178 The Animal-Lore of Shalcspeares Time. 
many names it has in divers countries), field-fare, snipe, 
&c” 
Blackbird The Blackbird, Ouzel, Woozel, or Merle is 
occasionally referred to by poets. Drayton 
writes:— 
“ The woosel near at hand, that hath a golden bill; 
As nature him had markt of purpose t 5 let us see 
That from all other birds his tunes should different be: 
For, with their vocal sounds, they sing to pleasant May; 
Upon his dulcet pipe the merle doth only play, 
When in the lower brake, the nightingale hard by 
In such lamenting strains the joyful hours doth ply, 
As though the other birds she to her tunes would draw.” 
( PolyoTbion , song xiii.) 
When Shallow meets his neighbour and fellow-justice, 
he inquires after William and Ellen: “ And how doth my 
cousin, your bedfellow ? and your fairest daughter and 
mine, my god-daughter Ellen ? ” Silence answers, “ Alas, 
a black ousel, cousin Shallow ” (2 Henry IV., iii. 2, 6). 
The ambiguity of the reply has caused some discussion 
among commentators. Mr. Harting, who takes for granted 
that it refers to the young collegian, considers the ex¬ 
pression “ a black ousell ” equivalent to the phrase “ a 
black sheep.” Mr. Guy, a writer in Notes and Queries 
(5th series, vol. i. p. 19), assumes the reply to have 
reference to the lady, and suggests that, as the blackbird 
is a solitary warbler, Silence means to say that his 
daughter is still unmarried. Another interpretation is 
that Ellen is a comely brunette, and that her father uses 
the expression to deprecate her godfather’s too partial 
commendation of her charms. 
The range of the far-famed Nightingale in England 
is limited to certain counties. According to 
iTig'htmg'aie. Q arner (fUstory of Stafford, 1844), most 
parts of the county of Stafford are without the nightingale, 
and the bird is unknown in the rich valley of the Trent 
