresset of fire * (as
was showed for the low-bell), then a certaine number, as
two, three, or foure (according to the greatness of your
company), and these shall have poales bound with dry
round wispes of hay, straw, or such like stuffe, or else
bound with pieces of linkes or hurdes dipt in pitch, rosen,
grease, or any such like matter that will blaze. Then
another company shall be armed with long poales, very
rough and bushy at the vpper endes, of which the
willow, byrche, or long hazell are best, but indeede
according as the country will afford, so you must be
content to take.

" Thus being prepared, and comming into the bushy or
rough grounde, where the haunts of byrdes are, you shall
then first kindle some of your fiers, as halfe or a third part,
according as your prouision is, and then with your other
bushy and rough poales you shall beat the bushes, trees,
and haunts of the birds, to enforce them to rise, which
done you shall see the birds which are raysed, to flye and
playe about the lights and flames of the fier, for it is their
nature through their amazednesse and affright at the
strangenes of the light and the extreame darkncsse round
about it, not to depart from it, but, as it were, almost to
scorch their wings in the same : so that those whicc hauc
the rough bushye poales may (at their pleasures) beat

* The "cresset-light" was a large lanthorn placed upon a long pole, and
carried upon men's shoulders. (See Strutt's "Sports und Pastimes," Introduction.)

BAT-FOWLING. 159

them down with the same and so take them. Thus you
may spend as much of the night as is darke, for longer is
not conuenient, and doubtlesse you shall find much pastime,
and take great store of birds, and in this you shall obserue
all the obseruations formerly treated of in the Low-bell ;
especially that of silence, until your lights be kindled, but
then you may use your pleasure, for the noyse and the
licrht when they are heard and seene afarre of, they make
the byrdes sit the faster and surer.

" The byrdes which are commonly taken by this labour
or exercise are, for the most part, the rookes, ring-doues,
blackbirdes, throstles, feldyfares, linnets, bulfinches, and
all other byrdes whatsouer that pearch or sit vpon small
boughes or bushes."

The term " bat-fowling," however, had another significa-
tion in Shakespeare's day, and it may have been in this
secondary sense that it is used in the last quotation.
It was a slang word for a particular mode of cheating,
just as other modes, in the same age, were known as
" gull-groping," " sheep-shearing," " lime-twigging " " spoon-
dropping/* "stone-carrying," &c.

" Bat-fowling " was practised about dusk, when the rogue
pretended to have dropped a ring or a jewel at the door
of some well-furnished shop, and, going in, asked the
apprentice of the house to light his candle to look for it.
After some peering about, the bat-fowler would drop the
candle, as if by accident.

l6o BIRD-LIME.

" Now, I pray you, good young man," he would say, " do
so much as light the candle again." While the boy was
away the rogue plundered the shop, and having stole
everything he could find, stole away himself.*

" Birdlime," which, as most people know, is made from
the bark of the holly, has long been in use for taking
small birds. Shakespeare makes frequent mention of it :

" The bird that hath been limed in a bush,
With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush ;
And I, the hapless mate to one sweet bird,
Have now the fatal object in my eye
Where my poor young was lim'd, was caught and kill'd."

Henry VL Part III. Act v. Sc. 6.

A similar idea will be found in Lucrcce :

" Birds never livid, no secret bushes fear."
Again

" They are limed with the twigs that threaten them. 1 '

Airs Well that ends Well, Act Hi. Sc. 5.
And

" She 's limed, I warrant you."

Much Ado, Act iii. Sc. j.

Suffolk, speaking to Queen Margaret of Duke Hum-
phrey's wife, says :

* Thornbury, "Shakespeare's England," vol. i. p. 339.

BIRD-LIME. l6l

" Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her,
And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds,
That she will light to listen to their lays,
And never mount to trouble you again.'*

Henry VL Part II. Act i. Sc. 3.

And the Duchess of Gloucester, addressing her husband,
warns him that

. . " York and impious Beaufort, that false priest,

Have all linfd bushes to betray thy wings,

And, fly thou how thou cans't, they '11 tangle thee."

Henry VI. Part II. Act ii. Sc. 4.

*

Further allusions to the use of birdlime will be found
in Othello (Act ii. Sc. i), and Twelfth Night (Act iii. Sc. 4).

Now-a-days the practice is to set up a stuffed bird of
the species required against a tree by means of a wire,
and surround it with three or four other wires well
smeared with birdlime, placing a live call-bird in a
small dark cage at the foot of the tree to attract the
attention of the wild birds. These latter, on hearing the
notes of the captive, fly towards the spot, and deceived by
the appearance of the stuffed specimen, perch close to it
upon a limed wire and are caught, the owner of the snare
generally coming out of ambush to take them before they
have time to free themselves.

A simple and effective bird-trap was made as follows :

1 62 BIRD-TRAPS.

Procure a square frame covered on one side with wire
netting, as shown in the woodcut.

Tie each end of a pliant stick to two corners of the
frame, to form a hoop. Cut a straight stick, forked at
one end, and a shorter pliant stick.

Lift the front of the trap ; place the forked stick
in an upright position against the outside of the front,
and also outside the hoop. Insert one end of pliant
twig between fork and front, and after raising hoop
about two inches, insert the other end of the twig,
so as to rest against the hoop, and press outwards. This
will hold the hoop up. A bird, on approaching the trap,
hops on the hoop to get at the grain within it, when the
hoop will go down with the weight and let go the twig,
which being pliant flies out, and the fork (being only
outside the front) of course falls, and so does the trap.

The " bird bolts " mentioned by Shakespeare in Twelfth
Night (Act i. Sc. 5), Love's Labour's Lost (Act iv. Sc. 3),
and Mitch Ado about Nothing (Act i. Sc. i), were the

BIRD-BOLTS. 163

"bolts," or "quarrels" as they were sometimes called,
which were shot from the cross-bow, or " stone-bow,"
Twelfth Night (Act ii. Sc. 5). The latter was simply a
cross-bow made for propelling stones or bullets, in con-
tradistinction to a bow that shot arrows. Sir John
Bramston, in his Autobiography (p, 108) says: "Litle
more than a yeare after I maried, I and my wife being
at Skreenes with my father (the plague being soe in
London, and my building not finished), I had exercised
myself with a stonc-boWj and a spar-hawke at the bush."

There were two denominations of cross-bows latches
and prodds. The former were the military weapons, and
were bent with one or both feet, by putting them into a
kind of stirrup at the extremity, and then drawing the
cord upward with the hands ; the latter were chiefly used
for sporting purposes. They were bent with the hand, by
means of a small steel lever, called the goafs-foot, on
account of its being forked or cloven on the side that
rested on the cross-bow and the cord. The bow itself was
usually made of steel, though sometimes of wood or
horn.*

The missiles discharged from them were not only
arrows, which were shorter and stouter than those of
the long-bow, but also bolts (bolzen y German ; quarrcmtx,
or carrieaux, PVench ; quadrdli, Latin, corrupted into

# SirS. IX Scott, "The British Army : its Origin, Progress, and Equipment,"
vol. ii. pp. 80, 8r.

1 64 BIRDING-PIECES.

" quarrels," from their pyramidal form), and also stones or
leaden balls.

Apropos of " bolts/* who does not remember Oberon's
poetical story of the wild pansy ( Viola tricolor) marked
by Cupid's "bolt?"

"Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell :
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before, milk white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it ' Love-in-idleness.' "

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act ii. Sc. i .

The " birding-pieces " which Mrs. Ford tells Falstaff are
always " discharged " up the chimney, were no doubt
the old-fashioned fowling-pieces which were in use in
those days.

According to Sir S. D. Scott,* the e< birding-piece "
was identical with the " snap-hance," the early form of
that process of ignition the flint and steel lock which
has survived nearly 300 years, and specimens of which,
although now becoming rare, may occasionally be met
with in use, even at the present day. It was a Dutch
invention ; and is said to have been brought into use by
marauders, whom the Dutch called snaf-fiaans, or poultry
stealers. The light from the burning match, which
necessarily accompanied the match-lock, exposed them to

* "The British Army: its Origin, Progress, and Equipment," London, 1868,
vol. ii. pp 384-286.

BTRDING-PIECES.

I6 S

detection ; and the wheel-lock was an article too expensive
for them to purchase, as well as being liable to get out of
order ; so this lock was devised, and was suggested, no
doubt, by the wheel-lock. It consisted in the substitution
of flint for pyrites, and a furrowed plate of steel in lieu of
the wheel. When the trigger was pulled, it brought this
J a gg e d piece of steel in collision with the flint, which
threw down its shower of sparks into the open pan, and
lighted the priming. This 'improvement apparently took
place about the close of the sixteenth century.

There is a very early " snap-hance " in the Tower
Collection, numbered -ff. It is a " birding-piece " of
Prince Charles, afterwards King Charles L, date 1614, and
furnishes a good illustration of the form of gun in use in
Shakespeare's day. It is engraved both on lock and
barrel. The butt is remarkably thin ; the length of the

whole arm is four feet two inches, and was consequently

i66

DANGER.

adapted for a youth like the Prince, who, at the date
above mentioned, was fourteen years of age.

On looking at the curious specimens which are still
treasured up as heirlooms, or in museums, one cannot
help thinking that the person who pulled the trigger must
have been in far greater danger than the bird at which
he aimed.

CHAPTER VI.

THE BIRDS UNDER DOMESTICATION.

TT would hardly be supposed that the birds under
domestication could inspire much poetical feeling, or
indeed that they could furnish the dramatist with much
imagery. Those, however, who may entertain this view, on
reading the works of Shakespeare, must admit that in his
case at least .they are mistaken. The Cock, the Peacock,
the Turkey, the Pigeon, the Goose, the Duck and the Swan,
are all noticed in their turn, and indeed, in the ordinary
list of poultry, hardly a species has escaped mention. In
the succeeding chapter, when treating of the game-birds,
we shall notice the Pheasant, Partridge, and Quail, which
are occasionally domesticated. For the present, it will be
as well to confine our attention to the birds above
mentioned.

" The early village cock " (Richard III. Act v. Sc. 3),
* r the trumpet to the morn " (Hamlet, Act i. Sc. i), is often

1 68 THE COCK.

noticed by Shakespeare. In the prologue to the fourth
act of King Henry V.

" The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll,
And the third hour of drowsy morning name."

Steevens has shown that the popular notion of a phantom
disappearing at cock-crow is of very ancient date. The
conversation of Bernardo, Horatio, and Marcellus, on the
subject of Hamlet's ghost, affords a good illustration of
this :

"Bern. It was about to speak, when the cock crew !
Hor. And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat
Awake the god of day ; and, at his warning,
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant * and erring spirit hies
To his confine : and of the truth herein,
This present object made probation.
Mar* It faded on the crowing of the cock.

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long :
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad ;

* Note here the use. of the word "extravagant ' in its primary significatioi
implying, of the ghost, its wandering beyond its proper sphere.

COCK-CROW. 169

The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm.
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."

Hamlet^ Act i. Sc. i.

" Hark ! hark ! I hear the strain of strutting chanticleer
cry cockadidle-dowe. Tempest, Act i. Sc. 2.

Just as "cock-crow" denotes the early morning, so is
" cock-shut-time " or " cock-close," expressive of the even-
ing ; although some consider that the latter phrase owes its
origin to the practice of netting woodcocks at twilight,
that is, shutting or enclosing them in a net

The origin of the phrase " cock-a-hoop," which occurs
in Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 5, is very doubtful : the
passage is

" You'll make a mutiny among my guests !
You will set cock-a-hoop ! you 11 be the man !"

Some commentators consider that this refers in some
way to the boastful crowing of the cock, but we do not
think that Shakespeare intended any allusion here to the
game-fowl. We take it that the reference is to a cask of
ale or wine, and that the phrase "to set cock-a-hoop" means
to take the cock, or tap, out of the cask and set it on the
hoop, thus letting all the contents escape. The man who
would do such a reckless act, would be just the sort of
man to whom Shakespeare refers.

1 70 COCK-A-HOOP.

The ale-house sign of "The Cock and Hoop " repre-
sents a game-fowl standing upon a, hoop, but we have
little doubt that the original sign was a cask flowing, with
the tap laid on the top. The modern version is no doubt
a corruption, just as we have " The Swan with Two
Necks " for " The Swan with Two Nicks? z. c. marks on
the bill to distinguish it ; * " The Devil and the Bag o'
Nails" for " Pan and the Bacchanals;" "The Goat and
Compasses " for the ancient motto " God encompasseth
us ;" Sec., &c,*

The popular adjuration, " by cock and pye," which
Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Justice Shallow, was
once supposed to refer to the sacred name, and to the
table of services, called " the pie ;" but it is now thought
to be what Hotspur termed a mere "protest of pepper
gingerbread/' as innocent as Slender's, " By these gloves/'
or, "By this hat," In " Soliman and Perseda" (1599,) it
occurs coupled with " mousefoot ;" " By cock and pye and
mousefoot." Again, in "The Plaine Man's Pathway to
Heaven," by Arthur Dent (1607), we have the following
dialogue :

Asutietus. " I know a man that will never swear but by
cock vr py, or mousefoot. I hope you will not say these be

* Apropos of ale-house signs, Shakespeare gives us the origin of "The Bear
and Ragged Staff." It is the crest of the Earls of Warwick.

Waiwfck. " Now, by my father's badge, old Neville's crest,
The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff/'

Henrv 7V. Part II. Act v. So. z.

COCiv AND PYE. 171

oaths. For he is as honest a man as ever brake bread.
You shall not hear an oath come out of his mouth,"

Theologus. " I do not think he is so honest a man as
you make him. For it is no small sin to swear by
creatures."

The Cock and Pye (i. e. Magpie) was an ordinary ale-
house sign, and may thus have become a subject for the
vulgar to swear by. Douce, however, ascribes to it a less
ignoble origin, and his interpretation is too ingenious to
be passed over in silence : " It will no doubt be re-
collected that in the days of ancient chivalry it was
the practice to make solemn vows or engagements for
the performance of some considerable enterprise. This
ceremony was usually performed during some grand feast
or entertainment, at which a roasted peacock or pheasant
being served up by ladies in a dish of gold or silver, was
thus presented to each knight, who then made the par-
ticular vow which he had chosen with great solemnity.
When this custom had fallen into disuse, the peacock
nevertheless continued to be a favourite dish, and was
introduced on the table in a pie, the head, with gilded
beak, being proudly elevated above the crust, and the
splendid tail expanded. Other birds of less value were
introduced in the same manner, and the recollection of
the old peacock vows might occasion the less serious, or
even burlesque, imitation of swearing not only by the bird

172 COCK-FIGHTING.

itself, but also by the pye ; and hence, probably, the oath
'by cock and pye,' for the use of which no very old
authority can be found. 1 '

Shallow, " By cock and pye, sir, you shall not away to-
trHmry IV. Part II.' Act v. Sc. i.

The pastime of cock-fighting, to which Shakespeare has
alluded in Antony and Cleopatra, is no doubt of some
antiquity. Strutt, in his "Sports and Pastimes of the
People of England,' 1 does not give any history of its
introduction, but quotes from Burton (1660), and Powell
(1696), to show that the sport was well known at those
dates. It was much in vogue in Shakespeare's day, and
the great dramatist is probably not wrong in leading us to
suppose that it was first introduced by the Romans :

" His cocks do win the battle still of mine,
When it is all to nought"

Antony and Cleopatra, Act ii. Sc. 3.

" Cock-fighting took place generally between August
and May. Six weeks before a battle, the champions were
confined in separate pens, and fed with bread. Their
spurs were then wrapped in leather, and they were allowed
to spar, and sweated in straw baskets, and fed with sugar-
candy, chopped rosemary, and butter, to strengthen them
and give them wind. Roots dipped in wine, and oatmeal
kneaded with ale and eggs, were also allowed them, as
purges and diaphoretics. Every day the feeder had to

COCK-FIGHTING. 173

lick his bird's eye, and lead and encourage him to pursue
a dunghill fowl which he held in his arms, and ran with
before him. The last fortnight the sparring was discon-
tinued, and four days next allowed before the bird was
brought into the pit, and always fasting.

" In matching birds, it was necessary to consider their
strength and length the weak, long bird rising with more
ease, and the short, strong bird giving the surer and
deadlier blow.

" The game cocks were prepared for battle by cutting off
the mane all but a small ruff, and clipping off the feathers
from the tail. The wings were cut short, and sharp points
left, to endanger the eye of the antagonist. The spurs
were scraped and sharpened, but steel spurs were not used
at this early period, though the sport was as old as the
Athenians. The preparation was completed by removing
all the feathers from the crown of the head. The feeder,
then licking his pupil all over, turned him into the pit, to
win his gold and move his fortune.

"The birds were generally brought into the arena in
linen bags, in which they came from Norwich or Wis~
beach.

" They began the combat by whetting their beaks upon
the ground, and continued the fight till they were both
blind, or faint from loss of blood. The feeder had to suck
the wounds of the living bird, and powder them with
dust of the herb Robert. If the eye were hurt, the

1/4 ANCESTRY OF DOMESTIC COCK.

cocker chewed ground ivy, and applied the juice to the
wound."*

Whether the various breeds of domestic fowls have
diverged by independent and different roads from a single
type, which is most probable, or whether they have de-
scended from several distinct wild species, as some natu-
ralists maintain, is a question which can scarcely be
answered in the present treatise. A separate volume
might be written on the subject. Nevertheless, the general
opinion is that all the various breeds have descended from
a common wild ancestor the Gallns bankwa of India.
This species has a wide geographical range. It inhabits
Northern India as far west as Scinde, and ascends the
Himalaya to a height of 4,000 feet. It is found in
Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, the Indo-Chinese countries,
the Philippine Islands, and the Malayan Archipelago, as far
eastward as Timor. Mr. Darwin has shown t that it varies
considerably in the wild state, and observes J that " from
the extremely close resemblance in colour, general struc-
ture, and especially in voice, between Gallus bankiva and
the game-fowl ; from their fertility, as far as this has been
ascertained, when crossed ; from the possibility of the wild
species being tamed, and from its varying in the wild
state, we may confidently look at it as the parent of the

" The Compleat Gamester," 1709.

" The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," i. 235.

Id. i. 236, 237.

THE PEACOCK. 1 75

most typical of all the domestic breeds, namely, the game-
fowl It is a significant fact that almost all the naturalists
in India, namely, Sir W. Elliot, Mr. S. N. Ward, Mr.
Layard, Mr. T. C. Jerdon, and Mr. Blyth, who are familiar
with Galhcs bankiva, believe that it is the parent of most
or all of our domestic breeds."

Another species of Eastern origin noticed by Shake-
speare is the Peacock (Pavo cristatits) :

" Let frantic Talbot triumph for awhile,
And, like a peacock, sweep along his tail ;
We '11 pull his plumes and take away his train."

Henry VL Part I. Act iii. Sc. 3.
And elsewhere

" Why, he stalks up and down like a peacock, a
stride and a stand." Troilus and Cressida, Act iii
Sc. 3.*

^Elian says peacocks were brought into Greece from
some barbarous country, and were held in such estimation
that a pair was valued at Athens at 1,000 drachmae, or
^32 5^. lorf. Peacocks' crests in ancient times were
among the ornaments of the Kings of England.

Ernald de Aclent paid a fine to King John in 150
palfreys, with sackbuts, lorains, gilt spurs, and peacocks'
crests, such as would be for his credit.

* See Jilso Taming of the Shrrw, Act iv. Sc. r, and Tempest, Act iv. Sc, i.

176 ITS INTRODUCTION.

Whether our birds are descended from those introduced
into Europe in the time of Alexander, or have been
subsequently imported, is doubtful. They vary but little
under domestication, except in sometimes being white or
piebald.*

A curious fact with respect to the peacock may here be
noticed, namely, the occasional appearance in England of
the "japanned" or " black-shouldered " kind. This form
has been regarded by Mr. Sclater as a distinct species,
under the name of Pavo nigripennis, and he believes it
will hereafter be found wild in some country, but not in
India, where it is certainly unknown.-}- These japanned
birds differ conspicuously from the common peacock, and
can be propagated perfectly true. Nevertheless, Mr.
Darwin gives it as his opinion that " the evidence seems
to preponderate strongly in favour of the black-shoul-
dered breed being a variation, induced either by the
climate of England, or by some unknown cause, such
as reversion to a primordial and extinct condition of the
species." J

Formerly the peacock was in much request for the
table, but now-a-days the species appears to be preserved
for ornament rather than use. According to the "Nor-

* Darwin, "Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication/' i. 290.
f Pro. Zool. Soc. April 2 4 th, 1860.
t Darwin, op. cit.

THE TURKEY. 177

thumberland Household Book," the price of a peacock
for the table in 1512 was twelvepence ; but we must
recollect that this was a much larger sum in those days
than it is now considered to be.

Shakespeare has committed a curious anachronism
in introducing 1 the domestic Turkey in the play of
Henry IV., the species being unknown in England until
the later reign of Henry VIII. The passage referred to
runs thus :

First Carrier. " 'Odsbody ! the turkeys in my pannier
are quite starved. What, ostler ! " Henry IV. Part I.
Act ii. Sc. i.

The turkey was imported into Spain by the Spanish
discoverers in the New World, early in the sixteenth
century, its wild prototype being the Gallipavo Mexicana
of Gould, and from Spain it was introduced into England
in 1524- In 1525 a rhyme was composed, celebrating the
introduction of this bird, as well as other good things,
into this country :

" Turkies, carps, hoppes, piccarell, and beere,
Came into England all in one yeare." *

A writer in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " says :
" This fowl was first seen in France in the reign of
Francis I., and in England in that of Henry VIII. By

* Baker's "Chronicle."

A A

1/8 ITS INTRODUCTION INTO ENGLAND.

the date of the reigns of these monarchs, the first turkies
must have been brought from Mexico, the conquest of
which was completed A.D. 1521." *

"These facts," observes Mr. Blyth,f "are generally
known, but not the fact for which there is abundant
evidence, that the domestic turkey was introduced from
Europe into the North American colonies, where a
kindred wild species abounded in the forest."

The origin of the English name turkey, as applied to
a bird indigenous to America, has provoked much dis-
cussion. The best explanation is that given by Mr.
Blyth/ in the work last quoted J :

" It is certain," he says, " that the Guinea-fowl was
commonly termed the Turkey-ken in former days, and
hence a difficulty sometimes in knowing which bird is
meant by sundry old authors. As the Portuguese dis-
coveries along the west coast of Africa preceded those
of the Spaniards in America, there is reason to infer that
our British ancestors became acquainted with the guinea-
fowl prior to their knowledge of the turkey; and the
English trade being then chiefly with the Levantine
countries, our ancestors may well have fancied that it
came from thence. Referring to a curious old dictionary
in my possession (published in 1678) for the word

* It is observable, however, that in "The Privy Purse Expenses of King
Henry VIII." turkies are not once mentioned amongst the fowls to be provided
for the table.

f "Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal," vol. xxix. p. 38. J Pp. 390, 391.

TURKEY-FOWL AND GUINEA-FOWL. 179

Meleagris, I find it translated ' a Guinny or Turkey
Hen : * Gallince Africans seu Numidiccz, Van ' sine quse
vulgo Indicse' (Coq d'Indeof the French, corrupted into
Dinde and DindonJ). Again, Nitmidica guttata of Martial
is rendered 'a Ginny or Turkey Hen.' Looking also
into an English and Spanish Dictionary of so late a
date as 1740, I find Gattipavo rendered 'a Turkey or
Guinea Cock or Hen/ Well, it is .known that our British
forefathers originally derived the domestic turkey from
Spain, and meanwhile they are likely to have obtained
a knowledge of the true habitat of the guinea-fowl, and
therefore may very probably have supposed the former
to be the real #/r^j/-fowl, as distinguished from the
guinea-fowl ; and if the word * fowl ' be dropped in the
one instance and not in the other, be it remembered
that there was another special meaning for the word
Guinea, having reference to the Gold Coast, otherwise
the bird might have come to be known as the ' guinea,'
as the bantam-fowl is now currently designated the
'bantam/ and the canary-bird as the 'canary/ or the
turkey-fowl the * turkey.' The Latin - sounding name
Gallipavo seems to be of Spanish origin, and obtains
among the Spaniards to this day ; but their earliest name
for it was ' Pavon de las Indiasj ' c'est-a-dire/ as BufFon
remarks, Paon des Indes Occidentales / which explains the
reference to India perpetuated in *Dindm!"

