FALCO. 241 



altogether, the bands fade off the under tail-coverts and in very old birds 

 only small scattered specks remain on the abdomen and triangular mark- 

 ings on the thigh-coverts. The general tint of the lower surface varies 

 from almost white to light rufous. 



"Bill bluish, black at tip ; cere yellow ; iris brown ; legs and feet yellow. 

 Length of a female, about 483; tail, 190; wing, 368; tarsus, 5&; middle 

 toe without claw, 57; bill from gape, 33. Males are considerably smaller, 

 length, about 406; wing, 317." (Blanford.) 



An old female, taken in Tarlac Province, Luzon, was 470 in length; 

 wing, 360 ; tail, 195 ; culmen from base, 30 ; tarsus, 55 ; middle toe with 

 claw, 68. Iris brown ; cere, legs, and skin about eyes light lemon-yellow ; 

 nails black; bill black, its basal third very pale yellow. 



199. FALCO MELANOGENYS Gould. 

 AUSTRALIAN FALCON. 



Falco melanogenys GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1837), 139; SHABPE, Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 385; Hand-List (1899), 1, 274; GATES, Cat. 

 Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 298; McGREGOB and WORCESTER, Hand-List 

 (1906), 45. 



Luzon (Heriot). Australia. 



"Adult male. Head and nape deep black, including the entire sides 

 of face, cheeks, and ear-coverts; interscapulary region blackish, with a 

 few obsolete transverse bars of bluish gray; rest of upper surface bluish 

 ashy, barred all over with blackish, some of the bars, especially of the 

 upper tail-coverts, assuming a triangular form ; upper wing-coverts some- 

 what washed with brown, the gray shade being more perceptible on the 

 greater series; quills black, the primaries outwardly shaded with gray, 

 outer secondaries narrowly tipped with creamy white, the inner ones 

 almost entirely bluish gray, with obscure blackish marblings and cross- 

 bars; tail blackish, with a narrow ashy white bar at the tip, the upper 

 surface shaded with gray, clearer toward the base, bars on center rectrices 

 eleven in number, not including the broad subterminal black band ; throat 

 and upper breast deep creamy buff, the latter with a few median black 

 shaft-stripes; rest of the under surface buffy white, closely but narrowly 

 barred across with black, sides of body and thighs shaded with a bluish 

 gray tinge; fore part of breast and under wing-coverts with a strong 

 fawn-colored shade. Bill greenish at base, horny black at tip, under 

 mandible deep orange; feet yellow; claws black; iris dark. Length, 376; 

 culmen, 30; wing, 300; tail, 152; tarsus, 51. 



"Adult female. Similar to the male, but larger and more richly 

 colored ; underneath deep f erruginous, paler on the chest, the cross barring 

 narrow and irregular, sometimes confined to a small subterminal spot. 

 Length, 419; culmen, 37; wing, 338; tail, 168; tarsus, 51. 

 77719 16 



