VARIOUS BIRDS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS.
Notwithstanding 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 propensity 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, _Pluvialis_ 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.”
Shakespeare has noticed this peculiarity in the Parrot:--
“More clamorous than a parrot against rain.”--_As You Like It_,
Act iv. Sc. 1.
[Sidenote: THE PARROT.]
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 ensure success in teaching a parrot, the bird must be
rewarded:--
“The parrot will not do more for an almond.”--_Troilus and
Cressida_, Act v. Sc. 2.
To talk “like a parrot,” that is, without reason, is proverbial.
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? swagger? 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.
[Sidenote: A PARROT-TEACHER.]
In a witty scene between Beatrice and Benedick, in _Much 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 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.
_Bened._ 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.
_Bened._ Well, you are a rare _parrot-teacher_.[160]
_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 to this bantering.]
_Much Ado about Nothing_, Act i. Sc. 1.
The “Popinjay” (_Henry IV._ Part I. Act i. Sc. 3) apparently is only
another name for parrot.
In the Glossary to Chaucer’s Works we find the word thus
explained:--“_Popingay_, a parrot; _Papegaut_, Fr.; _Papegaey_, Belg.;
_Papagallo_, Ital.”
In the Privy Purse expenses of King Henry VIII. the following entry
occurs under date November, 1532:--
“Itm̃.--The laste daye paied in rewarde to a
woman that wolde have gyven a popingay
to the King’s grace x s̃.”
[Sidenote: THE STARLING.]
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 Cæsars, 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’ll holloa, ‘_Mortimer!_’
Nay, I’ll 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 friend M. Thirel in
Paris, he was agreeably astonished at hearing a starling articulate a
dozen consecutive sentences with the 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 l’on sonne? Prenez votre livre et revenez
vite, donner à manger a votre polisson.” If this statement can be
depended upon, M. Girardin might well have been astonished.
[Sidenote: THE KINGFISHER.]
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[161] 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,--
“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 sunlight 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; supposing, of course,
the speed to be uniform. In this way the flight of the common Swallow
(_Hirundo rustica_) 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.
“True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings.”
_Richard III._ Act v. Sc. 2.
[Sidenote: THE SWALLOW.]
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.”
_Winters Tale_, Act iv. Sc. 3.
[Sidenote: THE MARLET.]
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
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 observ’d,
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 observes on it:--“This short
dialogue between Duncan and Banquo, while they are approaching the gates
of Macbeth’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_, where 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.
[Sidenote: THE SWALLOW’S HERB.]
Old authors tell us that when the young swallows are hatched, they are
blind for some time, and that the parent birds bring to the nest a plant
called _Chelidonium_, 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 (_Chelidonium majus_). It belongs
to the _Papaveraceæ_, 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, fœtid juice, and bears small yellow flowers in
long-stalked umbels.
The name _Chelidonium_ is derived no doubt from the Greek χελιδων, 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 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 celandine, 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 historie 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 giuen vnto hawkes against
sundrie diseases;” and Turbervile, in his “Booke of Falconrie” (1611),
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 _Celondine_, 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 “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, with bringing this herbe and putting it to them: but
Aristotle, 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 applyed 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 _Calidonia maggiore_
of the Italians; _Yerva de las gelondrinhas_ of the Spaniards;
_Chelidoine Felongue_ and _Esclaire_ of the French; and _Schwalbenkraut_
of the Germans; while we, in English, call it _Celandine_,
_Swallow’s-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.
[Sidenote: THE SWALLOW’S STONE.]
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-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 belong 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 eyelid across the eyeball, and thus they remove any eyelash or other
foreign substance which may have got in one’s eye;[163] 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,[164] 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,[165] since the allusion which Longfellow
has made to it in his 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 current
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’ 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.[166]
[Sidenote: THE OSTRICH.]
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 indiscriminating
voracity, stones, sticks, pieces of metal, cord, leather, and other
substances, which often occasion its destruction. The extraordinary
digestion 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! _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. Jerdon, speaking of the Indian
Bustard (_Eupodotis 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.”[167]
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 _estridges_ that with the wind
Bated; like eagles having lately bath’d.”[168]
_Henry IV._ Part I. Act iv. Sc. 1.
[Sidenote: THE PELICAN.]
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’ll ope my arms;
And, like the kind life-rendering pelican,
Repast them with my blood.”
_Hamlet_, Act iv. Sc. 5.
King Lear, too, likens himself to a pelican when speaking of his
ungrateful children:--
“Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
Judicious punishment! ’Twas 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. 1.
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 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 considerable 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 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 it 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. That 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 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.”
This communication naturally drew forth some comments. 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 πελεκάν, or πελέκας, or πελεκινος, though it would
appear that some species of woodpecker was also intended by the word
πελέκας (see Aristoph. _Aves_, 1155). 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 (ἐν τῷ πρὸ τῆς κοιλίας τόπῳ), wherein the molluscs are
softened. They then throw them up and pick out the flesh from the opened
valves. Ælian 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 Ælian, viz.,
that this bird softens shell-fish in its stomach, &c. The first part of
this account is true of the parasitic gulls (_Lestris_). It is uncertain
what bird Cicero alludes to by the name _platalea_. 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
representation 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 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. Horapollo says (i.
11) that a vulture symbolises a compassionate person (ἐλεήμονα), 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:--
Τὸν μηρὸν ἐκτέμοντες, ἡματωμένοις
Γάλακτος ὀλκοῖς ζωπυροῦσι τὰ βρέφη.
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 supposed to serve as food for the
young, but was also able to reanimate the dead offspring! Augustine,
commenting 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 translation from the original Hebrew. “The word קָאַת
(_Kàh-ath'_), which is rendered πελεκάν in the Septuagint, and Pelican,
or Onocrotalus, in the Vulgate, is derived from the verb קָא ‘to vomit,’
and signifies ‘a vomiter.’ This name, evidently a general one, may have
been intended 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 _Kà-ath'_ is sometimes rendered ‘cormorant’ (Isa.
xxxiv. 11; Zeph. ii. 14). For further information concerning this point,
I would refer your readers to the ‘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 metaphorically as occasion required.
