[Footnote 54: Steevens quotes Pictaeque volucres. Virg. Painted birds.
Dryden.--BOWLES.
Pope probably took the phrase from Paradise Lost, where the birds are
described as spreading "their painted wings." In transferring the
expression he overlooked the fact that the wings are not the part of the
pheasant to which the epithet "painted" is especially applicable.]
[Footnote 55: Originally thus:
When hoary-winter clothes the years in white,
The woods and fields to pleasing toils invite.--POPE.]
[Footnote 56: The reflection is misplaced; for dogs by nature chase
hares, and man avails himself of their instinctive propensities.]
[Footnote 57: Originally:
O'er rustling leaves around the naked groves.--WARBURTON.