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

- the distal end of spatium intermetacarpale is pointed, - the faciès articularis digitalis minor is high. Falco eleonorae: - the carpometacarpus is very large, long. Falco tinnunculus: - the fovea carpalis caudalis is shallow, - the ventral edge of the proximal part of os metacarpale minus is pointed, - on the ventro-caudal side of os metacarpale minus there is a strong rib, the caudal side is concave, - the distal end of spatium intermetacarpale is narrow, but rounded, - the faciès articularis digitalis minor is high. Falco vespertinus: - the carpometacarpus is relatively short, - the apex on the ventral edge of the proximal part of os metacarpale minus is less pointed, and positioned nearer to the proximal end, - the rib on the ventro-caudal side of os metacarpale minus is small, the caudal side is not concave, - the fades articularis digitalis minor is low. Falco naumanni. - the proximal end of the bone is small, - the os metacarpale majus is relatively thick (GL/CW value is low). The digits of the wing (ossa digitorum manus) Phalanx digiti alulae (phalanx 1 digiti 1 anterior) In the case of the single phalanx of the first digit of the wing the lengthes of almost all the species overlap. Even the phalanx of the Hobby separates only from that of the Lesser Kestrel, from the other species only if we separately treat the sexes. The phalanx of the Merlin, Red-footed Falcon and Lesser Kestrel is approximately similar in length, and hat of the Kestrels is only slightly longer (Plate XVII, Figure 1). In the Hobby the proximal end of the bone is very large, and hence can be easily separated from the rest of the species. Similarly the Kestrel separates from the Red-footed Falcon and Lesser Kestrel. In the Lesser Kestrel the phalanx is relatively long, and the proximal end of the bone is wide, but the height of the proximal end of the bone (PH) is very low. And hence this species with the help of the GL/PH and PW/PH ratios easily separated from the Red-footed Falcon. The GL/PH ratio also separates this phalanx of the Red-footed Falcon and Kestrel (Plate XVII, Figure 2). In the Hobby the phalanx is wide, and only narrows strongly at the apex (dorsal view), in the Merlin the phalanx is narrower, and narrows in distal direction very evenly (Plate XXXVIII, Figures 12-13). In the Hobby the protrusion on the dorso-caudal edge of the corpus phalangis is located nearer to the apex of the phalanx than in the Merlin. The part between the caudal edge of the phalanx and the rib on the dorsal side of the corpus in the Merlin is strongly concave, in the Hobby is more flattened. In the Merlin the edges on the dorsal side of the corpus phalangis are even more prominent than in the Hobby. In the Kestrel the phalanx is narrower than in the former two species, but among the Kestrels it is still quite wide. The protrusion (apex) on the dorsal side is smaller, and the depression between the caudal and dorsal edge on the corpus is shallow. 32