The turkey is again mentioned by Shakespeare in

I So THE PIGEON :

Twelfth Night, where Fabian, speaking of Malvolio to
Andrew Aguecheek, says :

" Contemplation makes a rare turkey-cock of him : how
he jets under his advanc'd plumes ! " Twelfth Night,
Act ii. Sc. 5.

X~

The Pigeon and the Dove are repeatedly mentioned in

the works of Shakespeare, although on different grounds.
The former bird is noticed as a letter-carrier ( Titu s A n-
dronicus, Act iv. Sc. 3), as an article of food (Henry IV.
Part II. Act v. Sc. i), and as an example of conjugal
fidelity and attachment to offspring (As You Like It, Act i.
Sc. 2, and Act iii. Sc. 3). The latter is alluded to
as the emblem of peace (Henry IV. Part I. Act iv.
Sc. i. ; Henry VIII. Act iv. Sc. i), modesty (Taming of
the Shrew, Act iii. Sc. 2), patience (Hamlet, Act v.
Sc. i), innocence (Henry VI. Part II. Act iii. Sc. i),
fidelity (Troihis and Crcssida, Act iii. Sc. 2 ; Winter's Tale,
Act iv. So. 3), and love (Venus and Adonis ; Henry VI.
Part I. Act ii. Sc. 2 ; Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. Sc. 5).

In one passage only is the word " dove " used synony-
mously for " pigeon." In Romeo and Juliet we are told of
the nurse "sitting in the sun under the aW-house wall"
(Act i. Sc, 3).

The practice, here alluded to, of keeping pigeons in a
domesticated state is of very ancient date. Mr. Darwin
has been at considerable pains to collect information

ITS EARLY DOMESTICATION. l8l

upon this point, and in his admirable work " On the
Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication/'
he gives the following results :

" The earliest record, as has been pointed out to me by
Professor Lepsius, of pigeons in a domesticated condition,
occurs in the fifth Egyptian dynasty, about 3000 B.C. ; but

Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, informs me that the

/

pigeon appears in a bill of fare in the previous dynasty.*
Domestic pigeons are mentioned in Genesis, Leviticus,
and Isaiah. In the time of the Romans, as we hear from
Pliny, immense prices were given for pigeons ; ' nay, they
are come to this pass, that they can reckon up their
pedigree and race.' In India, about the year 1600,
pigeons were much valued by Akber Khan : 20,000 birds
were carried about with the court, and the merchants
brought valuable collections. e The monarchs of Iran and
Turan sent him some very rare breeds. His Majesty/
says the courtly historian, ' by crossing the breeds, which
method was never practised before, has improved them
astonishingly. Akber Khan possessed seventeen distinct
kinds, eight of which were valuable for beauty alone. At
*

* In the ruined temple of Mediixeet Haboo is a representation of the coronation
of the famous warrior, King Rameses III. (B.C. 1297). "The conquering hero,
among the clamours of the populace, and shouts of his victorious army, is depicted
proceeding to the temple to offer his grateful thanks to the gods ; and whilst
certain priests in their gorgeous robes are casting incense about, and offering up
sacrifices at many a smoking altar, others are employed in letting off carrier-
pigeons to announce the glad tidings to every quarter of the globe." LRITH
ADAMS, Notes of a Naturalist in, the Nile Valley and Malta, p. 27.

1 82 PIGEON-FANCIERS.

about this same period of 1600, the Dutch, according to
Aldrovandus, were as eager about pigeons as the Romans
had formerly been. The breeds which were kept during
the fifteenth century in Europe and in India, apparently
differed from each other. Tavernier, in his ' Travels/ in
1677, speaks as does Chardin, in 1735, of the vast num-
bers of pigeon-houses in Persia ; and the former remarks,
that as Christians were not permitted to keep pigeons,
some of the vulgar actually turned Mahometans for this
sole purpose. The Emperor of Morocco had his favourite
keeper of pigeons, as is mentioned in Moore's treatise,
published 1737. In England, from the time of 1678 to
the present day, as well as in Germany and in France,
numerous treatises have been published on the pigeon.
In India, about a hundred years ago, a Persian treatise
was written ; and the writer thought it no light affair, for
he begins with a solemn invocation, ' In the name of God,
the gracious and merciful/ Many large towns in Europe
and the United States now have their societies of
devoted pigeon-fanciers : at present there are three such
societies in London. In India, as I hear from Mr. Blyth,
the inhabitants of Delhi and of some other great cities
are eager fanciers. Mr. Layard informs me that most of
the known breeds are kept in Ceylon. In China, accord-
ing to Mr. Swinhoe of Amoy, and Dr. Lockhart of
Shangai, carriers, fantails, tumblers, and other varieties
are reared with care, especially by the bonzes, or priests.

CARRIER-PIGEONS. 1 83

" The Chinese fasten a kind of whistle to the tail-
feathers of their pigeons, and as the flock wheels through
the air, they produce a sweet sound.* In Egypt, the
late Abbas Pacha was a great fancier of fantails. Many
pigeons are kept at Cairo and Constantinople, and these
have lately been imported by native merchants, as I hear
from Sir W. Elliot, into Southern India, and sold at high
prices.

" The foregoing statements show in how many countries,
and during how long a period, many men have been pas-
sionately devoted to the breeding of pigeons. "-f-

In Titus Andronicus (Act iv, Sc. 3), upon the entry of
a clown with two pigeons Titus exclaims :

" News, news from heaven ! Marcus, the post is come.
Sirrah, what tidings ? have you any letters ?"

The practice of using pigeons as letter-carriers, here
alluded to by Shakespeare, is doubtless of very ancient
origin. The old historian Diodorus Siculus, informs us
that above two thousand years ago they were employed
for this purpose ; and five hundred years since relays of
carrier-pigeons formed part of a telegraphic system
adopted by the Turks. "Regular chains of posts were
established, consisting of high towers between thirty and

* A good description of these whistles, by Mr. Tegetmeier, with illustrations,
will be found in the/VWt? of the 12th March, 1870.

t Darwin, "Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, " i. pp. 204,
205.

1 84 PIGEON-POST.

forty miles asunder, provided with pigeons, and sentinels
stood there constantly on the watch, to secure the intelli-
gence communicated by the birds as they arrived, and to
pass it on by means of others. The note was written on
a thin slip of paper, enclosed in a very small gold box,
almost as thin as the paper itself, suspended to the neck
of the bird ; the hour of arrival and departure were
marked at each successive tower, and for greater security
a duplicate was always despatched two hours after the
first. The despatches were, however, not always enclosed
in gold, but merely in paper, in which case, to prevent the
letters being defaced by damp, the legs of the pigeon
were first bathed in vinegar, with a view to keep them
cool, so that they might not settle to drink, or wash
themselves on the way, which in that hot climate they
were often doing."

The modern mode of transmitting messages by pigeon-
post is much more ingenious, and less irksome to the
bird. The slip of paper is rolled up very tightly, and
inserted in a small quill, which is stitched to one of the
tail-feathers.

Formerly it was not an uncommon thing to send a pair
of doves or pigeons as a present

" I have brought you a letter and a couple of pigeons
here." Titus Aiidronicus, Act iv. Sc. 4.

The constancy evinced by pigeons towards each other,

" riGEON-LIVKR'l)." 185

when paired, has been already referred to. (As You Like
It, Act iii. Sc. 3 ; Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 3, c.)

It has been stated that the absence of a gall-bladder in
pigeons is compensated for by the extraordinary develop-
ment of the crop, by the aid of which the food becomes so
thoroughly digested, that the gall is rendered unnecessary.
This, however, is not strictly correct, as the food is only
macerated in the crop ; and the gall, as it is secreted,
passes, by two ducts, from the liver into the duodenum,
instead of into a gall-bladder. Shakespeare has alluded
to this peculiarity in the digestive organs of pigeons in
Hamlet, where the Prince says :

" I am pigeon-liver'd, and lack gall
To make oppression bitter/'

Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 2.

The manner in which they feed their young, to which
allusion is made an As You Like It (Act i. Sc. 2), is very
remarkable.

Most birds collect for their young", but in the case of
pigeons and some others, there exists a provision very
similar to that of milk in quadrupeds. "I have disco-
vered," says John Hunter,* "in my enquiries concerning
the various modes in which young animals are nourished,
that all the dove kind are endowed with a similar power.

" The young pigeon, like the young quadruped, till it is
capable of digesting the common food of its kind, is fed

* Hunter "On the Animal Economy," p. 194.

B B

186 "AS PIGEONS FEED THEIR YOUNG."

with a substance secreted for that purpose by the parent
animal ; not, as in the mammalia, by the female alone, but
also by the male, which perhaps furnishes this nutriment
in a degree still more abundant.

" It is a common property of birds, that both male and
female are equally employed in hatching and in feeding
their young in the second stage, but this particular mode
of nourishment, by means of a substance secreted in their
own bodies, is peculiar to certain kinds, and is carried on
in the crop,

" Besides the dove kind, I have some reason to suppose
parrots to be endowed with the same faculty, as they have
the power of throwing up the contents of the crop, and
feeding one another.

" I have seen the cock parrakeet regularly feed the hen,
by first filling his own crop, and then supplying her from
his beak. Parrots, macaws, cockatoos, &c., when they are
very fond of the person who feeds them, may likewise be
observed to have the action of throwing up the food, and
often do it. The cock pigeon, when he caresses the hen,
performs the same kind of action as when he feeds his
young, but I do not know if at this time he throws up
anything from the crop.

" During incubation, the coats of the crop in the pigeon
1 are gradually enlarged and thickened, like what happens
to the udder of females of the class mammalia, in the
term of uterine gestation. On comparing the state of the

"AS PIGEONS FEED THEIR YOUNG/' 187

crop when the bird is not sitting, with its appearance
during incubation, the difference is very remarkable. In
the first case it is thin and membranous, but by the time
the young are about to be hatched, the whole, except
what lies on the trachea or windpipe, becomes thickened,
and takes on a glandular appearance, having its internal
surface very irregular. It is likewise evidently more
vascular than in its former state, that it may .convey a
quantity of blood, sufficient for the secretion of this sub-
stance, which is to nourish the young brood for some days
after they are hatched. Whatever may be the consistence
of this substance when just secreted, it most probably
soon coagulates into a granulated white curd, for in such a
form I have alwa}^ found it in the crop ; and if an old '
pigeon is killed just as the young ones are hatching, the
crop will be found as above described, and in its cavity
pieces of white curd, mixed with some of the common
food of the pigeon, such as barley, beans, &c.

" If we allow either of the parents to feed the young, its
crop, when examined, will be discovered to contain the
same curdled substance, which passes thence into the
stomach, where it is to be digested. The young pigeon is
fed for some time with this substance only, and about the
third day some of the common food is found mingled with
it ; and as the pigeon grows older, the proportion of
common food is increased, so that by the time it is seven,
eight, or nine days old, the secretion of the curd ceases in

1 88 U AS PIGEONS FEED THEIR YOUNG."

the old ones, and of course will no more be found in the
crop of the young.

" It is a curious fact that the parent pigeon has at first
the power to throw up this curd without any mixture of
common food, although afterwards both are thrown up
according to the proportion required for the young ones.
I have called this substance curd, not as being literally so,
but as resembling that more than anything I know; it
may, however, have a greater resemblance to curd than
we are perhaps aware of; for neither this secretion, nor
curd from which the whey has been pressed, seem to
contain any sugar, and do not run into the acetous
fermentation. The property of coagulating is confined to
the substance itself, as it produces no such effect when
mixed with milk. This secretion in the pigeon, like all
other animal substances, becomes putrid by standing,
though not so readily as either blood or meat, it resisting
putrefaction for a considerable time ; neither will curd
much pressed become so putrid as soon as cither blood or
meat"

Selby says,* " The young remain in the nest till they
are able to fly, and are fed by the parent birds, who
disgorge into their mouths the food that has undergone
a maceration, or semi-digestive process, in that part of the
oesophagus usually called the crop or craw."

Colonel Montagu appears to be one of the few original
* " Illustrations of British Ornithology."

THE BARBARY PIGEON. l8g

observers who has confirmed the account given by Hunter.
" The rook," he says, " has a small pouch under the
tongue, in which it carries food to its young. It is prob-
able the use of the craw may be extended further than is
generally imagined, for, besides the common preparation
of the food to assist its digestion in the stomach, there are
some species that actually secrete a lacteal substance in
the breeding season, which, mixing with the half-digested
food, is ejected to feed and nourish the young. The
mammse from which this milky liquor is produced, are
situated on each side of the upper part of the breast,
immediately under the craw. In the female turtle-dove
we have met with these glands tumid with milky secretion,
and we believe it common to both sexes of the dove genus."*
It is not surprising that so great an authority on the sub-
ject as Mr. Tegetmeier should have adverted to Shake-
speare's knowledge of these birds. At p. 133 of his work
upon Pigeons,-}- he says : " The Barb, or Barbary Pigeon,
is one of those varieties whose history can be traced back
for a considerable period : it was certainly well known in
England during the sixteenth century, for Shakespeare,
in As You Like It, which was entered at Stationers' Hall
in 1600, makes Rosalind, when disguised as a youth, say,
' I will be more jealous of thee than a Barbary cock-
pigeon over his hen.' Act iv. Sc. I. Our intercourse with

* " Ornithological Dictionary," Preface, ist edition.

f "Pigeons: their Structure, Varieties, Habits, and Management." ByW. B.
Tegetmeier, F.2.S. London, 1868.

1 9 THE ROCK-DOVE.

the north of Africa was at that period not unfrequent, and
many of the domestic animals of the district had been
imported into this country. Shakespeare frequently
alludes to Barbary horses ; and in the Second Part of
King Henry IV. Act ii. Sc. 4, makes Falstafif say, ' He's

no swaggerer, hostess he'll not swagger

with a Barbary hen, if her feathers turn back with any
show of resistance.' This allusion was most probably to
a frizzled fowl. In this singular variety the feathers upon
the head and neck are reversed or curled, which gives the
hen at all times the appearance of a cock in fighting
attitude. Hence Shakespeare's apt allusion."

There seems to be no doubt that all the various races
of the domestic pigeon are descended from a single stock,
namely, the wild rock-pigeon (Columba livid). A mass
of interesting evidence on this subject will be found
in Darwin's "Variation of Animals and Plants under
Domestication," vol. i. chap. 5.

Frequent allusion has been made by Shakespeare to
the "Doves of Venus" (Lucrece, Venus and Adonis, and
Midsummer Night 's Dream, Act i. Sc. i), and " Venus'
Pigeons " (Merchant of Venice^ Act ii. Sc. 6).

Some explanation of this is to be found in the follow-
ing passage from Venus and Adonis .- -

" Thus weary of the world, away she (Venus) hies,
And yokes her silver doves ; by whose swift aid

THE DOVES OF VENUS.

Their mistress, mounted, through the empty skies
In her light chariot quickly is convey' d ;
Holding their course to Paphos, where their queen
Means to immure herself and not be seen."

This will also explain the reference to

"The dove of Paphos."

Pericles, Act iv. Introd.

The towns of Old and New Paphos are situate on the
S.W. extremity of the coast of Cyprus. Old Paphos is
the one generally referred to by the poets, being the
peculiar seat of the worship of Venus, who was fabled to
have been wafted thither after her birth amid the waves.
The "dove of Paphos" therefore, may be considered as
synonymous with the "dove of Venus/' Sometimes by
Paphos is understood the city of Cyprus, which is said to
have been founded by Paphos, son of Pygmalion, and
was known by his name :

" Ilia Paphon genuit : de quo tenet insula nomen."

Ovid Metam. Bk. 10, Fab. 8,

The Turtle-dove (Columba turtur) has been noticed by
poets in all ages as an emblem of love and constancy.

Shakespeare has

w
" When arm in arm they both came swiftly running,

Like to a pair of loving turtle-doves."

Henry VI. Part I. Act ii. Sc. 2.

PLANTAGE.

And elsewhere

" So turtles pair that never mean to part."

Winters Tale, Act iv. Sc. 3.
Again

" As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate."

Troilus and Crcssida, Act in. Sc. 2.

An inquiry into the meaning of the word plantage
leads to some curious information. Archdeacon Nares
observes * that " plantage " is probably for anything that
is planted. Plants were supposed to improve as the .
moon increased, and from an old book entitled "The
Profitable Art of Gardening," by Thos. Hill, the third
edition of which was printed in 1579, we learn that
neither sowing, planting, nor grafting was ever under-
taken without a scrupulous attention to the increase
or waning of the moon. Dryden does not appear
to have understood the above passage, and has accord-
ingly altered it to " As true as flawing tides are to
the moon." But the meaning of the original words seem
sufficiently clear, and may be fully illustrated by the
following quotation from Scott's " Discoverie of Witch-
craft " : " The poore husband man perceiveth that the
increase of the moone maketh plants frutiful, so as in the
full moone they are in the best strength ; decaieing in

* " Glossary," 4to. Lond, 1822.

MAHOMED'S DOVE. 193

the wane, and in the conjunction do utterlie wither and
vade."

The following lines from Pericles are somewhat to the
point :

" How dare the plants look up to heaven, from whence
They have their nourishment ?"

Pericles, Act i. Sc. 2.

It is possible that particular reference may be had to
the plant " Honesty/' or " Lunary " (Lunaria), which was
so named from the circular shape of its pod, which was
thought to resemble the moon (Luna), not only in its
form, but in its silvery brightness. The title of " Honesty "
appears to have been given it from the transparent nature
of the pod, which discovers those seed-vessels that contain
seed from such as are barren or have shed their seed.
We learn from Chaucer that " Honesty " (Lttnarid), was
one of the plants used in incantations. Drayton calls it
" Lunary " :

"Then sprinkles she the juice of rue,

With nine drops of the midnight dew

From Lunary distilling."

Nymphid*

But to return to our doves. It is related that Mahomed
had a dove which he used to feed with wheat out of his
ear, which dove, when it was hungry, lighted on Mahomed's
shoulder and thrust its bill in to find its breakfast,

C c

194 EMBLEMS.

Mahomed persuading the rude and simple Arabians that
it was the Holy Ghost that gave him advice.* Hence
Shakespeare's query

" Was Mahomed inspired with a dove ? "

Henry VI. Part I. Act i. Sc. 2.

As the crow has been held the type of blackness, so has
the dove been considered the emblem of the opposite
colour:

u So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows."

Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 5.

" As soft as dove's down, and as white as it."

Winter's Talc, Act iv. Sc. 4.

In the very humorous Interlude which is introduced
by the clowns in Midsummer Nighfs Dream, we have the
gentle voice of the dove contrasted with the mighty roar
of the lion :

" Bottom, Let me play the lion too : I will roar, that
I will do any man's heart good to hear me ; I will roar,
that I will make the Duke say, ' Let him roar again, let
him roar again.'

Quince. An you should do it too terribly, you would
fright the Duchess and the ladies, that they would shriek ;
and that were enough to hang us all

* Sir W. Raleigh, " History of the World," Book I. Tart i. c. 6.

TIMIDITY OF THE DOVE. IQS

AIL That would hang us, every mother's son.

Bottom. I grant you, friends, if that you should fright
the ladies out of their wits, they would have no more
discretion but to hang, us ; but I will aggravate my voice
so, that I will roar you as gently as any sucking dove ; I
will roar you an't were any nightingale." Midsummer
Nighfs Dream, Act i. Sc. 2.

We have before drawn attention to the fact that birds
which are by nature weak and timid, flying at the
approach of man, will nevertheless show fight in defence
of their young. Shakespeare has noticed this in the case
of the wren,* and the dove :

" And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood."

Henry VI. Part III. Act ii. Sc. 2.

And in- the same play

" So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons."

Henry VI. Part III. Act i. Sc. 4.
Again

" To be furious,

Is to be frighted out of fear ; and in that mood
The dove will peck the ostrich."

Antony and Cleopatra, Act iii. Sc. 13.

And yet there can scarcely be a more timid bird than
the dove, as Falstaff well knew, when he said ironically :

* See ante, p. 143,

196 A DISH OF DOVES.

11 Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, or most
magnanimous mouse." Henry IV. Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

The custom of bestowing a pair of doves as a present
or peace-offering has been before alluded to (Titus
A ndr onions. Act iv. Sc. 4).

Izaak Walton tells us that " for the sacrifice of the Law
a pair of turtle-doves or young pigeons were as well
accepted as costly bulls and rams." When Gobbo
wished to curry favour with Bassanio he began by
saying :

" I have here a dish of doves, that I would bestow on
your worship." Merchant of Venice, Act ii. Sc. 2.

These were no doubt intended to be eaten, Paris, speak-
ing to Helen of Pandarus, says,

"He eats nothing but doves, love." Troilns and
Crcssida, Act iii. Sc. I.

A weakness which he deprecates as being heating to
the blood. Justice Shallow, when ordering dinner, showed
his appreciation of pigeons as well as of other good cheer.
He says :

" Some pigeons, Davy ; a couple of short-legged hens ;
a joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kickshaws,
tell William cook." Henry IV. Part II. Act v. Sc: i.

The price of a pigeon at this time, as we learn from

THE GOOSE. 197

" The Northumberland Household Book," was " iij for a
penny," while hens could be bought " at ijd. a pece."

"Item, it is thoughte goode to by PlDGlOKS for my
Lords Meas, Maister Chambreleyne, ande the Stewardes
Meas, so they be boughte after iij for a penny.

" Item, it is thoughte goode HENNES be boughte from
Cristynmas to Shroftide, so they be good and at ijd.
a pece. Ande my Lorde Maister Chambreleyne and the
Stewardes Meas to be syrved with theym and noon
outher."

A much more notable bird for the table is the Goose.

" Item, it is thoughte goode to by GEYSSE so that
they be good and for iijd. or iiijd. at the moste seynge
that iij or iiij Meas may be served thereof."

This bird is mentioned in As You Like It, Act iii. Sc. 4 ;
Love's Labour's Lost, Act iii. Sc. I, and Act iv. Sc. 3 ; Mid-
summcrNighfs Dream, Act v. Sc. i ; Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 2 ;
Merry Wives of Windsor, Act v. Sc. i ; Romeo and Juliet,
Act ii. Sc. 4 ; Coriolanus, Act i. Sc. 4 ; and Merchant of
Venice, Act v. Sc. i.

Shakespeare draws a distinction between a grass-fed and
a stubble-fed goose :

" The spring is near, when green geese are a-breeding."

Love's Labours Lost, Act i. Sc. i.

May is the time for a green or grass-fed goose, while the

198 GREEN GEESE AND STUBBLE GEESE.

stubble-goose comes in at Michaelmas. King, in his " Art
of Cookery," has

" So stubble-geese at Michaelmas are seen
Upon the spit ; next May produces green."

In the old " Household Books," it is not unusual to find
such entries as the following :

"Itrir?, the xxvij daye to a s'vilt of
maister Becks in rewarde for bringing a
present of Grene Gees .... iiij s . * viijd.

A " green goose " is mentioned again in Love's Labour's
Lost, Act iv. Sc. 3.

Launce, enumerating the various occasions on which he
had befriended his dog, says,

" I have stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed,
otherwise he had suffered for't." Two Gentlemen of
Verona, Act iv. Sc. 4.

" Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain,
I 'd drive you cackling home to Camelot."

King Lear, Act ii, Sc. 2.

There appears to be some difference of opinion as to
what place is meant by the ancient name Camelot.

Selden, in his notes to Drayton's " Polyolbion," says :

" By South Cadbury is that Camelot ; a hill of a mile
compass at the top ; four trenches encircling it, and
betwixt every of them an earthen wall ; the contents of

THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE. 199

it within about twenty acres full of ruins and relics of old
buildings."

