THE HEDGE-SPARROW. 147 



In Macbeth (Act i. Sc. 2), and Midsummer Nig/it's 

 Dream (Act iii. Sc. i), the sparrow is mentioned ; and the 

 following passage in Henry 1 V. will doubtless be remem- 

 bered by all readers of Shakespeare's Plays : 



" Falstaff. . . . . " That sprightly Scot of Scots, 

 Douglas, that runs o' horseback up a hill perpendicular. 



P. Henry. He that rides at high speed, and with his 

 pistol kills a sparrow flying. 



Falstaff. You have hit it. 



P. Henry. So did he never the sparrow." Henry IV. 

 Part I. Act ii. Sc. 4. 



The Fool in King Lear reminds us that it is in the 

 hedge-sparrow's nest that the Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) 

 frequently deposits her egg : 



" For you know, nuncle, the hedge-sparrow fed the 

 cuckoo so long, that it had its head bit off by its young." 

 King Lear, Act i. Sc. 4. 



Mr. Guest, in adopting the reading of the first folio, 

 observes (Phil. Pro., i. 280) that " in the dialects of the 

 North-western counties, formerly it was sometimes used 

 for its. So in the passage just quoted we have ' For you 

 know,' &c., ' that its had it head bit off by it young ; ' that 

 is, that it has had its head, not that it had its head, as the 

 modern editors give the passage, after the second folio." 



" So likewise, long before its was generally received, we 

 have it self commonly printed in two words, evidently 



