MONOGRAPH OF THE OWLS — STRIG1DJE 
This subfamily is more nocturnal, and lias a noiseless flight. The 
small species live on insects, small birds and mammalia, but the 
larger ones confine themselves to mammalia and birds. 
I. Genus SCOPS, Sav. 
Very small Owls with an ear orifice not so large as the diameter of 
the eye; feather-horns; round handsome skull. They prefer warm 
to cold countries, but we find the species spread over the whole 
world. The first subgenus, which should have the first quill shorter 
than the tenth, is not yet discovered.* 
b. Subgenus Scops. — Wings long and pointed; first quill dis- 
tinctly emarginated at the end; the second and third not so dis- 
tinctly ; the first longer than the tenth; third or fourth the longest; 
tarsus feathered ; toes always naked and scaled. We find the species 
in the Old World. 
S. ephialtes, Sav.; Str. scops , Linn.; PI, Enl. 436 ; Gould, Eur. 
t. 41. — The wings 141 ; the tail 62 mm. long ; first quill as long as 
the fifth. Southern and Western Parts of Europe, Northern Africa. 
2. S. pennata, Hodgs. — Very near to S. ephialtes. It shows 
more rusty red on the head, has shorter wings, with finer and more 
elegant markings. India. 
3. S. senegalensis, Sw., Birds of Western Africa, p. 127. — 
Also very near to S. ephialtes , but has a stronger bill, shorter 
wings, and coarser markings ; the feathers on the hind ear-margin 
not so distinct, margined with blackish ; and the bars on the inner 
side of the wing very distinct ; the first quill as long as the seventh. 
4. S. latipennis ; Str. latipennis, Licht. — Also very near to S. 
ephiales, but with coarser markings, and the webs on the wings and 
tail are broader. Caffraria. 
5. S. longipennis ; Str. longipennis , Licht. ; Str. striolata , Homb. 
and Ehrenb. — Still nearer to S. ephialtes , but also with coarser 
markings ; the wings are longer, 150 mm. Northern Africa. 
I consider all these species, so very nearly connected with 
S. ephialtes , as to be only subspecies of one and the same 
type. 
* My subgenus Pisorhina (Scops manadensis ) is a nominal subgenus, but the cha 
racter, nostrils in the middle of the cere, given by Qouy and Gaimard, is wrong- 
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