"But I will watch you from such watching now."

Romeo and Juliet, Act iv. Sc. 4.

The habit which the kite has, in common with other rapacious birds, of rejecting or disgorging the undigested portions of its food, such as bones and fur, in the shape of pellets, was apparently well known to Shakespeare, for he says:

"If charnel-houses and our graves must send

Those that we bury back, our monuments

Shall be the maws of kites."

And again,

"Thou detestable maw

Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 4.

Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth."

Romeo and Juliet, Act v. Sc. 3.

Another curious fact in the natural history of the kite is adverted to in the Winter's Tale (Act iv. Sc. 2). It is there said,-

"When the kite builds, look to lesser linen."

The

This line may be perhaps best illustrated by giving a description of a kite's nest which we have seen, and which was taken many years ago in Huntingdonshire. outside of the nest was composed of strong sticks; the lining consisted of small pieces of linen, part of a saddlegirth, a bit of a harvest glove, part of a straw bonnet,

pieces of paper, and a worsted garter. In the midst of this singular collection of materials were deposited two eggs. The kite is now almost extinct in England, and a kite's nest, of course, is a great rarity. The Rev. H. B. Tristram, speaking of the habits of the Egyptian kite (Milvus Egyptius), says: *—" Its nest, the marine storeshop of the desert, is decorated with whatever scraps of bournouses and coloured rags can be collected; and to these are added, on every surrounding branch, the cast-off coats of serpents, large scraps of thin bark, and perhaps a bustard's wing."

We have alluded to the Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) in the passage above quoted from Richard III, and also to the synonym "puttock," which was sometimes applied to this bird, as well as to the kite.

Mr. St. John, who was well acquainted with the common buzzard, thought that in all its habits it more nearly resembled the eagle than any other kind of hawk.†

In the following passage, it seems probable, as suggested by Mr. Staunton, that a play upon the words is intended, and that "buzzard" in the second line means a beetle, so called from its buzzing noise :

"O slow-wing'd turtle! shall a buzzard take thee?

Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard."

Taming of the Shrew, Act ii. Sc. 1.

The Great Sahara," p. 392. t "Tour in Sutherland," vol. i. p. 121.

Neither the kite nor the buzzard were ever trained for hawking, being deficient both in speed and pluck.

The former, however, was occasionally "flown at" by falconers, although oftener for want of a better bird, than because he showed much sport.

Both are now far less common than in Shakespeare's day. The increased number of shooters, and the war of extermination which is carried on by gamekeepers, inevitably seal their doom.

excursion, it must be a matter of some surprise that so delightful a pastime has ceased to be popular. Yet, at the present day, perhaps not one person in five hundred has ever seen a trained hawk flown. In Shakespeare's time things were very different. Every one who could afford it kept a hawk, and the rank of the owner was indicated by the species of bird which he carried. To a king belonged the gerfalcon; to a prince, the falcon gentle; to an earl, the peregrine; to a lady, the merlin; to a young squire, the hobby; while a yeoman carried a goshawk; a priest, a sparrowhawk; and a knave, or servant, a kestrel. But the sport was attended with great expense, and much time and attention were required of the falconer before his birds were perfectly trained, and he himself a proficient.

This, combined with the increased enclosure and

H

cultivation of waste lands, has probably contributed as much as anything to the decline of falconry in England.

During the age in which Shakespeare lived, the sport was at its height, and it is, therefore, not surprising that he has taken much notice of it in his works, and has displayed a considerable knowledge on the subject.

In the second part of King Henry VI. Act 2, we find a scene laid at St. Alban's, and the King, Queen, Gloster, Cardinal, and Suffolk appearing, with falconers halloaing. We quote that portion of the scene which refers more particularly to the sport :

"Queen. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,

I saw not better sport these seven years' day :
Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high;
And, ten to one, old Joan* had not gone out.
King. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,
And what a pitch she flew above the rest!—
To see how God in all his creatures works!
Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.
Suff. No marvel, an it like your majesty,

My lord protector's hawks do tower so well;
They know their master loves to be aloft,
And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch.

Glo. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind

That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.

* The name, no doubt, of a favourite falcon.