64 OENITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



arranged a few leaves and pieces of moss, and a few feath 

 ers from the body of the parent ; on this nest were found 

 three young birds, apparently but a few days old, as they 

 were covered with gray down, and a few grayish feath- 

 ers. On being taken in the hand, they clutched it tight 

 with their claws, and squatted perfectly still. The iris 

 of their eyes was a light-grayish color : the inside of their 

 mouths, eyelids, and ears, were yellowish. At the foot of 

 the stump were found small pellets of feathers, small bones, 

 and hairs. I have heard of the deserted nest of a crow or 

 hawk being occupied by this Owl ; but usually it builds its 

 own nest. 



SCOPS, Savigny. 



Savigny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 105 (1809). 



Size small; ear-tufts conspicuous; head large; facial disc imperfect in front and 

 about the eyes; bill short, nearly covered by projecting feathers; wings long; tail 

 rather short, and frequently curved inwards; tarsi rather long, more or less fully 

 covered with short feathers; toes long, generally partially covered with hair-like 

 feathers; head large. 



General form short and compact. This genus contains twenty-five to thirty 

 species of small owls, inhabiting all parts of the world except Australia. 



SCOPS ASIO. — Bonaparte. 

 The Mottled Owl ; Screech Owl ; Red Owl. 



Strix Asio, Linnseus. Syst. Nat., I. 132 (1766). Audubon, Wilson, and others 



Sti-ix nw.via, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 289 (1788). 



Bubo stiiatus, Vieillot. Ois. d'Am. Sept., I. 54 (1808). 



Description. 



" Short and compact ; ear-tufts prominent ; tail short ; tarsi rather long. 



"Adult. — Upper parts pale ashy-brown, with longitudinal lines of brownish-black, 

 and mottled irregularly with the same and with cinereous ; under parts ashy-white, 

 with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, and with transverse lines of the same 

 color; face, throat, and tarsi ashy-white, irregularly lined and mottled with pale- 

 brownish ; quills brown, with transverse bands, nearly white on the outer webs ; 

 tail pale ashy-brown, with about ten transverse narrow bands of pale-cinereous; 

 under wing coverts white, the larger tipped with black ; bill and claws light horn- 

 color ; irides yellow. 



" Younger. — Entire upper parts pale brownish-red, with longitudinal lines of 

 orownish-black, especially on the head and scapulars; face, throat, under wing 

 coverts, and tarsi reddish-white; quills reddish-brown; tail rufous, with bands of 

 brown, darker on the inner webs. 



