338 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
asleep it awakes instantly on its name being pronounced, and 
will answer as quickly as when awake. I have heard it utter 
its peculiar quavering note on one or two occasions, which, 
notwithstanding its reputed mournfulness, has much that 
sounds pleasant to my ears. When moving along a plane sur- 
face, Scops progresses, with a half walk, half hop, which is 
certainly not the most graceful gait possible. 
‘When out at night among the trees Scops acts in much 
the same manner as when in the house, hopping from limb to 
limb, looking about with a quick, graceful motion of the head, 
sometimes turning the head around so that the face comes di- 
rectly behind. 
‘* When it returns to the house in the morning, daylight is 
often long passed, and even sunrise. The alarm note is a kind 
of low moan; this was often uttered at the sight of a tamed 
gray squirrel (but with which it has now become better ac- 
quainted), and always at the sight of its old enemy, the dog. 
* While flying, Scops moves through the air with a quick, 
steady motion, alighting on any object without missing a foot- 
hold. I never heard it utter a note when thus moving. When 
perching, it does not grasp with its claws, but holds them, at 
some distance from the wood, clasping with the soles of the 
toes. When it has eaten enough of a bird, it hides the re- 
maining portions in any convenient place near by. * * * 
‘Sometimes in the daytime it will take a sudden start, flit- 
ting about the room like a spectre, alighting on different ob- 
jects to peer about, which it does by moving sideways, turning 
the head in various directions, and going through many curious 
movements; but it always returns to its perch and settles 
down guietly. 
_**T once placed a stuffed owl of its own species near it, 
when it ruffled its feathers, gave a series of hisses, moans, and 
snappings of the beak, and stretched out one wing at full 
length in front of its head as a shield to repulse what it took 
to be a stranger invading its own domains. As the stuffed 
bird was pushed nearer, Scops budged not an inch, but looked 
fiercer than ever; its ruffled back-feathers were erected high, 
its eyes sparkled, and its whole attitude was one of war. 
