ALLUSIONS to birds, imagery drawn from their real or supposed habits, which-whether the result of direct observation or derived from literary reminiscence-become frequent in the Commedia, are rare in Dante's lyrics. In lo son venuto al punto de la rota, we have the migrations at the approach of the winter (27-32), and, in Doglia mi reca ne lo core ardire, the miser is the falcon whom virtue, like the falconer, strives to entice, but who shuns the bait (106-113). The 'augelli' who sing, 'ciascuno in suo latino,' in the lyrics of Guido Cavalcanti and Dante's other predecessors are silent in the Vita Nuova, where the only birds are those who fall from the sky in 'lo imaginar fallace' of the death of Beatrice, in the canzone, Donna pietosa e di novella etate (49-53): Poi mi parve vedere a poco a poco turbar lo sole e apparir la stella, e pianger elli ed ella; cader li augelli volando per 1' are, e la terra tremare.