The Birds of Shakespeare 
The jay is referred to five times by 
Shakespeare. In the enchanted isle Caliban 
offers to guide the drunken Trinculo and 
Sebastian to some of the dainties of the 
place : 
I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts : 
Show thee a jay’s nest, and instruct thee how 
To snare the nimble marmoset.! 
The name of the bird is used as an uncom- 
plimentary epithet for some women, as 
where Mrs. Ford, in reference to Falstaff’s 
addresses, declares ‘‘ we'll teach him to 
know turtles from jays,’’? and where 
Imogen affirmed, “Some jay of Italy hath 
betrayed him.”* But perhaps the most 
interesting appearance of the bird in the 
Plays occurs in the scene of the Taming 
of the Shrew, where after the tailor has 
been sent about his business, taking with 
him the cap and gown which had been 
ordered for Katharine, and with which she 
1 Tempest, U. 11. 158. 7? Merry Wives, ui. iil, 34. 
5 Cymbeline, 111. iv. 47. 
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