NATURAL HJ STORY 
attachment to water, independent of the matter of food; and, 
though they may not retire- into that e ement, yet they may con- 
ceal themfelves in the banks of pools and rivers during the uncom- 
fortable months of winter. 
One of the keepers of IVoolmcr-jorcfl fent me a peregrine-falcon, 
which he Hiol on the verge of that diflrift as it was devouring a 
wood-pigeon. The falco pcregr'inus, or haggard falcon, is a noble 
fpccies of hawk feldom feen in the fouthern counties. In winter 
1767 one was killed in the neighbouring parifli of Farlngdon, and 
fent by me to Mr. Pennant into North-lVales^. Since that time I 
have met with none till now. The fpecimen mentioned above 
was in fine prefervation, and not injured by the Ihot : it meafured 
forty-two inches from wing to wing, and twenty-one from beak 
to tall, and weighed two pounds and an half flanding weight. 
This fpecies is very robuft, and wonderfully formed for rapine : 
it's brcaft was plump and mufcular ; it's thighs long, thick, and 
brawny ; and it's legs remarkably fhort and well fet : the feet 
were armed with moft formidable, fliarp, long talons : the eye- 
lids and cere of the bill were yellow ; but the irides of the eyes 
dulky; the beak was thick and hooked, and of a dark colour, 
and had a jagged procefs near the end of the upper mandible on 
each fide : it's tail, or train, was Ihort in proportion to the bulk 
of it's body: yet the wings, when clofed, did not extend to the 
end of the train. From it's large and fair proportions it might be 
fuppofed to have been a female ; but I was not permitted to cut 
open the fpecimen. For one of the birds of prey, which are 
ufually lean, this was in high cafe : in it's craw were many barley- 
corns, which probably came from the crop of the wood-pigeon, on 
b See my tenth and eleventh letter to that gentleman. 
which 