In the " History of King Arthur " (Chap. 26), Camelot
is located in the west of England, Somersetshire ; while in
Chapter 44, it is related that Sir Balen's sword " swam
down the stream to the citie of Camelot, that is, in
English, Winchester:' When Caxton finished the print-
ing of the "Mort d* Arthur,"* he says of the hero:

" He is more spoken of beyond the sea, .... and
yet of record remain witness of him in Wales, in the
town of Camelot, the great stones and marvelous
works>" &c. Tennyson, in his " Mort d'Arthur," twice
mentions Camelot, and in his " Lady of Shalott "
frequently alludes to " many-tower'd Camelot," but in
neither poem is any clue to its precise situation
given.

" Mcrcutio. Nay, if our wits run the '&ild-goose chase, I
am done ; for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of
thy wits, than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was
I with you there for the goose ?

Romeo. Thou wast never with me for anything, when
thou wast not there for the goose.

Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.

Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not.

* Translated from the French by Sir Thos. Mallory, Knt., and first printed by
Caxton, A.D. 1481.

200 THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE.

Mer. Thy wit is very bitter sweeting; it is a most
sharp sauce.

Rom. And is it not well served in to a sweet goose ?

Mer. O, here 's a wit of cheverel, that stretches from an
inch narrow to an ell broad !

Rom. I stretch it out for that word broad : which, added
to the goose, proves thee far and wide a broad goose."

Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. Sc. 4.

The " wild-goose chase " above alluded to was a reck-
less sort of horserace, in which two horses were started
together, and the rider who first got the lead, compelled
the other to follow him over whatever ground he
chose.*

Burton, in his "Anatomy of Melancholy," 1660, gives
us a general view of the sports most prevalent in the
seventeenth century, and after naming the " common
recreations of country folks," he alludes to " riding of
great horses, running at rings, tilts and tournaments,
and wild-goose chases, which are disports of greater men
and good in themselves, though many gentlemen by such
means gallop quite out of their fortunes."

Shakespeare has many observations relating to Ducks,
but as his remarks illustrate more appropriately what we
shall have to say under the head of "wild-fowl," we
reserve them accordingly for a future chapter.

* See "Chambers's Dictionary," last ed., article "Chase;" also Holt White's
note to this passage in the " Variorum Shakespeare."

THE SWAN. 201

The Swan (Cygnus olor}, being identified with Orpheus,
and called also the bird of Apollo, the god of music,
powers of song have been often attributed to it, and as
often denied :

" I will play the swan, and die in music."

Othello, Act v. Sc. 2.

" A swan-like end, fading in music."

Merchant of Venice, Act iii. Sc. 2.

Prince Henry, at his father's death-bed, exclaims,

" 'Tis strange that death should sing !
I am the cygnet to this pale, faint swan,
Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death ;
And, from the organ-pipe of frailty, sings
His soul and body to their lasting rest."

King John, Act v. Sc. 7.
Again, in Litcrccc, we read

" And now this pale swan in her watery nest,

Begins the sad dirge of her certain ending."

But although the swan has no "song," properly so

called, it has a soft and rather plaintive note, monotonous,
but not disagreeable. I have often heard it in the spring,
when swimming about with its young.

Colonel Hawker, in his " Instructions to Young Sports-
men" (nth ed. p. 269), says: "The only note which I
ever heard the wild swan, in winter, utter, is his well-

202 SONG OF THE SWAN.

known ' whoop/ But one summer evening I was amused
with watching and listening to a domesticated one, as he
swam up and down the water in the Regent's Park. He
turned up a sort of melody, made with two notes, C and
the minor third, E flat, and kept working his head as if
delighted with his own performance.

" The melody, taken down on the spot by a first-rate
musician, Auguste Bertini, was as follows :

_

The Abbe Arnaud has written some interesting remarks
upon the voice of the swan.* He says :

"The swan, with his wings expanded, his neck out-
stretched, and his head erect, places himself opposite his
mate, uttering a cry to which the female replies by
another half a note lower. The voice of the male rises
from A (la), to B flat (si bcmot) ; that of the female from
G sharp (sol dicsc), to A.+ The first note is short and
transient, and has the effect which our musicians term
sensible ; so that it is not separated from the second, but
seems to glide into it. Observe that, fortunately for the
ear, they do not both sing at once ; in fact, if, while the
male sounded B flat, the female gave A, or if the male

* Wood's " Buffon," xix. p. 511, note.

t This, it will be observed, differs materially from Col. Hawker's observation.

SONG OF THE SWAN. 203

uttered A while the female gave G sharp, there would
result the harshest and most insupportable of discords.
We may add that this dialogue is subjected to a constant
and regular rhythm, with the measure of two times (?).
The keeper assured me that during their amours, these
birds have a cry still sharper, but much more agreeable."

The late Charles Waterton once had an opportunity,
which rarely occurs, of seeing a swan die from natural
causes. " Although I gave no credence/' he says,* " to the
extravagant notion which antiquity had entertained of
melody from the mouth of the dying swan, still I felt
anxious to hear some plaintive sound or other, some soft
inflection of the voice, which might tend to justify that
notion in a small degree. But I was disappointed. He
nodded, and then tried to recover himself, and then
nodded again, and again held up his head ; till, at last,
quite enfeebled and worn out, his head fell gently on the
grass, his wings became expanded a trifle or so, and he
died whilst I was looking on. He never even uttered his
wonted cry, nor so much as a sound to indicate what he
felt within.

" The silence which this bird maintained to the last
tends to show that the dying song of the swan is nothing
but a fable, the origin of which is lost in the shades of
antiquity. Its repetition can be of no manner of use,
save as a warning to ornithologists not to indulge in the

. * " Essays on Natural History/' second series, p. 128.

204 HABITS OF THE SWAN.

extravagancies of romance a propensity not altogether
unknown in these our latter times."

Yarrell has remarked, in his " History of British Birds,"
that " the young, when hatched, which is generally about
the end of May, are conducted to the water by the
parent bird, and are even said to be carried there : it is
certain that the cygnets are frequently carried on the
back of the female when she is sailing about in the water.
This I have witnessed on the Thames, and have seen the
female, by raising her leg, assist the cygnets in getting
upon her back." Mr. Jesse, also, in his " Gleanings in
Natural History," correctly observes : " Where the stream
is strong the old swan will sink herself sufficiently low
to bring her back on a level with the water, when the
cygnets will get upon it, and in this manner are conveyed
to the other side of the river, or into stiller water."

From a passage in King Henry VI. we may presume
that this habit had been noticed by Shakespeare :

" So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings."

Henry VI. Part I. Act v. Sc. 3.

By the expression "underneath her wings" we may
understand under shelter of her wings, which she arches
over her back whereon the young are seated.

This habit of carrying the young has been observed in
the case of many other water birds. Mr. W. Proctor, of

THE SWAN'S NEST. 205

Durham, speaking of the habits of the horned grebe
(Podiceps cornutus), as observed by him in Iceland, says :
" One day, having seen one of these birds dive from its
nest, I placed myself with my gun at my shoulder, waiting
its reappearance. As soon as it emerged I fired and killed
it, and was surprised to see two young ones, which it
seems had been concealed beneath the wings of the parent
bird, drop upon the water. I afterwards shot several other
birds of this species, all of which dived with their young
under their wings. The young were placed with their
heads towards the tail, and their bills resting on the back
of the parent bird."

But to return to the swan :

" For all the water in the ocean
Can never turn a swan's black legs to white,
Although she lave them hourly in the flood."

Titus AndroniciiS) Act iv. Sc. 2.

" I have seen a swan

With bootless labour swim against the tide,
And spend her strength with overmatching waves."
Henry VI. Part III. Act i. Sc. 4.

Those who are familiar with the late Mr. Wolley's
sketch of the wild swan's rxest, published by Professor
Newton in the "Ootheca Wolleyana " (Part I. Plate 9),

206 SWAN'S DOWN.

will recognize in it an excellent illustration to the fol-
lowing passage :

" F the world's volume

Our Britain seems as of it, but not in 't ;
In a great pool, a swan's nest."

Cymbdinc, Act iii. Sc. 4.

For the purpose of comparison, Shakespeare has found
the swan very useful in metaphor.

Benvolio, referring to Rosaline, says,

" Compare her face with some that I shall show,
And I will make thee think thy swan a crow."

Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 2.

Troilus, descanting on the charms of Cressida, speaks

of

" Her hand

to whose soft seizure
The cygnet's down is harsh,? 1 .

Troilus and Cressida, Act i, Sc. I.

Amongst the numerous classical allusions to be found
throughout the Plays, we are reminded in the present
chapter of Juno's chariot drawn by swans :

" And wheresoever we went, like Juno's swans,
Still we went coupled and inseparable."

As You Like It, Act i. Sc. 3.

Falstaff, too, with some humour, thus alludes to the
loves of Leda :

CYGNETS. 207

" O powerful love ! that, in some respects, makes a beast
a man ; In some other, a man a beast. You were also,
Jupiter, a swan, for the love of Leda ; O, omnipotent love !
how near the god drew to the complexion of a goose ! "
Merry Wives of Windsor, Act v. Sc, 5.

The swan, in Shakespeare's day, was in much request
for the table, and, for those who could afford it, was served
up at all the principal feasts. In "The Northumberland
Household Book," uch items as the following constantly
occur :

" ITEM. It is thbughte goode that my Lordis SWANNES
be taken and fedde to serve my Lordis house and to be
paide fore as they may be boughte in the countrey, seeing
that my Lorde ftiath Swannes enoughe of his owne.

"ITEM a Warraunte to be servide oute yerely at Michael-
mas for xx S WYNNES for th' expencez of my Lordis house
as too say for jCristynmas Day v Saynt Stephyns Day ij
Saynt John Day ij Childremas Day ij Saint Thomas
Day ij New Yere Day iij ande for the xij^ Day of
Cristynmas iiij Swannys."

These were not to be old birds, however. The " War-
raunt" referred to expressly provides that they should
be "signetts."

In the case of the swan, as with many other species,
were we to call attention to every passage throughout the

208

CYGNETS.

works of Shakespeare wherein it is mentioned or referred
to, we fear the reader's patience might become exhausted,
Where such allusions, therefore, are trifling, we have thought
it well to pass them by.

In the present chapter, enough has probably been said
to show that while more attractive species have claimed
a larger share of the poet's attention, the birds under
domestication have been by no means neglected,

CHAPTER VII.

THE GAME-BIRDS AND " QUARRY " FLOWN AT BV
FALCONERS.

r^ AME-PRESERVING, as we now understand the term,
was probably unknown in Shakespeare's days, for
sportsmen at that "time had not the means of making such
large bags, and consequently the necessity for breeding and
rearing game artificially did not exist. Nature's liberal
supply sufficed to satisfy the moderate demand, and the
sportsman always returned home well pleased. We
take it, however, that this satisfaction resulted more from
an appreciation of sport than from the possession of a
heavy bag. What more enjoyable than the pursuit of
partridges, "with grey gos-hawk in hand," as Chaucer
hath it, or a flight at heron with a falcon ?

The skill, too, which was required to kill a bird or
rabbit with a single bolt from a cross-bow was far greater
than that which is needed to achieve the same result
with an ounce of shot from a breech-loader. Not that

E E

2'IO THE PHEASANT:

guns were unknown in Shakespeare's day, for the old-
fashioned " birding-piece " was then in use, as we have
already noticed.* But, partly in consequence of its
inferiority and cost, and partly because its use was so
little understood, the majority of folks preferred to carry
a weapon with which they were more skilled, and on
which they could consequently place more reliance.
Gradually, as the fowling-piece became more and more
perfect, the long-bow and cross-bow were laid aside, and
hawking became almost forgotten.

Notwithstanding that the Pheasant (JPhasianus colchicits)
must have been well-known in Shakespeare's day, the poet
has only once made mention of this bird. The passage
occurs in The Winters Tale, Act iv. Sc. 3, and runs thus :

" Shepherd. My business, sir, is to the king.

Autolycus. What advocate hast thou to him ?

Shepherd. I know not, an 't like you.

Clown (jokingly aside to Shepherd}. Advocate's the
court-word for a pheasant : say you have none.

Shepherd. None, sir ; I have no pheasant, cock nor hen.

Antolycus. How blessed are we that are not simple
men ! "

The precise date of the introduction of the pheasant
into Great Britain is uncertain, but there is evidence to
show that it was prior to the invasion of the Normans,

* See end of Chapter V.

ITS INTRODUCTION INTO BRITAIN. 211

and that we are probably indebted for this game-bird to
the enterprise of the Romans. The earliest record, we
believe, of the occurrence of the pheasant in this country
will be found in the tract " De inventione Sanctse Crucis
nostrse in Monte Acuto et de ductione ejusdem apud
Waltham/' edited by Prof. Stubbs from manuscripts in
the British Museum, and published in 1861.* In one of
these manuscripts, dated about 1177, is the following bill
of fare prescribed by Harold for the Canons' Households,
in 1059 :

" Erant autem tales pitantise unicuique canonico : a
festo Sancti Michaelis usque ad caput jejunii, aut xii.
merulse, aut ii. agauseae, aut ii. perdices, aut imus phasianus,
reliquis temporibus aut ancse, aut gallinse."

Yarrell, in his " History of British Birds," gives an ex-
tract from Dugdale's " Monasticon Anglicanum " to the
effect that the Abbot of Amesbury obtained a licence from
the king to kill pheasants, in the first year of Henry I.

(1 100).

Leland, in his account of the feast given at the inthro-
nisation of George Nevell, Archbishop of York, in the
reign of Edward IV., tells us that, amongst other good
things, two hundred " fesauntes " were provided for the
guests.

In the " Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York,"

* See " The Ibis," 1869, p. 358.

212 ANCIENT VALUE OF GAME.

under date " the xiiij 1 ^ day of Novembre," the following
entry occurs :

44 I tin. The same day to Richard Myl-
ner of Byndfeld for bringing a
present of fesauntes cokkes to the
Queene to Westminster . . . vs."

In the " Household Book " of Henry Percy, fifth Earl
of Northumberland, which was commenced in 1512, the
pheasant is thus referred to :

" Item, FESAUNTES to be hade for my Lordes own Mees
at Principall Feestes and to be at xijd. a pece."

"Item, FESSAUNTIS for my Lordes owne Meas to be hadde
at Principalle Feistis ande to be at xijd. a pece."*

* As a copy of the " Northumberland Household Hook " is not readily acces-
sible, we give the following interesting extract, showing the price, at that date, of
various birds for the table :

Capons at iid. a pece leyn (lean). Perttryges at iid. a pece.

Chickeyns at |d. a pece. Redeshankes ijd.

Hennys at iid. a pece. Byttcrs (i.e. Bi(terns) xiid.

Swannys (no price stated). Kesauntes xiid

Geysse iiid. or iiiid. at the moste. Reys (i.e. Ruffs and Reeves) iid. a

Pluvers id. or i.^d. at moste. pece.

Cranys xvid. a pece. Sholardes vid. a pece.

Hearonsewys (i.e. Heronshaws or Kyrlewes xiid. a pece.

Herons) xiid. a pece. Pacokes xiid. a pecq

Mallardes iid. a pece. See-Pyes (no price).

Teylles id. a pece. Wegions at i|d. the pece.

Woodcokes id. or id. at the Knottes id , a pece.

moste. Dottrells id. a pece.

Wypes (i.e. Lapwings) id. a pece. Bustardes (no price).

Seegulles id. or i.Jd. at the moste. Ternes after iiu. a id.

Styntes after vi. a id. Great byrdes after iiii. a id.

Quaylles iid. a pece at moste. ttmall byrdes after xii. for iid.

Snypes after iii. a id. Larkys after xii. for iid.

GAME-PRESERVING. 2 1 j

In the year 1536, Henry VIII. issued a proclamation
in order to preserve the partridges, pheasants, and herons
" from his palace at Westminster to St. Giles-in-the-
Fields, and from thence to Islington, Hampstead,
Highgate, and Hornsey Park." Any person, of whatever
rank, who should presume to kill, or in any wise molest
these birds, was to be thrown into prison, and visited by
such other punishments as to the King should seem
meet.

Some interesting particulars in regard to pheasants are
furnished by the " Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry
VIII." For example, under date xvj tb Nov. 1532, we
have :

" Itrh the same daye paied to the

fesaunt breder in rewarde . . ixs. iiijd.

" Itrh the xxv daye paied to the preste

the fesaunt breder at Elthm in

rewarde ij corons .... ixs. iiijd.

And in December of the same year :
44 Itrh the xxijd. daye paied to the french

Preste the fesaunt breder for to bye

him a gowne and other necesarys . xls."

From these entries it would appear that even at this
date some trouble and expense was incurred in rearing
pheasants. No allusion, however, is made to their being
shot. They must have been taken in a net or snare, or

2 14 GAME-PRESERVING.

killed with a hawk. The last-named mode is indicated
from another source * :

" Item, a Fesant kylled with the Goshawke.
" A notice, two Fesants and two Partridges killed with
the hawks."

As a rule, they are only referred to as being " brought
in," the bearer receiving a gratuity for his trouble.
"Jan?- 1536-7. Itm. geuen to Hunte
yeoman of the pultry, bringing to
hir gee two qwicke (i.e. live) phe-

sants vijs. vjd.

"Ap 1 - 1537. Itm. geuen to Grene the

ptrich taker bringing a cowple of

Phesaunts to my lady's grace . . iijs. ixd.

"Jan. IS378. Itm. geuen to my lady

Carow's s'ufit bringing a qwicke

Phesaunt ijs.

"Jan. 1543-4.. Itm. geuen to Hawkyn,
s'uftte of Hertford bringing a phe-
sant and ptrichesf .... iijs. iiijd."

In a survey of the possessions of the Abbey of
Glastonbury made in 1539, mention is made of a "game"
of sixteen pheasants in the woods at Meare, a manor
near Glastonbury belonging to the Abbey.

* " Extracts from the Household and Privy Purse Accounts of the L' estranges
of Hunstanton, 15191578." (Trans. Roy, Soc. Antiq. 1833.)

jr '*The Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, 1536 1544." (Edited by
Sir P. Madden, 1831.)

GAME-LAWS. 21$

According to Fynes Morrison ( " Itinerary/' 1617), there
was in Ireland " such plenty of pheasants as I have known
readie served at one feast/'

The value set upon pheasants and partridges at various
periods, as shown by the laws fixing penalties for their
destruction, seems to have fluctuated considerably.

By a statute passed in the eleventh year of the reign
of Henry VII. it was forbidden "to take pheasants or
partridges with engines in another's ground without license
in pain of ten pound, to be divided between the owner of
the ground and the prosecutor." By 23 Eliz. c. 10, "None
should kill or take pheasants or partridges by night in
pain of 2os. a pheasant, and icxr. a partridge, or one
month's imprisonment, and bound with sureties not
to offend again in the like kind." By i Jac. I. c. 27, " No
person should kill or take any pheasant, partridge, (&c.),
or take or destroy the eggs of pheasants, partridges, (&c.),
in pain of 2Os., or imprisonment for every fowl or egg,
and to find sureties in 20 not to offend in the like kind."
Under the same statute, no person was permitted "to
buy or sell any pheasant or partridge, upon pain to forfeit
2Os. for every pheasant, and icxy. for every partridge."
By 7 Jac. I. c. u, "every person having hawked at or
destroyed any pheasant or partridge between the 1st of
July and last of August, forfeited 40^. for every time so
hawking, and zos. for every pheasant or partridge so
destroyed or taken." Lords of manors and their servants

2l6 THE PARTRIDGK.

might take pheasants or partridges in their own grounds
or precincts in the day-time between Michaelmas and
Christmas. But every person of a mean condition having
killed or taken any pheasant or partridge, forfeited 2Os.
for each one so killed, and had to find surety in 20
not to offend so again.

In some of these old statutes, however, it was expressly
stated that although pheasants and partridges could not
be killed by any one with impunity, no penalty should
attach for killing such birds as crows, kites, and buzzards,
as these were well known to be destructive to the game
which the statutes were framed to protect.

In the second part of Henry VL Act iii. Sc. 2, we find
the Partridge (Pcrdix cincrea) appropriately placed by
Shakespeare in the nest of the kite :

" Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak."

Henry VL Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

Such was the beautiful metaphor uttered by the Earl
of Warwick upon the occasion of the Duke of Gloucester's
death. The unfortunate Duke was discovered dead in his
bed, with marks of violence upon his features, and grave
suspicion fell upon .the Duke of Suffolk, who "had him in
protection." This circumstance, coupled with the fact that
Suffolk was a sworn enemy of Duke Humphrey, placed a
heavy weight in the balance against him.

PARTRIDGE-HAWKING. 217

The provincial name of " puttock," which occurs in the
above quotation, is sometimes applied to the kite, some-
times to the common buzzard. In this case, as shown by
the context, the kite is the bird referred to. A greater
enemy to the partridge than either of these birds is the
peregrine, whose skill in taking this game was early
turned to advantage by falconers. Partridge-hawking was
formerly a favourite pastime, and is still, to a certain ex-
tent, with those few who still maintain the practice of
falconry. For this sport either the peregrine or the goshawk
may be used. Aubrey has recorded a curious event which
happened when he was a freshman at Oxford in 1642.
He frequently supped with Charles I., who then resided at
the University; and on one of these occasions he heard
the King say that " As he was hawking in Scotland, he
rode into the quarry, and found the covey of partridges
falling upon the hawk." He adds that the King said " I
will swear upon the book that it is true." Mr. F. H. Salvin
has been very successful in taking pheasants with the male
goshawk, which he found required no " entering," but flew
and killed even old cocks, threading his way through the
trees in a wonderfully rapid manner.*

Those who made their living by fowling, and could not
afford to hawk, took their birds by springe and net ; and

* Some interesting remarks on pheasant and partridge-hawking will be found in
Freeman and Salvin's " Falconry ; its Claims, History, and Practice," pp. 233, 235.

2 1 g PARTRIDGE-NETTING.

partridge-netting was, perhaps, as much in vogue in
Shakespeare's day as now.

In Much Ado about Nothing, allusion is again made to
the partridge by Beatrice, who, referring to the ill-humour
of Benedick, says,

" He '11 but break a comparison or two on me ; which,
peradventure, not marked or not laughed at, strikes him
into melancholy ; and then there 's a partridge wing saved,
for the fool will eat no supper that night." Mitch Ado
about Nothing, Act ii. Sc. I.

As we speak of a " covey " of partridges, so we say a
" bevy" of quails :

"And many more of the same bevy."

Hamlet, Act v. Sc. 2.

It was formerly the practice to keep Quails, and make
them fight like game-cocks. Solon directed that quails
should be made to fight in the presence of the Athenian
youths, in order to inflame their courage, and the Romans
held quail-fighting in still higher estimation. Augustus
punished a prefect of Egypt with death for buying and
bringing to table a quail which had acquired celebrity by
its victories.*

Shakespeare was doubtless alluding to this sport when
he wrote:

* Vide Julius Pollux, "De ludis," lib, ix.

THE QUAIL. 219

" Here 's Agamemnon, an honest fellow enough, and
one that loves quails." Troilus and Cressida, Act v. Sc. I.

Even at the present day -this sort of amusement is
common in some parts of Italy, and still more so in
China. In Italy, the practice is to feed up two quails
very highly, and then place them opposite to each other at
the end of a long table, throwing between them a few
grains of millet-seed to make them quarrel. At first they
merely threaten, lowering the head and ruffling all the neck
feathers, but at length they rush on furiously, striking with
their bills, erecting their heads, and rising upon their spurs,
until one is forced to yield.

In Antony and Cleopatra (Act ii. Sc. 3), Antonius says of
Csesar :

" His cocks do win the battle still of mine,
When it is all to nought ; and his quails ever
Beat mine inhoop'd at odds/'

That there was some foundation for this assertion, we
may gather from the following extract from North's
" Plutarch " :

" With Antonius there was a soothsayer or astronomer
in Egypt that coulde cast a figure and judge of men's
nativities, to tell them what should happen to them. He
told Antonius plainly that his fortune (which of itself was
excellent good and very great) was altogether blemished

220 QUAIL-FIGHTING.

and obscured by Caesar's fortune ; and therefore he coun-
selled him utterly to leave his company, and get him as
farre from him as he coulde. Howsoever it was, the event
ensuing proved the Egyptian's words true ; for it is said
that as often as they drew lots for pastime, who should
have anything, or whether they played at dice, Antonius
always lost. Oftentimes ^vhen they were disposed to see cock-
fights, or quails that were taught to fight one with another,
Ccesar's cocks or quails did ever overcome. The which
spited Antonius in his mind, although he made no out-
ward show of it, and therefore he believed the Egyptian
the better."

