82 
ALLEN’S naturalist’s LIBRARY 
and pencillings of brown or blackish, willi central streaks of 
black down the shafts of the feathers ; ear-tufts grey, exter- 
nally sandy-brown, with white cross-markings; hind-neck 
greyer than the back; outer web of the scapulars white or 
buff, broadly tipped with black, and so forming a more or 
less distinct shoulder-patch; wing-coverts like the back, the 
median and greater series with large spots of white on the 
outer web; sides of face grey, with a few dusky cross-lines, the 
ear-coverts with a sandy tinge, especially below the eye; 
behind the ear-coverts a crescent-like line of black, extending 
on to the sides of the neck ; chin whitish ; throat and sides of 
neck clear grey, with brown cross-lines, and washed with orange- 
buff, the shafts of the feathers bbck ; under surface of body 
greyish, with more or less orange-buff, tbe black shaft-lines 
distinct, especially on the flanks ; feathers of the breast and 
sides of the body lighter, with whitish bars on _ most of them ; 
lower flanks and under tail-coverts white, with one or two 
sandy-buff bars, and scarcely any blackish vermiculations ; 
thighs and tarsal plumes orange-buff, with a few brown bars ; 
bill black ; toes brown ; claws white at base, nearly black at 
tip; iris yellow. Total length, rS inches; wing, 5-9; tail, 
2 '9 ; tarsus, o-ps- 
Adult Female.— Similar to the male. Total length, 8 inches ; 
wing, 6-15. 
The Small Tufted Owl, usually called the Scops Owl, is 
readily distinguished by its size from the other Tufted Owls of 
Europe, such as the Eagle-Owl, the I.ong-eared, and the Short- 
eared Owls. The members of the genus Seops are distributed 
oVer the greater part of the globe, with the exception of the 
Australian Region, and it is as well to remind my readers that 
the European species is easily recognisable by the description 
and figures of the bird quoted above. This warning is the more 
necessary, as I have had some little Tufted Owls submitted to 
me at the British Museum which proved to he Scops brasilknsis 
and other exotic species, which could only have been escaped 
specimens, or individuals brought from afar to deceive the 
unwary and obtain the ridiculous price which is often paid for 
specimens asserted to have been captured in Great Britain. 
The American Tufted Owl {Scops asio) has been said to have 
