The Woodcock 
As might be anticipated, the birds 
which are treated as game take their place 
in the Shakespearian dramas, as well as 
the birds of prey that hunted them. The 
woopcock, for example, is referred to by 
name nine times, generally in connection 
with the gin or springe with which in 
those days it was taken, and in reference 
to some trick or contrivance by which 
somebody is caught or deceived. When, 
for instance, the Duke of York, seized by 
Queen Margaret and her lords, struggles 
to free himself from their hands, he is 
taunted by two of the lords, who both 
-make use of the language of sport. Clifford 
tells him : 
Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin ; 
to which Northumberland, with equal 
sarcasm, adds : 
So doth the cony struggle in the net.! 
Ophelia, when cross-questioned by her 
Seo FL ts VOM: 
eo 
