THE HEDGE-SPARROW. 147 



In Macbeth (Act i. Sc. 2), and Midsummer Night's 

 Dream (Act Hi. Sc. 1), 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 deposjts 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 



