Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.

Birds

A bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Ecclesiastes, Chap. x. Ver. 20.

Forewarn’d, if little bird their pranks behold,
’Twill whisper in her ear, and all the scene unfold.
Shenstone.—The Schoolmistress, Verse 17.

A little bird in the air whispered the secret.
Longfellow.—The Spanish Student, Act III. Scene 5.

There are no birds in last year’s nest!
Longfellow.—Miscellaneous Poems. (It is not always May.)