NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. IS 7 



which he shot on the verge of that district as it was devouring a wood- 

 pigeon. The/aZco peregrinus, 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 Farringdon, 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 fine preserva- 

 tion, 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 ; 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 undis- 

 tinguishing vehemence swallow bones and feathers, and all matters, 

 indiscriminately. This falcon was probably driven from the moun- 

 tains of North Wales or Scotland, where they are known to breed, by 

 rigorous weather and deep snows that had lately fallen. 



I am, &c. 



LETTEE LVIII. 



TO THE SAME. 



MY near neighbour, a young gentleman in the service of the East 

 India Company, has brought home a dog and a bitch of the Chinese 

 breed from Canton, such as are fattened in that country for the purpose 

 of being eaten : they are about the size of a moderate spaniel ; of a pale 

 yellow colour, with coarse bristling hairs on their backs ; sharp upright 

 ears, and peaked heads, which give them a very fox-like appearance. 

 Their hind legs are unusually straight, without any bend at the hock 

 or ham, to such a degree as to give them an awkward gait when they 

 trot. When they are in motion their tails are curved high over their 

 backs like those of some hounds, and have a bare place each on the 

 outside from the tip midway, that does not seem to be matter of 

 accident, but somewhat singular. Their eyes are jet-black, small, and 

 piercing ; the insides of their lips and mouths of the same colour, and 

 their tongues blue. The bitch has a dew-claw on each hind leg; the 

 dog has none. When taken out into a field the bitch showed some 



* See my tenth and eleventh letter to that gentleman. 



