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 SPARROW.
The Hedge-sparrow (Accentor modularis), a frequenter of the same haunts, has been more frequently noticed by
Shakespeare than the wren. In many passages throughout the Plays mention is made of “the sparrow” without the prefix “hedge” or “house.” Occasionally we are enabled, from the context, to determine the species; but as this is not always the case, we propose to consider under one head all that Shakespeare has said of either species.
PHILIP SPARROW.
The sparrow appears to have been early known by the name of “Philip,” perhaps from its note, to which Catullus alludes:—
“Sed circumsiliens, modo huc, modo illuc,