Birds mentioned by Him 
Dove and Pigeon Wagtail Hedge-Sparrow 
Turtle-dove Bunting House-Sparrow 
Lark Redbreast Swallow 
Blackbird Finch House-Martin 
Thrush Halcyon or King- Nightingale 
Wren fisher. 
Of a few of them he makes only a single 
mention, but most of them are more 
frequently cited, in some cases, indeed, as 
often as forty or fifty times. Recognising 
in these creatures traits that remind him 
of the feelings and actions of mankind, 
he makes varied and effective use of them 
as symbols and illustrations with which 
to enrich his vivid picture of the great 
drama of human life. The naturalist, 
interested in noting the attitude of the 
greatest poet of all time towards living 
creatures, feels no surprise that Shake- 
speare’s knowledge of natural history is 
sometimes inaccurate, or that he should 
have taken on trust some of the fabu- 
lous legends in that subject, which were 
current in his day. The scientific study 
29 
