82 ALLEN'S NATURALISTS LIBRARY 



and pencillings of brown or blackish, with central streaks of 

 black down the shafts of the feathers ; ear-tufts grey, exter- 

 nally sandy-brown, with white cross-markings ; hind-neck 

 greyer than the back ; outer web of the scapulars white or 

 buff, broadly tipped with black, and so forming a more ©r 

 less distinct shoulder-patch ; wing-coverts like the back, the 

 median and greater series with large spots of white on the 

 outer web ; sides of face grey, with a few dusky cross-lines, the 

 ear-coverts with a sandy tinge, especially below the eye ; 

 behind the ear-coverts a crescent-like line of black, extending 

 on to the sides of the neck; chin whitish ; throat and sides of 

 neck clear grey, with brown cross-lines, and washed with orange- 

 buff, the shafts of the feathers black ; under surface of body 

 greyish, with more or less orange-buff, the black shaft-lines 

 distinct, especially on the flanks : feathers of the breast and 

 sides of the body lighter, with whitish bars on most of them ; 

 lower flanks and under tail-coverts white, with one or two 

 sandy-buff bars, and scarcely any blackish vermiculations ; 

 thighs and tarsal plumes orange-buff, with a few brown bars ; 

 bill black ; toes brown ; claws white at base, nearly black at 

 tip; iris yellow. Total length, 7*5 inches; wing, 5*9; tail, 

 2-9 ; tarsus, 0-95. 



Adult Female. — Similar to the male. Total length, 8 inches ; 

 wing, 6-15. 



The Small Tufted Owl, usually called the Scops Owl, is 

 readily distinguished by its size from the other Tufted Owls of 

 Europe, such as the Eagle-Owl, the Long-eared, and the Short- 

 eared Owls. The members of the genus Scops are distributed 

 over the greater part of the globe, with the exception of the 

 Australian Region, and it is as well to remind my readers that 

 the European species is easily recognisable by the description 

 and figures of the bird quoted above. This warning is the more 

 necessary, as I have had some little Tufted Owls submitted to 

 me at the British Museum which proved to be Scops hrasiliensis 

 and other exotic species, which could only have been escaped 

 specimens, or individuals brought from afar to deceive the 

 unwary and obtain the ridiculous price which is often paid for 

 specimens asserted to have been captured in Great Britain. 



The American Tufted Owl {Scops cisio) has been said to have 



