HAWK AND HERNSHAW. JS 



to the male sparrowhawk ; " eyas " or " eyess," as before 

 explained, signifying a nestling, or young bird from the 

 eyrie or nest. In the above speech, Mrs. Ford probably 

 intended to imply no more than we should now-a-days 

 mean by the expression " a perky little fellow." 



The words of Hamlet with reference to a hawk must be 

 familiar to all readers of Shakespeare, the more so, 

 possibly, because the passage in question appears to have 

 puzzled many commentators : — - 



" I am but mad north-north-west : when the wind is 

 southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw? 



Hamlet, Act. ii. Sc. 2. 



The explanation is simple enough. The last word 

 should be "hernshaw," the old name for the heron. It is 

 not every one who knows a hawk from a heron when he 

 sees it, although it is scarcely possible to conceive two 

 birds more unlike in appearance. Hamlet's statement, 

 then, is simply to the effect that he only feigned madness 

 when it suited his purpose ; at other times he could even 

 outwit the many, and see a distinction where they, from 

 ignorance, would fail. 



The ingenuity which has been exercised in a laudable 

 endeavour to interpret this passage is really surprising. 

 "An ingenious friend," says the Athenceum* "suggests 

 the following explanation : — ' Among the ancient ^Egyp- 



* December 30th, 1865. 



