James Edmund Harting

“ Izaak Walton has truly said, “The nightingale breathes such sweet loud music out of her little instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think 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?” ”

“ 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 nightingale. 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 something indescribably sweet about them. “Listen,” says Macgillivray, “to the clear, loud notes of that speckled warbler, that in the softened sunshine pours forth his wild melodies on the gladdened ear. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 Shakespeare’s day. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Throughout the works of our great dramatist, frequent allusions may be found to an eagle, but the word “eagle” 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 improbable 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. ”

“ TO those who have ever taken part in a hawking excursion, it 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 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. ”

“ Portia evidently had no high opinion of the wren’s song, when she said,—
“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.” ”

“ This bird has been noticed by Shakespeare chiefly on account of a peculiar trait in its character, with which most naturalists 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.” ”

“ THE KITE,
Another of the birds of prey mentioned by Shakespeare is “the lazar Kite” (Henry V. Act ii. Sc. 1) . Although a large bird, and called by some the royal Kite (Milvus 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. ”

“ 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’ 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.’
“Thus ended as good a day’s sport as any one could wish to see.” ”

“ TO 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ You will set cock-a-hoop! you’ll 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. ”

“ 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 the old ones, and of course will no more be found in the crop of the young. ”

“ 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. ”

“ IF 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. ”

“ Shakespeare 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 occupation, to take up his abode among strangers in a distant place. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 provincial name of “puttock,” which occurs in the above quotation, is sometimes applied to the kite, sometimes 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 extent, with those few who still maintain the practice of falconry. For this sport either the peregrine or the goshawk may be used. ”

“ IT 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. ”

“ AS 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. ”

“ Shakespeare frequently alludes to Barbary horses; and in the Second Part of King Henry IV. Act ii. Sc. 4, makes Falstaff 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. ”

“ 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?”—Lucrece.
The solution of this question is the more puzzling from the fact that this parasitical habit is not common to all species of the genus cuckoo. An American species builds a nest for itself, and hatches its own eggs. ”

“ 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 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.” ”

“ 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 abbreviation 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 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.” ”