THE TUFTED OWI.S. 8 1 



resting on the debris of the animals caught by the old birds, 

 and the heaps of castings thrown up by the latter, no other 

 attempts at a nest having been made. 



Eggs. — Two or three in number. Like those of other Owls, 

 they are white, but are somewhat rough in texture. They are 

 easily distinguished by their large size, measuring as follows : 

 axis, 2'i5-2*55 inches; diam., i-85-i-95. 



THE TUFTED OWLS. GENUS SCOPS. 



Scops, Savigny, Descr. de I'Egypte, p. 291 (1809). 



Type, Scops scops (L.). 



These little Tufted Owls are really diminutive representa- 

 tives of the great Eagle-Owls, from which they are easily dis- 

 tinguished by their small size, though they have the same 

 elongated "ear-tufts," or bunches of erectile plumes, on the 

 side of the crown, as their larger relatives. They have re- 

 latively longer wings than the Eagle-Owls, but are much 

 more strictly nocturnal in their habits than the latter birds. 

 Though Mr. Seebohm separates them under the genus Scops, he 

 says that he only did so for the sake of convenience. This may 

 be the case, if external appearances only are to be taken into 

 consideration, but there can be no doubt that a careful com- 

 parison of anatomical and osteological characters would un- 

 doubtedly show that the two genera are distinct. For our 

 purpose, the size of the two birds is sufficient, and there need 

 be no difficulty in recognising the largest Scops from the 

 smallest Biibo. 



I. SCOPS SCOPS. THE SMALL TUFTED OWL. 



Sfrix scops, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 132 (1766). 



Scops aldrova7idi, Macgill. Br. B. iii. p. 422 (1840). 



Scops gill, Newt. ed. Yarr. Br. B. i. p. 173 (1872); Sharpe, 

 Cat. B. Brit. Mus. ii. p. 47 (1875); Dresser, B. Eur. 

 V. p. 329, pi. 314 (1876) ; B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 89 

 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part hi. (1886); Saun- 

 ders, Man. p. 297 (1889). 



Scops scops, Seeb. Brit. B. i. p. 193 (1883). 



Adult Male — Above grey, mottled all over with vermiculations 



