extensively on the ptarmigans. There, 

 Mr. L. M. Turner says, "it will sit for 

 hours in some secluded spot waiting for 

 a ptarmigan to rise on its wings. No 

 sooner does its prey rise a few feet from 

 the ground than with a few rapid strokes 

 of the wings and a short sail the Goshawk 

 is brought within seizing distance; it 

 pounces upon the bird, grasping it with 

 both feet under the wings, and after 

 giving it a few blows on the head they 

 both fall to the ground, often tumbling 

 several feet before they stop, the Hawk 



not relinquishing its hold during the 

 time." 



The large and bulky nest of the Gos- 

 hawk is usually built among the higher 

 branches of an evergreen tree in the 

 denser portions of a forest. It is con- 

 structed with large, loosely arranged 

 sticks which form the foundation. Upon 

 this is placed a mass of more compactly 

 placed twigs in which the shallow cavity 

 of the nest is situated. It is simply lined 

 with shreds of soft, fibrous bark, leaves 

 and herbaceous stems. 



THE BIRDS OF SHAKESPEARE, 



The English birds — the birds of Wai- 

 wickshire — that Shakespeare knew and 

 loved, are not forgotten in his great 

 dramas of human passion. It is the 

 finest art which bids us pause before the 

 castle of Macbeth, soon to be haunted 

 evermore with dark images of crime and 

 remorse, to note the peace of outward 

 nature, the airy homes of the innocent 

 birds that love a wild and sheltered spot. 

 We can fancy their flying forms outlined 

 against the sunset sky above the towers. 

 The whole description is exquisite : 



' ' This guest of summer, 

 The temple-iiaunting martlet, does approve 

 By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's 



breath 

 Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze, 

 Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird 

 Hath made his pendent bed and procreant 



cradle: — 

 Where they most breed and haunt, I have 



observed, 

 The air is delicate. ' ' 



No doubt Shakespeare had often 

 watched the swallows darting to and fro 

 over the ruin-marshes at Stratford, chas- 

 ing insects on the wing; or noted the 

 "loved mansionry" of their nests under 

 eaves or against stone walls, wherever 

 there was safe hold for their airy dwell- 

 ings. Martlet, by the way, is a diminu- 

 tive of martin, or swallow.) The swal- 



low is mentioned again in a passage of 

 great beauty : 



''Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares, 

 And take the winds of March with beauty." 



The same thought occurs in the lyric 

 on ''the sweet o' the year," a song lovely, 

 though besmirched by the vulgarity of 

 the age, sung by the rogue Autolycus, 

 on spring and summer. Spring is the 

 time when 



''Daffodils begin to peer. 



And the sweet birds first do sing." 



''The summer songs" are those of 



' ' The Lark that tirra-lyra chants. 

 With heigh! with heigh! the thrush and the 

 jay. ' ' 



In the "Tempest," one of the most 

 beautiful of his nature-plays, Caliban 

 promises the sailors to find for them "the 

 blue jay's nests," and to catch the young 

 gulls upon the rocks or cliffs by the sea. 

 The larks and the thrushes are among 

 the loveliest singers of English fields and 

 woods, and the charming bird-song of 

 "Love's Labor Lost" also places the first 

 foremost in its heralds of summer : 



"And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks, 

 When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws."" 



The cuckoo brings in the spring-time 



in this : 



