266 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



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 ej^es 

 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. 

 This falcon was probably driven from the mountains of 

 North Wales or Scotland, where they are known to breed, 

 by rigorous weather and deep snows that had lately fallen. 



I am, etc. 



LETTER LVIII 



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 



