408 BIRDS—STRIGID.A&. 
Genus SCOPS. Savigny. 
Size small; ear tufts moderate. Facial discs complete. Tarsi feathered ; toes, in our 
Bprcies, coy sed with short bristly feathers. 
Scop3 Asio (LL) Bp. 
& 
Screech Owl; Mottled Owl. 
Strix asio, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog Sarv., 1838, 161, 179.—Rmap, Fam. Visistor, iii, 1853, 
303; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1353, 395. 
Strix nevia, Reap, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1853, 485; Proc Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci, vi, 1853, 395. 
&co}'8 asio, KtkKKPATRICK, Obio Farmer, viii, 1858, 43; Ohio Agnis. Rep. for 185, 1°59, 
375,— BREWER, N. A. Ovlogy, Smithsoniaa Contributions, xi, 1859, 63 —WuwaTon, 
Ohio Axzric. Rep. for '-60, 1861, 361; Reprint, 3; Food of Birds, ete., Ohio Agric. 
Rep. for 18x74. 75, 5703 Veprin’ 10.—LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 12,; Re- 
vised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 179; Reprint, 13; Sammer Birds, ib., 
iii, 1~x0,7225. 
Strix as'o, LINNDUS, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 132. 
Scops asio, BONAPART™, Comp. List, 1832, 6. 
Stiix nevia, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 289. 
O «© plumage: General aspect gray, paler or whitish below. Above speckled with 
blackish, below patched with the same; wings and tail dark-barred ; usually a lightish 
scapular area. 
Another: General aspect brownish-red, with sharp black streaks ; below rnfous-white, 
variegated ; quills and tail with rufous and dark bars. These plamages shade insensibly 
into exch other and it has been determined that they bear no definite relations to age, 
sex or season. Length about 10; wing, 7; tail, 34. 
Habitat, North America at large. 
Common residen{, but more numerous during the warmer portion of 
the year. Breeds. 
This is the smallest of our Owls with ear tufts. It presents, more strik- 
ingly than any other species of our birds, the variation in color known 
as dicromati:m. Many early ornithologists considered the red and the 
gray birds to constitute two species, and this opinion still obtains among 
those whose acquaintance with them is casual. It has been sufficiently 
proven, not only that birds of each plumage mate, but also that the 
young brood while in the nest, may consist of birds of both colors. I 
once discovered a pair of these birds caring for six newly fledged young ; 
the female was of the red and the male of the gray type of coloration : 
while of three of the young which I secured, one only wasred. The color 
is thus seen to be an individual character, and not governed by age, sex 
or season. 
None of our Owls are more frequently seen or heard about houses, 
or even in tke midst of large cities. Nearly every one is familiar 
