ii6 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family STRIGID^. Genus ScoPS. 



Sub-family BUBONIN^. 



SCOPS OWL. 



Scops scops {Lin7icBus). 

 (British : Rare abnormal spring and autumn migrant.) 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



Breeding area : South-western Palsearctic region. 

 The Scops Owl breeds in Central and Southern Europe, 

 but becomes most abundant in the countries bordering 

 the Mediterranean. It breeds in Switzerland, Southern 

 France, the Spanish Peninsula, Italy, Austria, Turkey, 

 the Danubian provinces, Greece, and Southern Russia. 

 It also breeds in Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, and 

 Turkestan. South of the Mediterranean it breeds in 

 West and North-west Africa, but these examples are 

 said to be smaller and possibly sub-specifically distinct. 

 Breeding habits : This pretty little Owl is for the 

 most part a migrant north of the Mediterranean, arriving 

 from its African winter haunts about the end of March 

 or early in April. As it returns season by season to its 

 old nesting place, there can be no doubt that the Scops 

 Owl pairs for life. It is not at all gregarious, and lives 

 in scattered pairs, but it may be very common in certain 

 districts where food and shelter are abundant. The 

 favourite haunts of this Owl are olive groves, vineyards, 

 gardens, and groves of trees ev^en in large towns. It also 

 frequents the wilder and less cultivated districts, ascend- 

 ing the mountains to at least as far as the pine zone. 

 In Africa the cork woods are a favourite retreat. This 

 Owl also makes no nest, but lays its eggs generally in a 

 hole in a tree, less frequently in a hole in a wall, on the 

 dust or refuse of its food that m.ay by chance have 