In Kircher's " Musurgia " the note of this bird is thus
faithfully rendered * :

Bi - ke - bifc, Bi - ke - bik, Bi - ke - bik.

Quails have always been considered a delicacy for the
table, and those who may have the curiosity to visit the
London markets in the spring of the year, will see large
boxes full of live quails, which have been taken in nets
and imported to this country for food.

In the same way immense numbers of Lapwings
(Vanelht's cristatus), or Green Plovers, as they are called,
find their way into the London markets. This bird has
been noticed by Shakespeare chiefly on account of a
peculiar trait in its character, with which most naturalists

* " Musurgia Uuiversalis," 1650, p. 30,

THE LAPWING. 221

are very familiar. Like the partridge and some other
birds, it has a curious habit of trying to draw intruders
away from its nest or young by fluttering along the
ground in an opposite direction, or by feigning lameness,
or uttering melancholy cries at a distance :

" Far from her nest the lapwing cries away."

Comedy of Errors, Act iv. Sc. 2.

Allusions to this habit are not unfrequent in our older
poets. Lily, in his "Campaspe," 1584, says :

" You resemble the lapwing, who crieth most where her
nest is not."

So also Greene, in the second part of his " Coney
Catching/' 1592 :

" But again to our priggers, who, as before
I said, cry with the lapwing farthest from her nest."

And in Ben Jonson's Underwoods we are told,

" Where he that knows will like a lapwing flie,
Farre from the nest, and so himselfe belie."

Hence the phrase "to seem the lapwing," which occurs in
Measure for Measure, Act i. Sc. 4. So also in Much Ado
about Nothing,

" For look where Beatrice, like a lapwing", runs,
Close by the ground, to hear our conference."

Act iii. Sc. i.

222 THE LAPWING.

It is rather curious that Shakespeare has not alluded to
this bird under its popular name of " Peewit/' a name
which, derived from its cry, we believe to be of some
antiquity. Nor has he referred to it by another name,
which must have been commonly applied to it in his day,
z>., " Wype." In the old " Household Books " and " Privy
Purse Expenses/' we frequently meet with such entries as
the following :

" Item, it is thought goode that wypes* be hade for my
Lordes own mees onely and to be at jd. a pece."

The young of this, and many other, species run almost
as soon as hatched, and Shakespeare has not overlooked
this peculiarity :

"This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head."

Hamlet, Act v. Sc. 2.

We have before had occasion to make a passing allusion
to the Heron, and in the present chapter this bird deserves
more particular attention, from the fact of its being so
frequently flown at by falconers.

Hawking at herons was thought to be "a marvellous
and delectable pastime/' and in all the published treatises
upon falconry, many pages are dedicated to this particular
branch of the sport.

Not only were herons protected by Act of Parliament,

* In Sweden the bird is known as wfya lo this day.

THE HERNSHAW. 223

but penalties were incurred for taking the eggs,* and no
one was permitted to shoot within 600 paces of a heronry,
under a penalty of 20 (7 Jac. I. c. 27).

We should scarcely have thought it possible to find a
man who would not know a hawk from a heron when he
saw it, and Hamlet evidently considered that such an one
would not be in his right mind, for he says of himself :

" I am but mad north-north-west : when the wind is
southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw'' Hamlet,
Act ii. Sc. 2.

He referred here to an old proverbial saying, originally
" he does not know a hawk from a hernshaw,' ' that is, a
heron ; but the word was thus corrupted before Shake-
speare's day. (See ante, p. 75.)

John Shaw (M.A., of Cambridge), who published a
curious book in 1635, entitled "Speculum Mundi," tells us
therein that " the heron or hernsaw is a large fowle that
liveth about waters," and that " hath a marvellous hatred
to the hawk, which hatred is duly returned. When they
fight above in the air, they labour both especially for this
one thing that one may ascend and be above the other.
Now, if the hawk getteth the upper place, he overthroweth
and vanquished! the heron with a marvellous earnest
flight." This old passage contrasts quaintly with the
animated description of heron-hawking in Freeman and

* The fine was &/. for every egg. See 3 4 Ed. VI. c. 7, and 25 Hen. VIII.
c. n.

224 HERON -HAWKING.

Salvin's modern treatise.* Those who have taken part in
the sport cannot fail to be interested in a truthful narra-
tive of what they must so often have witnessed ; while
those who have never seen a trained falcon on the wing
will learn a good deal from the following excellent descrip-
tion :

" ' Well, then, here goes/ says the falconer ; and having
let the heron get a little past, off go the hoods. For a
moment one hawk looks up, and is cast off ; the other a
moment or two afterwards. They both see him ; now for
a flight. The heron was about 250 yards high, and
perhaps a quarter of a mile wide. The hawks had gone
up about a quarter of the way before the heron saw them
in hot pursuit. ' Now he sees them ! ' is exclaimed ; and
the riders rattle their horses as hard as they can, over deep
sand-hills, down wind. The heron, in the meanwhile,
vomits up his fish to lighten himself, and begins ringing-up
down wind. It is a curious thing to see the different
manoeuvres of the birds. With his large wings, the heron
can mount very fair, and has a far better chance of beating
off the hawks than if he flew straight forward. This he
knows full well by instinct, and puts on accordingly all
sail for the upper regions, generally in short rings.
Hawks make larger rings as a general rule, if, like these,
they are good ones. Those have but a bad chance with a

* " Falconry; its History, Claims, and Practice," by G. E. Freeman and F. H.
Salvin. London, 1859.

HERON-HAWKING. 225

good heron if they adopt the same tactics that he does in
mounting. This the two old hawks know full well. So
far they have been pretty near together, but, seeing the
prey beginning to mount, they separate, each their own
way, now taking a long turn down wind, and then
breasting the wind again. * De Ruyter' makes the best
rings, and after having gone a mile, there is a shout
* Now " De Ruyter" is above him !' and the hawk is seen
poising herself for a stoop ; down she comes, with closed
wings, like a bullet, and hits the heron ; it is too high
to see where, but the scream the quarry gives is
tremendous. Hurrah ! there 's a stoop for you ! Both
hawk and heron have descended some yards ; the former,
from the impetus of her stoop, much beneath the heron,
but she shoots up again to a level. In fact, it was a perfect
stoop. Though so near the heron, she does not attempt a
little stoop, but again heads the wind so that the heron
appears to be flying the hawk. ' Sultan* is now above
both, and makes her stoop, but not so good as her partner's.
However, she makes two quickly, and is within an ace
of catching ; but the good heron will not give an inch,
and ' Sultan' will have to give another ring for another
stoop. But where is ' De Ruyter' all this time ? She
has made a long ring, and is now a long way above
them. She makes another full stoop, and this time there
is no mistake about it, for she hits the heron so hard that
he is nearly stupefied. 'Sultan' joins in the fray and

G G

226 HERON-HAWKING.

catches, Whoo-whoo-o-p ! down they come. Down they
all three go together, till, just before reaching the ground,
the two old hawks let go of their prey, which falls bump.
Before he has had time to recover himself, in a moment
the hawks are on him, ' DC Ruyter' on the neck, and
< Sultan' on his body. Hurrah for the gallant hawks ! and
loud whoops proclaim his capture. ' Wouldn't take 100
for them/ says their owner, who has ridden well, judiciously
as well as hard, and has got up in time to save the heron's
life. He gives the hawks a pigeon, and puts the heron
between his knees in a position so that he can neither
spike him nor the hawks with his bill. He has two
beautiful long black feathers, which are duly presented to
Prince Alexander alas ! now no more who is well up
at the take. These feathers are the badge of honour
in heron-hawking in Holland, as the fox's brush is in
hunting in England. The hawks are fed up as speedily as
possible, the heron has a ring put round his leg, and is let
loose, evidently not knowing what to make of it.

"We hasten back as fast as we can, but the weather
being now hot, the herons move more by night than by
day. Many anxious eyes search the horizon for another.

" The two sets of falconers, with their hawks, place them-
selves about half a mile apart, to intercept the herons on
their passage back from their fishing-grounds.

" There is no lack of herons. The little wind there was
has fallen to a calm, and they come home higher. All the

HERON-HAWKING. 22/

better, for we have some good casts to fly. One is soon
f hooded off ' at, and, after a capital flight, is taken high in
the air. The pet hawks are now taken in hand 'De
Ruyter ' and * Sultan ;' and, as there is no wind, the owner
says he will fly at the first 'light one? that comes at all
fair. All is excitement when one is seen coming from the
heronry, and therefore unweighted. They are 'hooded off'
in his face ; he sees them directly, and proceeds to mount.
* Now, good, hawks, you will have some work to do before
you overtake him !' The knowing riders are down wind as
hard as they can go. Ring after ring is made, and yet the
hawks seem to gain but little on him. Still they are
flying like swallows: 'De Ruyter' makes a tremendous
ring, but still fails to get above him. Again and again they
ring, and have attained a great height. A scream of delight
is heard : they are above him ; * De Ruyter ' is at him !
A fine stoop, but the heron dodges out of the way. Now
for ' Sultan ;' but she misses too ; the heron is up like a
shot, and three or four rings have to be made before there
is another stoop. Another and another stoop, with loud
cheers from below. ' Sultan ' just catches him once, but
can't hold ; it seems still a doubtful victory, when ' De
Ruyter ' hits him hard; and, after two or three more
stoops, 'Sultan 1 catches him, amidst the excitement
of hurrahs and whoops ; a really good flight ; can't be
better, two and a half miles from where they were
' hooded off.'

228 THE WOODCOCK.

" Thus ended as good a day's sport as any one could wish
to see."

The heron, besides affording great sport with hawks, was
considered, when killed, a delicacy for the table. At the
ancient City feasts and entertainments to royalty, the heron
always appeared amongst the other good things ;* and from
the old " Household Books" it appears that the price usually
paid for this bird was xijd. Of late years the heron has
dropped out of the bill of fare, and no longer forms a
fashionable dish. One of the last records of its appearance
at table which we have met with, is in connection with the
feast which was given by the Executors of Thomas Sutton,
the founder of the London Charter House, on the i8th May,
1812, in the Hall of the Stationers' Company. "For this
repast were provided 32 neats' tongues, 40 stone of beef,
24 marrow-bones, i lamb, 46 capons, 32 geese, 4 pheasants,
12 pheasants' pullets, 12 godwits, 24 rabbits, 6 hearnshaws"
&c., &c.

Amongst the other " lang-nebbit things" which in-
terest both sportsman and gourmand, the Woodcock and
Snipe received almost as much attention in Shakespeare's
day as they do at the present time with this difference,
however, that where the gun is now employed, the gin or
springe was formerly the instrument of their death.

* Inland states, that at the feast given on the inthronisation of George Neville,
Archbishop of York, in the reign of Edward IV., no less than "400 Heron-
shawes " were served up !

A SPRINGE FOR WOODCOCKS. 22Q

" Four woodcocks in a dish."

Love's Labour } s Lost, Act iv. Sc. 3.

The woodcock, for some unaccountable reason, was sup-
posed to have no brains, and the name of this bird became
a synonym for a fool. It Is to this that Claudio alludes
when he says :

" Shall I not find a woodcock too?"

Mitch Ado about Nothing, Act v. Sc. I.
Again

" O this woodcock ! what an ass it is !"

Taming of the Shrew, Act i. Sc. 2.

Shakespeare has many allusions to the capture of this
bird by springe and gin

" Aye, springes to catch woodcocks."

Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 3.

In his " Natural History and Sport in Moray/' Mr. St.
John describes a springe with which he used to take both
snipe and woodcocks very successfully. It was made as
follows :

A. Rod like a mole-trap stick. B. Short piece of stick, c. Forked stick with one
end passed through the other. D. Straight stick. E. Bent stick. F. Hair-snare.

230 HOW TO MAKE A SPRINGE.

A, by pulling on B, presses it against the forked stick c,
which in turn is pressed against the upright stick D, and
this keeps it all in place. But on a bird stepping on the
forked stick C, the weight of the bird loosens its hold, and
the long stick A flies up, catching the victim in the snare,
which is laid flat on the forked stick c.

Then, as Shakespeare hath it,

u If the springe hold, the cock's mine."

Winters Talc, Act iv. Sc. 2.

Mr. A. E. Knox, in his " Game-Birds and Wild-Fowl," has
described a very similar trap, and his description is so
animated, while at the same time so instructive, that we
are tempted to overlook the similarity and quote his
words :

" We soon found many tracks of the woodcock on the
black mud ; and on one spot these, as well as the borings
of his beak, were very numerous. Here my companion
halted, and pulling out his knife, cut down a tall willow
rod, ' which he stuck firmly into the ground in nearly an
upright position, or perhaps rather inclining backwards.

" On the opposite side of the run he fixed a peg, so as to
project only a few inches above the surface ; to this he
fastened a slight stick about a foot long, attached loosely
with a tough string, much as the swingel of a flail is to its
handstaff : another branch of a willow was bent into an
arch, and both ends driven into the soft ground to a con-

THE GIN. 231

siderable depth on the opposite side of the track, and nearer
to the tall upright wand. To the top of the latter a string
was now fastened, the end of which was formed into a
large running noose ; while, about half way down, another
piece of stick, about six inches long, was tied by its
middle. The flexible wand was then bent forcibly down-
wards, one end of the little stick overhead was passed
under the arch, while it was retained in this position, and
at the same time the bow prevented from springing
upwards, by the other extremity being placed against a
notch at the end of the stick which had been fastened to
the peg on the other side of the run, across which it now
lay, two or three inches from the ground, and supported
the noose. This, in fact, constituted the trigger, which was
to be released when struck by the breast of the woodcock.
The old man constructed his trap in much less time than
I have taken to describe it. His last care was to weave
the sedges on either side of the run into a kind of screen,
so as to weir the woodcock into the snare, and this he
accomplished with much skill and expedition."

" We have caught the woodcock/*

Airs Well, Act iv. Sc. i.

Another method of taking this bird was with a steel
trap called " a gin :"

" Now is the woodcock near the gin."

Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc. 5.

232 THE WOODCOCK'S HEAD.

This trap, being commonly used now-a-days for rats, is

probably too well known to need a description here.

*.
" So strives the woodcock with the gin."

Henry VI. Part III. Act i. Sc. 4.

Under the head of " Wild-Fowl " we shall have occasion,
in a subsequent chapter, to allude to the opinion of
Pythagoras on the transmigration of souls, and to the
discussion on this subject in Twelfth Night > when the
clown portentously observes to Malvolio,

" Fear to kill a woodcock, lest thou dispossess the soul
of thy grandam. Fare thee well." Twelfth Night, Act iv.
Sc. 2.

The "woodcock's head" in Shakespeare's day, on account
of its shape, was a fashionable term for a tobacco-pipe.*
" Those who loved smoking sat on the stage-stools, with
their three sorts of tobacco, and their lights by them,
handing matches on the point of their swords, or sending
out their pages for real Trinidado. They actually practised
smoking under professors who taught them tricks ; and
the intelligence offices were not more frequented, no, nor
the pretty seamstresses' shops at the Exchange, than the
new tobacco office." -f-

It is somewhat remarkable that while Shakespeare's
contemporary, Ben Jonson, has founded whole scenes upon

* Mvery Man Out of his Humour, Act iii. Sc v ^

f Thornbury, "Shakespeare's England," vol. 4**pp. 169, 170.

THE SNIPE. 233

the practice of smoking, he himself has made no mention
of it Some commentators have brought this forward as a
proof of the comparative earliness of many of his dramas,
but smoking was in general use long before Shakespeare
left London, and he drew his manners almost entirely from
his own age, making mention of masks, false hair, poman-
ders, and fardingales, all of which were introduced about
the same time. But apropos of "the woodcock's head,"
we are wandering away from Shakespeare's birds.

The Snipe (Scolopax gallinago} has been less frequently
noticed by him than the woodcock. Indeed we have been
unable to find more than one passage in which it is
mentioned.

lago, alluding to Roderigo, says :-^~

" For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane,
If I would time expend with such a snipe,

But for my sport and profit."

Othello, Act i. Sc. 3.

The speaker being evidently of opinion that a snipe was
too insignificant a bird to the sportsman to warrant his
taking much trouble to kill it, except for mere sport.

That there was a good deal more "sport" than " profit "
is extremely likely ; for it is difficult to believe that the
sportsmen of Shakespeare's day, with guns such as we
have described, fired with either fuze or flint, could have
successfully stopped the erratic flight of a snipe. That

234

THE SNIPE.

large numbers of snipe were brought to market, and
appeared at table, in Shakespeare's time, is clear from the
numerous entries in the old " Household Book," where
their value is stated to have been " after iii a j d." There
can be little doubt, however, that these were not "shot
birds," but were taken in snares and nets, as our modern
fowlers take plovers and other fen birds.

CHAPTER VIII.

WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL.

the general reader these terms may appear
synonymous, but to the sportsman and naturalist
they have a very different signification. Under the
head of " wild-fowl " may be placed the various species
of wild geese, swans, and ducks, which, though often
found at sea, evince a partiality for fresh water, rear
their young in the neighbourhood of fresh water, and, as
an article of food, are especially sought after by the
amateur for sport, and by the professional gunner for profit ;
while the group of "sea-fowl" may be said to include
the gulls, terns, guillemots, auks, cormorants, and various
other birds, which, making the sea their home, rear their
young upon its shelving beach or frowning cliffs, and,
except on an emergency, are seldom cooked and eaten.

Shakespeare has given us a peep at both. At one time
we see

" Strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds.'*

Cymbeline> Act i. Sc. 4 ;

236 A FLIGHT OF FOWL.

at another

" A flight of fowl

Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,"

Titus Aitdronicns, Act v. Sc. 3.

Anon the scene changes, and leaving the green fields of
which FalstarT "babbled/ 1 and the " great pool" with
its "swan's nest" (Cymbdinc, Act iii. Sc. 4), we are

led to

" That pale, that whitcfaccd shore,

Whose foot spurns back the ocean's roaring tides."

King John, Act ii. Sc. I ;

there to contemplate " the sea-mclls " on the rock
(Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 2), or watch the movements of the
" insatiate cormorant " (Richard II. Act ii. Sc. i).

Nor are we -left entirely to our own reflections in these
situations. Some trait or other is noticed in the habits
of the bird alluded to, some curious instinct pointed out.
We pause insensibly to admire the appropriate haunts in
which the poet has discovered the fowl, and carry out
with him, in thought, the crafty device of the fowler to
which a passing allusion is made.

Naturalists have frequently observed that when any of
the diving-ducks are winged or injured, they generally
make for the open water, and endeavour to escape by
diving or swimming away, while those which do not
excel in diving, usually make for the shore when wounded,
and, as Shakespeare tells us, " creep into sedges."

DUCK-HUNTING. 237

"Alas ! poor hurt fowl, now will he creep into sedges."
Miich Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Sc. i.

" Duck-hunting," i.e., hunting a tame duck in the water
with spaniels, was a favourite amusement in Shakespeare's
day. " Besides the clear streams that ran into the Thames,
old London boasted of innumerable wells, now lost, sullied,
or bricked up. There was Holy-well, Clement's-well,
Clerken-well, Skinners-well, Fay-well, Fede-well, Leden-
well, and Shad-well. West Smithfield had its horse-pond,
its pool of Dame Annis le Cleare, and the Perilous Pond.
The duck-hunting in these pools, and at Islington, was
a favourite amusement with the citizens." *

" And ' hold-fast ' is the only dog, my duck."

Henry V, Act ii. Sc. 3.

The sense of smell and hearing is possessed by most
wild-fowl in an extraordinary degree, and, except under
favourable circumstances favourable that is to the shooter
they display what Falstaff would call " a want of valour,"
and, as soon as they become aware of the approach of the
enemy, ignominiously take to flight :

" Falstaff. There is no more valour in that Poins than
in a wild duck" Henry IV. Part I. Act ii. Sc. 2.

But, if the better part of valour be discretion, Poins, like
the wild duck, displays the better part :

* Thornbury, "Shakespeare's England/' i. p. ai; see also p. 33.

238 THE STALKING-HORSE.

" Claps on his sea wing, and like a doting mallard,
Leaving the fight in height, flies after it."

Antony and Cleopatra, Act iii. Sc. 10.
To swim like a duck is proverbial

" Stcphano. Here ; swear then how thou escapest.

Trinatlo. Swam ashore, man, like a duck ; I can swim
like a duck, I '11 be sworn." Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 2.

An ancient device for getting within shot of wild-fowl
was " the stalking-horse." Hence the allusion

" Stalk on, stalk on, the fowl sits."

Much Ado about Nothing ^ Act ii. Sc. 3.
And again

" He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the
presentation of that he shoots his wit." As You Like It,
Act v. Sc. 4.

Gervase Markham tells us * that " sometime it so
happeneth that the fowl are so shie there is no getting
a shoot at them without ' a stalking-horse,' which must be
some old jade trained up for that purpose, who will
gently, and as you will have him, walk up and down in
the water which way you please, plodding and eating on
the grass that grows therein. You must shelter yourself
and gun behind his fore-shoulder, bending your body
down low by his side, and keeping his body still full

* " The Gentleman's Recreation." 1595.

THE STALKING-HORSE. 239

between you and the fowl. Being within shot, take your
level from before the fore pait of the horse, shooting as

it were between the horse's neck and the water

Now to supply the want of a stalking-horse, which will
take up a great deal of time to instruct and make fit for
this exercise, you may make one of any piece of old
canvass, which you must shape into the form of an horse,
with the head bending downwards, as if he grazed. You
may stuff it with any light matter ; and do not forget to
paint it of the color of an horse, of which the brown is

the best It must be made so portable that

you may bear it with ease in one hand, moving it so as
it may seem to graze as you go."

Sometimes the stalking-horse was made in shape of an
ox ; sometimes in the form of a stag ; and sometimes to
represent a tree, shrub, or bush. In every case it had a
spike at the bottom, to stick into the ground while the
fowler took his aim.

In the " Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII."
are various entries referring to stalking-horses, all of
which appear to refer to the live animal ; and there is one
entry relating to a stalking-ox.

The gun used on these occasions was either the

" birding-piece " already described,* or the " caliver."

Shakespeare has appropriately mentioned the latter in

connection with wild ducks, in the first part of his

* See pp. 164, 165.

2 4 THE CALIVER.

Henry IV., where Falstaff speaks of cowards "such as
fear the report of a ' caliver ' worse than a struck fowl or
a hurt wild-duck." Henry IV. Part I. Act iv. Sc. 2,

The derivation of the word " caliver " is not quite clour,
unless it be the same weapon as the "culverin," in which
case it may be derived from the French conlcnvrin^ adder-
like. In Cotgrave's French and English Dictionary, 1660,
the word is spelled "calcever," and translated "harque-
buse." In Bailey's "Dictionarium Britannicum," 1736,
the caliver is described as "a small gun used at sea." In
Worcester's "Dictionary of the English Language/ 1 1859,
"caliver" is said to be corrupted from caliber, and de-
scribed as i. a hand-gun or large pistol, an arquebuse ;
2. a kind of light matchlock. In Sender's " Dictionmiirc
d'Etymologie Fran<jaise," 1862, we find "couleuvre du
L. colubra ; It. colubro ; Prov. colobrc ; du L. masc. coluber*
bri ; D. coulciwreau, coulcuvrine, ou coulevrine> piice d'ar-
tillerie; cp. les termes serpentin, et All. fddschlange"

From these various explanations, as well as from that
given by Archdeacon Nares in his " Glossary/' it would
seem to have been a military rather than a sporting
weapon. The best description which we have met with is
that given by Sir S. D. Scott.* He says :

" The Caliver was a kind of short musket or harquebus,
fired by a matchlock, and from its lightness did not re-
quire a rest."

