THE KESTREL. 
73 
In Henry V. (Act iii. Sc. 7), the Dauphin, when speak 
ing in praise of his horse, says,— 
“ When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk.” 
And in the first part of Henry VI. (Act ii. Sc. 4), the 
Earl of Warwick boasts that 
“ Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch ; 
I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgment.” 
Again,— 
“ Twenty crowns ! 
I ’ll venture so much of my hawk or hound, 
But twenty times so much upon my wife.” 
Taming of the Shrew , Act v. Sc. 2. 
In two instances only does Shakespeare allude to a 
particular species of hawk. These are the Kestrel and 
Sparrowhawk. 
When Malvolio, in Tzvelfth Night (Act ii. Sc. 5), finds 
the letter which Maria has purposely dropt in his path, 
Sir Toby Belch, looking on from ambush, exclaims, in 
sporting terms :— 
“ And with what wing the stanniel checks at it ! ” 
Here stanniel is a corruption of standgale , a name for 
the kestrel hawk, and Malvolio is said to “ check at ” the 
letter, just as a kestrel hovers over a mouse or other 
object which has suddenly attracted its attention. 
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