[Sidenote: IN THE ENGLISH FENS.]
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 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.
Alphonse Milne-Edwards, in an able article in the “Annales des Sciences
Naturelles,”[169] a translation of which subsequently appeared in _The
Ibis_.[170] The author thus anticipates 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 consequently 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 determination would not be always possible, but in the
present case there need be no doubt; for I have shown, in another
work,[171] that the wing-bone in the genus _Pelicanus_ offers
extremely clear distinctive peculiarities, which do not allow of its
being confounded with that of any other bird.”
[Sidenote: THE PELICAN IN ENGLAND.]
The only species of pelican which has been recorded to have occurred in
England in recent times, is the great white pelican, _P. onocrotalus_.
Latham has stated,[172] 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,[173] and subsequently by Dr. Fleming,[174] but
there is no evidence 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[175]:--“An _onocrotalus_, 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, 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. onocrotalus_,
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.
[Sidenote: CONCLUSION.]
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 naturalist, 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 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.
[Illustration]
APPENDIX.
A TABLE
OF
ORNITHOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS
IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY OCCUR:
THE PLAYS AND POEMS BEING ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED.
_All’s Well that Ends Well:_ PAGE
Act I. Sc. 1--[Hawking-eye] 55
„ „ 3--Cuckoo 154
„ II. „ 5--Lark 136
„ „ Bunting 136
„ III. „ 5--Limed 160
„ IV. „ 1--Chough 117
„ „ Woodcock 231
„ „ 3--Crow 110
_Antony and Cleopatra:_
Act II. Sc. 2--Eagle 26
„ „ 3--Cocks 172, 219
„ „ Quails 219
„ „ 6--Cuckoo 154
„ III. „ 2--[Swan] 201
„ „ [Kite] 44
„ „ 10--Mallard 238
„ „ 13--Kite 44
„ „ Seel 70
„ „ Dove 195
„ „ Ostrich 195
„ IV. „ 8--[Nightingale] 123
„ „ 12--[Swallow] 276
„ V. „ 2--Seel 70
_As You Like It:_
Act I. Sc. 2--Pigeons 180, 185
„ „ 3--Juno’s Swans 206
„ II. „ 3--Ravens 106
„ „ Sparrow 106, 146
„ „ 5--Eggs 32
„ „ 7--[Goose] 197
„ „ [Cock] 168
„ III. „ 3--Falcon 61
„ „ Bells 61
„ „ Pigeon 180, 185
„ „ 4--Goose 197
„ IV. „ 1--[Pigeon] 180
„ „ Parrot 272
„ „ 3--Moss’d 34
„ V. „ 4--Stalking-horse 238
_Comedy of Errors:_
Act II. Sc. 1--[Stale] 245
„ „ 2--Owls 96
„ III. „ 1--Crow 114
„ IV. „ 2--Lapwing 221
_Coriolanus:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Cormorant 260
„ „ Goose 197
„ „ 4--Geese 197
„ III. „ 1--[Crow] 110
„ „ [Eagle] 23
„ „ Cry havoc (note) 57
„ „ Quarry 57
„ „ 5--[Kite] 43
„ „ [Crow] 110
„ IV. „ 5--Daw 119
„ „ 7--Osprey 42
„ V. „ 3--[Dove] 180, 191
„ „ [Gosling] 197
„ „ 6--[Eagle] 23
„ „ [Dovecote] 180
_Cymbeline:_
Act I. Sc. 2--Eagle 28, 45
„ „ Puttock 28, 45
„ „ 3--[Crow] 110
„ „ 4--Fowl 235
„ II. „ 2--Philomel 125
„ „ [Raven] 99
„ „ 3--Lark 132
„ „ 4--[Watching] 45
„ III. „ 1--Crows 112
„ „ 3--Crows 112
„ „ Eagle 27
„ „ 4--Jay 121
„ „ Swan’s nest 206
„ „ 6--Owl 83
„ „ Lark 136
„ IV. „ 2--Ruddock 141
„ „ Wren 144
„ „ The Roman Eagle 28
„ V. „ 3--Crows 111
„ „ 4--Eagle 30
„ „ Prune 31
„ „ Cloys 31
„ „ 5--The Roman Eagle 29
_Hamlet:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Cock 167
„ „ 3--Woodcocks 229
„ „ 5--The falconer’s call 55
„ II. „ 2--Aiery 39, 58
„ „ Kites 43
„ „ Hawk 75, 223
„ „ Hernshaw 75, 223
„ „ Pigeon-liver’d 185
„ „ Kites 43
„ „ French falconers 56
„ „ Eyases 58
„ III. „ 2--[Raven] 99
„ „ Recorder (note) 129
„ IV. „ 5--Owl 88
„ „ Pelican 286
„ „ [Dove] 180
„ „ 7--Check 60
„ V. „ 1--Dove 180
„ „ 2--[Chough] 115
„ „ Lapwing 222
„ „ Bevy 218
„ „ Sparrow 146
„ „ [Woodcock] 229
„ „ Quarry 56
_Henry IV.--Part I.:_
Act I. Sc. 3--Popinjay 273
„ „ Starling 274
„ II. „ 1--Turkies 177
„ „ 2--Chuffs 118
„ „ Wild-Duck 237
„ „ 4--[Wild-Geese] 246
„ „ Sparrow 147
„ „ [Cuckoo] 147
„ III. „ 1--[Raven] 99
„ „ [Goose] 197
„ „ Redbreast-teacher 142
„ „ 2--Cuckoo 155
