84 BULLETIN 186, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of my sight records must apply to the same form. In addition to 

 the specimens listed above, I place here a bird taken by Abbott in 

 Trang Province, two taken by H. M. Smith at Bangkok, and one 

 collected at Ko Lak by Gyldenstolpe, all of which have been recorded 

 in print as saturatus. 



MICROHIERAX CAERULESCENS BURMANICUS Kirke Swann 



Burmese Red-legged Falconet 



Microhierax caerulescens burmanicus Kirke Swann, A synoptical list of the 

 Accipitres, 1920, p. 116 (Thayetmyo, Burma). 



Microhierax eutolmus, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1913, 

 p. 64 (Den Chai, Pak Pan) ; Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, 1915, p. 234 (listed). 



Microhierax caerulescens, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 

 1916, p. 130 (Pha Kho, Pang Hua Phong, Khun Tan, Doi Pha Sakaeng) ; 

 Ibis, 1920, p. 749 ("Throughout northern and north-western Siam"). 



Microhierax caerulescens burmanicus, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, 1928, p. 576 (Doi Suthep) ; 1929, p. 577 (Doi Suthep) ; 1934, 

 p. 269 (Mae Taeng, Doi Suthep, Chiang Dao). — Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. 

 Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 165 (Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep). — Chasen and Boden 

 Kloss, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1932, p. 233 (Doi Suthep).— 

 Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, p. 78 (Chiang Mai, Doi 

 Suthep).— Riley, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 57 (Mae Khan, Mae 

 Hong Son, Doi Pata). 



The diminutive falconet is a common permanent resident through- 

 out the North. Eisenhofer sent to Stockholm no less than 40 speci- 

 mens from Khun Tan ! I have taken it at Ban Mae Mo and Wiang 

 Pa Pao and have observed it at many other localities. On Doi Suthep 

 it occurred to the summit but was most numerous below the evergreen 

 forest belt. 



It is a bird of jungle clearings and deciduous forest and may 

 often be seen upon a dead tree beside a highway or soaring in small 

 circles just above the treetops. Its usual prey is large insects, cap- 

 tured on the wing or by a pounce, but Gyldenstolpe saw one attack 

 and kill an oriole, a bird much larger than itself. Its call is a shrill 

 kee-kee-kee. 



Its breeding season seems to be March and April, when it may be 

 seen going in and out of the deserted nest holes of the smaller 

 barbets and woodpeckers. These holes must be employed again 

 during the cold weather as sociable retreats, for de Schauensee at 

 Chiang Dao in January watched a number of individuals entering 

 and leaving such a hole. 



Gyldenstolpe and de Schauensee note that their specimens had the 

 irides dark brown; the bill black, plumbeous at the base; the cere 

 horny gray ; the feet and toes plumbeous. 



This is one of the smallest raptorial birds in the world. The adult 

 has the forehead, supercilium, sides of the head, and a broad collar 



