i6o


drawing all their feathers tight to the body, standing very

upright, drawing the shoulder of the wing next to the supposed

enemy half across the breast, elevating the ear tufts, and almost

shutting the eyes. The protection of this manoeuvre is most

complete. It is done by all the Owls, but in the Scops family it

appears to arrive at its most perfect development.


The first pair of Scops that nested with us this summer

chose a good sized and solidly-made box with a lid in which a

certain amount of decayed wood was placed ; they had a roomy

aviar}^ to themselves. The cock commenced to call almost

continuously from the middle of April, and the first egg was laid

the 12th of May. The hen commenced to sit on May 17th, when

she had completed her clutch of three eggs: differing from the

generality of Owls, who usually commence incubation with the

laying of the first egg. The young were hatched on June 10th,

so incubation lasted twenty-four days, the shortest period of any

Owl. They were covered with white down, grew most rapidly,

and left the nest strong perchers on July 1st, and were apparently

larger than their parents, but with short tails and wings, though

able to fly several yards. They are now, July 10th, strong on

the wing. The hen alone sat, and was carefully attended by the

cock, who also did the whole work of providing food for the

3^oung until they left the nest, the hen staying with them and

tearing it up. The food consisted of Cock-chaffers, May-flies,

Alder and Caddis-flies, all of which were, fortunately, abundant

at the right time, also Cockroaches and Mealworms, with young

Sparrows and Mice ; the amount of food this little family would

consume was something astonishing, on one occasion when

nearly ready to leave the nest they cleared up twenty-five Short¬

tailed field voles in one day—besides many insects.


The second pair went to nest ten days later, and have

behaved precisely as the first pair, except that the cock has

usually roosted with the hen in the nest. This pair have not

got an aviary to themselves, but have for companions a Siberian

Jay, a Spanish Azure-winged Pie, and a pair of Black-breasted

Sandgrouse.


The white down in the nestling is replaced by a plumage

almost precisely resembling that of the adults, so they differ

from all the Owls, except the Barn Owls, in having no inter¬

mediate down on the body between the casting of white down

and the assumption of the full plumage.



