SCOPS -OWL 



A CCIPITRES. 



173 



STRIGID^E. 



SCOPS GIU (Scopoli*). 



THE SCOPS-OWL. 



Scops Aldrovandi^. 



SCOPS, Savigny^. Beak much decurved from the base, cere small, under mandi- 

 ble notched. Nostrils round. Facial disk incomplete above the eyes; auditory 

 conch small, and without an operculum. Wings long, reaching to the end of the 

 tail ; the third quill generally the longest. Tarsi rather long, feathered in front: 

 the toes naked. Head furnished with two tufts of feathers. 



THIS little tufted Owl, one of the smallest of the family 

 found in this country, was first noticed as a British Bird in 

 or about the year 1805, by the then Mr. Foljambe of Osber- 

 ton and the late Mr. Charles Fothergill from specimens 

 killed in Yorkshire, as announced by Montagu. Other 

 examples, to the number nearly of a score, have since 

 occurred ; but at various times of the year, thus shewing 



* Strix yiu Scopoli, Annus I. Historico-Naturalis, p. 19 (1769). 



t Fleming, British Animals, p. 57 (1828). 



+ Systeme des Oiseaux de 1'figypte et de la Syrie, \\ 9 (1810). 



