A Manual of Philippine Birds

by Richard C. McGregor

“Rare and shy. Iris, legs, and feet yellow; nails black; bill black, slaty at base; bare flesh of head greenish yellow. One specimen had been eating crabs when shot.

“A male measures 457 in length; wing, 312; tail, 199; culmen, 27; tarsus, 76; middle toe with claw, 40. A female, 457 in length; wing, 305; tail, 208; culmen, 26; tarsus, 64; middle toe with claw, 43.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

The adult of this rare species appears to be undescribed.

Genus MICROHIERAX Sharpe, 1874.

Bill strong; edge of mandible with a double notch forming a sharp tooth; cere small; no crest; first primary nearly equal to second and third which are the longest; secondaries short; tarsus and feet strong; plumage black and white; length less than 200 mm.

Species.

• a¹. Slightly smaller. erythrogenys (p. [238])
• a². Slightly larger. meridionalis (p. [239])

196. MICROHIERAX ERYTHROGENYS (Vigors).

PHILIPPINE FALCONET.

• Hierax erythrogenys Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1831), 96.
• Microhierax erythrogenys Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 369; Hand-List (1899), 1, 273; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 44; McGregor, Philippine Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 323.