180 



"280. Microhierax ccerulescens ccsrulescens^ (Linn.) 

 S.N., i., p. 88 (1758). [ex Edwards— 

 " Asia " = Bengal.] 

 Red-breasted Pigmy Falcon. 



Wing S 100-108, ? 104-112 mm. ; above 

 greenish black ; forehead, broad stripe 

 above eye and down sides oi neck, as well 

 as collar on hind neck, white ; primaries 

 barred with white on inner webs ; tail with 

 5 or 6 white bars on inner webs, basal one 

 concealed and subtcrminal one either obso- 

 lete or a tiny spot ; below entirely ferru- 

 ginous, darkest on throat, vent and thighs 

 and paler on chest ; sides of breast greenish 

 black. Immature with stripes on sides of 

 head rufous, instead of white, and throat, 

 chest and breast white. 



Lower slopes of 

 Himalayas, 

 E. to Bhutan. 



280a. Microhierax ccerulescens burmanicus Swann, Burma, 



Syn. List Accip., p. 116 (1920). [Thayet- N. Tenasserim, 



myo, Burma, type in Brit. Mus.] Siam, Cambodia 



White-breasted Pigmy Falcon. S. Annam. 



Wings shorter ; (^ 95, $ 104 mm. ; throat 

 vent and thighs only ferruginous, chest 

 and breast silky white, the latter slightly 

 washed with ferruginous ; tail with the 

 subterminal white band in the form of two 

 fair-sized spots of white, much larger than 

 in last form. 



^ This is quite certainly the correct name for this species. Edwards's plate 

 accurately represents the Indian form except for the white neck band, a point 

 which has given rise to much discussion, but there is no doubt this is an accidental 

 variation, as in the Brit. Mus. coll. such a bird actually exists, without a trace of 

 white collar, from Riocour's collection. (B. M. Reg. No. 89, 5, 30, 48) marked 

 " Malaisie," and although not of the Indian race it proves the possibility of the 

 collar being lost. The Indian form, it should be remarked has the under parts 

 white (except vent and thighs) when immature, but nearly uniform ferruginous 

 when adult. The eastern form on the other hand has, when adult, only a small 

 throat patch and the vent and thighs ferruginous, with a wash of same on breast. 

 In a large series a good deal of variation is found in the width and purity of the 

 white collar, and Indian examples in particular often show a strong shading of 

 black on it. 



