INTRODUCTION. 
21 
showing the profit to be derived from a study of natural 
objects, is everywhere apparent. 
The words of the banished Duke, in As You Like It 
(Act ii. Sc. i), seem to no one so applicable as to Shake¬ 
speare himself. He— 
“ Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” 
But to come to the Ornithology. The accurate observa¬ 
tions on this subject, the apt allusions, and the beautiful 
metaphors to be met with throughout the Plays, may be 
said to owe their origin mainly to three causes. Firstly, 
Shakespeare had a good practical knowledge of Falconry, 
a pastime which, being much in vogue in his day, brought 
under his notice, almost of necessity, many wild birds, 
exclusive of the various species which were hawked at 
and killed. Secondly, he was a great reader, and, pos¬ 
sessing a good memory, was enabled subsequently to' 
express in verse ideas which had been suggested by 
older authors. Thirdly, and most important of all, he was 
a genuine naturalist, and gathered a large amount of 
information from his own practical observations. In all 
his walks, he evidently did not fail to note even the 
most trivial facts in natural history, and these were 
treasured up in his memory, to be called forth as occasion 
required, to be aptly and eloquently introduced into his 
works. 
