144 
THE SPARROW. 
criticised by the ornithologist. First, that the wren is 
the smallest of birds, which is evidently an oversight. 
Secondly, that the wren has sufficient courage to fight 
against a bird of prey in defence of its young, which is 
doubtful. Thirdly, that the owl will take young birds 
from the nest. As to this last point, see ante, pp. 91-94. 
Imogen has made mention of the wren, as follows :— 
“ I tremble still with fear : but if there be 
Yet left in heaven as small a drop of pity 
As a wren’s eye, fear’d gods, a part of it.” 
Cymbeline, Act iv. Sc. 2. 
And allusions to this little bird will be found in Twelfth 
Night, Act iii. Sc. 2 ; Richard III. Act i. Sc. 3 ; King 
Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6 ; Pericles, Act iv. Sc. 3 ; and Henry VI. 
Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2. 
“ The Finch ” is only once mentioned, i. e. in a song in 
Midsummer Night's Dream, Act iii. Sc. 1. In Troilus and 
Cressida, however, when Thersites and Patroclus are 
abusing each other (Act v. Sc. 1), the former calls the 
latter “ finch-egg.” But what species of Finch the poet 
had in view, it is not easy to determine. It may have 
been the Bullfinch, but it is more likely to have been the 
Chaffinch, which has always been a favourite cage-bird 
with the lower classes. 
The Hedge-sparrow (Accentor modularis ), a frequenter of 
the same haunts, has been more frequently noticed by 
