298 SCOPS-OWL. 



the grape annually ripens, but it is most numerous in those countries 

 in which the olive-tree grows, although it may ascend there to ele- 

 vations far above the oil-producing zone. In the Mediterranean 

 basin it appears to be to some extent resident, as it is also in por- 

 tions of Northern Africa; but large numbers pass onward and 

 winter in Abyssinia and Senaar. It is common in summer in Asia 

 Minor, Palestine, Persia and Turkestan ; but in the Indian and 

 African regions it has several representatives of more or less specific 

 distinctness. 



About the middle of May the Scops-Owl lays its white eggs (5-6 

 in number and measuring about i'25 by i in.) in some hollow tree 

 or in a hole in a wall ; in the south of France it is said to make use 

 of old Magpies' nests, but confirmation of this statement is required. 

 It is partial to cork-woods and to groves of trees on the banks of 

 rivers ; while its note may frequently be heard in the gardens of large 

 cities, such as Seville and Florence. To my ear its cry is a clear, 

 metallic, ringing ki-ou — whence the Italian names Chin or Cii) — but 

 Mr. Seebohm renders it by ahp. This Owl is particularly noc- 

 turnal, and, except when disturbed, I never saw it on the wing in 

 the day-time, during which it remains perched across a branch, often 

 close to the stem; resembling, beneath the shady foliage, some 

 gnarled stump or knot, which, on a tap being given to the trunk, 

 will be seen to shoot up to double its former height and exhibit a 

 pair of ear-tufts. So abundant is it on the wood-fringed banks of 

 the Tagus and the Jarama that I have found over a score in an 

 afternoon's ramble. It feeds on beetles, grasshoppers, large moths 

 and other insects, mice, and small birds. 



The general colour of the plumage is grey, with a dark centre to 

 each feather and vermiculations of various shades of brown ; facial 

 disk incomplete above the eyes ; ear-tufts conspicuous when erected ; 

 legs feathered, but feet bare ; beak black ; irides yellow ; no oper- 

 culum. Length about 7 in. The female is often rather more rufous 

 than the male, while the young are decidedly so. 



Examples of the American Scops asio are said to have been 

 obtained in Yorkshire and in Norfolk, but no credence need be 

 attached to these statements. 