„ IV. „ 1--Estridge 286
„ „ Bated 286
„ „ Eagles 36, 286
„ „ Dove 180
„ „ 2--Caliver 240
„ „ Wild-Duck 240
„ „ Scare-crows 115
„ V. „ 1--Gull 148
„ „ Cuckoo’s bird 148
„ „ Sparrow 148
„ „ [Vultures] 41
_Henry IV.--Part II.:_
Act III. Sc. 1--Seel 70
„ „ 2--Ouzel 139
„ „ Dove 196
„ V. „ 1--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. „ 1--Kite 43
„ „ Crow 111
„ „ 2--Cloy 31
„ III. „ 6--Gull 149, 266
„ „ 7--Hawk 73
„ „ Lark 133
„ „ Hooded 62
„ „ Bate 62
„ IV. Prologue--Cocks 168
„ Sc. 1--Mounted 63
„ „ Stoop 63
„ „ 2--Carrions 104
„ „ Crows 104
_Henry VI.--Part I.:_
Act I. Sc. 2--Halcyon days 275
„ „ Mahomed’s Dove 194
„ „ [Eagle] 23
„ „ 4--Scare-crow 115
„ „ 5--Doves 180
„ II. „ 2--Turtle-doves 180, 191
„ „ 4--Hawks 73
„ „ Pitch 73
„ „ Daw 119
„ III. „ 3--Peacock 175
„ IV. „ 2--[Owl] 83
„ „ 3--[Vulture] 40
„ V. „ 3--Swan 204
„ „ Cygnets 204
_Henry VI.--Part II.:_
Act I. Sc. 2--[Hawk] 72
„ „ 3--Limed 161
„ „ 4--Screech-Owls 85, 97
„ II. „ 1--Flying at the brook 50, 51
„ „ Old Joan 50
„ „ Point 50, 51
„ „ Falcon 50
„ „ Pitch 50, 51
„ „ Hawks 50
„ „ Tower 50, 51
„ „ Fowl 51
„ „ 4--Limed 161
„ III. „ 1--Dove 180
„ „ [Raven] 101
„ „ [Eagle] 23
„ „ Kite 44
„ „ 2--Raven 101
„ „ Wren 101, 144
„ „ Partridge 44, 216
„ „ Puttock 44, 216
„ „ [Kites] 43
„ „ [Screech-Owl] 85
„ „ 3--[Lime-twigs] 160
„ IV. „ 1--[Eagle] 23
„ „ 10--Ostrich 285
„ „ Crows 113
„ V. „ 2--Kites 43, 112
„ „ Crows 112
_Henry VI.--Part III.:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Eagle 38
„ „ Tire 38
„ „ Hawk’s bells 61
„ „ 4--Swan 205
„ „ Dove 54, 195
„ „ Falcon 54
„ „ Woodcock 232
„ II. „ 1--Eagle’s bird 25
„ „ Night-Owl 88, 94
„ „ 2--Doves 91, 195
„ „ 6--[Screech-Owl] 85
„ V. „ 2--The princely Eagle 33
„ „ 4--Owl 85
„ „ 6--Limed 160
„ „ Owl 86
„ „ [Raven] 102
„ „ Night-Crow 102
„ „ Pies 121
_Henry VIII.:_
Act II. Sc. 3--[Lark] 136
„ III. „ 2--Larks 136
„ IV. „ 1--The bird of peace 180
_Julius Cæsar:_
Act I. Sc. 3--Bird of night 89
„ V. „ 1--Eagles 27
„ „ Raven 99-110
„ „ Crows 112
„ „ Kites 43
„ „ 3--[Eagles] 27
„ „ [Kites] 43
„ „ Ravens 104
_King John:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Sparrow 145
„ II. „ 2--Cry havoc (note) 57
„ IV. „ 3--Raven 103
„ V. „ 1--[Crow] 110
„ „ 2--Eagle 38
„ „ Aiery 38
„ „ Towers 38
„ „ Souse 38
„ „ 7--Cygnet 201
„ „ Swan 201
_King Lear:_
Act I. Sc. 4--Hedge-Sparrow 147
„ „ Cuckoo 147
„ „ Kite 44
„ II. „ 2--Wagtail 156
„ „ Goose 198
„ „ Halcyon 275
„ „ 4--Wild-Geese 246
„ „ Vulture 41
„ „ Owl 97
„ III. „ 4--The five wits 95
„ „ Pelican 287
„ „ 6--[Nightingale] 123
„ IV. „ 6--Crows 116
„ „ Choughs 116
„ „ Crow-keeper 114
„ „ Wren 144
„ „ Lark 135
_Loves Labour’s Lost:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Cormorant 260
„ „ Green-Geese 197
„ III. „ 1--Goose 197
„ IV. „ 1--Owl 95
„ „ 3--Green-Goose 198
„ „ Woodcocks 229
„ „ Raven 109
„ „ [Turtle] 191
„ „ Eagle-sighted 25
„ „ Bird-bolts 162
„ V. „ 1--Pigeon 180
„ „ 2--Pigeons 180
„ „ Owl 95
„ „ [Cuckoo] 147
„ „ [Lark] 130
„ „ [Turtle-dove] 191
„ „ Rook 121
„ „ Daw 119
_Macbeth:_
Act I. Sc. 2--Sparrow 147
„ „ [Eagle] 23
„ „ 5--Raven 102
„ „ 6--Martlet 277
„ II. „ 1--Owl 84
„ „ 2--“Obscure bird” 85
„ „ 4--Falcon 39, 51
„ „ Towering 39, 51
„ „ Owl 51
„ III. „ 2--[Crow] 110-115
„ „ 4--Maws 46
„ „ Kites 46
„ „ Magot-pie 120
„ „ Choughs 120
„ „ Rooks 120
„ IV. „ 1--Owlet 84
„ „ 2--Wren 91, 143
„ „ Owl 91, 143
„ „ 3--Vulture 40
„ „ [Quarry] 57
„ „ [Kite] 43
„ V. „ 3--Loon 258
„ „ [Geese] 197
_Measure for Measure:_
Act I. Sc. 4--Lapwing 221
„ II. „ 1--Scare-crow 115
„ III. „ 1--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
„ „ 9--Martlet 278
„ III. „ 2--Swan 201
„ V. „ 1--Crow 143
„ „ Lark 135, 143
„ „ Nightingale 128, 143
„ „ Goose 128, 143, 197
„ „ Wren 128, 143
„ „ Cuckoo 150
_Merry Wives of Windsor:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Cock and pye 171
„ „ 3--Bully-rook 121
„ „ [Raven] 99
„ „ Vultures 41
„ „ [Dove] 190
„ II. „ 1--Cuckoo-birds (note) 148
„ III. „ 3--Eyas-musket 74
„ „ Birding 72
„ „ [Hawk] 73
„ „ 4--[Geese] 197
„ „ 5--Birding 72
„ IV. „ 2--Birding 72
„ „ Birding-pieces 72, 164
„ V. „ 1--Goose 197
„ „ 5--Swan 207
„ „ Goose 207
_Midsummer Night’s Dream:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Doves of Venus 190
„ „ Lark 133
