Sophie McKenna 

Birds in literature – quiz

In the week Helen Macdonald won the Samuel Johnson prize with her memoir, H is for Hawk, we take to the air with this quiz about our feathered friends in literature. But can you tell a hawk from a handsaw? Find out whether you're a turkey or a soaring success
  
  


  1. In what year was The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe first published?

    1. 1839

    2. 1841

    3. 1843

    4. 1845

  2. Which fairy story is The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck based on?

    1. The Golden Goose

    2. Little Red Riding Hood

    3. The Story of a Mother

    4. The Ugly Duckling

  3. In Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose, Rhayader lives in the marshlands of which English county?

    1. Norfolk

    2. Kent

    3. Essex

    4. Devon

  4. Which types of bird grow hostile and attack humans in by Daphne du Maurier's The Birds, later adapted into the 1963 film by Alfred Hitchcock?

    1. Seabirds

    2. Tropical birds

    3. Birds of prey

    4. Domesticated birds

  5. How many weeks did Jonathan Livingston Seagull top the New York Times bestseller list?

    1. 15 weeks

    2. 29 weeks

    3. 38 weeks

    4. 42 weeks

  6. Which of the following was the first poetry collection published by Ted Hughes?

    1. Cave Birds

    2. Crow

    3. Birds of a Feather

    4. The Hawk in the Rain

  7. The Roly-Poly Bird appears in how many of Roald Dahl's books?

    1. 2

    2. 3

    3. 4

    4. 5

  8. What is the name of the protagonist in A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines?

    1. Tom

    2. Billy

    3. Jud

    4. Kenny

  9. In To Kill A Mockingbird, why does Atticus Finch warn his children that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"?

    1. Citizens of Maycomb had begun culling mockingbirds

    2. The children had accidentally injured a mockingbird

    3. The children had found a dead mockingbird

    4. The children were going to learn how to shoot birds

  10. Which species of hawk does the author of H Is For Hawk challenge herself to train?

    1. Goshawk

    2. Sharp-shinned hawk

    3. Sparrowhawk

    4. Red-tailed hawk

Solutions

1:D, 2:B, 3:C, 4:A, 5:C, 6:D, 7:B, 8:B, 9:D, 10:A

Scores

  1. 0 and above.

    Bit of a turkey.

  2. 4 and above.

    Not bad.

  3. 6 and above.

    Good work!

  4. 8 and above.

    Excellent! You're clearly not a bird-brain.

 

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