* " The British Army : its Origin, Progress, and Equipment," vol, ii, p. 386,

THE CALIVKR. 241

" * Put me a calivcr in Wart's hands,' says Falstaff,
reviewing 1 his recruits, meaning thereby that Wart, who
was a weak, undersized fellow, was not capable of manag-
ing a heavier weapon. It was sometimes called arqncbusc
dc calibre > and was in fact an arquebus of specified bore,
having derived its name from the corruption of calibre
into caliver. * I remember/ writes Edmund York, an
officer who had served in the Netherlands, and was ap-
pointed by the Privy Council to report on the best mode
of organizing the militia of London, in expectation of the
Spanish invasion, ' when I was first brought up in Pie-
mount, in the Countie of Brisack's Regiment of the old
Bandes, we hud our particular calibre of Harquebuze to
our Regiment, both that for one bullett should serve all the
harquebuses of our Regiment, as for that our Collonell
would not be deceaved of his armes ; of which worde
Calibre, came first that unapt term we used to call a har-
quolwy-e a calliver, which is the height of the bullett; and
not of the piece. Before the battell of Mouutgunter
(Moncontonr, A.D. 1569) the Prynces of the Religion
caused seven thousand harquebuses to be made, all of one
calibre, which were called Ihirguchu&c dtt calibre etc Man~
atcnr Ic frincc. So as, I think, some man not understand-
ing I'Yench brought hither the name of the height of the
bullet of the piece ; which worde calibre is yet contynued
with our good cannoniers/ "*

* .Viv flu* Import in Maithmd'H " Hii. of London/' p. 50 j,

1 I

242 THE CALIVER.

A contemporary military writer, Sir John Smythe, gives
his opinion that the term was derived from " the height of
the bullet" Lc. the bore. He says, " The calivcr is only a
harqucbusc ; savingc, that it is of greater circuite, or bullet,
than the other is of ; wherefore the Frenchman doth call it a
piece dc calibre, which is as much as to saic, a piece of bigger
circuite.* I would that all harquebuses throughout the field
should be of one caliver and height, to the intent that every
soldier on the lack of bullets might use his fellows' bullets."

There are two specimens in the Tower Collection, of a
caliver and a musket of the sixteenth century, from
Penshurst Place, Kent. The length of the former (here
figured) is 4 ft, 10 in., the latter 5 ft. $% * n 't

Notwithstanding the " bigger circuite," the musket was
considered twice as efficient in its effects, and Sir Roger
Williams corroborates the fact, admitting the advantage
possessed by the caliver of being more rapidly discharged.
" The calivers may say they will discharge two shot for
one, but cannot denie that one musket-shot doth more hurt
than two calivers 1 shot." J

* "An Answer to the Opinion of Captain Rarwickc," (Ilnrl. MSS., No. 4,685.)
t Their numbers, in Mr. Hewitt's official Tffwer Ctittitogxe, arc Jjj and Jf ,
J "Brief Discourse of Wnr, 1590."

THK CALIVKK. 343

In the Lancashire J*ieutcnancy is preserved the price of
the caliver and its appendages, and the equipment of the
bearer, in 1574 : "Kverie calift his peece, flaxc & touche-
box xiiij H ; his morion vij" viij a , sworde & dagger vij 8 , his
hose viij", his showes ij fl , his shirtt iiij 8 , his dublctt uij", his
coate xij" iiij a , money in his purse xxvj 8 viij' 1 ."

For some unexplained reason, the price of a caliver,
which, with flask and touch-box, was charged only i^s. in
1574, in 1576 cost 24.?, :

" Itfii a calliu xxiiij 8 /'

In 1581, we find the charges for 4< A Shoot: Caliti,
flaxe, tuche box & scorier xvj ; " and in a " Schedule of
such rates of money as armor may be provided for at the
Cyttic of Chester, for such souldiors as shall ropairc
thither out of the county of Lancaster," the caliver fur-
nished with flask, and touch-box, laces and moulds,
xiij 8 vj a .*

In 1620, a caliver, with bandoleers,t is valued at 14^.
icW.J According to a passage in Hrant6mc, it would
apj>ear that the Spaniards originated this improvement in
fire-anus, " la fajon ct Fusagc des belles harquebuses dc
calibre ; " and that it was introduced by Vhillippe Strozzi
into the French infantry, under Charles IX., but it was

* IVck'a " DtiHul. Cur."

t Hmulolcdra couHiKtcd of u bolt of Iwlhwr worn over Ihe l<ift houldr, on wliich
WIT husptmcltjcl little metal, wooden, leather, or horn cylinders, each containing
omt c'hur#u. ICxamplus nru prtjiicrvcnl in the Towtsr of London.

J Hurl. MSS,, No. 5,iCH;.

linuilomo, "(Kuvren/ 1 toiu, vii, ip. 4*5 -409.

244 TI1K tfl'ALK.

evidently not adopted by the English troops till several
years afterwards.

It will readily be understood by all sportsmen, that with
such a weapon as the u calivcr," much practice and
patience must have been requisite to bring it within range
of the fowl, and use it with effect. The successful use of
a modern punt-gun necessitates an amount of skill and
judgment which those only who have tried it can really
appreciate. How much greater must have been the
difficulties of the wild-fowler of the sixteenth century,
whose rude gun and inferior powder necessitated a much
nearer approach to the birds ! We can sympathize with
Cardinal Beaufort, when he exclaimed

" Believe me, cousin Gloster,
Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly,
We had had more sport/*

Henry VI. Part II. Act ii. Sc, i.

The wild-fowler who could not succeed in " stalking "
and shooting the birds in the way we have described,
often employed another method of securing them, namely,
by means of " a stale," as it was termed. This was a
stuffed bird of the species the fowler wished to decoy, and
which was set up in as natural a position as possible, either
before a net or in the midst of several "springes," By
imitating the call of the passing birds, the fowler would
draw their attention to the " stale/' and as soon as they

THK STALK. 245

alighted near it cither the net was pulled over them, or
they were caught in the snares.

Beaumont and Fletcher speak of "stales to catch kites"
(//#;//. Lieut. tiL 2). Sometimes a live bird was pegged
down instead of a stuffed one, and was doubtless much
more effective, since " one bird caught, served as a stale to
bring in more."*

Shakespeare has employed the word " stale " in this
its primary sense, in his Comedy of lirrors (Act n. Sc. r),
in 27/6' Tempest (Act iv, Sc. i), and in the Taming of
the Shrew (Act iii, Sc. i). But commentators do not
seem to be agreed on its meaning. In Act i. Sc. r, of the
last-mentioned play, where it occurs again, it certainly
admits of a different interpretation.

Instructions for making a "stale" will be found in
"The Experienced Fowler" (London, 1704). At page 18
of this curious little volume, the author says: "You may
shoot a lark or some other bird, take out the entrails, stuff
him with tow, and dry him in an oven, his wings set in a
flying posture ; and so you may be furnished at all times,"
This device was chiefly resorted to for taking the ruff
and reeve, and other fen birds, which fetched good prices
for the table. Now-a-days, the bird-catchers who take
linnets, goldfinches, and other small songsters, almost
invariably peg down live decoy birds with a foot or so
of string to the legs, in the centre of a pair of clap-nets.

But to return to wild-fowl. 'Puck compares the fright -

* Sidney, "Aivwlia," ii. p. IMCJ,

246 WILD-GKKSK.

ened varlets who fled at the sight of Bottom with the
ass's head to "wild-geese that the creeping fowler eye."
Midsummer Night's Dream, Act iii. Sc. 2.

"They flock together in consent, like so many wild-
geese." Henry IV. Part IT. Act v. Sc. I.

And Marcius, addressing the retreating Romans before
Corioli, reproaches them as having no more courage than

geese :

" You souls of geese,

That bear the shapes of men, how have you run
From slaves that apes would beat I"

CoriolanuS) Act i. Sc. 4.

The Fool in King Lear reminds us of the old proverb

" Winter's not gone yet, if the wild-geese fly that way."

King Lear, Act ii. Sc, 4.

It is not surprising that, to so common a bird, nume-
rous allusions should be made in the Plays of Shake-
speare, and, in addition to the passages quoted in Chapter
VII.,* many others might here be mentioned, were it not
that the repetition might prove tedious.

It was anciently believed that the Bernacle Goose
(Anscr dcrjiicla) was generated from the Bernacle or
Barnacle (Lcpas anatifera). Shakespeare has alluded to
the metamorphosis in the following line :

" And all be turned to barnacles."

Tewfesf, Act iv. So, r.

* See ante, p. 197.

BAKNACLKS. 247

It is strange that in matters concerning the marvellous,
even men of education will take pains to deceive them-
selves, and, instead of investigating nature with a " learned
spirit," give a license to ill-directed imagination, and credit
absurdities. When such men are so credulous, how can
we wonder at the superstitions of the illiterate ?

The first phase of the story in question is, that certain
trees, resembling willows, more particularly in one of the
Orkneys, Pomona, produced at the ends of their branches
small swelled balls, containing the embryo of a goose
suspended by the bill, which, when ripe, fell off into the
sea and took wing.

So long ago as the twelfth century, the story was pro-

tltf ItAUNACM' (KIOSK

militated by Giralclus Cambrensis, in his " Topographia
Hiberuia:," and Minister, Saxo Grammattcus, Scaliger,
Fulgosus, Bishop Leslie, and Glaus Magnus, all attested to

HARNAC'LKS.

the truth of this monstrous absurdity. Gcsncr, loo, and
Aldrovandus * may be also cited.

TIM HAKNAflM'.

', TKHI'. /'Vr/ ,lMwt'ittiitlt\,

A second phase or modification of the, story is thai
given by Boecc, the oldest Scottish historian : he denies
that the geese (Scottici, Claiks) grow on trees by their
bills, as some believe, but that, as his own researches and
personal experience prove, they are first produced in the
form of worms, in the substance of old trees or limber
floating in the sea ; for such a tree, cast on shore in 1480,
was brought to the laird, who ordered it to be sawn
asunder, when there appeared a multitude of worms,
" throwing themselves out of sundry holes and bores of

* Aldrovandi Opera Oinina : Ornithologist, 3 vols. Hononise.

BARNACLES. 249

the tree ; some of them were rude, as they were new-
shapen ; some had both head, feet, and wings, but they
had no feathers ; some of them were pcrfect-shapen fowls.
At last the people, having this tree each day in more
admiration, brought it to the kirk of St. Andrew's, beside
the town of Tyre, where it yet remains to our days.' 1
Other instances he adduces by way of proof, and at length
he comes to the conclusion, that the production of these
geese from fruits is the erroneous opinion of the ignorant ;
it being ascertained that " they are produced only by the
nature of the ocean sea, which is the cause and production
of many wonderful things."

In this view he was supported by Turner and others:
" When," says Turner, " at a certain time an old ship, or
a plank, or a pine-mast rots in the sea, something like a
little fungus at first makes its appearance, which at length
puts on the manifest form of birds ; afterwards these are
clothed with feathers, and at last become living and flying
fowl. (" Avium Pnucip. I list./' Art. " ANHKR/') Turner,
however, does not give up the goose-tree, but informs Gesner
that it is a different bird from the brent or bcrnicle goose,
which takes Us origin from it. (Gesner, " I)e Avibus," iii,
p. 107.) Passing a host of other authorities, with their
accumulated proofs, and the depositions of unimpeachable
witnesses, we may come to Gerard, who, in *597> pub-
lished the following account in his " Ilerball, or Gcnerall
Historic of I'lantcs " :

K K

250

BAKNACLKS.

" There is a small island in Lancashire, called the Pile
of Foulders, wherein are found the broken pieces of old
and bruised ships, some whereof have been cast thither by
shipwracke, and also the trunks or bodies, with the
branches, of old and rotten trees, cast up there likewise ;
whereon is found a certaine spume, or froth, that in time
breedeth unto certaine shels, in shape like those of the
muskle, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour,
wherein is contained a tiling in forme like a lace of silkc,

Tint 1IARNACI.K tiOOSU TKHlt. J?rtiM tlrt

finely woven as it were together, of a whitish colour ; one
ende whereof is fastened unto the inside of the .shell, even

BARNACLKS. 25 I

as the fish of oistcrs and musklcs arc ; the other cnclc is
made fast unto the belly of a rude masse or lumpe, which
in time cometh to the shape and forme of a bird : when it
is perfectly formed the shell gapeth open, and the first
thing 1 that appearcth is the foresaid lace or string ; next
come the legs of the bird hanging out, and as it groweth
greater, it opcncth the shell by degrees, till at length it is
all come forth, and hangeth only by the bill : in short
space after, it cometh to full maturitie, and falleth into
the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowle
bigger than a mallard and lesser than a goose, having
blacke legs and bill or beake, and feathers blackc and
white, spotted in such manner as is our magge-pie, called
in some places a pie-annet, which the people of Lancashire
call by no other name than a tree- goose ; which place
aforesaide, and all those parts adjoining, do so much
abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for
three-pence. For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it
please them to repaire unto me, and I shall satisfie them
by the tcstimonie of good witnesses,"

Meyer, who wrote a treatise on this " bird without
father or mother,' 1 states that he opened a hundred of the
goose-bearing shells, and in all of them found the rudi-
ments of the bird completely formed.

Sir Robert Murray, in an account of the barnacle
published in the " Philosophical Transactions/* says that
"these shells are hung at the tree by a neck, longer than

252 BARNACLKS.

the shell, of a filmy substance, round and hollow, and
creased not unlike the windpipe of a chicken, spreading
out broadest where it is fastened to the tree, from which
it seems to draw and convey the matter which serves for
the growth and vegetation of the shell, and the little bird
within it.

" In every shell that I opened," he continues, " I found
a perfect sea-fowl ; the little bill like that of a goose ; the
eyes marked ; the head, neck, breast, wing, tail, and feet
formed ; the feathers everywhere perfectly shaped, and
blackish coloured ; and the feet like those of other water-
fowl, to my best remembrance,"

It is not to be supposed, however, that there were none
who doubted this marvellous story, or who took steps to
refute it. Belon, so long ago as iSSt, and others after
him, treated it with ridicule, and a refutation may be found
in Willughby's " Ornithology," which was edited by Ray
in 1678. An excellent account of the Barnacle was pub-
lished by Mr. Thompson in the " Philosophical Transac-
tions " for 1835, while the latest and most complete treatise
on the subject is Mr. Darwin's " Monograph of the Cirrhi-
pedia," published by the Ray Society,

What, then, is the marine production from which the
Barnacle Goose was thought to be engendered ? Merely
certain shell-covered cirrhipedous creatures, called Bar-
nacles (Lepas anatifera Linn.), which are to be found
adhering in clusters to floating logs of wood, the timbers

BARNACLKS.

253

of wrecked vessels, the sides of rocks, and other objects
which afford a secure attachment.

Each individual consists of a body enclosed in a shell,
not unlike that of a mussel in figure, and of a fleshy
worm-like stem or peduncle, the extremity of which is
fixed to the object upon which the animal is stationed.
This stem is tubular, tolerably firm, and has a fleshy feel ;

it is composed exteriorly of a fine coriaceous outer mem-
brane, bedewed with a watery fluid, and beneath this, of
an inner membrane of considerable density, apparently
consisting 1 of muscular fibres, running for the most part in

254 BARNACLES.

parallel longitudinal lines. That these fibres are muscular
we may conclude from the animal having the power of
contracting the stem, or of twisting it in various directions.
Within the tube there is a fluid secretion.

The shell is composed of five pieces, four of which are
lateral, two on each side ; while between the valves down the
back is interposed a single narrow slip uniting them together.
Their colour is white, more or less tinged with purplish blue.
Along the anterior margin the valves are but partially
connected by a membrane, leaving a large fissure, through
which emerge the plumose and jointed arms or cirrhi.

The food of the Barnacles consists of small Crustacea and
mollusca. These are entangled by the many-jointed plu-
mose cirrhi, which are perpetually thrown out and folded
again, so as to serve the purpose of a casting-net, and drag
the prey to the mouth, where it is seized and crushed.

With regard to the reproduction of these creatures, the
eggs are seen enclosed at certain times within the hollow
of the peduncle, where they appear of a blue colour, and
render the pedicle opaque ; from this they pass through a
minute conduit into the cavity of the mantle, where they
are arranged like two leaflets, attached to the septum
between the body and the peduncle. They are enclosed
in a film, out of which they fall when ready to hatch.

It is a remarkable fact, as we learn from Mr.
Thompson*, that the young barnacles and other cirrhi-

* " Philosophical Transactions/' I.e.

BARNACLES, 255

peda on emerging from the egg are quite free, and very
different from their parents. "They possess locomo-
tive organs, consisting of a large anterior pair of limbs,
provided with a sucker, and hooks for the purpose of
mooring themselves at pleasure to various objects and
also of six pairs of swimming-limbs, acting in concert like
oars. Besides these, they have a tail bent under the body,
consisting of two joints and terminating in four bristles :
this is an additional locomotive organ. Thus endowed,
they swim along in a series of bounds, the oars and tail
giving in measured time successive impulses. They have,
moreover, large lateral eyes set on peduncles, and the body
is covered with a sort of shell, as in certain Crustacea (e.g.
Cyclops), which they closely resemble," and for which Mr.
Thompson at first mistook them.

In due time a metamorphosis takes place ; the shell is
thrown off, the eyes disappear, the limbs become trans-
formed to cirrhi, the regular valves develop themselves,
the peduncle shoots forth, and the animal becomes per-
manently fixed.

Believing these little creatures to be the larvse of some
crustaceous animal, some of them, says Mr. Thompson,
were collected in the spring, and in order to see what
changes they might undergo, were kept in a glass
vessel, covered by such a depth of sea-water, that they
could be examined at any time by means of a common
magnify ing-glass. They were taken May ist, and on the
night of the 8th the author had the satisfaction to find

356 BARNACLES.

that two of them had thrown off their exuviae, and,
wonderful to say, were firmly adhering to the bottom of
the vessel, and changed to young barnacles. In this stage
the sutures between the valves of the shell and of the
operculum were visible, and the movements of the arms
of the animal within, although these last were not com-
pletely developed : the eyes also were still perceptible,
although the principal part of the colouring-matter ap-
peared to have been thrown off with the exuviae. On the
roth another individual was seen in the act of throwing
off its shell, and attaching itself as the others to the bot-
tom of the glass. It only remains to add, that as the
secretion of the calcareous matter goes on in the compart-
ments destined for the valves of the shelly covering, the
eyes gradually disappear, from the increasing opacity
thence produced, and the visual ray is extinguished for
the remainder of the animal's life ; the arms at the same
time acquire their usual ciliated appearance. Thus, then,
an animal originally natatory and locomotive, and provided
with a distinct organ of sight, becomes permanently and
immovably fixed, and its optic apparatus obliterated ; and
furnishes not only a new and important physiological fact,
but is the only instance in nature of so extraordinary a
metamorphosis.

We have been thus led to dilate upon barnacles in con-
nection with Shakespeare's allusion to them, at somewhat
greater length than we should otherwise have done, on
account of the interest which attaches to the old story,

WILD-FOWL. 357

handed down through so many centuries, and because
we have looked into many books in vain for a plain
account of its origin, and a modern description of the
cirrhiped devoid of scientific technicalities.

With this apology, then, to the reader, we return to the
birds.

The following dialogue between Malvolio and the
Clown, in Twelfth Night, concerning wild-fowl, has refer-
ence to the theory of Pythagoras on the subject of the
transmigration of souls, and is quite as applicable to birds
in general as to wild-fowl in particular :

" Clo. What is the opinion of Pythagoras concerning
wild-fowl ?

MaL That the soul of our grandam might haply
inhabit a bird.

Clo. What thinkest thou of his opinion ?

MaL I think nobly of the soul, and no way approve
his opinion.

Clo. Fare thee well : remain thou still in darkness : thou
shalt hold the opinion of Pythagoras ere I will allow
of thy wits ; and fear to kill a woodcock, lest thou dis-
possess the soul of thy grandam. Fare thee well."
Twelfth Night, Act iv. Sc. 2.*

* The doctrine of Pythagoras is again alluded to by Gratiano, who says :
" Thou almost mak'st roe waver in my faith,
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves

Into the trunks of men."

Merchant of Venice^ Act iv. Sc. i.

L L

2$$ THE LOOX.

Amongst the wild-fowl may be classed the various
species of divers and grebes which frequent our shores
and harbours, especially in winter, and which afford good
sport to the gunner, by their wonderful power of diving
long distances in their efforts to escape.

The provincial name of " loon " (Macbeth, Act v. Sc. 3)
is applied both to a diver and to a grebe. On many parts
of the coast the red-throated diver (Colymbus septcntrio-
nalis) is known as the "loon," "speckled loon," and
u sprat loon." In Norfolk, the name is applied to the
great-crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus).

Shakespeare employs the term " loon " as synonymous
with " coward ; " and if we call to mind the habits of the
two birds to which the same name has been applied, it is
certainly not ill bestowed upon one who lacks courage to
face an enemy.

Another species of grebe is referred to by Shakespeare
in his Venus and Adonis :

fi Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave,
Who, being look'd on, ducks as quickly in."

This is the little grebe, or dabchick (Podiceps minor).
In some parts of the country we have heard it called
"df dapper," but it was not until we had met with the
passage above quoted that the meaning of the word
became apparent.
On the subject of " loons," the Rev. H. Jones has some

THE CORMORANT. 259

appropriate remarks in a volume of essays entitled " Holi-
day Papers" (p. 65). "The great-crested grebe, or loon,"
he says, " is a giant compared to our little friend the dab-
chick, and altogether makes a more respectable appear-
ance, both in picture and pond. The habits and figure
of the two birds, though, are much the same. There are
numbers of loons on the ' broads ' of Norfolk. Indeed it
is in East Anglia that I have most especially watched the
dabchick. These loons, like the lesser grebes, incubate
and leave their eggs in the wet, and meet with the
same ridiculous failure when they attempt to walk.
Like them, they are capital divers, and begin from the

Close to the divers in the natural system of birds come
:he cormorants, whose powers of swimming are in no way
nferior to those of the species we have just named.
They swim so low in the water that nothing but the
lead, neck, and top of the back appear above the surface.
The tail, composed of stiff elastic feathers, is submerged
md used as a rudder, and the wings as oars. The address
yith which they dive, and the rapidity of their movements,
ire wonderful ; no less so than the pertinacity with which
.hey pursue their prey. Voracious in the extreme,

" Insatiate cormorant."

Richard II. Act ii. Sc. I ;

,hey are unwearied and active fishers, following their prey

260 FISHING WITH CORMORANTS.

under water like the otter, only coming to the surface
occasionally for breath.

Indeed 'the voracity of this bird, which, doubtless,
suggested the name cornwranus, has become so proverbial,
that a man of large appetite is often likened to a cor-
morant.

In this sense Shakespeare has frequently employed the
word as an adjective, and we find such expressions as

" The cormorant belly/*

Coriolanus, Act i. Sc. i.

'* This cormorant war."

Troilits and Cressida, Act ii. Sc. 2.

And

" Cormorant devouring time."

Loves Labour 's Lost, Act i. Sc. i.

Ravenous as the cormorant is, it is easily tamed, and
becomes very attached and familiar. The use of trained
cormorants for fishing is very ancient, and is believed to
have originated with the Chinese.* The practice has
been known in England, however, for many centuries.
Ogleby, ^vho went on an embassy to China in the time
of James I., and who published an account of his travels
on his return, describes the way in which the Chinese take

* In China, at the present day, an allied species, Ph. sinensis, is reared and
trained to fish.

THE KIXG'S CORMORANTS. 26l

fish with cormorants. James himself, \vho was a great
sportsman, kept trained cormorants for many years, and
was accustomed to travel about the country with them,
fishing as he went.

\Ve have seen a curious MS. diary * in the British
Museum, written in old French, by Hans Jacob Wurmser
v. Vendenheym, who accompanied Lewis Frederick, Duke
of Wurtemberg, in his diplomatic mission to England in
1610, from which it appears that the Duke, proceeding by
Ware, Royston, Cambridge, and Newmarket, arrived at
Thetford on the /th of May,-j- where King James the First
was then amusing himself with hunting, hawking, and
fishing with cormorants.

The entry with reference to the cormorants is as
follows :

Lundy THETFORD.

