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.

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.

It will not be without impatience, that I shall wait for your thoughts
with regard to the falco; as to its weight, breadth, etc., 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 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.

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