98 NA TURAL HISTOR Y OF SHAKESPEARE. 
Silence. Alas ! a black ouzel, cousin Shallow. 
King Henry IV., Part II. Act iii. Scene 2. 
CUCKOO. 
Pistol. Take heed, ere summer comes, or cuckoo 
birds do sing.— 
Merry Wives of Windsor, Act ii. Scene 1. 
Bottom. ...... 
The plain-song cuckoo gray, 
Whose note full many a man doth mark, 
And dares not answer, nay— 
for indeed, who would set his wit to so foolish a bird ? 
who would give a bird the lie, though he cry cuckoo 
never so ? 
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act iii. Scene 1. 
Lorenzo. That is the voice, 
Or I am much deceived, of Portia. 
Portia. He knows me, as the blind man knows the 
cuckoo, 
By the bad voice. 
Merchant of Venice, Act v. Scene 1. 
King Henry. So, when he had occasion to be seen 
He was but as the cuckoo is in June, 
Heard, not regarded; 
King Henry IV., Part I. Act iii. Scene 2. 
Po7npey. . . . the cuckoo builds not for 
himself, 
Antony and Cleopatra Act ii. Scene 6 . 
