54 
STRIGIDiE. 
RAPTORES. 
STRIGIDJE. 
SCOPS-EAIIED OWL. 
Scops aldrovandi. 
PLATE XIX. FIG. I. 
This very minute and beautiful species of owl has 
been excluded by Mr. Gould from the list of our British 
birds, although there are several undoubted instances of 
its having been captured in this country. It has even 
been said to breed in the county of Durham, in Castle 
Eden dean, but upon quite insufficient authority. On 
the Continent, in some parts of France and Italy, it is 
not uncommon, and lays its eggs, which are four or five 
in number, in the holes of trees. 