„ „ 2--Dove 195
„ „ Nightingale 195
„ II. „ 1--Crows 110
„ „ [Dove] 180
„ „ [Bolt] 162
„ „ 2--Owl 89
„ „ Philomel 125
„ „ Raven 108
„ „ Dove 108
„ III. „ 1--[Wild-fowl] 235
„ „ Ousel-cock 139
„ „ Throstle 137
„ „ Wren 142
„ „ Finch 144
„ „ Sparrow 147
„ „ [Lark] 130
„ „ Cuckoo 150
„ „ 2--Wild-Geese 246
„ „ Fowler 246
„ „ Choughs 119
„ „ [Crow] 110
„ IV. „ 1--Lark 131
„ V. „ 1--Recorder 129
„ „ Goose 197
„ „ 2--Screech-Owl 86
_Much Ado about Nothing:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Parrot-teacher 272, 273
„ „ Bird-bolt 162
„ „ Crow 114
„ „ Wise and warm 95
„ II. „ 1--Partridge 218
„ „ Fowl 237
„ „ 3--Raven 101
„ „ Fowl 238
„ „ Daw 119
„ „ Gull 269
„ III. „ 1--Lapwing 221
„ „ Haggards 59
„ „ Limed 160
„ „ 4--[Hawk] 73
„ V. „ 1--Woodcock 229
_Othello:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Daws 120
„ „ 3--Seel 70
„ „ Snipe 233
„ II. „ 1--Birdlime 161
„ „ 3--Speak Parrot 272
„ III. „ Watch 45
„ „ Haggard 57
„ „ Jesses 57
„ „ Seel 71
„ IV. „ 1--Raven 100
„ V. „ 1--“Cry on” (note) 56
„ „ 2--[Gull] 239, 267
„ „ Swan 201
_Pericles:_
Act III. Introd.--[Duck] 222-224, 237
„ IV. „ [Night-bird] 99
„ „ Dove 113, 191
„ „ Crow 113
„ Sc. 3--Wren 144
„ „ [Eagle] 23
„ „ 6--Coistrel 74
_Richard II.:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Pitch 51
„ „ 3--Falcon 54
„ „ Cloy 31
„ II. „ 1--Cormorant 259
„ „ Pelican 287
„ „ Imp 69
„ III. „ 3--Eagle 24
„ „ Night-Owls 85
„ „ Lark 136
_Richard III.:_
Act I. Sc. 1--[Eagle] 23, 45
„ „ Kites 45
„ „ Buzzards 45, 47
„ „ 3--Wren 144
„ „ [Eagle] 23
„ „ [Mew’d up] 64
„ „ Aiery 39
„ IV. „ 4--Owls 86
„ V. „ 2--Swallow 277
„ „ 3--Lark 133
„ „ Cock 167
„ „ “Cry on” (note) 56
_Romeo and Juliet:_
Act I. Sc. 2--Swan 114, 206
„ „ Crow 114, 206
„ „ 3--Dove-house 180
„ „ 4--Crow-keeper 114
„ „ Soar 50, 51
„ „ Pitch 50, 51
„ „ 5--Cock-a-hoop 169
„ „ Dove 113, 194
„ „ Crows 113, 194
„ II. „ 2--Falconer 54
„ „ Lure 54
„ „ Tassel-gentle 54
„ „ 4--Goose 197
„ „ 5--Dove 180
„ III. „ 2--Hood 62
„ „ Unmann’d 62
„ „ Bating 62
„ „ Raven 108, 109
„ „ 4--Mew’d up 64
„ „ 5--Nightingale 124
„ „ Lark 124, 131, 134
„ „ Eagle 25
„ IV. „ 4--Watch 46
„ „ Watching 46
„ V. „ 1--[Dove] 194
„ „ 3--Maw 46
_Taming of the Shrew:_
Induct. Sc. 1--[Nightingale] 123
„ „ 2--Hawking 72
„ „ Hawk 72
„ „ Lark 72
„ „ 1--Mew 64, 65
Act I. „ 2--Woodcock 229
„ II. „ 1--Nightingale 124
„ „ Buzzard 47
„ „ Turtle 47
„ „ Wise and warm 95
„ III. „ 1--Stale 245
„ „ 2--Dove 180
„ IV. „ 1--Falcon 62
„ „ Stoop 62
„ „ Lure 55, 62
„ „ Man 45, 62
„ „ Haggard 45, 62
„ „ Watch 45, 62
„ „ Kites 45, 62
„ „ Bate 45, 63
„ „ Peacock (note) 175
„ „ 2--Haggard 59
„ „ 3--Jay 122
„ „ Lark 122
„ V. „ 2--Hawk 73
_The Tempest:_
Act I. Sc. 2--Raven’s feather 107
„ II. „ 1--Bat-fowling 157
„ „ Chough 117
„ „ 2--Duck 238
„ „ Goose 197
„ „ Jay’s nest 122
„ „ Sea-mells 122, 269
„ IV. „ 1--Sparrows 146
„ „ Barnacles 246
„ „ Peacock (note) 175
„ V. „ 1--Owls 96
_Timon of Athens:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Eagle 26
„ II. „ 1--[Gull] 267
„ III. „ 6--Swallow 277
„ „ Tiring 38
„ IV. „ 3--Eagle 34
_Titus Andronicus:_
Act II. Sc. 2--Swallows 277
„ „ 3--Philomel 125
„ „ Owl 94, 105
„ „ Raven 105
„ „ Lark 136
„ III. „ 1--[Raven] 99
„ „ Lark 136
„ IV. „ 1--Philomel 125
„ „ Swan 205
„ „ 2--Swallow 276
„ „ 3--Pigeon 180, 183
„ „ 4--Pigeons 184
„ „ Eagle 33
„ V. „ 2--Vulture 40
„ „ [Philomel] 125
„ „ 3--Fowl 236
_Troilus and Cressida:_
Act I. Sc. 1--Cygnet’s down 206
„ „ 2--[Eagles] 23
„ „ [Crows] 110
„ „ Daws 119
„ II. „ 1--Sparrows 146
„ „ [Owl] 83
„ „ 2--Cormorant 260
„ „ 3--[Raven] 99
„ III. „ 1--Doves 196
„ „ 2--Sparrow 145
„ „ Watch’d 45
„ „ Falcon 54
„ „ Tercel 54
„ „ Ducks 54
„ „ Plantage 192
„ „ Turtle 180, 192
„ „ 3--Peacock 175
„ IV. „ 2--Lark 131
„ „ Crows 131
„ V. „ 1--Finch-egg 144
„ „ Quails 219
„ „ Owl 83
„ „ Puttock 44
„ „ 2--Raven 100
„ „ Parrot 272
„ „ 11--[Screech-Owl] 85
„ „ [Goose] 197
_Twelfth Night:_
Act I. Sc. 3--Coystril 74
„ II. „ 3--Gull 149, 267
„ „ Woodcock 229
„ „ 5--Stanniel 73
„ „ Check 60, 73
„ „ Gull-catcher 267
„ „ Turkey-cock 180
„ „ Woodcock 231
„ „ Bird-bolts 163
„ „ Stone-bow 163
„ III. „ 1--Haggard 60
„ „ Check 60
„ „ 2--Wren 144
„ „ [Gull] 267
„ „ 4--[Nightingale] 123
„ „ Daws 119
„ „ Limed 161
