The Birds of Shakespeare 
While Shakespeare, like his poetical 
predecessors and contemporaries, regarded 
the whole tribe of birds as a great 
vocal assemblage, a delightful section of 
animated Nature, that gives life and charm 
to the countryside, his Poems and Plays 
stand apart for the remarkable extent to 
which he singles out individual birds by 
name, often with such detailed reference 
to their habits as to show that he well 
knew them in their native haunts. The 
birds thus distinguished by him amount 
to some fifty in number, as given in the 
following list : 
Eagle Loon Crow 
Falcon Owl Rook 
Kestrel Cuckoo Chough 
Sparrowhawk Woodcock Jackdaw 
Buzzard Pheasant Magpie 
Kite Partridge Jay 
Osprey Snipe Starling 
Vulture Quail Domestic Cock 
Parrot Lapwing Goose 
Ostrich Wild Duck ‘Turkey-cock 
Cormorant Dabchick Swan 
Pelican Raven Peacock 
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