Preface 
and striking metaphor, his vivid presenta- 
tion of the great drama of human life. If 
we compare him in this respect with 
either the poets who preceded or those 
who have followed him we learn that he 
stands apart from them all. 
The present little volume was written as 
a Presidential Address to the Haslemere 
Natural History Society, and was read to 
the members on March gth of the present 
year. The approach of the Shakespeare 
Tercentenary having brought the poet and 
his writings more closely to the mind, it 
appeared to me not inappropriate that a 
company of naturalists should be asked to 
consider how one branch of the subjects in 
which they are more specially interested 
had been treated by the greatest poet of 
all time. The Address was nearly finished 
when I came, for the first time, upon the 
excellent and exhaustive Ormithology of 
Shakespeare, by Mr. James Harting, pub- 
lished in 1871. I would gladly have 
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