The Birds of Shakespeare 
obsolete in conversational English as an 
epithet for a rogue it is still in common 
use in Scotland in that sense.! 
The owt plays a large part in Shake- 
speare’s references to bird-life. He does 
not discriminate between the different 
members of the large family probably 
included under this name, though he dis- 
tinguishes some of their respective cries. 
He heightens the feeling of the eeriness 
of night by introducing the remarkable 
sound of the owl’s voice, and most 
effectively when some deed of villany is 
on foot, or as one of the signs popularly 
supposed to portend coming disaster. He 
includes the owl also in that fairy world 
which he has made so real. It will be 
enough to cite a few examples of these 
different usages in his works. 
1'Thus in the song of the “‘ Ewie wi’ the crooked horn” 
the knave that did the mischief is thus maledicted: 
O had I but the loon that did it, 
I hae sworn as well as said it, 
Though the parson should forbid it 
I wad gie his neck a thraw. 
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