THE ORNITHOLOGY OF SHAKESPEARE. CRITICALLY EXAMINED, EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED. By James Edmund Harting.

(1864) 1978 facsimile edition. 8vo (143 x 222mm). Ppxxii,321. Engraved vignette illustrations. Black cloth gilt.

A fascinating and interesting study of Shakespeare's birds and what this tells us about bird life in Elizabethan England. Chapters include: Shakespeare's general knowledge of natural history; The eagle and larger birds of prey; Hawks and hawking; The owl and its associates; The crows and their relations; The birds of song; The birds under domestication; The game-birds and 'quarry' flown at by falconers; Wild-fowl and sea-fowl; Birds not included in the foregoing chapters.