al 
64. ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
arranged a few leaves and pieces of moss, and a few feath- 
ers from the body of the parent; on this nest were found 
three young birds, apparently but a few days old, as they 
were covered with gray down, and a few grayish feath- 
ers. On being taken in the hand, they clutched it tight 
with their claws, and squatted perfectly still. The iris 
of their eyes was a light-grayish color: the inside of their 
mouths, eyelids, and ears, were yellowish. At the foot of 
the stump were found small pellets of feathers, small bones, 
and hairs. J have heard of the deserted nest of a crow or 
hawk being occupied by this Owl; but usually it builds its 
own nest. 
SCOPS, Savieny. 
Savieny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I. 105 (1809). 
Size small; ear-tufts conspicuous; head large; facial disc imperfect in front and 
about the eyes; bill short, nearly covered by projecting feathers; wings long; tail 
rather short, and frequently curved inwards; tarsi rather long, more or less fully 
covered with short feathers; toes long, generally partially covered with hair-like 
feathers; head large. 
General form short and compact. This genus contains twenty-five to thirty 
species of small owls, inhabiting all parts of the world except Australia. 
SCOPS ASIO. — Bonaparte. 
The Mottled Owl; Screech Owl; Red Owl. 
Strix Asio, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. 132 (1766). Audubon, Wilson, and others 
Strix nevia,Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 289 (1788). 
Bubo striatus, Vieillot. Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. 54 (1808). 
DESCRIPTION. 
“Short and compact; ear-tufts prominent; tail short; tarsi rather long. 
“ Adult. — Upper parts pale ashy-brown, with longitudinal lines of brownish-black, 
and mottled irregularly with the same and with cinereous; under parts ashy-white, 
with longitudinal stripes of brownish-black, and with transverse lines of the same 
color; face, throat, and tarsi ashy-white, irregularly lined and mottled with pale- 
brownish; quills brown, with transverse bands, nearly white on the outer webs; 
tail pale ashy-brown, with about ten transverse narrow bands of pale-cinereous; 
under wing coverts white, the larger tipped with black; bill and claws light horn- 
color; irides yellow. 
“ Younger. — Entire upper parts pale brownish-red, with longitudinal lines of 
brownish-black, especially on the head and scapulars; face, throat, under wing 
coverts, and tarsi reddish-white; quills reddish-brown; tail rufous, with bands of 
brown, darker on the inner webs. 
PSE a el ly 
ns 
