172 PEPACTON 



which the European cuckoo imposes the rearing of 



its young. If Shakespeare had made the house 



sparrow, or the blackbird, or the bunting, or any of 



the granivorous, hard-billed birds, the foster- parent 



of the cuckoo, his natural history would have been 



at fault. 



Shakespeare knew the flowers, too, and knew 



their times and seasons : — 



" When daisies pied, and violets blue, 

 And lady smocks all silver-white, 

 And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, 



Do paint the meadows with delight." 



They have, in England, the cuckoo-flower, which 

 comes in April and is lilac in color, and the cuckoo- 

 pint, which is much like our "Jack in the pulpit ; ,; 

 but the poet does not refer to either of these (if he 

 did we would catch him tripping), but to butter- 

 cups, which are called by rural folk in Britain 

 " cuckoo-buds. " 



In England the daffodil blooms in February and 

 March; the swallow comes in April usually; hence 

 the truth of Shakespeare's lines: — 



" Daffodils, 

 That come before the swallow dares, and take 

 The winds of March with beauty." 



The only flaw I notice in Shakespeare's natural 

 history is in his treatment of the honey-bee, but 

 this was a flaw in the knowledge of the times as 

 well. The history of this insect was not rightly 

 read till long after Shakespeare wrote. He pictures 

 a colony of bees as a kingdom, with 



"A king and officers of sorts," 



