60 BrcoxiDiE. 



but little variation in colour ; and the following arc the measure- 

 ments of the scries now before mo. 



Totcol 



length. Wing. Tail. Tarsus, 



in. in. in. in. 



«. (J ad. Dauphind, France 8-0 6-15 2-9 0-95 



b. Ad. France (Mus. Cantabr.) . 8-0 6-1 2-9 1-15 



f. Ad. Spain (Lilford) 85 6-0 2-9 1-0 



iL c? ad. Granada (H. Saimders) . . 7-5 5-8 29 1-05 



«■. Ad. Morocco (0/cese) 7-0 575 2-6 1-05 



f. Juv. Morocco (Olcese) 7-0 6-85 2-75 1-05 



'ff. Ad. Morocco ( Olcese) 7-0 5-9 2-5 I'l 



h. Ad. Morocco (Olcese) 7-0 5-55 27 1-1 



i. Ad. Asia Minor (JRohson) . . 7-0 6-9 2-6 I'l 



k. $ ad. Sated (TnrfrawO ...... 80 6-15 29 1-1 



The Morocco birds are rather smaller than the French, and differ 

 from the Dauphine example described in having much broader dark 

 central streaks to the breast-feathers ; but the Spanish birds agree 

 better with the North-African ones. One of the latter seems to bo 

 a j'ounger bird, and is remarkable for the coarseness of its markings 

 both above and below, and for the distinctness of the light bands on 

 the tail, six being distinguishable on the centre rectrices besides the 

 terminal band of bnff ; the same number can be traced on the tails 

 of the adult ones, but they appear to get dissolved with age. Old 

 birds may also apparently be detected by the great extent of white 

 on the under surface, occupying the fore neck and chest, which are 

 then very slightly barred with zigzag brown lines ; the hind neck 

 also is broadly barred with white. The oldest example before me 

 appears to be that from Asia Minor, which exhibits in the 3 Wrongest 

 degree the above-mentioned characters, and has only five fulvous 

 bars on the middle tail-feathers, besides the light terminal bar. The 

 Dauphine specimen has only four caudal bands distinguishable on 

 these feathers, and is probably of about the same age as the one 

 from Asia Minor. Both are males : and the small number of tail- 

 bands is perhaps a character of this sex ; for the male from Granada 

 has only five, while the Safed bird has seven. 



Great variation exists in the amount of rufous shading on speci- 

 mens from the same locality ; but I have never met with one which 

 could be said to constitiite a regular rufous phase, such as we know 

 to exist in Scops asio of America. A French specimen collected by 

 Mr. Swainson is in the Cambridge Museum, and nearly equals in in- 

 tensity the type of Scojys Icamtschatlccnsis in the Paris Museum. I 

 carefull}' compared this with ordinary European examples, and can 

 affirm with certainty that it is nothing but a more than ordinarily 

 rulbiis Scops gill ; no authority for its Kamtschatkau habitat exists 

 beyond the assertion of the late ^I. Jules Verreaux. In order to 

 make sure of the identity of these birds, I give the description which 

 I made from the Paris specimen. 



Adult female (Kamtschatka ; obtained from Yerreaux, 1847). 

 General colour orange-rufous, varied with blackish vermiculations, 

 some of the feathers also having a central arrow-shaped streak of 



