136 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Owl of the Northern regions, usually referred to the SurniirKB, is, 1 

 think with Blyth, more allied to these Eagle-Owls and not very 

 distinct from Huhua. It has small ear-tufts. 



Gen. Ephialtes, Keys, and Bias. 



Sjm. Scops, Sav. 



Char. — Of small size ; head rather large, large ear-tufts, orifice 

 of ears moderate, bill moderate, lateral margin somewhat curved ; 

 nostrils round on margin of the cere ; disk imperfect ; wings long 

 and pointed, 3rd and 4th quills longest ; tail rather short, even, 

 or slightly rounded ; tarsus moderate, feathered ; toes naked and 

 scaled, inner toe nearly equal to the middle toe ; claws, moderate. 



These are very small Owls of pretty and delicate plumage, the 

 irides usually yellow ; they are quite nocturnal in their habits, and 

 feed chiefly on insects. Though so much smaller, they are not 

 very distantly related to Ketupa. They have generally been 

 called Scops, but JEphialtes of Keyserling and Blasius has the 

 priority. It is, however, not adopted by Gray, who, in his last list 

 of genera, leaves the genus nameless. They are chiefly found in 

 the warmer countries of both the new and the old world. 



Kaup sub-divides them into several sub-genera. His sub-gen. 

 Scops has the 1st quill emarginated, 2nd and 3rd very slightly so. 



74. Ephialtes pennatus, Hodgs. 



Scops, apud Hodgson, J. A. S. VI. 369 — S. Aldrovandi, apud 

 Blyth, Cat. 147 — Jerdon, 2nd Suppl. Cat. 43 bis — S. zorca, apud 

 Bon. — Scops sunia, Hodgson, As. Res. XIX. 175 — Jerdon, 111. 

 Ind. Orn. PI. 41 — S. Malayanus, Hay? E. spilocephalus, Blyth, 

 J. A. S. XV. 8 — Chogliad kusial, and Sunya kusial in Nepal — 

 Chitta guba, and Yerra chiita guba, Tel. 



The Indian Scops-Owl. 



Descr. — Above, ashy-grey, more or less tinged with rufous or ru- 

 fous-grey, the feathers dark-shafted, finely mottled with brown, and 

 with a white subterminal spot ; wings more rufescent, and without 

 the white spots, except on the outer puscalars, as usual, and on 

 some of the greater coverts ; quills rufescent, with darkish double 



