CERCHNEIS. 243 
washed with fulvous, the sides, flanks, and belly are dark slate-gray or 
bluish gray, and the whole of the under surface below the crop is thickly 
covered with rather wide, close-set black bars, giving these parts a very 
dark appearance.” 
201. FALCO SEVERUS Horsfield. 
ASIATIC MERLIN. 
Falco severus HORSFIELD, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, pt. 1, 135; SHARPE, 
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 397; Hand-List (1899),.1, 274; Mc- 
GREGOR and WoRCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 45. 
Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester); Luzon 
(Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor, Worcester); Mindanao (Everett, Goodfellow) ; 
Mindoro (Hverett, Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Layard, Bourns & Worcester, 
Whitehead) ; Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, 
White); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Si- 
quijor (Bourns & Worcester) ; Sulu (Platen, Bourns & Worcester) ; Tawi Tawi 
(Bourns & Worcester). Malay Peninsula, Burmese provinces, Himalayas, Ceylon, 
southern Indian Peninsula, Greater Sunda Islands to New Guinea and New 
Britain. 
“Adult female——Above black, with a slight slaty gray shade, more 
distinct on the lower back, rump, and tail, the bars on the latter being 
obsolete ; cheeks and ear-coverts entirely black, like head; under surface 
of body uniform bright chestnut; throat and sides of neck creamy white, 
the latter with a slight wash of chestnut; under wing-coverts chestnut 
like breast, some of the lower ones barred with black; primaries black, 
with a few rufous bars near the base. Cere, orbits, and feet yellow; bill 
bluish black, yellow at base; iris dark brown. Length, 343; culmen, 24; 
wing, 231; tail, 117; tarsus, 36. 
“Adult male.—Similar to, but smaller than the female. Length, 297; 
wing, 216; tail, 114; tarsus, 29. 
“Young.—Similar to the adult, but the breast covered with median 
tear-shaped black spots on each feather, the tail broadly banded and tipped 
with rufous, as also are the primaries; nape slightly varied with rufous; 
throat purer white than in adult.” (Sharpe.) 
‘““A very rapid flyer and usually seen on the wing. Much detested by 
Spaniards and natives on account of its depredations on their dovecotes 
and poultry yards.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 
Genus CERCHNKIS Boie, 1826. 
Smaller than Falco but tail slightly graduated or wedge-shaped and 
actually longer than in the peregrines; wing pointed, first primary a 
trifle longer than fourth and decidedly shorter than third, the second 
longest ; tarsus feathered for a short distance in front, the bare portions 
covered with hexagonal scales, large in front, small on lateral and posterior 
aspects. 
