Lyd ~ 
74 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
lamented friend, the Rey. John Fry, of Rondebosch, a zealous 
observer of birds, informed us that they regularly frequented a grove 
of fir-trees in his garden at one season of the year. We have noted 
them in these trees in October. About twilight they begin to move, 
ascending to the highest branch, and uttering their loud ‘‘hoo, hoo” 
for a quarter of an hour together, and then sailing off to the Cape 
Flats in search of their prey, which consists of mice, rats, moles, and 
sometimes frogs. They lay two purely white eggs (axis, 2’’; diam., 
1’’ 9’’’) inholes of rocks, and sometimes in an old termite’s heap, or 
even on the bare ground. Mr. Jackson says they make no nest with 
him, simply depositing their eggs on the sand or on a ledge in the 
river bank. Dr. Exton states that the Bechuanas hold the idea that 
they are birds of ill omen. 
Mr. Ayres gives the following note on the breeding of the present 
species in the Transvaal ;— 
«The only nest I ever found of this fine Owl was placed in a nook 
on the face of a precipitous rock, and contained one young bird, not 
long hatched, which was of a creamy, tawny-white colour, and one egg 
cracked and addled, the shell of which Isend. This I took in the 
month of October whilst on an exploring expedition to some very 
curious limestone caves of great extent, some of the galleries of 
which are exceedingly beautiful by torchlight, stalactites of all imagi- 
nable shapes hanging in every direction.” 
Above grey-brown, more or less variegated with light ochreous 
(or white) spots and blotches ; below, the ground colour is more 
ochreous, and the markings, chiefly fine wavy bars, with a few large 
blotches, are of the same brown as the back. A dark circle surrounds 
the facial disk, broken under the chin with rufous and white, imme- 
diately under which is a broad white collar; facial disk grey. Feet 
feathered to the toes, lightish-yellow or dirty-white, speckled with 
brown. Tail broadly barred with ochreous brown; iris yellow. 
Length, 19’’; wing, 13” ; tail, 73”. 
Fig. Temm. Pl. Col. ii, pl. 50. 
68. Scops LEUCOTIS. White-faced Scops Owl. 
This species does not come into the colony, but we have received 
specimens from Mr. David Arnot procured in Mahura’s country. 
Mr. Ayres obtained it in Natal, where he found its nest containing 
two white eggs, and composed of afew coarse dry fig-leaves, in a 
