442 



SCOPS. OWLET. 



Bill short, strong, compressed towards the end ; 

 upper mandible with its dorsal line curved from the 

 base, its cere of moderate length, its sides sloping and 

 slightly convex, its edges anteriorly sharp, its tip acute ; 

 lower mandible with the angle rounded, the dorsal line 

 slightly convex, the edges decurved at the end, with a 

 slight notch, the tip rounded. 



Nostrils roundish, in the fore part of the cere. Eye- 

 lids without distinct ciliary fringes, and with broad 

 thin margins. Aperture of the ear large, elliptical, in 

 the lower part of an elliptical concha, having all round 

 a slightly elevated margin beset with feathers. 



Head large, broad and rounded, anteriorly narrowed ; 

 neck short. Legs rather short ; tarsi slender, feathered 

 at the upper part only, or in their entire length ; toes 

 sliort, bare, reticulate above, towards the end scutel- 

 late ; claws slightly curved, tapering, acute, compressed, 

 that of the middle toe with a dilated inner edge. 



Plumage soft and full, more compact than in the 

 other genera. Facial disks incomplete above the eyes ; 

 the ruff inconspicuous and incomplete. The feathers 

 in general ovate and rounded, those of the abdomen 

 downy, of the tibiae silky, of the tarsi small and short. 

 Wings long, the third primary longest. Tail of mo- 



