381 



been met with prior to November 1837. Dr. Hastings, in his 'Worcestershire,' notices that one 

 was taken alive near Fladbury. Of those shot in Yorkshire, as already mentioned, Mr. Fothergill's 

 was killed near Wetherby in the spring of 1805, and is the subject of Bewick's woodcut repre- 

 senting this species, while others are in the Foljambe collection at Osberton. The Scops has 

 been obtained some four or five times in Norfolk, at seasons so opposite as June and November, 

 as well as at Brill, in Buckinghamshire, in the spring of 1833 (Zool. p. 2596), near Pembroke in 

 the spring of 1868 (Zool. s. s. p. 1671), and many years ago, according to Mr. A. C. Smith, in 

 Wiltshire. Mr. Gould mentions the occurrence of one in Berkshire, in 1858, and of another 

 more recently killed by Mr. J. H. Leche, of Garden Park, Cheshire. Mr. Rodd has recorded 

 that one was shot at Scilly, in April 1847, and (Zool. s. s. p. 2482) another taken at Trevethoe, 

 on the north coast of Cornwall, early in January of the present year (1871)." In Scotland it 

 appears to have only once occurred, a specimen having been shot at Morrish, near Golspie, in 

 Sutherlandshire, in May 1854. Mr. St. John (Tour in Sutherl. i. p. 122) states that it has been 

 found breeding on heaths near the Oykel river ; but this must be a mistake ; and the statement 

 that it has bred in Durham is also untrustworthy, as I scarcely need point out. Thompson (B. 

 of Ireland, i. p. 85) writes of it, " has been obtained at least twice in Ireland. I have been 

 informed by Robert Ball, Esq., of Dublin, that a Scops-eared Owl was shot in the month of 

 July, a few years ago, by the gamekeeper at Loughcrew, county of Meath, the seat of J. W. L. 

 Naper, Esq., in whose possession it now is. The specimen was kindly sent to Dublin for the 

 examination of Mr. Ball, and proved similar to a Strix scops in his collection. Mr. Joseph 

 Poole, of Killiane, Wexford, wrote to me on the 19th of April, 1847, that a Scops-eared Owl, 

 which had came under his notice, was killed a few days before that date, near Kilmore, in the 

 south of the county." 



It has not been observed in Scandinavia, nor does it inhabit Finland or the north of Russia ; 

 but it is found in Central and Southern Russia. Mr. L. Sabanaeff says that it is found in the 

 Zaraisk district, and breeds not unfrequently in the Orloff Government. Bogdanoff only met 

 with it in the lower valley of the Volga. Sabanaeff himself met with it on both slopes of the 

 Ural up to about 57° N. lat., but only found it in the conifer-woods and not in the birch-forests. 

 It does not appear to have been met with in the Kazan or Simbirsk Governments — which, 

 Sabanaeff remarks, is somewhat strange ; for, as above stated, it is found at Zaraisk, in the 

 northern portion of the Riazan Government. I find no record of its occurrence in the Baltic 

 provinces; and Borggreve (Vogelf. Nordd. p. 65) says that, according to Tobias, it has once 

 been obtained at Hirschfeld, in Silesia, and Schaefer obtained one in Luxemburg. One in the 

 collection of Mr. Glimann, of Miinden, is said to have been obtained at Uelzen, in Hanover. 

 According to Mr. Gatke it has on one occasion (in the month of May) been obtained in Heligo- 

 land. In France it is stated to be common in Languedoc, Provence, Dauphine, and the Hautes 

 Pyrenees, from March to October, and is even occasionally met with in the vicinity of Paris. 

 Professor Barboza du Bocage includes it in his list of the birds of Portugal as " rare ;" and Dr. E. 

 Rey states (J. f. O. 1872, p. 142) that he met with it throughout Portugal, but it was not 

 common. He also observed it in the city of Lisbon. 



When in Spain, nearly ten years ago, I frequently met with this Owl, both near Madrid and 

 in Catalonia; and it appears to be very generally distributed throughout the country in the 



