PEEEGBIKE FALCON. 281 



water. In this situation he watched them till he could see 

 no longer. Repeated accounts of this sort, spring and fall, 

 induce us greatly to suspect, that house-swallows have some 

 strong attachment to water, independent of the matter of 

 food ; and, though they may not retire into that element, 

 yet they may conceal themselves in the banks of pools and 

 rivers during the uncomfortable months of winter. 



One of the keepers of Wolmer Forest sent me a peregrine 

 falcon, which he shot on the verge of that district, as it was 

 devouring a wood-pigeon. Thefalcoperegrinus, or haggard 

 falcon, is a noble species of hawk, seldom seen in the 

 southern counties. In winter 1767, one was killed in the 

 neighbouring parish of Faringdon, and sent by me to Mr. 

 Pennant into North "Wales.* Since that time, I have met 

 with none till now. The specimen mentioned above was in 

 preservation, and not injured by the shot : it measured forty- 

 two inches from wing to wing, and twenty-one from beak to 

 tail, and weighed two pounds and a half standing weight. 

 This species is very robust, and wonderfully formed for 

 rapine : its breast was plump and muscular ; its thighs long, 

 thick and brawny ; and its legs remarkably short and well- 

 set : the feet were armed with most formidable, sharp, long 

 talons : the eyelids and cere of the bill were yellow ; but the 

 irides of the eyes dusky : the beak was thick and hooked, 

 and of a dark colour, and had a jagged process near the end 

 of the upper mandible on each side : its tail, or train, was 

 short in proportion to the bulk of its body ; yet the wings, 

 when closed, did not extend to the end of the train. From 

 its large and fair proportions, it might be supposed to have 

 been a female; but I was not permitted to cut open the 

 specimen. For one of the birds of prey, which are usually 

 lean, this was in high case : in its craw were many barley- 

 corns, which probably came from the crop of the wood- 

 pigeon, on which it was feeding when shot : for voracious 

 birds do not eat grain ; but, when devouring their quarry, with 

 undistinguishing vehemence, swallow bones and feathers, and 

 all matters, indiscriminately.f This falcon was probably 



* See Letters x. and xi. to Thomas Pennant, Esq. 



{ The bones and feathers are swallowed naturally, and assist to promote 

 the digestion. The Abbe Spallauzani, in his experiments on various birds and 