„ IV. „ 2--Wild-fowl 232, 257
„ „ Woodcock 232, 257
„ V. „ 1--Raven 108
„ „ Dove 108
„ „ Gull 267
_Two Gentlemen of Verona:_
Act II. Sc. 1--Robin-Redbreast 142
„ III. „ 1--Nightingale 128
„ IV. „ 4--Geese 198
„ V. „ 4--[Nightingale] 123
_The Winter’s Tale:_
Act II. Sc. 3--Kites 107
„ „ Ravens 107
„ III. „ 2--[Crow] 110
„ IV. „ 2--Lark 130
„ „ Thrush 137
„ „ Kite 46
„ „ Woodcock 230
„ „ 3--Jay 121
„ „ Falcon 64
„ „ Swallow 277
„ „ Crow 113
„ „ Dove 185
„ „ Turtles 180, 192
„ „ Choughs 118
„ „ Pheasant 210
„ „ 4--Dove’s down 194
„ V. „ 3--[Turtle] 180
_Lucrece:_
Venus’ doves 190
Limed 160
Cloy’d 31
Owls 97
Dove 190
[Night-Owl] 83
Falcon 61
Fowl 61
Vulture 41
[Hawk] 72
Cuckoos 149
Sparrows 149
Ravens 110
[Crow] 110
Swan 201
[Eagles] 23
Philomel 125
[Fowls] 235
_The Passionate Pilgrim:_
Dove 180
Philomela 125
Lark 130
Nightingale 125
_The Phœnix and Turtle:_
Eagle 23
Swan 201
Crow 110
Turtle 191
_Sonnets:_
XXIX. Lark 132
LXX. Crow 110
LXXXVI. Gulls 269
XCI. Hawks 72
CII. Philomel 125
CXIV. Crow 110
Dove 180
_Venus and Adonis:_
Doves 180, 190
Eagle 38
Tire 38
Dive-dapper 258
Crows 113
Owl 98
Vulture 41
Falcon 56
Lure 56
Lark 131
Doves of Paphos 190
FOOTNOTES.
[1] Such words are there enclosed in brackets [ ].
[2] 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.
[3] “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 as Portraits of Shakespeare.” By James Boaden. London,
1824.
[4] “An Inquiry into the History, Authenticity, and Characteristics of
the Shakespeare Portraits.” By Abraham Wivell. London, 1827.
[5] The Stratford Portrait was doubtless painted from the bust, and
probably about the time of the Garrick Jubilee, 1769.
[6] Boaden 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.
[7] “Life Portraits of William Shakespeare,” by J. Hain Friswell.
London, 1864.
[8] 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.
[9] Taylor was thirty-three when Shakespeare died in 1616, and survived
him thirty-seven years.
[10] 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.
[11] These passages will be found duly criticised in Chapter II.
[12] In the following passage from _The Tempest_, Shakespeare, _à
propos_ of fish, gives one of many proofs of his knowledge of human
nature. Trinculo comes upon the strange form of Caliban lying flat on
the sands:--“What have we here? A man, or a fish? dead or alive? A fish:
he smells like a fish: a very ancient and fish-like smell; a kind of,
not of the newest, poor-John. A strange fish! 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: 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.
[13] The author of “The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, 1496,”
makes the following quaint remarks on the superiority of “Fysshynge”
over “Huntynge”:--“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.”
[14] The subject of Bird-catching will be fully discussed in a
subsequent chapter.
[15] Letter from Rowland White to Sir Robert Sidney, dated 12th Sept.
1600.
[16] Nichols’ “Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of
Queen Elizabeth,” vol. iii. p. 90. (1788-1805.)
[17] “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 Gentleman’s Recreation._ 1686.
[18] “We say the deer is ‘_broken up_,’ the fox and hare are
‘_cased_.’”--_The Gentleman’s Recreation._ 1686.
From this ancient practice, too, is derived the phrase, “to eat humble
pie,” more correctly written “_umble 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.
[19] “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.
[20] _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
Yorkshire, 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.
[21] See also _Winter’s Tale_, Act iv. Sc. 3.
[22] In the Midland Counties, the bat is often called leathern-wings.
Compare the high German “_leder-maus_.”
[23]
... “hedgehogs which
Lie tumbling in my bare-foot way, and mount
Their pricks at my footfall.”
_Tempest_, Act ii. Sc. 2.
[24] “_Rere-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 “flittermouse,” “fluttermouse,” or
“fliddermouse,” from the high German, “_fledermaus_,” does not appear in
Shakespeare’s works.
[25] “The Natural History of the Insects mentioned in Shakspeare’s
Plays,” by Robert Patterson, 12mo. Lond. 1841.
