SCOPS GAPENSIS. 75 
small cavity on the top of the stump of a pollard Banyan fie-tree. 
More recently he writes :—“ I met with only one of these owls during 
my trip to the Limpopo, which was brought to me by a Caffre ina 
starving state ; it was a female, and measured in entire length 10°4 
inches; the wing, 7}; tail, 4; and tarsus, 12. Another specimen 
was shot by my brother in the month of August, amongst some 
willows at Pochtefstroom.” Dr. Dickerson procured a single ex- 
ample at Magomero in the Zambesi district. : 
To the westward it appears more plentiful, and Mr. Andersson 
observes, that “‘ next to Athene perlata this is about the most com- 
mon Owl in Damara Land, and the parts adjacent to the northward ; 
it is also pretty frequent in the Lake regions, but is less frequently 
observed in Great Namaqua Land.” Senor Anchieta has procured it 
at Capangombe in Mossamedes, as well as at Ambaca in Angola 
proper, the Lisbon Museum likewise containing a specimen from the 
interior of the latter country, shot in Duque do Braganza. 
Dr. Exton found this species roosting in forest trees, and the con- 
tents of its stomach to be coleoptera. Mr. Andersson says :— It is 
always seen in pairs, and though strictly a night owl, its vision by 
day is by no means bad.” ‘The latter gentleman gives in his work 
on the birds of Damara Land, a good account of its nesting. 
General colour brownish grey, longitudinally striped with black. 
Egrets very long, more or less tipped with black. Under plumage 
with a deep black line down the centre of each feather. Legs white 
faintly mottled; iris golden yellow. Length, 11’’; wing, 8’; tail, 
4", 
Fig. Temm. Pl. Col. ii, pl. 16. 
69. Scors caPENsIs. Cape Scops Owl. 
Ephialtes senegalensis, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 41 (1867). 
This beautiful little Owl is rare in Southern Africa, and we do not 
know of a single specimen procured in the colony, though we saw a 
bird in the possession of the Count de Castelnau, said to have been 
procured at the Knysna, which was either this species or the common 
Damara Land Carine perlata. We could not, however, obtain a 
description of it at the time, and quote from memory. 
Mr. Ayres has only obtained one in Natal, but Mr. Andersson 
obtained several examples during his residence in Damara Land, and 
further to the northward it appears to be common, for Senor 
