SCOPS. 25 



According to Sumichrast it is found in the Alpine region of the State of Vera Cruz ^^, 

 and we also know of its occurrence in the Valley of Mexico, where White obtained a 

 specimen '', and where Don Fernando Ferrari-Perez also met with it, both at Chimalpa 

 and San Antonio Coapa, villages in the Valley of Mexico, and in the pine-region of the 

 Mexican plateau. S. fiammeola also occurs in Guatemala, though very sparingly, as 

 we obtained only two specimens during our stay in that country^one near Duenas, and 

 one from near the village of Paramos on the hills above Duenas, at an altitude of over 

 6000 feet above sea-level. Both these specimens were brought us by Indian hunters. 



Beyond the northern limits of Mexico this Owl ranges through Arizona and 

 Colorado to Northern California, and Bendire gives an account of its range and habits 

 so far as known ^. Mr. W. G. Smith, of Loveland, Colorado, found three nests in 1890 

 in Colorado, all of them in old Woodpeckers' holes in aspen or pine trees, at elevations 

 ranging from 10,000 to 8000 feet. The usual number of eggs is four, their colour 

 white with a faint creamy tint, oval in shape, and slightly glossy. 



The food of 8. fiammeola consists of small mammals, coleoptera, and other insects, 

 and sometimes a scorpion. 



The iris of this species, according to Sumichrast, is golden-yellow and the cere 

 olive-yellow. 



b. Tar sis fere omnino nudis. 



11. Scops uudipes. 



Bubo nudipes, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. i. p. 53, t. 22 '. 



Scops nudipes, Scl. & Salr. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 57 '•, Ex. Orn. p. 102 ' ; Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 216 * ; 



Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. ii. p. 121 ' ; Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. i. p. 89 \ 

 Megascops nudipes, Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 125 ' ; Cherrie, Auk, 1892, 



p. 327 ' ; Hasbrouck, Auk, 1893, p. 262 '. 

 Ephialtes nudipes, Cassin, List Owls '°. 

 Strix psilopoda, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. N. vii. p. 46 ". 



Supra nifescens, nigro vermiculatus efc variegatus ; dorsi et pilei plumis rufescente guttatis, seapularium pogoniis 

 externis albo notatis, piimariis fusco-nigricantibus pallide rufo guttatis ; oauda nigricante, rufo variegata 

 vix transfasciata : subtus rufus, plumis omnibus stria rhaehidali nigra et nigro transversim varie^atis 

 hypochondriis imis quoque albo bifasciatis ; facie rufa, nigro vix variegata ; tarsis nudis, plus quam dimidio 

 distali et digitis nudis. Long, tota circa 10-5, alse 7-0, caudse 3-85, tarsi 1'45. (Bescr. exempl. ex 

 Calobre, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



Eab. Costa Eica (Arce^% La. Carpintera, Cervantes {U.S.Wat. Mtcs.^),El Zarcero 

 de Alajuela (Zeledon'^}, Irazu (E. Bogers; C. F. Underwood, in mus. Botlischild), 



Santa Ana {G. F. Underwood), San Jose {Cherrie^); Panama, Calobre (Arce^). 



Colombia (fide Cassin ^^). 



Scops nudipes seems to be a species perfectly distinct from all other members of the 

 genus, for not only is the coloration peculiar, but the greater part of the tarsi being 

 naked, as well as the toes, renders it easily recognized. 



Vieillot's figure of his £ubo nudipes is a very poor one, and was taken from a bird 

 BIOL. CE^TE•-AMEK., Aves, Vol. III., November 1897. 4 



