SCOPS BETJCIL 



(PALLID SCOPS OWL.) 



Ephialtes brucei, Hume, Str. Feath. i. p. 8 (1873). 



Scops brucii (Hume), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. ii. p. 62 (1875). 



Ephialtes scops, j3. obsoletus, Severtzoff, J. f. O. 1875, p. 171. 



Scops obsolete, Cab. J. f. O. 1875, p. 126. 



Scops brucei (Hume), Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 47. 



Scops strauchi, Bogd. Khiva et des Kizyl-Koum (in Russ.), p. 70 (1882). 



Figures notabiles. 

 Sbarpe, 2nd Yarkand Mission, Aves, pi. ii.; Menzbier, Orn. Turk. livr. iii. 



Ad. cinereo-oehracea, indistincte fusco-cinereo vermiculata : plumis stria conspicua nigro-fusco medialiter 

 notatis : subtus pallidiore et striis magis couspicuis : remigibus fuscis, in pogonio externo pallide 

 ochraceo et in pogonio interno pallide cinereo-fusco fasciatis : cauda ochraceo-cinerea, indistincte 

 vermiculata et fasciis quinis fulvidis transfasciata : loris et mento albidis : circulo fasciali ochraceo, 

 indistincte vermiculato et nigro apicato. 



Adult Female (Amu-Darja, March 10th). Upper parts generally pale ochraceous grey, each feather with a 

 distinct blackish shaft-stripe and indistinctly vermiculated ; quills dark brown, finely vermiculated on 

 the terminal portion, with ochraceous bands on the outer web and pale greyish-brown bands on the 

 inner web; inner secondaries ochreous grey in tinge like the back; tail ochraceous grey, finely 

 vermiculated and crossed by five pale somewhat indistinct fulvous bands ; lores and feathers in front 

 of and above the eye whitish ; feathers of the ruff ochraceous, indistinctly vermiculated with grey and 

 finely tipped with black ; hinder ear-coverts also tipped with black ; chin whitish, rest of the underparts 

 generally like the back, but much more boldly streaked with black ; flanks paler and rather more 

 ochraceous ; under tail-coverts much paler, and with a narrow blackish shaft-stripe ; legs closely 

 feathered, pale ochraceous, streaked with dark brown : bill dusky ; toes dull slate-coloured y claws 

 black; iris yellow. Total length about 8'5 inches, culmen - 95, wing 6*4, tail 3*2, tarsus 1'4. 



This very distinct species ranges from Transcaspia to India, but does not appear to have been 

 obtained in Persia. Zarudny (Bull. Soc. Mosc. new ser. iii. p. 749) says that is a very rare 

 species in Transcaspia, and he only obtained one specimen on the 13th (25th) May in the 

 tamarisks near Dorte-Koyou, where it had evidently arrived from the oasis of Merv, but he did 

 not meet with it elsewhere in that region. Dr. Walter obtained several specimens both on the 

 Murghab and on the left bank of the Amu-Darja ; Bogdanoff records it from the Kizil-Kum 

 desert and the woods in the valley of the Amu-Darja ; the brothers Grum-Grzimailo obtained it 

 at Karchie, in Eastern Bokhara ; and Severtzoff met with it near Tashkend and in the gardens 

 surrounding Petro-Alexandroffsk, on the Lower Amu-Darja. Lieut. H. E. Barnes states (Str. 

 Feath. ix. p. 452) that it is not uncommon and breeds at Chaman, in Southern Afghanistan; 