[26] Mudie, “Feathered Tribes of the British Islands,” i. p. 82.
[27] “De Bello Judico,” iii. 5.
[28] Xenophon, “Cyropædia,” vii.
[29] “Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” June, 1864.
[30] Colquhoun, “The Moor and the Loch,” p. 330. And this is not an
isolated instance. _See_ Newton, “Ootheca Wolleyana,” Part I. p. 11.
[31] Pennant, “British Zoology.”
[32] Yarrell, “History of British Birds.”
[33] “Rural Sports,” vol. i. p. 246.
[34] “Dissertations,” vol. i. p. 173.
[35] 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.”
[36] Folio, 1676. Part ii. p. 169.
[37] “Memoirs of Stephen Grellet,” i. p. 459.
[38] See “The Naturalist” for May, 1837.
[39] “Tour in Sutherland,” vol. i. p. 113.
[40] “The Great Sahara,” p. 392.
[41] “Tour in Sutherland,” vol. i. p. 121.
[42] The name, no doubt, of a favourite falcon.
[43] Tardif, “Treatise on Falconry.”
[44] No doubt a corruption of “erne,” a name which is still given to the
sea eagle (_Aquila albicilla_).
[45] See his “Faerie Queene,” Book III. Canto 4.
[46] This scarce volume, of which we are fortunate enough to possess a
copy, contains the work of the Emperor Frederic II., “De arte venandi
cum avibus;” Albertus Magnus, “De Falconibus;” as also a digest of
Hubner’s work. “Sur le vol des oiseaux de proie,” and other ancient and
rare works on Falconry.
[47] Salvin and Brodrick, “Falconry in the British Islands,” pp. 38, 39.
[48] To “cry on” anything was a familiar expression formerly. In
_Othello_ (Act v. Sc. 1), we read--
“Whose noise is this that ‘cries on’ 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 expression, “Cry havoc, kings!” occurs in _King John_,
Act ii. Sc. 2; and again in _Julius Cæsar_, Act iii. Sc. 1:--
“Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.”
In _Coriolanus_ (Act iii. Sc. 1), Menenius says--
“Do not cry _Havoc_, where you should but hunt
With modest warrant.”
[49] Salvin and Brodrick, “Falconry in the British Islands.”
[50] His “bow,” that is, his “yoke.” Some editions read “low;” an
evident mistake.
[51] Compare, _ante_, pp. 57-59, “I’d whistle her off,” &c.
[52] Compare, _ante_, p. 52, “A falcon tow’ring in her pride of place,”
&c.
[53] 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.
[54] 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, “Dict. Nat.,” and “The Target: a Treatise
upon the Art Military,” 1756.
[55] December 30th, 1865.
[56] Victor Fatio, “Les Campagnols du Bassin du Léman.” Bale, Génève, et
Paris. 1867. P. 16.
[57] “Illustrations of Shakespeare, and of Ancient Manners.” 1807.
[58] “The Moor and the Loch.”
[59] “The Zoologist” for 1863, p. 8,765.
[60] “Essays on Natural History,” 1st Series, p. 14.
[61] Stanley’s “Familiar History of Birds,” p. 179.
[62] An excellent dissertation on the organ of voice in the raven will
be found in the second volume of Yarrell’s “British Birds,” 3rd ed.
p. 72.
[63] Willughby’s “Ornithology,” folio, 1678. Book I. p. 25.
[64] Stanley’s “Familiar History of Birds,” p. 188.
[65] Compare, “A _cyprus_, not a bosom, hides my heart.”
_Twelfth Night_, Act iii. Sc. 1.
[66] “To fear,” that is, “to frighten.”
[67] According to Steevens, this is not merely a poetical supposition.
“It is observed,” 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.”
[68] “Ovid. Metamorph.” Book vi. Fab. 6.
[69] These lines, although included in most editions of Shakespeare’s
Poems, are said to have been written by Richard Barnefield, and
published in 1598 in a volume entitled “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 “Passionate Pilgrim” was not
published until 1599.
[70] “Sir Thomas Browne’s Works” (Wilkin’s ed.), Vol. II. p. 537.
[71] 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.
[72] The “recorder” is mentioned in _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Act v.
Sc. 1, and in _Hamlet_, Act iii. Sc. 2.
[73] Bechstein “Ornithologisches Taschenbuch.”
[74] Shelley.
[75] “The ruddock warbles soft.”--SPENSER’S _Epithalamium_, I. 82.
[76] 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 hay over it.
[77] See _ante_, p. 129.
[78] “The English of Shakespeare,” by G. L. Craik.
[79] That is, the young cuckoo. The expression occurs again in _The
Merry Wives of Windsor_, Act ii. Sc. 1:--
“Take heed, ere summer comes, or cuckoo-birds do sing.”
[80] “Epigrams (Black Letter), 1587.”
[81] “Musurgia Universalis.” 1650. p. 30.
[82] _Pied_, that is parti-coloured, of different hues. So in _The
Merchant of Venice_, Act i. Sc. 3:--
“That all the yeanlings (_i.e._ young lambs)
which were streaked and _pied_.”
And in _The Tempest_, Caliban, alluding to the parti-coloured dress
which Trinculo, as a jester, wore, says:--
“What a _pied_ ninny’s this.”
Milton, in “L’allegro,” speaks of “meadows trim with daisies _pied_.”
[83] “Lady-smocks” (_Cardamine pratensis_), 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 Annunciation, hence its
name.
[84] 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 bulbosus_. One commentator on this
passage has mistaken the _Lychnis flos cuculi_, or “cuckoo-flower” for
“cuckoo-buds.” Another writer says, “cuckoo-flower” must be wrong, and
believes “cowslip-buds” the true reading, but this is clearly a mistake.
Walley, 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.
[85] See Chambers’s “Book of Days,” i. 531.
[86] The “cresset-light” was a large lanthorn placed upon a long pole,
and carried upon men’s shoulders. (_See_ Strutt’s “Sports and Pastimes,”
Introduction.)
[87] Thornbury, “Shakespeare’s England,” vol. i. p. 339.
