NATURAL HISTOEY OF SELBORNE. 
187 
whicli 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. 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. 
LETTER 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. 
