DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTrON, ITARTTS 



webs. Below grey, similar to the back, becoming whiter on 

 lower abdomen ; all with narrow streaks of black. The toes 

 are feathered. Iris orange-vellow. Bill bluish-horn. Toes 

 grey. 



Lengthy 12.25 '•> wing, 7.75 ; tail, 3. Ho. 



Distribution. — Found throughout Africa south of the 

 Sahara. Fairly plentiful in Natal, Transvaal, Rhodesia, and 

 South-West Africa. Rare in the Cape. It is partial to 

 eucalyptus plantations. 



Habits. — Nearly always seen about in pairs. Its food 

 consists chiefly of grasshoppers and other large insects. It 

 also preys on rats and mice. This owl often adopts the nests 

 of other birds in which to lay its eggs. Sometimes it builds 

 its own nest, which is usually a slight structure of sticks placed 

 high up in a tree fork. The nest is usually so flimsy that the 

 eggs can be seen from below. The eggs are smooth and white, 

 and rounded oval in shape. The usual clutch is from 2 to 3, 

 and they measure 1.6 by 1.3. It seems to breed at all 

 times of the year, the eggs having been found from June to 

 March. 



Cape Scops Owl {Scops capensis). (Vol. II., p. 145.) 



Description. — Female : above dark grev, mottled and 

 streaked with black. Spotted on scapulars and especially on 

 wing coverts with white. Quills grey-black, spotted with white 

 on the outer web only. Tail mottled with pale rufous and 

 black. Lores and face iron-grey. Below same as back but 

 lighter in colour, merging to white on abdomen, with black 

 streaks and mottlings. Iris yellow. Bill and toes bluish-horn. 



Length., 7.0 ; wing, 5.0 ; tail, 2. 10. 



Male similar to female in plumage, but larger in size. 



Distribution. — Widely distributed from Abyssinia, south- 

 wards to the Cape. It is nowhere common. 



Habits. — This owl is rarely met with, presumably because 

 of its small size and strictly nocturnal habits. It has a peculiar 



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