*S. E. soupa dcrechef avecq sa Ma te . Lesquel en sortans
dc table, entrcrcnt en carrosse pour allcr a la rivtire,
on Us vircnt des Cormorants, oyseau qui par signe que
maistre qui les addressee leur donne, se plangent sous
Pcaiix et prcnjient des Anguilles ct antre poisson ; lequel
anssy par signe Von le faict rcndir et vomir toits vifs,

* This diary is amongst the additional MSS. in the British Museum. It is
bound in soft parchment, and entered in the catalogue as ** Wurmser, H. J. :
Travels with Louis, Count (?) of Wurtemberg, 20,001,"

f The presence of the King at Thetford at this date, as on other occasions, is
recorded in the "Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King
James the First," as published in four volumes by John Nichols, F.S.A., in 1828.

262 THE KING'S CORMORANTS.

chose bicn mernidlcitsc a *voir. Snr toutc chose estoit It
sages discours de sa Ma: e trcs admirable'"

The King had a regular establishment for his cormorant
on the river at Westminster, and created a new office
" Master of the Royal Cormorants," which office was firs
held by John Wood, as appears from various document,
in the Record Office. Amongst other entries, for a know
ledge of which I am indebted to Mr. F. H. Salvin, th<
distinguished falconer, are the following ;

"No. i, James L, 1611, April n. To John Wood, the
sum of $o, in respect he hath been at extraordinary
charge in bringing up and training of certain fowls called
cormorants, and making of them fit for the use of fishing,
to be taken to him of His Majesty's free gift and reward.
By writ, dated the 5th day of April, 1611.

"No. 2, May 27th, 1612. Payment to the said John
Wood for getting cormorants from the north.

"No. 3, August 3ist, 1618. James I. to Robert Wood.
Advance of 66 13.5-. 4^., in part payment of the sum of
.286 due in respect of the cormorant houses, and making
nine ponds, &c, at Westminster, the ground called the
Vine-garden having been taken upon lease of the Lord
Danvers.

["In this document/' says Mr. Salvin, "this Wood is
described as keeper of His Majesty's cormorants, ospreys,
and otters. It is therefore clear that the fishing-hawk was

THE KING'S CORMORANTS. 263

tried, and as we hear so little about it afterwards, there
can be no doubt but that it proved a failure, which,
indeed, might have been expected, as the bird is what
falconers would call an habitual ' carrier.' Neither do
the otters seem to have answered. Vines were grown in
Surrey for wine in ancient times, and I wonder If this
vine-garden was for that purpose/']

" No. 4, February 28th, 1619. To John Wood, whom
HisJMajesty heretofore appointed to attend the French
ambassadors, with the cormorants sent by His Majesty's
good brother, the French King, the sum of ,215, for so
much by him disbursed and laid out for his charges
incident to the performance of the said service, over and
above the sum of 50, impressed unto him, for and
towards the said charges, appearing by his bill, of the
particulars thereof, delivered in upon oath, and allowed
by us and the rest of the Commissioners of the Treasury.
By writ dated the i8th July, 1609, and by confirmation
dated the last of July, 1618.

" I4th October, 1619. To Robert Wood, whom His
Majesty intendeth to send, with divers cormorants, to
his good cousin, the Duke of Lorraine, the sum of 60,
by way of an imprest towards defraying the expenses in
that journey. By writ, dated 7th October, 1619.

"28th August, 1624. To Robert Wood, the sum of
98 Ss. 6d., in full satisfaction of the charge and loss
sustained by Luke Wood, in his late travels, with three

364 THE KING S CORMORANTS.

cormorants, to Venice, having been stayed in his passage
thither, and his cormorants taken away from him by the
Duke of Savoy."

[" From these two documents," says Mr. Salvin, " it
would appear that cormorant fishing was likely to have
become fashionable upon the continent, if poor Wood and
his birds had not come to grief.

"The civil wars in the next reign extinguished the
office of The Master of the Royal Cormorants, and his
assistants, and in the Record Office we find this petition
from poor old Mr. Wood, who appears to have been
rather hard-up and neglected in his old age.

u t A prayer of Richard Wood, of Walton- on-Thames,
Surrey, to Charles II., for restoration to his place as cor-
morant keeper, which he held, he says, from King James's
first coming to England, to the late wars, in which he
served as a soldier, but being now ninety-five years old,
has been forced to retire to a dwelling at Walton.' "*]

" A document in the State Paper Office, sealed with the
royal signet, and addressed to the 'Treasurer of the
Chamber ' for the time being, authorizes him to pay unto
John Harris, gentleman, His Majesty 's cormorant keeper,
for his repairing yearly unto the north parts of England

* The above extracts were communicated by Mr. Salvin to Mr. Frank Buck-
land's journal, Land and Water, in 1867, in a series of articles on " Cormorant
Fbhing."

Some interesting chapters on the subject will be found at the end of Freeman
and Salvin's " Falconry ; its Claims, History, and Practice. ' 8vo, 1859.

THE HOME OF THE CORMORANT. 265

to take haggard cormorants for His Majesty's disport in
fishing, the yearly allowance of eighty-four pounds, to be
paid on the four usual feasts of the year, during His
Majesty's pleasure, in such manner as John Wood and
Robert Wood, or George Hutchinson, gentlemen, formerly
received."*

Although Shakespeare has mentioned the cormorant in
many of his Plays, he has nowhere alluded to the sport
with trained birds ; and this is somewhat singular, inas-
much as he has made frequent mention of the then popu-
lar pastime of hawking, and he did not die until some
years after James I. had made fishing with cormorants
a fashionable amusement .-f 1 The sport has long since
ceased to amuse royalty, and by English sportsmen is
now almost abandoned.^

To return to the sea, the true home of the cormorant ;
that sea

" Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune."

Richard II. Act ii. Sc I.

"Those who have never observed our boldest coasts/'
says Oliver Goldsmith, " have no idea of their tremendous

* Sidney Bere, in Land and Water, April 20, 1867.

f In "Charnbers's Journal" for 1859, will be found an interesting article upon
the subject, entitled " The King aud his Cormorants."

J Mr. Salvin, to whom we have before referred, and Mr. E. C. Newcome, of
Feltwell Hall, Norfolk, still keep and use trained cormorants ; as, through the
kindness of the former, we have had pleasant opportunities of attesting.

M M

266 GULLS.

sublimity. The boasted works of art, the highest towers,
and the noblest domes, are but ant hills when put in
comparison

" To walk along the shore when the tide is departed, or
to sit in the hollow of a rock when it is come in, attentive
to the various sounds that gather on every side, above and
below, may raise the mind to its highest and noblest
exertions.

" The solemn roar of the waves, swelling into and
subsiding from the vast caverns beneath, the piercing
note of the gull, the frequent chatter of the guillemot,
the loud note of the auk t the screams of the heron,
and the hoarse, deep periodical croaking of the cormorant,
all unite to furnish out the grandeur of the scene,
and turn the mind to Him who is the essence of all
sublimity."

It is amid such scenes as these that we naturally look
for and find the next of Shakespeare's birds, the Gull, or,
as he sometimes calls it, the "Sea-mell" (The Tempest,
Act ii. Sc. 2).

In no passage, however, do we find a reference to any
particular species of gull ; the word is iised in its generic
sense only, and is most frequently applied metaphorically
to a dupe or a fool :

" Why, 'tis a gull, a fool ! "

Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 6.

GULL-CATCHERS. 267

The gull is said to have derived its name from its
voracious habits, i.e., from " gulo onis? a gormandizer.
Tooke holds that gull, guile, wile, and guilt, are all from
the Anglo-Saxon " wiglian, geiviglian" that by which any
one is deceived. Archdeacon Nares suggests that gull is
from the old French guiller.

Malvolio asks :

" Why have you suffer'd me to be imprisoned,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geek* and gull,
That e'er invention play'd on ? tell me why."

Twelfth Night, Act v. Sc. I.

In the same play we find the word " gull " occurring
several times in a similar sense, as in Act ii. Sc. 3, and
Act iii. Sc. 2;-f- and Fabian, on the entry of Maria (Act ii.
Sc. 5), exclaims,

" Here comes my noble gull-catcher ! "

When sharpers were considered as bird-catchers, a gull
was their proper prey 4 " Gull -catchers," or " gull-
gropers," therefore, were the names by which, in Shake-
speare's day, these sharpers were known.

" The gull-groper was generally an old gambling miser,

* Geek a laughing-stock. According- to Capel, from the Italian ghezzo. Dr.
Jamieson, however, derives it from the Teutonic geek, jocus.

\ See also Othello^ Act v. Sc. 2, and Timon of Athens, Act ii. Sc. i.
J See D' Israeli's " Curiosities of Literature," iii. p. 84.

263 GULL-GROPERS.

who frequented the ordinary to save the charge of house-
keeping, under the pretext of meeting with travellers and
seeking company, and carried in his pouch some hundred
or two hundred pounds in twenty-shilling pieces. By
long experience he knew to an ace how much the losing
player was worth, and as he scratched his head and paced
uneasily up and down the room, as if he wanted the
ostler, he takes him to a side window and tells him that
he was, forsooth, sorry to see so honest a gentleman in
bad luck, but that ' dice were made of women's bones and
would cozen the wisest/ and that for his father's sake, Sir
Luke Littlebrain (he had learned the name from the
drawer), if it pleased him he need not leave off play for
a hundred pound or two. The youth, eager to redeem
his losses, accepted the money ordinarily with grateful
thanks. The gold was poured upon the table, and a hard
bond was hastily drawn up for the repayment at the next
quarter-day, deducting so much for the scrivener's expense
at changing the pieces. If he lost, the usurer hugged his
bond, and laughed in his sleeve. If Sir Andrew won, the
gull-groper would then steal silently out of the noisy
room to avoid repayment. The day that the bond
became due, Hunks was sure not to be within, and if
seen, in some way contrived to make the debtor break
the bond, and then transformed himself into two sergeants,
who clapped the youth in prison. From thence he usually
escaped shorn of a goodly manor or fair lordship, worth

SEA-MELLS. 269

three times the money, and which was to be entered upon
by Hunks three months after his young friend came of
age an unpleasant thought, when the ox was roasting
whole, the bells ringing, and the tenants shouting." *

Not only was the person duped called " a gull," but the
trick itself was also known as " a gull," just as we now-a-
days term it " a sell."

" Benedick. I should think this ' a gull/ but that the
white-bearded fellow speaks it : knavery cannot, sure, hide
himself in such reverence." Much Ado about Nothing,
Act ii. Sc. 3.

But it is not always synonymously with " fool " that
Shakespeare employs the word " gull.' 1 Caliban, address-
ing Trinculo, says,

" Sometimes I '11 get thee
Young sea-mclls from the rock."

Tempest^ Act ii. Sc. 2.

Here it is evident that the sea-mall, sea-mew, or sea-gull,
is intended, the young birds being taken before they could
fly. Young sea-gulls were formerly considered great
delicacies, and in the old " Household Books " we often
find such entries as the following :

" Item, it is thought goode that See-guiles be hade for

* Thornbury, "Shakespeare's England," voL i. pp. 311, 312. Doubtless com-
piled from Greene's "Art of Coney Catching," 1591, and Decker's "English
Villanies," 1631.

2/0 SEA-MELLS.

my Lordes own mees and non other, so they be goode and
in season, and at jd. apece or jd. otx at the moste."

The description of their haunts which the poet gives us
in the fourth act of King Lear cannot be easily forgotten.
We seem to stand when reading it upon the very edge

of the cliff!

" How fearful

And dizzy 't is to cast one's eyes so low !

the murmuring surge,

That on the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes,
Cannot be heard so high. I '11 look no more,
Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight
Topple down headlong/ 1

King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6.

CHAPTER IX.

VARIOUS BIRDS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FOREGOING

CHAPTERS.

AJ OTWITHSTANDING the comprehensive titles of the
preceding chapters, there are several birds mentioned by
Shakespeare which cannot, with propriety, be included in
any of them. We have, therefore, deemed it advisable to
notice them separately under the above heading.

Naturalists have frequently remarked upon the propen-
sity which some birds have to become restless and noisy
before rain. Familiar examples are, the Peacock ; the
Green Woodpecker, which, on this account, in'some parts
of the country, is called " rain-bird ; " the Golden Plover,
whose Latin and French name, Phwialis and Pluvier>
have reference to the same peculiarity; and the Woodcock,
which, as Gilbert White says, has been observed "to be
remarkably listless against snowy, foul weather." Shake-
speare has noticed this peculiarity in the Parrot :

2/2 THE PARROT.

"More clamorous than a parrot against rain/' As You
Like It, Act iv. Sc. i.

It Is not quite clear when parrots were first introduced
as cage birds, but their attractive colours, and aptitude for
learning tricks and words, no doubt brought them into
notice at an early period. Shakespeare knew that to en-
sure success in teaching a parrot, the bird must be
rewarded :

"The parrot will not do more for an almond." Troilits
arid Cressida, Act v. Sc. 2.

To talk " like a parrot," that is, without reason, is pro-
verbial. Lieutenant Cassio thus upbraids himself after a
drunken squabble :

" I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so good
a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so discreet an
officer. Drunk ? and speak parrot ? and squabble ? swag-
ger ? swear and discourse fustian with one's own shadow ?
Oh, thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to
be known by, let us call thee devil ! " Othello, Act ii.
Sc. 3.

In a witty scene between Beatrice and Benedick, in
flitch Ado about Nothing, the former is likened by the latter
to "a parrot-teacher" from her great talkative powers :->

" Bened. But it is certain I am loved of all ladies,
only you excepted : and I would I could find in my

A PARROT-TEACHER, 2/3

heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love
now.

Beat. A dear happiness to women ; they would else
have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank
God, and my cold blood, I am of your humour for
that ; I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a
man swear he loves me.

Bcned. God keep your ladyship still in that mind ! so
some gentleman or other shall 'scape a predestinate
scratched face.

Beat. Scratching could not make it worse, an 'twere
such a face as yours were.

Bcned. Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.*

Beat. A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of
yours.

Bened. I would my horse had the speed of your
tongue, and so good a continuer: but keep your way,
o' God's name! I have done.

Beat. You always end with a jade's trick ; I know you
of old."

[Whereupon Don Pedro steps in and puts an end o this

bantering.]

Mitch Ado about Nothing, Act i. Sc. I.

The "Popinjay" (Henry IV. Part I. Act L Sc. 3)
apparently is only another name for parrot.

In the Glossary to Chaucer's Works we find the word

* Compare " Redbreast-teacher," Henry IV. Part I. Act iii. Sc. i.

N N

2/4 THE STARLING.

thus explained : " Popingay, a parrot ; Papegant, Fr. ;
Papcgacy, Belg. ; Papagallo, Ital."

In the Privy Purse expenses of King Henry VIII. the
following entry occurs under date November, 1532 :

" Itm. The laste daye paied in rewarde to a
woman that wolde have gyven a popin-
gay to the King's grace . . . x s.

The practice of turning to advantage the capability
which certain birds possess for learning to utter words
must be of some antiquity, for Pliny alludes to the
starlings which were trained for the amusement of the
young Caesars, as being capable of uttering both Latin
and Greek.

Shakespeare thus refers to the starling's talking
powers :

" Hotspur. He said, he would not ransom Mortimer ;
Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer ;
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I '11 holloa, ' Mortimer ! '
Nay, I '11 have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but ' Mortimer/ and give it him,
To keep his anger still in motion."

Henry IV. Part I. Act i. Sc. 3

It is stated that when M. Girardin visited his frienc
M. Thirel in Paris, he was agreeably astonished at hearing
a starling articulate a dozen consecutive sentences with the

THE KINGFISHER. 27$

same precision as if they had been spoken by some person
in the next room ; and when the bell rang for mass, the
same bird called to its mistress, by name, " Mademoiselle,
entendez-vous la messe que Ton sonne? Prenez votre
livre et revenez vite, donner a manger a votre polisson."
If this statement can be depended upon, M. Girardin might
well have been astonished.

It was formerly believed that during the time the Halcyon
or Kingfisher was engaged in hatching her eggs, the water,
in kindness to her, remained so smooth and calm, that the
mariner might venture on the sea with the happy certainty
of not being exposed to storms or tempests ; this period
was therefore called, by Pliny and Aristotle, " the halcyon
days."

" Expect Saint Martin's* summer, halcyon days."

Henry VI. Part I. Act i. Sc. 2,

It was also supposed that the dead bird, carefully
balanced and suspended by a single thread, would always
turn its beak towards that point of the compass from which
the wind blew.

Kent, in King Lear (Act II. Sc. 2), speaks of rogues

who

" Turn their halcyon beaks

With every gale and vary of their masters."
And, after Shakespeare, Marlowe, in his Jew of Malta,
says,

* To this day the bird is still called " Martin-pecheur " by the French.

2/6 THE SWALLOW.

" But how now stands the wind ?
Into what corner peers my halcyon's bill ? "

For brightness and beauty of plumage, the kingfisher
has no equal amongst our British birds, and so straight
and rapid withal is its line of flight, that when the sun-
light falls upon its bright blue back, it seems as if an
azure bolt from a crossbow had been suddenly shot across
our path.

It is difficult to calculate or limit the speed which can
be produced by the effort of a wing's vibration. We may,
nevertheless, ascertain with tolerable accuracy the rate of
a bird's flight, as follows : If we note the number of
seconds which are occupied by a bird in passing between
two fixed points in its line of flight, and measure the
distance between these points, we resolve the question to
a simple " rule-of-three " sum ; inasmuch as, knowing the
number of yards flown in a certain number of seconds, we
can ascertain the distance traversed in 3,600 seconds, or an
hour, and thus obtain the rate of speed per hour ; sup-
posing, of course, the speed to be uniform. In this way
the flight of the common Swallow (Hirundo rustled) has
been computed at ninety miles,

" As swift as swallow flies."

Titus Andronicus, Act iv. Sc. 2 ;

while that of the swift has been conjectured to be nearly
one hundred and eighty miles per hour.

THE SWALLOW. 277

" True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings."

Richard III. Act v. Sc. 2.

Those who have watched the swallows upon a dull
day, skimming low along the ground, and seeming
almost to touch it, although flying with speed as
undiminished as if high in air, will readily see the
aptness of the simile :

" And I have horse will follow where the game
Makes way, and run like swallows on the plain."

Titus Andronicus, Act ii. Sc. 2.

" The swallow follows not summer more willingly than
we your lordship, nor more willingly leaves winter ; such
summer-birds are men." Timon of Athens, Act iii. Sc. 6.

The swallow, although one of the earliest, is not
always the first of our spring ornaments to appear. There

are

" Daffodils,

That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty."

Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 3.

A near relative of this bird is the Martin, or, as
it is called in the language of heraldry, the " Martlet "

(Hirundo urbica).

" This guest of summer,

The temple-haunting martlet, doth approve,
By his lov'd mansionry, that the heaven's breath

278 THE MARTLET.

Smells wooingly here ; no jutty, frieze,
Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle.
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed,

The air is delicate/'

Macbeth, Act i. Sc. 6.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was struck with the beauty of this
brief colloquy before the castle of Macbeth, and he ob-
serves on it : " This short dialogue between Duncan and
Banquo, while they are approaching the gates of Mac-
beth's castle, has always appeared to me a striking
instance of what, in painting, is termed * repose.' Their
conversation very naturally turns upon the beauties of its
situation, and the pleasantness of the air ; and Banquo,
observing the martlets' nests in every recess of the cornice,
remarks that where these birds most breed and haunt,
the air is delicate. The subject of this quiet and easy
conversation gives that repose so necessary to the mind
after the tumultuous bustle of the preceding scenes, and
perfectly contrasts the scene of horror that immediately
succeeds."

The bird is mentioned again in the Merchant of Venice,
xvhere we are reminded that

" The martlet

Builds in the weather on the outward wall,
Even in the force and road of casualty."

Merchant of Venice, Act ii. Sc. 9.

THE SWALLOW'S HERB. 279

Old authors tell us that when the young swallows are
hatched, they are blind for some time, and that the parent
birds faring^ to the nest a plant called Chdidoninm, or
Swallow's herb, which has the property of restoring sight.
This popular fallacy appears to be widely disseminated.
The plant is the well-known Celandine (Chdidonium majus).
It belongs to the Papavcracece, or poppies, and may be
found growing in waste places to the height of two feet
or more. It is brittle, slightly hairy, and full of a yellow,
foetid juice, and bears small yellow flowers in long-stalked
umbels.

The name Chdidonium is derived no doubt from the
Greek x,e*i$uv, a swallow ; but the reason for its being thus
named is not so obvious. Some authors assert that it was
so called on account of its flowering about the time of the
arrival of the swallow, while others maintain that it derived
Its appellation from being the plant medicinally made use
of by that bird.

The belief that animals and birds possess a knowledge
of certain plants which will cure a disease, or benefit them
in some way, is very ancient, and this particular plant is
alluded to by old authors as being especially selected for
the purpose. Pliny observes (Hist. Nat. foL 1530, p. 461,
xv.) : " Animalia quoque invenire herbas, inprimisque
chelidoniam. Hac enim hirundines oculis pullorum in nido
restituunt visum, ut quidam volunt, etiam erutis oculis." (!)
And the same author further remarks: "Chelidoniam visui

280 THE SWALLOW'S HERB.

saluberrimam hirundines monstravere vexatis pullorum
oculis ilia medentes."

Gerard, referring to this plant, in his "Herball^or Generall
Historie of Plantes" (1597), observes : " It is called celan-
dine, not because it then first springeth at the comming in of
the swallowes, or dieth when they goe away; for as we haue
saide, it may be founde all the yeere; but because some hold
opinion that with this herbe the dams restore sight to their
yoong ones when their eies be out, the which things are
vaine and false : for Cornelius Celsus in his sixt booke
< doth witnesse that when the sight of the eies of diuers
yoong birdes be put foorth by some outward meanes, it
will after a time be restored of itselfe, and soonest of all
the sight of the swallow, whereupon, (as the same saith)
that the tale or fable grew, how, thorow an herbe the dams
restore that thing, which healeth of itselfe : the very same
doth Aristotle alleadge in the sixt booke of the historic of
liuing creatures : the eies of young swallowes, saith he,
that are not fledge, if a man do pricke them out, do grow
againe, and afterwards do perfectly recouer their sight."
Subsequently, when speaking of the "virtues" of the plant,
the sage Gerard continues : " The iuice of the herbe is
good to sharpen the sight, for it clenseth and consumeth
awaie slimie things that cleaue about the ball of the eie,
and hinder the sight." The root was considered good for
yellow-jaundice, and also (being chewed) for toothache.
Gerard adds, " The roote cut in small peeces is good to be

THE SWALLOW'S HERB. 281

giuen vnto hawkes against sundrie diseases ;" and Turber-
vile, in his "Booke of Falconrie" (161 1), treats of a cure for
" a blow giuen to the eye, or of some other mischance," as
follows : " Sometimes the eyes of hawkes are - hurt by
some mishappe, some stripe, or otherwise, as I said afore.
Against such unlooked-for mischances, Master Malopin, in
his boke of the Prince, willeth to take the juice of Celon-
dine, otherwise Arondell, or Swallowes hearbe, and to
convey it into the eye. And if it bee not to be had
greene, to take it drie, and to beat it into powder, and
to blow it into her eye with a quill, and this shall recure
the hawke."

A marginal note to this paragraph informs us that
<c Arondell " in French is " Hirundo," a swallow, otherwise
called " Chelidon."

Parkinson, in his " Theatrum Botanicum" (1640), alludes
to two species of Celandine, C. major and minor, and
says : " Some call them Chelidonia major and minor, and
tooke the name, as Dioscorides saith, because it springeth
when swallowes come in ; and withered at their going away
(which is true in neither, the greater, whereof Dioscorides
chiefely speaketh, being greene both winter and sommer ;
and the lesser springeth before swallowes come in, and is
gone and withered long before their departure). Dioscorides
likewise, and Pliny also, say it tooke that name from
swallowes that cured their young ones' eyes, that were hurt,

* " Arondell," no doubt the old French, or a corruption of " Hirondelle."