[88] Sir S. D. Scott, “The British Army: its Origin, Progress, and
Equipment,” vol. ii. pp. 80, 81.
[89] “The British Army: its Origin, Progress, and Equipment.” London,
1868, vol. ii. pp. 284-286.
[90] Note here the use of the word “extravagant” in its primary
signification, implying, of the ghost, its wandering beyond its proper
sphere.
[91] _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.
_Warwick._ “Now, by my father’s badge, old Neville’s crest,
The rampant bear chain’d to the ragged staff.”
_Henry VI._ Part II. Act v. Sc. 1.
[92] “The Compleat Gamester,” 1709.
[93] “The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” i. 235.
[94] Id. i. 236, 237.
[95] See also _Taming of the Shrew_, Act iv. Sc. 1, and _Tempest_, Act
iv. Sc. 1.
[96] Darwin, “Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” i.
290.
[97] Pro. Zool. Soc. April 24th, 1860.
[98] Darwin, op. cit.
[99] Baker’s “Chronicle.”
[100] 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.
[101] “Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal,” vol. xxix. p. 38.
[102] Pp. 390, 391.
[103] In the ruined temple of Medineet 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.”--LEITH
ADAMS, _Notes of a Naturalist in the Nile Valley and Malta_, p. 27.
[104] A good description of these whistles, by Mr. Tegetmeier, with
illustrations, will be found in the _Field_ of the 12th March, 1870.
[105] Darwin, “Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” i.
pp. 204, 205.
[106] Hunter “On the Animal Economy,” p. 194.
[107] “Illustrations of British Ornithology.”
[108] “Ornithological Dictionary,” Preface, 1st edition.
[109] “Pigeons: their Structure, Varieties, Habits, and Management.” By
W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S. London, 1868.
[110] “Glossary,” 4to. Lond. 1822.
[111] Sir W. Raleigh, “History of the World,” Book I. Part i. c. 6.
[112] See _ante_, p. 143.
[113] Translated from the French by Sir Thos. Mallory, Knt., and first
printed by Caxton, A.D. 1481.
[114] See “Chambers’s Dictionary,” last ed., article “Chase;” also Holt
White’s note to this passage in the “Variorum Shakespeare.”
[115] Wood’s “Buffon,” xix. p. 511, note.
[116] This, it will be observed, differs materially from Col. Hawker’s
observation.
[117] “Essays on Natural History,” second series, p. 128.
[118] See end of Chapter V.
[119] _See_ “The Ibis,” 1869. p. 358.
[120] As a copy of the “Northumberland Household Book” is not readily
accessible, 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).
Chickeyns at ½d. a pece.
Hennys at iid. a pece.
Swannys (no price stated).
Geysse iiid. or iiiid. at the moste.
Pluvers id. or i½d. at moste.
Cranys xvid. a pece.
Hearonsewys (_i.e._ Heronshaws or Herons) xiid. a pece.
Mallardes iid. a pece.
Teylles id. a pece.
Woodcokes id. or i½d. at the moste.
Wypes (_i.e._ Lapwings) id. a pece.
Seegulles id. or i½d. at the moste.
Styntes after vi. a id.
Quaylles iid. a pece at moste.
Snypes after iii. a id.
Perttryges at iid. a pece.
Redeshankes i½d.
Bytters (_i.e._ Bitterns) xiid.
Fesauntes xiid
Reys (_i.e._ Ruffs and Reeves) iid. a pece.
Sholardes vid. a pece.
Kyrlewes xiid. a pece.
Pacokes xiid. a pece.
See-Pyes (no price).
Wegions at i½d. the pece.
Knottes id. a pece.
Dottrells id. a pece.
Bustardes (no price).
Ternes after iiii. a id.
Great byrdes after iiii. a id.
Small byrdes after xii. for iid.
Larkys after xii. for iid.
[121] “Extracts from the Household and Privy Purse Accounts of the
L’estranges of Hunstanton, 1519-1578.” (Trans. Roy. Soc. Antiq. 1833.)
[122] “The Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, 1536-1544.”
(Edited by Sir F. Madden, 1831.)
[123] 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.
[124] _Vide_ Julius Pollux, “De ludis,” lib. ix.
[125] “Musurgia Universalis,” 1650, p. 30.
[126] In Sweden the bird is known as _wipa_ to this day.
[127] The fine was 8_d._ for every egg. _See_ 3 & 4 Ed. VI. c. 7, and 25
Hen. VIII. c. 11.
[128] “Falconry; its History, Claims, and Practice,” by G. E. Freeman
and F. H. Salvin. London, 1859.
[129] Leland 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 Heronshawes” were served up!
[130] _Every Man Out of his Humour_, Act iii. Sc. 3.
[131] Thornbury, “Shakespeare’s England,” vol. i. pp. 169, 170.
[132] Thornbury, “Shakespeare’s England,” i. p. 21; see also p. 33.
[133] “The Gentleman’s Recreation.” 1595.
[134] See pp. 164, 165.
[135] “The British Army: its Origin, Progress, and Equipment,” vol. ii.
p. 286.
[136] _See_ the Report in Maitland’s “Hist. of London,” p. 594.
[137] “An Answer to the Opinion of Captain Barwicke.” (Harl. MSS., No.
4,685.)
[138] Their numbers, in Mr. Hewitt’s official _Tower Catalogue_, are
12/10 and 12/11.
[139] “Brief Discourse of War, 1590.”
[140] Peck’s “Desid. Cur.”
[141] Bandoleers consisted of a belt of leather worn over the left
shoulder, on which were suspended little metal, wooden, leather, or horn
cylinders, each containing one charge. Examples are preserved in the
Tower of London.
[142] Harl. MSS., No. 5,109.
[143] Brantôme, “Œuvres,” tom. vii. pp. 425-429.
[144] Sidney, “Arcadia,” ii. p. 169.
[145] See _ante_, p. 197.
[146] Aldrovandi Opera Omina: Ornithologia. 3 vols. Bononiæ. 1599.
[147] “Philosophical Transactions,” l.c.
[148] The doctrine of Pythagoras is again alluded to by Gratiano, who
says:--
“Thou almost mak’st me 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. 1.
[149] In China, at the present day, an allied species, _Ph. sinensis_,
is reared and trained to fish.
