A Crowded Aviary. 
271 
Latin, and the name here given to it may have been 
invented by the translator. 
The name of the shovelard, variously spelt, appears 
frequently in the lists of birds served up at banquets. It 
has often been observed that our ancestors seem to have 
eaten with relish many birds that in our time would be 
considered as tough and worthless. It may be that their 
outdoor life gave an edge to their teeth as well as to 
their appetite. In Wynkyn de Worde’s BoJce of Kervynge, 
1413, the following instructions are given :—“ Pecocke, 
storke, bustarde, and shovyllarde, unlace them as a 
crane, and let the feet be on sty 11 ” (Babees Book , p. 159, 
ed. Furnivall, 1868). 
Robert Laneham, writing of the preparations made 
for the entertainment of Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth, 
describes with some exactness a couple of aviaries, which, 
if they held all the varieties named, must have been 
rather crowded. He says:— 
“ Upon the first pair of posts [of the bridge] were set two comely 
square wire cages, three feet long and two feet wide, and high in them 
live bitterns, curlews, shovelers, hernshaws, godwits, and such like 
dainty birds of the presents of Sylvanus the god of fowl.” 
The White Stork, never at any time a resident in this 
country, was an occasional visitant, and was 
probably driven to our shores by stress of 
weather. From the earliest times the stork has been 
regarded with, respect as the emblem of temperance, 
fidelity, and filial affection. The ancient Egyptians 
reverenced the stork on account of the great services 
it performed in acting as scavenger, and among the 
Hebrews also it received respect. Drayton writes :— 
“ The careful stork, since Adam wondered at 
For thankfulness to those where he doth breed, 
That his ag’d parents naturally doth feed, 
In filial duty as instructing man.” 
(Noah’s Flood.) 
