330 The Folk-Lore of Natural History. [Sess. ~ 
Among the many curious legends with reference to this 
bird we may mention one to which Shakespeare alludes— 
“They say the owl was a baker’s daughter.” 
—“Hamlet,” Act IV. se. v. 
This refers to an eastern tale, too long to quote here, which 
says a certain baker’s daughter was for some wickedness 
transformed into that bird, and to this day she laments 
her fate in its mournful hoot. 
THe EAGLE. 
The opinion that the eagle possesses the power of gazing 
undazzled at the sun is of great antiquity. Pliny relates that 
it exposes its brood to the test as soon as hatched, to prove if 
they are genuine or not :-— 
“ Nay, if thou be that princely eagle’s bird, 
Show thy descent by gazing ’gainst the sun.” 
—“K, Henry VI.,” Part III., Act IT. sc. i. 
“ A lover’s eyes will gaze an eagle blind.” 
— Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Act IV. se. iii. 
As a bird of good omen the eagle is often mentioned by 
Shakespeare— 
“T chose an eagle and did avoid a puttock” (kite). 
—“ Cymbeline,” Act I. se. ii. 
The great age to which this bird sometimes attains has been 
remarked on by most writers on ornithology. The Psalmist 
has beautifully alluded to it when he says of the righteous 
n, “ His youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.” 
THE HAWKE. 
The sparrow- -hawk appears to have been frequently used 
in falconry in olden times to take the smaller kind of game. 
In the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland 
we find the following entry: “16th Sept. 1473. Item 
given to a man of David Oguilviys of a martyn that 
brocht a spar hawk to the King ij s.” A wild hawk © 
