408 BIEDS — STEIGIDuE. 



Genus SCOPS, Savigny. 



Size small ; ear tnfts moderate. Facial discs complete. Tarsi feathered ; toes, in onr 

 species, cov. red with short bristly feathers. 



SC0P3 ASIO (L) Bp. 

 Screech OtvI; Alottled Owl. 



Strix'aaio, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog Snrv., 1838, 161, 179. — Read, Fam. Visistor, iii, 1853, 

 303 ; Proo. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sol., vi, 1853, 30.-). 



Strix noevia, Read, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1853, y96 ; Proo Phila. Acad. Nat. Sei , \i, 1853, 395. 



Scops asio, KinKPATEiCK, Ohio Farmei, Tiii, 18B8, 43 ; Ohio Ag>ie. E»p. for 185H, 1859, 

 375.— Brewer, N. A. Oology, Smitheooiaa Con tribntions, xi, 1869, 63 — Whkaton, 

 Ohio Agric. R. p. for 1860, 1361, 361; Reprint,, 3; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agrio. 

 Rep. for 1874, 187.5, 570; Reprinr 10.— Langdon, Cat. Birds of Cin,, 1877, 12, ; Re- 

 vised List, Joaru. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 179 ; Reprint, 13; Summer Birds, ib., 

 iii, 1H80,'225. 



Strixjasw, LtNN^U8,'Sy8t. Nat., i, 1766, 132. 

 Scops naio, Bonapartb, Comp. List, 1838, 6. 

 Strix'.namia, Gmklin, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 289. 



One plumage : General aspect gray, paler or whitish below. Above speckled with 

 blackish, below patched with the same ; wings and tail dark-barred; nsnally a lightish 

 scapnlar area. 



Another : General aspect brownish-red, with sharp black streaks ; below rufous-white, 

 variegated ; quills and tail with rufous and dark bars. These plamagM shacle iaseusibly 

 Into eiioh other and it has been determined that they bear no definite relations to age, 

 sex or season. Length about 10; wing, 7; tail, 3^. 



Habitat, North America at large. 



Common resident, but more numerous during the warmer portion of 

 the'year. Breeds. 



This is the smallest of our Owls with ear tufts. It presents, more strik- 

 ingly than any other species of our birds, the variation in color known 

 as din "matifm. Many early ornithologists considered the red and the 

 gray birds to constitute two species, and this opinion still obtains among 

 those whose acquaintance with them is casual. It has been sufficiently 

 proven, not only that birds of each plumage mate, but also that the 

 young brood while in the nest, may consist of birds of both colors. I 

 once discovered a pair of these birds caring for six newly fledged young; 

 the female was of the red and the male of the gray type of coloration ; 

 while of three of the young which I secured, one only wafi red. The color 

 is thus seen to be an individual character, and not governed by age, sex 

 or season. 



None of our Owls are more frequently seen or heard about houses, 

 or even in the midst of large cities. Nearly every one is familiar 