[150] 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.”
[151] 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.
[152] The above extracts were communicated by Mr. Salvin to Mr. Frank
Buckland’s journal, _Land and Water_, in 1867, in a series of articles
on “Cormorant Fishing.”
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.
[153] Sidney Bere, in _Land and Water_, April 20, 1867.
[154] In “Chambers’s Journal” for 1859, will be found an interesting
article upon the subject, entitled “The King and his Cormorants.”
[155] 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.
[156] _Geck_--a laughing-stock. According to Capel, from the Italian
_ghezzo_. Dr. Jamieson, however, derives it from the Teutonic _geck_,
_jocus_.
[157] See also _Othello_, Act v. Sc. 2, and _Timon of Athens_, Act ii.
Sc. 1.
[158] See D’Israeli’s “Curiosities of Literature,” iii. p. 84.
[159] Thornbury, “Shakespeare’s England,” vol. i. pp. 311, 312.
Doubtless compiled from Greene’s “Art of Coney Catching,” 1591, and
Decker’s “English Villanies,” 1631.
[160] Compare “Redbreast-teacher,” _Henry IV._ Part I. Act iii. Sc. 1.
[161] To this day the bird is still called “Martin-pécheur” by the
French.
[162] “Arondell,” no doubt the old French, or a corruption of
“Hirondelle.”
[163] 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.
[164] 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.
[165] 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 bird! “In ventre hirundinum pullus _lapilli_ candido aut
rubenti colore, qui ‘chelidonii’ vocantur, magicis narrati artibus
reperiuntur.”
[166] The substance of the above remarks was contributed by the author
in an article published in _The Zoologist_ for 1867, p. 744.
[167] “The Birds of India,” iii. p. 610.
[168] Some editions read--
“All plum’d like estridges that wing the wind;
Bated like eagles having lately bath’d.”
But we have adopted the above reading in preference for three reasons:
1. Considering 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.
[169] Cinquième séries, tom. viii. pp. 285-293.
[170] _Ibis_, 1868, pp. 363-370.
[171] “Oiseaux Fossiles de la France,” p. 230.
[172] “Synopsis,” iii. p. 577 (1785).
[173] “Suppl. Orn. Dict.” (1813).
[174] “Hist. Brit. An.” p. 118 (1828).
[175] “Works:” Wilkin’s ed. vol. iv. p. 318.
INDEX.
A.
Adder, 13, 15, 16, _Intro._
Aiery, 39.
B.
Badger, 12, _Intro._
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.
Birding, 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._
Bunting, 136.
Butterfly, 17, _Intro._
Buzzard, 47.
C.
Cadge, 63.
Cadger, 64.
Caliver, 239.
derivation of, 240.
description of, 240.
figure of, 242.
price of, 243.
Camelot, 198, 199.
Caterpillar, 17, _Intro._
Chase, Wild-goose, 199.
Chough, 115.
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, 99.
black as a, 113.
food for, 112.
Crow, habits of, 111.
-keeper, 114.
Night-, 102.
Scare-, 114.
to pluck, 114.
Crows and their relations, 99.
Cry havoc, 57.
Cuckoo, 147-156.
habits of, 150.
note of, 151.
songs, 152-156.
Cygnet, 201-206.
D.
Daw, 119.
Deer-hunting, 8, _Intro._
-shooting, 4, _Intro._
-stealing, 6, _Intro._
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.
E.
Eagle, 23-40.
age of, 35.
eggs of, 32.
eye, 25.
eyrie of, 38.
longevity of, 33-35.
omen of victory, 27.
power of flight, 25, 26.
power of vision, 24.
Eagle trained for hawking, 36, 37.
the Roman, 28-30.
Enmew, 64, 66.
Eyas-musket, 74.
Eyesses, 57, 58.
Eyrie, 39, 57.
F.
Falcon, 52.
docility of the, 54.
-gentle, 53.
Haggard-, 57-59.
and Tercel, 52.
Falconer, 54.
qualities of a good, 55.
call of the, 55.
wages of, 80.
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, 10, _Intro._
Fowl, 235.
flight of, 236.
Sea-, 235.
Wild-, 235-237.
Fowling, 4, _Intro._
Fox, 11, _Intro._
G.
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.
Grasshopper, 17, _Intro._
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, 11, _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, 121.
Jesses, 58, 59.
Imping, 67, 68.
Jove’s bird, 28, 29.
K.
Kestrel, 73.
Kingfisher, 275.
Kite, 43-47.
habits of, 46.
nest of, 47.
ill-omened, 45.
L.
Lang-nebbit things, 228.
Lapwing, 221.
decoying from nest, 221.
Lark, 130.
at heaven’s gate, 132.
herald of morn, 131.
soaring and singing, 135.
song of the, 130-134.
method of taking, 130.
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.
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.
Owl, its comrades, 97.
its fame in song, 96.
its five wits, 95.
its habits misunderstood, 86.
its utility to the farmer, 87.
its use in medicine, 84.
its note, 90.
its retiring habits, 94.
robbing nests, 91.
of ill-omen, 85.
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 young, 186.
-liver’d, 185.
-post, 184.
price of, 196.
Pitch, 51.
Plantage, 192.
Point, 51.
Prune, 31.
Q.
Quail, 218.
-fighting, 219.
note of the, 220.
Quaint recipes, 71.
Quarry, 57.
R.
Rabbit, 12, _Intro._
-netting, 12, _Intro._
Raven, 100.
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, 141.
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.
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, _Intro._
Turkey, 177.
introduction of, 177.
Turkey-fowl, 179.
Turtle-dove, 191.
V.
Vulture, 40.
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.
Woodfall and Kinder, Printers, Milford Lane, Stand, London. W.C.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation has been standardised, and simple typographical errors have
been repaired. Variations in hyphenation and obsolete or variant
spelling have been preserved.
The marker for Footnote 162 is missing in the original text, and has
been left unmarked.
Superscripted characters are preceded by the caret symbol.
The following changes have also been made:
Page 76: ancent => ancient: (the ancient Ægyptians).
Page 182: Shangai => Shanghai: (Dr. Lockhart of Shanghai).