148 THE HEDGE-SPARROW AND CUCKOO. 
under the impression that zt was a possessive of the same 
syntactical force with the pronouns in my self, your self, 
her self.”* 
So in Timon of Athens (Act v. Sc. 1), we have— 
“ The public body 
feeling in itself 
A lack of Timon’s aid, hath sense withal 
Of zt own fall.” 
Again, in Winter's Tale (Act ii. Sc. 3) :— 
“to z¢ own protection.” 
And— 
“The innocent milk in z# most innocent mouth.” 
Winter's Tale, Act iii. Se. 2. 
The popular notion referred to by the poet in King 
Lear, is again mentioned by Worcester in Henry IV.— 
“ And, being fed by us, you us’d us so 
As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo’s bird,+ 
Useth the sparrow ; did oppress our nest, 
Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk, 
That even our love durst not come near your sight, 
For fear of swallowing.” 
flenry TV. Part I. Act v. Se. 1. 
* “The English of Shakespeare,’ by G. L. Craik. 
} That is, the young cuckoo. The expression occurs again in The Merry Wives 
of Weéndsor, Act ii. Sc. r:— 
‘Take heed, ere summer comes, or cuckoo-birds do sing.” 