O O

282 THE SWALLOW'S HERB.

with bringing this herbe and putting it to them : but Aris-
totle, and Celsus from him, doe shew that the young ones
of partridges, doves, swallowes, &c., will recover their sight
(being hurt) of themselves in time, without anything ap-
plyed unto them, and therefore Celsus accounteth this
saying but a fable."

It is curious to observe how universally this plant appears
to be associated with the swallow. Chelidonium majus
is Calldonia maggiore of the Italians ; Yerva de las
gdondrinhas of the Spaniards ; Chelidoine Felongue and
Esclairc of the French ; and ScJvwalbcnkraitt of the
Germans ; while we, in English, call it Celandine,
Swallows-herb^ and Swallow-wort.

Besides the Swallow-herb there is the Swallow-stone, to
which wonderful properties have been likewise attributed
in connection with diseases of the eye.

Dr. Lebour, in a communication to The Zoologist, for
1866, says (p. 523) : "I met last summer, in Brittany, with
a curious fact relating to the habits of the common house-
swallow. In Brittany there exists a wide-spread belief
among the peasantry that certain stones found in swallows'
nests are sovereign cures for certain diseases of the eye.
I think the same notion holds in many other parts of
France, and also in some of our English counties. These
stones are held in high estimation, and the happy possessor
usually lets them on hire at a sous or so a day. Now, I
had the good fortune to see some of these 'swallow-

THE SWALLOW'S STONE. 283

stones/ and to examine them. I found them to be the
hard polished calcareous opercula of some species of
Turbo, and although their worn state precludes the idea
of identifying the species, yet I am confident that they be-
long to no European Turbo. The largest I have seen was
three-eighths of an inch long, and one-fourth of an inch
broad ; one side is flat, or nearly so, and the other is
convex, more or less so in different specimens. Their
peculiar shape enables one to push them under the eye-
lid across the eyeball, and thus they remove any eye-
lash or other foreign substance which may have got in
one's eye ;* further than this, they have no curing power :
the peasants, however, believe they are omnipotent. The
presence of these opercula in swallows' nests is very
curious,"}* and leads one to suppose that they must have
been brought there from some distant shore in the
swallow's stomach. If so, they must have Inhabited the
poor bird for a considerable time, and proved a great
nuisance to it."

The tradition on this subject, current amongst the
peasants in Brittany, is no doubt of some antiquity, J since

* One would suppose that such a foreign substance as a "swallow-stone" in
the eye would be much more inconvenient than the eyelash which it was destined
to remove.

-f- Curious, if true. Dr. Lebour does not say that he ever found such stones
himself, nor does he vouch for their having been found by others in the nests.
We have examined a great number of swallows' nests without being able to
discover anything of the kind.

J Pliny makes mention of a " swallow-stone," but says nothing about its being
found in the nest. On the contrary, he says it is found in the stomach of the

j#4 THE SWALLOW'S STONE,

the allusion which Longfellow has made to it in ms poem
of "Evangeline" would seem to confirm this impression,
inasmuch as we may assume that the tradition found its
way into Acadia through the French colonists who were
the first to settle there.

Longfellow, in his " Evangeline," says,

** Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests in

the rafters,
Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone which the

swallow
Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of

its fledglings ;
Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the

swallow ! "

The connection between the stone and the herb is,
that both were said to be brought to the nest by the
swallow, and both were deemed remedies for defective
sight There is this difference, however, between the cur-
rent opinion in Brittany and the popular notion in Acadia,
that in the former case it is the finder of the stone who
is thereby benefited, in the latter it is the sight of the
fledglings which is thereby restored.

A friend has suggested that the tradition may have
originated with the Chinese, to whom the edible swallows'

bird I "In ventre hirundinum pullus lapilli candido aut rubenti colore, qui
'ehelidoni*' vocantur, magicis nanati artibus reperiuntur. "

THE SWALLOW'S STONE. 285

nests have been so long known, and to whom credit is
now given for having been acquainted centuries ago with
inventions which until recently were believed to be
modern. Not being conversant, however, with Chinese,
we are unable to say whether there is in that language
any equivalent for "swallow-stone," or " swallow's-herb,"
or whether ancient Chinese authors in any way throw light
upon the subject.*

Pliny's mention of the stone found in the stomach of
the swallow brings to mind the stones found in the
stomach of the ostrich, and so leads to the consideration
of another bird noticed by Shakespeare. The food of
the ostrich is said to consist of the tops of shrubby
plants, seeds, and grain ; strange to say, however, it will .
swallow, with indiscrimmating voracity, stones, sticks,
pieces of metal, cord, leather, and other substances, which
often occasion its destruction. The extraordinary diges-
tion of the bird is thus alluded to in the threat of the
rebel Cade, when confronted by Alexander Iden :

" Ah ! villain, thou wilt betray me, and get a thousand
crowns of the king by carrying my head to him 1 but I'll
make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and swallow my sword
like a great pin, ere thou and I part." Henry VI. Part II.
Act iv. Sc. 10.

This curious habit is not peculiar to the ostriches. The
same thing has been observed in the bustards. Dr.

* The substance of the above remarks was contributed by the author in an
article published in The Zoologist for 1867, p. 744.

286 THE OSTRICH.

Jerdon, speaking of the Indian Bustard (Ezipodotis
Edwardsii), says, "they will often swallow pebbles or
any glittering object that attracts them. I took several
portions of a brass ornament, the size of a No. 16 bullet,
out of the stomach of one bustard."*

In reply to Hotspur's inquiries for "The madcap
Prince of Wales," and his comrades, at the rebel camp
near Shrewsbury, he is told that they are

" All furnish'd, all in arms ;
All plum'd like estridgcs that with the wind
Bated ; like eagles having lately bath'd."-f-

Hcnry IV. Part I. Act iv. Sc. J.

Looking to the antiquity of the fable of the Pelican's
feeding her young with her own blood, it is not surprising
that Shakespeare has alluded to it when mentioning this
bird. Laertes says :

" To his good friends thus wide I '11 ope my arms ;
And, like the kind life-rendering pelican,
Repast them with my blood."

Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 5.

* " The Birds of India," iii. p. 610.
f Some editions read

" All plum'd like e^tridges that wing the wind ;

Bated like eagles having lately bath'd."

But we have adopted the above reading in preference for three reasons : i. Con-
sidering the rudimentary nature of the ostrich's wing, Shakespeare would not have
been so incorrect as to describe them as "winging the wind; " 2. The word
"bated," if intended to refer to eagles, and not to ostriches, would have been
more correctly "bating;" 3. The expression, "to bate with the wind," is well
understood in the language of falconry, with which Shakespeare was familiar.

THE PELICAN. 287

King Lear, too, likens himself to a pelican when speak-
ing of his ungrateful children :

" Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh ?
Judicious punishment ! J T was this flesh begot

Those pelican daughters."

King Lear> Act iii. Sc. 4.

Again

" K. Richard.

Dar'st with thy frozen admonition
Make pale our cheek ; chasing the royal blood
With fury from his native residence.

Gaunt,

That blood already, like the pelican,

Hast thou tapp'd out, and drunkenly carous'd.

Richard II. Act ii. Sc. I.

It is generally supposed that the fable alluded to is a
classical one. But this is not the case. Many and
various explanations have been offered as regards its
origin, but none is more ingenious, and at the same time
more plausible, than the explanation suggested by Mr.
Bartlett, the energetic Superintendent of the Zoological
Society's Gardens. In a letter addressed to the editor of
Land and Water, dated the 3rd April, 1869, Mr. Bartlett
says :

*' Having devoted much attention to investigations upon

2 88 THE PELICAN.

the subject of the supply of food provided by several
species of birds for their young, I have collected many
interesting facts showing that in some instances the
parents prepare by partial digestion, and in others by
the addition of a secreted nutritive substance, the food
intended for the support of their offspring. The one
which I am about to relate I was certainly not prepared
to expect ; nevertheless, such facts as I now lay before
you have caused me no little astonishment, as they appear
to me to afford a solution to the well-known and ancient
story of the Pelican in the Wilderness. I have heard that
the so-called fable originated, or is to be found, on some
of the early Egyptian monuments (I do not know where),
but that the representations are more like flamingoes than
pelicans. I have published elsewhere, in the * Proceedings
of the Zoological Society/ for March 1869, what I consider
to be the facts of the case, and take this opportunity of
referring to the matter. The flamingoes here in the gardens
have frequently shown signs of breeding, and have been
supplied with heaps of sand to form their nests, but
without result ; nevertheless they appear to take con-
siderable notice of a pair of Cariamas in the same aviary.
These birds have a habit of bending back their heads,
and with open gaping mouths utter loud and somewhat
distressing sounds. This habit at once attracts the
flamingoes, and very frequently one or more of them
advance towards the cariamas, and standing erect over

THE PELICAN. 289

the bird, by a slight up-and-down movement of the head,
raise up into its mouth a considerable quantity of red
coloured fluid. As soon as the upper part of the throat
and mouth becomes filled, it will drop or run down from
the corners of the flamingo's mouth ; the flamingo then
bends its long neck over the gaping cariama and pours
this fluid into the mouth, and as frequently on the back
of the cariama. Having seen this repeatedly, I took an
opportunity of obtaining a portion of this fluid and
submitted it to the examination of Dr. Murie. We
placed ft under the microscope, and find it composed of
little else than blood ; in fact, the red blood-corpuscles are
wonderfully abundant in the otherwise clear and almost
transparent glutinous fluid. Tnat this does not proceed
from any disease or injury done to the flamingo, nor arise
or is produced by any portion or part of the food taken
by them, I am perfectly certain, for the birds are in the
most vigorous health and condition ; but I believe that it
is an attempt to supply food to the cariamas, just as the
hedge-sparrow and other birds supply food to the young
cuckoo, and I have no doubt, if a careful observer had the
opportunity of watching the flamingoes on their breeding-
ground, he would find that this is the mode of feeding
their young : no doubt other food is also .provided, but
most likely mixed with this secretion. I think it highly
probable that this habit was noticed in ancient Egypt,
and, by the confusion of names in translation, the pelican

P P

390 THE PELICAN.

was supposed to be the bird intended ; in fact, I have
heard that the representation (which I am very anxious
to see) is much more like a flamingo than a pelican.
Again, a flamingo is much more a bird of the wilderness
than the pelican, seeing that the pelican requires a
good supply of fish, while the flamingo can live
and does well upon very small insects, seeds, and little
fry, and is found in places in which the pelican would
starve/ 1

This communication naturally drew forth some com-
ments. Mr. Houghton, in a long letter to the editor of
the same journal, dated 24th April, 1869, says: "That
this is the origin of the old story of the pelican feeding
its young with its blood seems very plausible. I purpose
to examine this ingenious idea, and to offer a few remarks
on the old fable. It is commonly supposed and you
will often find it so expressed in works on natural history
that this fable is a classical one. This is an error : I
have searched in vain amongst classical authors for any
allusion to the pelican feeding its young with its blood.
To the Greeks this bird was known by the name of TreX&cav,
or TTEAIicae, or TrcAewvoc, though it would appear that some
species of woodpecker was also intended by the word
TrcXlicac (see Aristoph. Aves, II5S). Aristotle mentions
pelicans two or three times in his ' History of Animals ; '
he speaks of their migratory habits and flying in crowds.
He says they take large shell-fish into their pouches (iv

THE PELICAN. 2QI

T($ ?rpo rye Koi\iag TOTTCU), wherein the molluscs are
softened. They then throw them up and pick out the
flesh from the opened valves. ^Elian merely repeats this
story, only he says the shell-fish are received into the
stomach. In another place he says there is mutual
hostility between the pelican and the quail. The pelican
was known to the Romans under the name of onocrotalus.
Pliny says this bird is like the swan, except that under
the throat there is a sort of second crop of astonishing
capacity. There is, of course, no doubt that the pelican
is here intended, Cicero says there is a bird called
platalea which pursues other birds and causes them to
drop the fish they have caught, which it "devours itself.
He then gives the same story as ^lian, viz., that this bird
softens shell-fish in its stomach, &c. The first part of
this account is true of the parasitic gulls (Lcstris). It is
uncertain what bird Cicero alludes to by the name
platalca. Pliny gives the same story as Cicero, and calls
the bird platea. The fable, then, is no classical one.
Whence did it originate ? Does any pictorial representa-
tion occur on the Egyptian monuments, as Mr. Bartlett
has been informed ? I am inclined to think but I speak
under correction that such a representation does not
occur. Horapollo (i. 54) tells us that when the ancient
Egyptians want to represent a fool they depict the
pelican, because this bird, instead of laying its eggs on
lofty and secure places, merely scratches up the ground

392 THE PELICAN.

and there lays. The people surround the place with dried
cow's dung, and set fire to it. The pelican sees the smoke,
and endeavours to extinguish the fire with her wings, the
motion of which only fans the flame. Thus she burns
her wings, and falls an easy prey to the fowlers. Some
Egyptian priests, considering this behaviour evinces great
love of its young, do not eat the bird; others, again,
thinking it is a mark of folly, eat it. The Egyptians,
however, did believe in a bird feeding its young with its
blood, and this bird is none other than a vulture. Hora-
pollo says (i. 1 1) that a vulture symbolises a compassion-
ate person (iAfiijjuova), because during the 120 days of its
nurture of its offspring, if food cannot be had, ' it opens
its own thigh and permits the young to partake of the
blood, so that they may not perish from want.' This is
alluded to in the following lines by Georgius Pisidas :

Tov

Amongst classical authors, the love of the vulture for its
young was proverbial. But when do we first hear of the
fable of the pelican feeding its young with its blood ? In
Patristic annotations on the Scriptures. I believe this is
the answer. The ecclesiastical fathers transferred the
Egyptian story from the vulture to the pelican, but
magnified the already sufficiently marvellous fable a
hundredfold, for the blood of the parent was not only

THE PELICAN. 293

supposed to serve as food for the young, but was also
able to reanimate the dead offspring ! Augustine, com-
menting on Psalm cii. 5 ' I am like a pelican in the
wilderness ' says : ' These birds [male pelicans] are said
to kill their young offspring by blows of their beaks, and
then to bewail their death for the space of three days.
At length, however, it is said the mother bird inflicts a
severe wound on herself, pouring the flowing blood over
the dead young ones, which instantly brings them to life."
To the same effect write Eustathius, Isidorus, Epiphanius,
and a host of other writers, except that sometimes it was
the female who killed the young ones, while the male
reanimated them with its blood. This fable was supposed
to be a symbol of Christ's love to men. I think, then, that
the very interesting fact of the flamingo feeding the
cariama with the red fluid and other contents of its
stomach can hardly be, as Mr. Bartlett conjectures, the
origin of the old fable of the pelican feeding its young
with its blood, because the Egyptian story of the vulture
wounding its thigh has nothing analogous to the natural-
history fact of the flamingo, while the fable of the pelican
pouring from its self-inflicted wound the life-restoring
blood which reanimates its offspring is still further from
the mark."

In a short criticism upon the subject in the same
number of Land and Water, Mr. H, J. Hancock is
inclined to believe that some confusion has arisen in the

594 THE PELICAN

ranslation from the original Hebrew. " The word

Kd/i-atk*), which is rendered TrAcfcav in the Septuagint,

md Pelican, or Onocrotalus, in the Vulgate, is derived

rom the verb ** * to vomit/ and signifies * a vomiter.'

This name, evidently a general one, may have been

ntended by the Hebrew writers to apply either to such

birds as, like the pelican and many others, possess the

power of disgorging their food on being disturbed or

alarmed, or to such birds as are accustomed to nourish

their young from their own crops ; and, in the latter case,

the curious bloody secretion of the flamingo may well

have given rise to the superstition concerning the pelican.

I may observe, as an evidence that the translators did not

consider the Hebrew word to be other than a general

name, that Ka-attt is sometimes rendered * cormorant '

(Isa. xxxiv. 1 1 ; Zeph. iL 14). For further information

concerning this point, I would refer your readers to the

c Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance/ p. 1083 ; Bate's

'Hebrew Dictionary/ p. 538; and Parkhurst's 'Hebrew

Dictionary/ pp. 631, 632."

Shakespeare, doubtless, had not investigated the
subject so narrowly^ but was content to accept the
common story as he found it, and to apply it meta-
phorically as occasion required.

The majority of the birds mentioned in this chapter are
not natives of the British Islands, but, strange as it may
appear, there is evidence to show that the pelican, or, to

IN THE ENGLISH FENS. 295

speak more correctly, a species of pelican, once inhabited
the English fens.

The peat-bogs of Cambridgeshire have yielded of late
years a large number of bones of birds, and amongst
these has been discovered the wing-bone of a pelican.
This interesting discovery was made known by M. Al-
phonse Milne-Edwards, in an able article in the " Annales
des Sciences Naturelles,"* a translation of which subse-
quently appeared in The Ibis.^ The author thus antici-
pates the objections of the sceptical :

" We may be inclined, perhaps, to wonder that a single
bone, belonging (as it does) to a young animal, and con-
sequently not presenting all its anatomical characters,
should permit the exact recognition of the genus and
species of bird to which it belongs. So precise a determi-
nation would not be always possible, but in the present
case there need be no doubt ; for I have shown, in another
work,J that the wing-bone in the genus Pelicamts offers
extremely clear distinctive peculiarities, which do not
allow of its being confounded with that of any other
bird."

The only species of pelican which has been recorded to
have occurred in England in recent times, is the great
white pelican, P. onocrotahts.

* Cinquikme series, torn. viii. pp. 285-293.

f Ibis, 1868, pp. 363-370.

J " Oiseaux Fossilesde la France," p. 230.

396 THE PELICAN IX ENGLAND.

Latham has stated,* on the authority of Sir Thomas
Brown, that a pelican of this species was killed in Horsey
Fen in 1663. This statement was copied by Montagu,f
and subsequently by Dr. Fleming,* but there is no evi-
dence to show that the bird was a wild one. On the
contrary, It is probable, as suggested by Sir Thomas
Brown, that it may have been one of the King's pelicans
which was lost about that time from St. James's Park.

He says : * 4 An onocrotalns^ or pelican, shot upon
Horsey Fen, May 22, 1663, which, stuffed and cleaned, I
yet retain, It was three yards and a half between the
extremities of the wings ; the chowle and beak answering
the usual description ; the extremities of the wings for a
span deep brown ; the rest of the body white ; a fowl
which none could remember upon this coast

"About the same time, I heard one of the king's
pelicans was lost at St. James's ; perhaps this might be
the same."

Latham was further assured by Dr. Leith, that in the
month of May he saw a brown pelican fly over his head
on Blackheath, in Kent. Montagu, however, suggests
that the bird was an immature swan.

In The Zoologist for 1856 (p. 5321), the Rev. H. B.
Tristram has recorded, that on the 25th of August, 1856,

* "Synopsis/ 1 iii. p. 577 (1785).

f "Suppl. Orn. Diet/' (1813),

J " Hist. Brit. An." p. 118 (1828).

"Works :" Wilkin's ed. vol I v. p. 318.

CONCLUSION. 297

the remains of a pelican were picked up on the shore at
Castle Eden, Durham. Such are the scanty records of
the appearance of a pelican in England in modern
times.

The bone found in Cambridgeshire may have belonged
to P. onocrotahis, a native of South and South-Eastern
Europe, and which is stated to be " common on the lakes
and watercourses of Hungary and Russia, and also seen
further south in Asia and in Northern Africa." M. Milne-
Edwards, however, has not quite determined the species,
for, on comparison with the bones of other recognized and
existing species, it appears to differ rather remarkably in
its greater length.

Enough has probably been said, however, to show the
interest which attaches to the discovery, and to suggest
further research.

With the pelican ends the long list of birds mentioned
in the works of Shakespeare.

The reader who has had the patience or the curiosity
to follow us thus far will, doubtless, ere this have formed
a just estimate of Shakespeare's qualifications as a natu-
ralist, and will have drawn the only conclusion which the
evidence justifies.

It is impossible to read all that Shakespeare has written
in connection with ornithology, without being struck with
the extraordinary knowledge which he has displayed for
the age in which he lived ; and our admiration for him as

Q Q

298

CONCLUSION.

a poet must be increased tenfold on perceiving that the
beauteous thoughts, which he has clothed in such beauteous
language, were dictated by a pure love of nature, and by
a study of those great truths which appeal at once to the
heart and to reason, and which infuse into the soul of
the naturalist the true spirit of poetry.

APPENDIX.

A TABLE

ORNITHOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS

IN THE ORDER IN" WHICH THEY OCCUR:

THE PLAYS AND POEMS BEING ALPHABETICALLY
ARRANGED,

jTLli ft fit, 1/lUl JHU3 tYC.it-.

Act I. Sc. i [Hawking-eye] .

PACE

55

3 Cuckoo

154

II. 5 Lark ....

. . 136

Bunting .

. 136

III. 5 Limed

. 160

IV. i Chough .

. 117

Woodcock .

231

3 Crow ....

. no

Antony and Cleopatra:

Act II. Sc. 2 Eagle

26

3 Cocks

. 172, 219

Quails

. 219

6 Cuckoo

. 154

III. 2 [Swan]

. 201

[Kite]. . . .

44

300

APPENDIX.

Antony and Cleopatra (continued) :
Act III. Sc. io Mallard
13 Kite .
Seel .
Dove
Ostrich

8 [Nightingale]
12 [Swallow] .

IV.
V.

2 Seel

As You Like It:

Act I. Sc. 2 Pigeons

,, 3 Juno's Swans

II. 3 Ravens
Sparrow

, 5 Eggs .
7 [Goose]
[Cock]

III. 3 Falcon
Bells .
Pigeon

, 4 Goose

IV. t I [Pigeon]
, Parrot

, 3 Moss'd

V. , 4 Stalking-horse

Comedy of Errors:

Act II. Sc. i [Stale].

M 2 Owls .

III. i Crow .

IV. 2 Lapwing

Coriolamts :
Act I. Sc.

III.

i Cormorant
Goose

4 Geese

I [Crow]
[Eagle]
Cry havoc
Quarry

5 -[Kite] .

44
70

195
195
123
276
70

1 80, 185
. 206
. 106

1 06, 146
32

. 1 68

. 61

. 61

1 80, 185

- 197
. 180
. 272

34

- 238

245

96

114

221

. 26O

. 197

. 197

. 110

- 23

(note) 57

- 57

- 43

APPENDIX.

301

Coriolamts (continued} :
Act III. Sc. 5 [Crow].
IV.

V.

5 Daw
7 Osprey
^Dove] .
"Gosling]
^Eagle]
Dovecote]

3
6

Cymbeline :

Act I. Sc. 2 Eagle .
Puttock

3 [Crow].
4 Fowl .

II. 2 Philomel

[Raven]
3 Lark .
4 [Watching] .

III. i Crows .

M 3

Eagle .

4 Jay .
Swan's nest

6 Owl .
Lark .

IV. 2 Ruddock .

Wren .

The Roman Eagle

V. , 3 Crows .

4 Eagle .

Prune .

Cloys .
5 The Roman Eagle

Hamlet:
Act I.

it

,, II.

Sc. I -Cock *
3 Woodcocks

5 The falconer's call
2 Aiery .
Kites .
Hawk .
Hernshaw .

. no

. 119

- 42
1 80, 191

. 197

2 3
. 1 80

28,45

28,45

no

- 2 35
. 125
. 99

. 132

- 45

112

. 112

. 27

. 121

. 2O6

- 8 3
. 136
. 141
. 144
. 28
. Ill

- 30

- 31

- 31
. 2 9

. I6 7

. 229

55
39,58

43
75. 223
75, 223

302

APPENDIX.

Hamlet (continued) :

Act II. Sc. 2 Pigeon-liver'd

Kites .

?J French falconers

Eyases

III. 2 [Raven]

Recorder

IV. 5 Owl .

Pelican
[Dove].
7 Check .

V. i Dove .

2 [Chough]
Lapwing .
Bevy .

Sparrow

JT [Woodcock].

Quarry

185

43
. 56
. S S

99
(note) 129

88

. 286'
. 180
. 60
. 180

IJ 5.

. 222
. 218
146
. 229'

56

Henry IV. Part L :
Act

I.
II.

III.

IV.

V.

