421 



SCOPS. OWLET. 



The genus Scops is composed of several small Owls, of which 

 the more remarkable characters indicate a station intermediate 

 between the genera Syrnia and Bubo. They have the small 

 and simple conch of both, but differ from the former in gene- 

 rally having elongated tufts on the head, and from the latter 

 in having the wings longer, the tarsi more slender, and the 

 toes more or less bare. 



Bill short, stout, compressed toward the end : upper mandi- 

 ble with the dorsal line curved from the base, its sides slightly 

 convex, the edges anteriorly sharp, the tip prolonged, acute, 

 and decurved ; lower mandible with the angle wide, the dorsal 

 line convex, the edges decurved, with a slight notch on each 

 side, close to the rounded tip. 



Nostrils roundish. Eyelids with broad thin crenate margins, 

 and without distinct ciliary fringes, although feathered. Conch 

 elliptical, simple, about a third of the height of the head. 



Head very large, roundish ; neck short ; body slender. Legs 

 rather short; tarsi slender, feathered ; toes short, bare, reticu- 

 late, at the end scutellate ; claws long, slightly curved, taper- 

 ing, compressed, acute, narrow beneath, but that of the third 

 toe with a thin inner edge. 



Plumage full and soft, on the upper parts somewhat com- 

 pact. Facial disks incomplete above the eyes ; ruff incon- 

 spicuous and incomplete. Feathers generally ovato-oblong ; 

 those of the abdomen downy, of the tibi?e siliiy, of the tarsi 

 short, and somewhat dense. Wings long, with the third quill 

 longest. Tail rather short, slightly rounded, of twelve some- 

 what arched feathers. Some of the species, as Strix portori- 

 censis, are destitute of tufts on the head. 



