OF SELBOENE. 37 



It haunted a marshy piece of ground in quest of wild 

 ducks and snipes ; but, when it was shot, had just knocked 

 down a rook, which it was tearing in pieces. I cannot 

 make it answer to any of our English hawks ; neither could 

 I find any like it at the curious exhibition of stuffed birds 

 in Spring Gardens. I found it nailed up at the end of a 

 barn, which is the countryman's museum. 1 



The parish I live in is a very abrupt, uneven country, full 

 of hills and woods, and therefore full of birds. 



LETTER XI. 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE. 



SELBORNE, September 9, 1767. 



i T will not be without impatience that I shall 

 wait for your thoughts with regard to the 

 Falco. As to its weight, breadth, &c., I 

 wish I had set them down at the time : but 

 to the best of my remembrance, it weighed 

 two pounds and eight ounces, and measured, from wing to 

 wing, thirty-eight inches. Its cere and feet were yellow, 

 and the circle of its eyelids a bright yellow. As it had 

 been killed some days, and the eyes were sunk, I could 

 make no good observation on the colour of the pupils and 

 the irides.' 2 



The most unusual birds I ever observed in these parts 

 were a pair of hoopoes (Upupa) , which came several years 

 ago in the summer, and frequented an ornamented piece of 

 ground, which joins to my garden, for some weeks. They 

 used to march about in a stately manner, feeding in the 

 walks, many times in the day ; and seem disposed to breed 



1 The species proved to be the Peregrine, Falco peregrinus of 

 naturalists. ED. 



2 The irides of all the true Falcons are brown. ED. 



