and well set : the feet were armed with most for- 

 midable 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 oi 

 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 devour- 

 ing their quarry, with undistinguishing vehemence 

 they swallow bones and feathers, and all matters, 

 indiscriminately. This falcon was probably driven 

 from the mountains of North Wales or Scotland, 

 where they are known to breed, by rigorous weather 

 and the deep snows that had lately fallen. 



i66 



