444 



SCOPS ALDROVANDI. 



THE TUFTED OWLET. 



Head with tufts of about twelve feathers ; plumage 

 undulatingly variegated with grey and brown, and 

 marked with brownish-black lines ; length about eight 

 inches. 



Adult. — Not having seen a bird of this species 

 alive or recently killed, I am obliged to have recourse 

 to stuffed skins. The following description is from a 

 specimen belonging to Mr Bushnan, Dumfries, and 

 another in the Museum of the University of Edin- 

 burgli. 



The head is broad and rounded, the wings long, the 

 feet short, the tarsi slender, and covered with short 

 compact feathers, the toes bare. The bill is short, 

 strong, compressed towards the end ; the upper man- 

 dible with its dorsal line curved from the base, its cere 

 of moderate length, its sides sloping and slightly con- 

 vex, its edges anteriorly sharp, its tip acute ; the lower 

 mandible with the angle rounded, the dorsal line slight- 

 ly convex, the edges decurved at the end, with a slight 

 notch, the tip rounded. All the toes have four scutella 

 at the end, the rest of their upper parts being covered 

 with scales. The claws are but slightly curved, com- 

 pressed, acute, that of the middle toe with a thin di- 

 lated inner edge. The aperture of the ear is elliptical, 



