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; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 45.
Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester); Luzon (Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor, Worcester); Mindanao (Everett, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Everett, Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Layard, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (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 CERCHNEIS 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.