Sc. 3 Popinjay

Starling
I Turkies
2 Chuffs

Wild-Duck .
4 [Wild-Geese]

Sparrow

^Cuckoo]
i [Raven]

^Goose]

Redbreast-teacher
2 Cuckoo
I Estridge

Bated

Eagles

Dove
2 Caliver

Wild-Duck .

Scare-crows
i Gull .

Cuckoo's bird

- 273
. 274

. 177

. 118

- 237
. 246

- 147

- 147
. 99
. 197

142

- 155
. 286
. 286

36, 286

. 1 80

. 240

. 240

. 115

. 148

. 148

APPENDIX. 303

Henry IV. Part /. (continued} : I>A;E

Act V. Sc. I Sparrow 148

[Vultures] 4*

Hcnty IV. Part IL :

Act III. Sc. i Seel 70

2 Ouzel 139

Dove 196

V. i Cock and pye . . . .172

Pigeons . . . . 180, 196

Hens 196

Wild- Geese 246

4 Vultures 41

Henry V. :

Act I. Sc. 2 Eagle 32

Eggs 32

II. i Kite 43

Crow . . . . . .in

2 Cloy 31

III. 6 Gull 149, 266

7 Hawk 73

Lark 133

M Hooded 62

Bate 62

, IV. Prologue Cocks 168

Sc. i Mounted 63

Stoop 63

2 Carrions ..... 104

Crows 104

Henry VL Parti.:

Act I. Sc. 2 Halcyon days .... 275

Mahomed's Dove . . . 194

[Eagle] 23

4 Scare-crow 115

S Doves 1 80

?> II. ff 2 Turtle-doves . . .180, 191

4 Hawks 73

Pitch 73

Daw 119

304

APPENDIX.

Henry VL-.
Act III. Sc.
IV.

V.

/. (continued ) :
3 Peacock
2 [Owl] .
3 [Vulture]
3 Swan .
Cygnets

Henry
Act

VLPart II. :

I. Sc.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

3 [Hawk]

3 Limed

4 S creech- OwLs

I Flying at the brook

Old Joan .

Point .

Falcon

Pitch .

Hawks

Tower

Fowl .
4 Limed
i Dove .

[Raven]

[Eagle]

Kite ,
2 Raven .

Wren .

Partridge

Puttock

[Kites]

[Screech- Owl]
3 [Lime-twigs]
I [Eagle]
10 Ostrich

Crows .
2 Kites .

Crows .

40
204
204

- 72

. 161

.85, 97
So, Si
. 50
50, 51

- So
So, 51

- So
50, 51

- Si
. 161
. 180
. 101

- 23

- 44

. IOI

101, 144
44, 216
44, 216

- 43
. 85
. 160

285
H3

43,

Henry VLPart III.:
Act I. Sc. i Eagle .
i, Tire .

Hawk's bells

4 S^

1 12

38

38

61

205

APPENDIX.

305

Henry VI. Part III. (continued) :

PAGE

Act I. Sc.

54 J 95

Falcon

54

t

Woodcock .

. 232

!! IL "

I Eagle's bird

25
.88, 94

2 Doves .

9* *9^

"

6 [Screech-Owl]

. 85

1! v. "

2 The princely Eagle

33

O f

4 _Owl ....
6 Limed

85
. 1 60

Owl ....

86

[Raven]
Night-Crow

. 102

. IO2

M

-Pies ....

121

Henry VIII. :

Act II. Sc.
III.

3 [Lark]. . . -
2 Larks ....

." ." lie

JT "

IV.

i The bird of peace

. 180

Julius Casar :

Act I. Sc.

3 Bird of night

89

V.

27

Raven .

99-110

"

Crows .

. 112

!

Kites .

43

11

3 [Eagles]

27

>

[Kites]

43

1,

Ravens

104

-KYfl&f y<?/^ .

Act I. Sc.

M II- ,,

145

2 Cry havoc .

. (note) 57

M IV.

3 Raven ....

. 103

,. V.

T rf~*TOwl

. no

- 38

IT

Aiery ....

- 38

Towers

38

"

Souse ....

- 38

it * *

7 Cygnet

. 2OI

,, ^ j

Swan ....

. 2OI

R R

306 APPENDIX.

King Lear :

PAGE

Act I. Sc. 4 H edge-Sparrow .

. 147

Cuckoo

- 147

Kite .

- 44

tf n, 2 Wagtail

. 156

(7-on;p

. 198

Halcyon

. 275

!

4 Wild-Geese .

. 246

Vulture

- 41

Owl .

97

,, in.

4 The five wits

95

M

Pelican

. 287

t

6 [Nightingale]

. 123

, IV. ,, 6 Crows .

. 116

Choughs

. 116

Crow-keeper

. 114

Wren .

144

Lark .

- 135

Loves Labour 's Lost :

Act I. Sc. i Cormorant , 260

Green-Geese .... 197

III. I Goose 197

IV. i Owl 95

3 Green-Goose . . . .198
Woodcocks ..... 229

Raven 109

[Turtle] . . . . .191

Eagle-sighted .... 25

Bird-bolts 162

V. I Pigeon . . . . .180

2 Pigeons . . . . .180

Owl -95

[Cuckoo] ..... 147

[Lark] 130

[Turtle-dove] . . . .191

Rook 121

Daw .119

Macbeth :

Act L Sc. 2 Sparrow ..... 147

[Eagle] 23

5 Raven IO 2

APPENDIX. 307

Macbeth (continued ) - PA ., E

Act I. Sc. 6 Martlet 277

II. i Owl 84

' 2 " Obscure bird " .... 85

4 Falcon .... 39, 51

Towering . . . . 39, 5 1

Owl 51

III. 2 [Crow] 110-115

4 Maws ...... 46

Kites 46

Magot-pies . . . . .120
Choughs . . . . ,120

Rooks 120

M IV. i Owlet 84

2 Wren . . . . .91, 143

Owl 91, 143

3 Vulture ..... 40

[Quarry] 57

[Kite] 43

V. 3 Loon 258

: [Geese] 197

Measure for Pleasure :

Act I. Sc. 4 Lapwing 221

II. i Scare-crow . . . . .115

III. M i Enmew .... 64-66
,, Falcon . . . .64

Fowl ...... 64

2 Sparrows . . . . . 146

Merchant of Venice :

Act I. Sc. 2 Throstle 137

II. 2 Doves 196

6 Venus' Pigeons . . . .190
t> 9 Martlet . . . _ . . 278

III. 2 Swan 201

V. i Crow . . . . . . 143

Lark 135, 143

Nightingale . . .128, 143

Goose . . . .128, 143, 197

Wren 128, 143

M Cuckoo 150

30*

APPENDIX.

Merry Wives of Windsor : PAGE

Act I. Sc. J Cock and pye . . . . 171

3 Bully-rook 121

[Raven] 99

Vultures 41

[Dove] 190

t , II. i Cuckoo-birds . . . (note) 148
III. 3 Eyas-musket .... 74
,, Birding ..... 72

[Hawk] 73

f , 4 _[Geese] ... .197
5 Birding 72

IV. 2 Birding 72

Birding-pieces . . . 72, 164

V. i Goose , 197

5 Swan ...... 207

Goose ...... 207

Midsummer Nighfs Dream :

Act I. Sc. i Doves of Venus .... 190
,, Lark . . . . . .133

2 Dove 195

Nightingale .... 195

II. i Crows no

[Dove] 1 80

[Bolt] 162

2 Owl 89

Philomel , . . . .125
Raven 108

Dove , . . . . .108

III. i [Wild-fowl] 235

Ousel-cock , . . . .139

Throstle 137

,, Wren ...... 142

Finch ...... 144

f , Sparrow ..... 147

[Lark] 130

Cuckoo . . . . .150

2 Wild-Geese .... 246

Fowler 246

>, T* Choughs . , . . .119

[Crow] no

APPENDIX.

309

Midsummer Night's Dream (continued) .
Act IV. Sc. i Lark .
,, V. ,, i Recorder

Goose .
2 Screech-Owl

Much Ado about Nothing:

Act I. Sc, i Parrot-teacher
Bird-bolt .
Crow ,
,, Wise and warm .

II. i Partridge .

Fowl .
3 Raven.
Fowl .
Daw .
Gull .

III. i Lapwing

Haggards .
Limed

4 [Hawk] . .

V. i Woodcock .

Othello :

Act I. Sc. i Daws .

3 Seel .

Snipe .

II. i Birdlime
M 3 Speak Parrot

III. Watch

Haggard

Jesses .
Seel .

IV. i Raven.

V. I" Cry on" .
ft 2 [Gull] .

,, Swan .

Pericles :

Act III. Introd. [Duck] .
IV. [Night-bird].

Dove ,
,, Crow .

129

197

86

272, 273

. 162

. 114

95
. 218

237
. 101
. 238
. 119
. 269

. 221

59
. 1 60

73
. 229

. I2O

70

- 233

. 161

. 272

- 45

57

- 57

7i
. 100

(note) 56
239, 267

. 201

222-224, 237

. 99

. 113, 191

. 113

APPENDIX.

Pericles (continued ) :

Act IV. Sc. 3 Wren .

[Eagle] .
6 Coistrel

Richard II. :

Act I. Sc. I Pitch .
M 3 Falcon
Cloy .

II. i Cormorant .
t , Pelican

i, Imp

III. 3 Eagle .
Night-Owls .

Lark .

144

23

74

Si

54

3i

259

287
69
24

85
136

RicJiard IIL :
Act I, Sc.

IV.
V.

i [Eagle]

Kites .

Buzzards
3 Wren .

[Eagle]

[Mew'd up] .

Aiery .
4_Q w ls .
2 Swallow
3 Lark .

Cock .

" Cry on " .

Romeo and Juliet :

Act I. Sc. 2 Swan .
Crow .

, T 3 Dove-house .

4 Crow-keeper
Soar .
Pitch .

5 Cock-a-hoop

Dove .
Crows

23, 45

45
45,47
. 144

2 3
. 64

39

. 86
. 277

133
. 167

(note) 56

1 14, 206
114, 206
. 1 80
. 114
50,51
Si>, Si
. 169

194
194

APPENDIX,

Romeo and Juliet (continued) :
Act II. Sc. 2 Falconer
Lure .
Tassel-gentle
4 Goose .
$ Dove .

III. , 2 Hood .

Unmanned .

Bating

Raven .
4 Mew'd up
5 Nightingale.

Lark .

Eagle .

IV. 4 Watch . "

Watching .

V. i [Dove].

3 Maw .

Taming of the Shrew :

Induct. Sc. i [Nightingale]
,, 2 Hawking

Hawk

Lark .

i Mew .

Act I. t , 2 Woodcock .
TT II. i Nightingale .
Buzzard
Turtle
Wise and warm

III. , I Stale .

2 Dove .

IV. , i Falcon

Stoop .
Lure .
Man .
Haggard
Watch.
Kites .
Bate .
Peacock
2 Haggard

- 54
. 54

- 54
. 197

. 180.

. 62

. 62

. 62

1 08, 109

. ". 64

. 124
124, 131, 134

. . 25
. . 46
. . 46

. 194

- 4 6

. 123
. 72
. 72
. 72
64, 65
. 229
. 124

- 47

- 47

- 95

- 245
. 1 80
. 62
. 62

55,62
45, 62
45, 62
45, 62
45, 62
45, 63
. (note) 175

- 59

JI2 APPENDIX.

Taming of the Shrew (continued ) : PAGE

Act IV. Sc. 3 Jay 122

Lark 122

ft V. 2 Hawk 73

The Tempest:
Act I. Sc. 2 Raven's feather . . . .107

II. i Bat-fowling 157

Chough 117

2 Duck 238

Goose ...... 197

Jay's nest . . . . .122

Sea-mells . . . .122, 269

IV. i Sparrows ..... 146

Barnacles ..... 246

Peacock .... (note) 175

V. i Owls 96

Timon of AtJiens :

Act I. Sc. i Eagle 26

II. r [Gull] 267

III. 6 Swallow 277

Tiring 38

IV. 3 Eagle 34

Tittis A fidronicu s:

Act II. Sc. 2 Swallows 277

3 Philomel . . . . 125

Owl 94, 105

Raven 105

Lark 136

III. i [Raven] 99

Lark 136

>t IV. i Philomel 125

Swan 205

2 Swallow 276

3 Pigeon . , . . 180, 183

t, 4 Pigeons 184

Eagle 33

, T V. 2 Vulture ..... 40

,r >t [Philomel] 125

3 Fowl 236

INDEX.

321

Sparrow, Philip, 145.

,, value of a, 146.
Sparrowhawk, 73.
Springes, 229.

, , how to make, 230.
Stag, wounded, 10, Intro.
Stale, 244.

, , how to make a, 245.
Stalking, 238.
Stalking-horse, 238.
Starlings, 274.

,, talking, 274.
Stoop, 63.
Swallow. 277.
Swallow's herb, 279.

stone, 283.
Swan, 201.

,, habits of the, 204.

,, nest of the, 204.

song of the, 202.
Swan's down, 206.
Swans of Juno, 206.

,, warrant for, 207.
Squirrel, 13, Intro.

T.

Tassel-gentle, 54.
Tercel, 53.

and Falcon, 52.
Throstle, 137.

song of the, 138.
Tire, 38.

Tower, 39, 51.
Towering, 39, 51.
Toad, 13, 15, Intro.
Tradition, a curious, 88.
Trout, 3, Iiitro.
Turkey, 177.

introduction of, 177.
Turkey-fowl, 179.
Turtle-dove, 191.

V.
Vulture, 40.

lf repulsive habits of, 41.

W.

Wagtail, 156.
Wasp, 17, Intro.
Watching, 45.
Weasel, 13, 32.
Wild-cat, 13, Intro.
Wild-duck, 237.
Wild-fowl, 235, 257.
Wild-goose, 246.
Wild-goose chase, 199.
Winter-ground, 141.
Wren, 142.

,, courage of, 143.

,, pugnacity of, 143.

song of, 143.
Woodcock, 228, 271.

, , springe for a, 229.
Woodcock's head, the, 232.

T T

Woodfall and Kinder. Printers, Mflford Lane, Strand, London, W.C.

APPENDIX.

313

Troilus and Crcssida :
Act I. Sc. i Cygnet's down
2 [Eagles]
[Crows]
a !', Daws .

II , i Sparrows
" ' [Owl] . -

2 Cormorant .
3 _[Raven]
! Doves .
2 Sparrow
Watch'd
Falcon
Tercel
Ducks
Plantage
Turtle .
3 Peacock
2 Lark .
Crows .

V. , I Finch-egg .
Quails .
Owl .
Puttock
2 Raven
Parrot

! ! [Screech-Owl]
' ^ [Goose]

Twelfth Night:
Act I- Sc. 3 Coystril
II. 3 Gull .

jf Woodcock .

5 Stanniel

;; ;, check

99 Gull-catcher

'J r Turkey-cock

Woodcock .

" Bird-bolts .
M Stone-bow .
]\ III. i Haggard .
Check

PACE

. 2O6

23

110

. 119

146

S 3
. 260

^
190

I4S
. 45

54

54
. 54
. 192

1 80, 192

175

144

219

83

44
100
272

85
197

- 74
149, 267

. 229

- 73
60, 73
. 267
. 180

- 231
. 163

- 163

60

. 60

R S

APPENDIX. 315

Lucrcce (continued") : PA <;E

Dove . 190

[Night-Owl] 83

Falcon 61

Fowl 61

Vulture -41

[Hawk] 72

Cuckoos . . . . . - . -149

Sparrows ... . . . . 149

Ravens . . . . . . . . .no

[Crow] .no

Swan . . . . . . . . .201

[Eagles] 23

Philomel 125

[Fowls] 235

The Passionate Pilgrim :

Dove 180

Philomela 125

Lark 130

Nightingale . . . . . . . . 125

The Phoenix and Turtle :

Eagle 23

Swan 201

Crow . . . . . . . . .no

Turtle 191

Sonnets :

XXIX. Lark 132

LXX, Crow iro

LXXXVI. Gulls 269

xci. Hawks 72

CII. Philomel 125

cxiv. Crow no

Dove 180

Venus and Adonis :

Doves 1 80, 190

Eagle .38

Itf

la.

I I * * !

PACE

,56

I I

t I

INDEX.

A.

Adder, 13, 15, 16, lntr&*
Aiery, 39.

B.

Badger, 12, Intrs.
Bandoleers, 243.
Bat, 13, 14, Intro.
Bat-fowling, 157-160.
Barnacle Goose, 247.
Barnacles, 247-256.
Bating, 62.

Bee, 17, 18, 19, Intro.
Beetle, 17, 20, Intro.
Bells, 60.
Bird-bolts, 163.
Bird-catching, 4, 157.
Hirding, 72.

Birding-pieces, 72, 164, 239.
Bird of Jove, 28, 29.
Bird-lime, 160.
Bird-traps, 162.
Birds of song, 123.
Birds under domestication, 167.
Blackbird, 139.
Black Ouzel, 139.
Brock, 12, Intro.
Bnnting, 136,
Butterfly, 17, Intro.
Buzzard, 47.

Cadge, 63.

C.

Cadger, 64.
Caliver, 239.

derivation of, 240.
description of, 240.
figure of, 242.
, , price of, 243.
Camelot, 198, 199.
Caterpillar, 17, Intr*.
Chase, Wild-goose, 199.
Chough, rr5.

and Crow, 116.
language of, 117.
red-legged, 119.
russet-pated, 119.
Cloys, 31, 32.
Cock, 167.

, , ancestry of domestic, 174.
Cock-a-hoop, 169, 170.
Cock and pye, 171.
Cock-crow, 168.
Cock-fighting, 172-174.
Coistrel, 74
Cormorants, 259.

fishing with, 260.
the King's, 261-264.
home of the, 265.
Coursing, 12, Intro.
Coystril, 74.
Cricket, 17, Intro.
Crow f 99.

black as a, 113.
food for, 112.

INDEX.

Crow, habits of, in.

-keeper, 114.
,, Night-, 102.
Scare-, 114.
, , to pluck, 1 14.
Crows and their relations, 90.
Cry havoc, 57.
Cuckoo, 147-156.

habits of, 150.
note of, 151.
songs, 152-156.
Cygnet, 201-206,

D.

Daw, 119.

Deer-hunting T 8, Intro.
-shooting, 4, Intro.
,, -stealing, 6, Intro.
f , wounded, 10, Intro.
Dive-dapper, 258.
Divers, 258.
Dove, 191.

of Paphos, 191.
of Venus, 191.
Rock-, 190.
Turtle-, 191.
Dove-house, 180.
Dove, Mahomed's, 193.
, , timidity of, 195.
Doves, dish of* 196.
Dormouse, 13, Intro.
Drone, 17, 19, Intro.
Duck, 237.

-hunting, 237.

K.
23-40.

age of, 35.
eggs of, 32,
eye, 25.
eyrie of, 38.
longevity of, 33-35.
omen of victory, 27.
power of night, 25, 26,
power of vision, 24.

Eagle trained for hawking, 36,

, , the Roman, 2830.
Enmew, 64, 66.
Eyas-musket, 74.
Eyesses, 57, 58.
Eyrie, 39, 57.

F.
Falcon, 52.

docility of the, 54.
-gentle, 53.
Haggard-, 57-59.
, f and Tercel, 52.
Falconer, 54.

, , qualities of a good, 5
, , call of the, 55.

wages of, So.
Finch, 144. ^

Fishing, 3, Intro.
Fly, Blow-, 17, Intro.
,, Gad-, 17, Intro.
,, House-, 17, 20, Intro
,, small Gilded-, 17, Intro.
Flying at the brook, 51.
Forester, 6, io f Intro.
Fowl, 235.

,, flight of, 236.
,, Sea-, 235.
,, Wild-, 235-237.
Fowling, 4, Intro.
Fox, ii, Intro.

Game-birds, 209.

former value of, 212.
,, laws, 215.
,, preserving, 209-214.
Gin, the, 231.
Glowworm, 17, Intro.
Gnat, 17, Intro.
Goose, 197.

a green-, 197.
,. a stubble-, 198.

former value of a, 197.
,. Wild-, 246.

INDEX.

319

Grasshopper, 17, Intr->.
Grebe, 258.

Great-crested, 258.
,, Little, 258.
Guinea-fowl, 179.
Gull, 266.
,, -catchers, 267.
,, -gropers, 268.

H.

Haggard, 57-59.
Halcyon, 275.

days, 275.
Hare, n, Intro.
Hawks, 49.

, , how to seel, 70.

,, keep of, 79.

, , trappings of, 58-64.

value of, 77, 78.
,, unmann'd, 62.
Hawking, age of, 50.

sundries, 80-82.
terms, 51.
Hedgehog, 13, Intro.
Hernshaw, 75, 223.
Heron, 223.

( , -hawking, 224-228.
, , in bills of fare, 228.
Hood, 61.

Hounds, 8, 9, Intro.
Hunting, 4, Intro.

I.
Jackdaw, 119.

Jay, lai.
Jesses, 58, 59.
Imping, 67, 68.
Jove's bird, 28, 29.

K.

Kestrel, 73.
Kingfisher, 275.
Kite, 43-47.
, , habits of, 46.

Kite, nest of, 47.

ill-omened, 45.

L.

Lang-nebbit things, 228.
Lapwing, 221.

,, decoying from nest, 22 r.
Lark, 130.

at heaven's gate, 132.
,, herald of morn, 131.
, , soaring and singing, 135.
, , song of the, 130-134.

method of taking, 136.
,, the ploughman's clock, 133.
Lime, 160.
Loon, 258, 259.
Lure, description of the, 55.
, , use of the, 56.

M.

Magpie, 120.
Mallard, 238.
Marten, 33.
Martin, 277.
Martlet, 277, 278.
Mole, 13, Intro.
Moth, 17, Intro.
Mew, 64.

origin of the word, 65.
Mews, the Royal, 65, 66.
Musket, 74.

N.

Night-crow, 102.
Nightingale, 124.

M lamenting, 125.

recording, 129.
singing against a thorn,

126, 127,

singing by day, 128.
song of, 124*

O.

Owl, 83-98.
,, its associations, 83,
, , its character maligned, 93.

INDEX.

Owl, its comrades, 97.

, , its fame in song, 96.

,, its five wits, 95.

, , its habits misunderstood, 86.

, , its utility to the fanner, 87.

,, its use in medicine, 84.

its note, 90.

, , its retiring habits, 94.

,, robbing nests, 91.

,, of ill-omen, 83.
Osprey, 41.

its power over fish, 43.
Ostrich, 286.
Ouzel, 139.

P.
Parrot, 272.

-teacher, 273.
Partridge, 216.

in kite's nest, 216.
-hawking, 217.
,, netting-, 218,
Peacock, 175.

,, introduction of, 176.
value of, 175.
variety of, 176.
Peewit, 222.
Pelican, 286.

fable of the, 287.

explanation of fable, 288-294.
Pelicans in England, 295.
Pheasant, 210.

introduction of, 211.
-hawking, 217.
Pigeon, 180.

Barbary-, 189.
Carrier-, 183.
, domesticated, 181.
-fanciers, 182.
feeding voting, 186.
-Hver'd, 185.
-post, 184.
, t price of r rg6.
Pitch, ST*

Plantage, 192.
Point, 51.
Prune, 31.

Quail, 218.
\ ,, -fighting, 219.

, , note of the, 220.
j Quaint recipes, 71.
| Quarry, 57.

R.
Rabbit, 12, //>v.

,, -netting, 12, Intro.
Raven, ico.

,, of ill-omen, 101.

,, deserting its young, 106.

, , feathers of, 107.

,, food of, 105.

,, presence on battle-fields, 104.

supposed prophetic power, 103.
,, variety of, 109.
Recipes, quaint, 71.
Redbreast, 139.

-teacher, 142.
Robin, 139.
Rock-dove, 190.
Rook, 121.
Ruddock, 140.

covering with leaves, i4r.

S.

Sea-fowl, 235.
Sea-gulls, 266.
Sea-mells, 270.
Seel, 69.
Seeling, 69.
Slow-worm, 16, Intro.
Snake, 13, 15, Intro.
Snipe, 233.

,, -netting, 234.
Souse, 38, 39.
Sparrow, 144.

fall of a, 146.

hedge-, 147.