James Edmund Harting’s The Ornithology of Shakespeare examines every reference to birds in the plays and poems of Shakespeare, explaining and illustrating each. It blends literary scholarship with natural history.
Harting identifies the species Shakespeare named and discusses the folklore and observation behind the poet’s allusions. The book is a charming example of specialized literary commentary and a tribute to Shakespeare’s eye for nature. This edition is a clean, public-domain text prepared for comfortable reading. The EPUB has been carefully formatted for modern e-readers and tablets. Download the free EPUB of this study of the birds in Shakespeare.