Falco melanogenys Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1837), 139; Sharpe,
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 385; Hand-List (1899), 1, 274;
Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 298; McGregor 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 somewhat 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 ferruginous, 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.
"Young male.--Above brownish, the feathers edged with fulvous,
especially distinct on the wing-coverts and secondaries; hinder neck
marked with pale tawny; lower back and rump alternately barred with
ashy and dark brown, the subterminal bar being somewhat triangular
in shape; tail brown, similarly barred with ashy and tipped with
fulvous; quills dark brown, with paler edgings; under surface
buffy white, inclining to deep fawn on the breast and abdomen,
which are longitudinally streaked with blackish brown, the flanks,
under wing-coverts, and axillars barred with the same color. Cere,
bill, and feet paler than in the adults.
"Young female.--Brown, head and cheeks blackish; feathers of
upper surface spotted and tipped with rufous-fawn; underneath
deep buff, inclining to rufous on the abdomen, the streaks on
the chest dart-shaped, on the abdomen oval, all very broad and
distinct." (Sharpe.)