216 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



of house-swallows, thirty at least he supposes, perching on a willow 

 that hung over the verge of James Knight's upper-pond. His 

 attention was first drawn by the twittering of these birds, which 

 sat motionless in a row on the bough, with their heads all one 

 way, and, by their weight, pressing down the twig so that it 

 nearly touched the 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. The falco peregrinus, or haggard falcon, is a noble 

 species of hawk seldom seen in the southern counties. 1 In 

 winter 1767 one was killed in the neighbouring parish of Faring- 

 don, and sent by me to Mr. Pennant into North- Wales. 2 Since 

 that time I have met with none till now. The specimen mentioned 

 above was in fine 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 an half standing 

 weight. This species is very robust, and wonderfully formed for 

 rapine : it's breast was plump and muscular ; it's thighs long, 

 thick, and brawny ; and it's 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 : it's tail, or train, was short in proportion 

 to the bulk of it's body : yet the wings, when closed, did not 

 extend to the end of the train. From it's large and fair propor- 

 tions 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 it's craw were 

 many barley-corns, which probably came from the crop of the 



1 ["This is a complete mistake. The species breeds, or used to breed, all along 

 the south coast, where the cliffs are steep enough, from Sussex to Devonshire, if 

 not from Kent to Cornwall. White does not seem to have known that this was 

 the common falcon used by falconers. Its occurrence in the interior is by no 

 means infrequent." Newton, in Bell's edition.] 



2 See my tenth and eleventh letter to that gentleman. 



