Folia Historico-Naturalia Musei Matraensis - A Mátra Múzeum Természetrajzi Közleményei 21. (1996)

Humerus In the case of the humerus the morphological characteristics are less adept for the identification, the measurements of the species are more different. In general one can state that the humerus of the Hobby and Merlin - as opposed to that of the Kestrels - is very robust, both the ends of the bones and the cristae for the insertion muscles are exceptionally large. As regards to the lengthes (Plate VIII, Figure 2) it is striking that the humerus of the Eleonora's Falcon is very long, and that of the Merlin - compared to the other species - is short. Hence the Eleonora's Falcon is separated from the rest of the species, in the case of the Merlin the male specimens can be separated safely. The humerus of the latters is even shorter than that of the Lesser Kestrel. The humerus of the Merlin and Hobby can only be separated based on their length if we know the sex of the specimen. The humerus of the Lesser Kestrel is relatively long, its size almost completely overlaps with the size of the Red-footed Falcon. The width measures of the Eleonora's Falcon are clearly separated, its values are even greater than that of the largest Hobby specimens. The Merlin and Hobby can only be separated based on these values if we know the sex of the specimen, and the Kestrel is separable from the Hobby. In the case of the Kestrels only the width values of the Kestrel and Lesser Kestrel do not overlap. The width of the corpus humeri (CW) in the Kestrel is similar to the Merlin, and both of them differs clearly from the Hobby (the width of them are smaller than in the Hobby) and from the Red-footed Falcon and Lesser Kestrel (they are bigger than the latter species). The proportion of width to the length are shown in Plate IX, Figure 1. In Plate X, Figure 1 and Plate XI, Figure 1 are demonstrated the size of the proximal end of the bone proportional to the length of the humerus. The length ratios are lowest in the Merlin as a consequence of its very short humerus, in the Eleonora's Falcon and the Kestrels usually high, and highest in the case of the Red-footed Falcon and Lesser Kestrel. In the Eleonora's Falcon the ratios are not the highest, despite the high length values, as the width values are also very high. The humerus of the Hobby and Merlin can not be separated by the ratio values, but with the help of ratio values calculated from the measurements of the end of the bones (GL/PW, GL/CT, GL/DW) they can be separated from the Kestrels and the Eleonora's Falcon. The humerus of the Lesser Kestrel similarly can be separated from that of the Kestrel. The double curve of the longitudinal axis of the corpus humeri in caudal view is strongest in the Merlin and Kestrel, and weakest in the Red-footed Falcon (Plate XXXVII, Figuress 1-5). The morphological characters are the followings: the crista pectoralis (crista tuberculi dorsalis) is largest in the Hobby and Merlin, but in the latter the crista is shorter in distal direction than in the Hobby. The crista pectoralis is smallest in the Lesser Kestrel and Red-footed Falcon, but it is very variable in the individuals, and hence the crista in these species can be similarly sized to the Kestrel. In the male specimens the crista pectoralis is usually larger, and the angulus cristae is more pointed than in the females (Plate XXXVII, Figuress 1-5). The crista bicipitalis (crista tuberculi ventralis) is smaller and distally shorter in the Red-footed Falcon than in the Kestrel (Plate XXXVII, Figuress 3-5). In the Merlin and Hobby there is a similar difference (the crista is smaller and shorter in the Merlin), but to a smaller extent. In the Hobby the processus flexorius and the condylus dorsalis (c. radialis) is larger than in the Merlin and the Kestrels, and hence the distal end of the bone is higher in cranio-caudal direction (distal view), its outer touching polygon is nearer to a square than in the other species (Plate XXXVIII, Figuress 1-2). The condylus dorsalis in the Kestrel is slightly larger than in the Red-footed Falcon. 26