Size, small; head, large, with conspicuous ear-tufts; facial disc,
imperfect above the eyes; bill, short, curved, nearly covered by
projecting feathers; wings, long; tail, short, and generally slightly
curved inwards; tarsi, rather long, and more or less covered; toes,
long, partially covered with hair-like feathers; claws, rather long,
curved, strong. General form short and compact. A genus containing about
twenty-five species of small Owls of all parts of the world, except
Australia.
1. Scops asio. (Linn.) The Mottled Owl. The Red Owl. The Screech Owl.
Strix asio. Linn. Syst. Nat., I. p. 132. (1766.)
Strix nævia. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 289. (1788.)
Bubo striatus. Vieill., Ois d’Am. Sept., I. p. 54. (1807.)
Catesby’s Carolina, I. pl. 7. Vieill., Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. pl. 21.
Temm., Pl. Col. 80. Wilson, Am. Orn., pl. 19, fig. 1.; pl. 42, fig. 1.
Aud., B. of Am., pl. 97. Oct. ed., I. pl. 40. Nat. Hist. N. Y., pl.
12, figs. 25, 26.
Short and compact; head, large; ear-tufts, prominent; wing, with the
fourth quill slightly longest; tail, short, somewhat curved inwards;
tarsi, long, fully clothed with feathers; toes, hairy. Adult. Entire
plumage above, pale ashy-brown, nearly every feather with a
longitudinal line, or stripe of dark brown, nearly black, and
irregularly mottled, and with irregular transverse lines of brown,
more or less tinged with ashy. Under parts, ashy-white, every feather
with a longitudinal stripe of brownish black and with transverse lines
of the same color; face and throat and tarsi ashy-white, irregularly
lined and mottled with pale brownish; quills, brown, with transverse
bands, nearly white on the outer webs, and pale ashy brown on their
inner webs; tail, pale ashy-brown, with about ten transverse narrow
bands of pale cinereous with a tinge of reddish; under wing-coverts,
white, the larger tipped with black; bill and claws, light horn-color;
irides, yellow. Younger. Entire upper parts, pale brownish-red, some
feathers, especially on the head and scapulars, having longitudinal
lines of brownish-black; under parts, white, some feathers with
longitudinal stripes and lines of reddish-brown; feathers before the
eyes, throat, under wing-coverts, and tarsi, white, frequently with a
tinge of reddish; quills, reddish-brown, with transverse bands rufous
on the outer webs, ashy on their inner; tail, rufous, with brown bands
deeper on the inner webs. Young. Upper parts, except the head, rufous;
head and entire under parts transversely striped with ashy-white and
pale brown. Very Young. Entire plumage transversely striped with
ashy-white and pale brown, tinged with rufous on the wings and tail;
white nearly pure on under surface of the body.
Dimensions. Total length, 9½; to 10 inches; wing, 7; tail, 3½ inches.
Male but slightly smaller.
Hab. The whole of North America; Greenland (Fabricius); Canada (Dr.
Hall); Minnesota (Mr. Pratten); Ohio (Prof. Kirtland); Oregon (Dr.
Townsend); California (Dr. Heermann); Long Island (Mr. Giraud); South
Carolina (Prof. Gibbes); Indian Territory (Dr. Woodhouse). Breeds in
Pennsylvania. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This is one of the most abundant of the Owls inhabiting the States
on the Atlantic seaboard. It presents two constant varieties of plumage,
which have been regarded as distinct species; the mottled or gray
described above as the adult, and the red described as younger. These
two varieties appear to be very similar to those of the European
_Syrnium aluco_, and to some other species.
The Rev. Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, S. C., has fully established the
identity of the two, and we have fully confirmed the accuracy of his
observations (in Aud. Orn. Biog., V. p. 392). The young birds, as stated
by him, are red when fully feathered, or nearly so; but we have observed
that previously they are transversely striped with brown and white, with
but little tinge of red, and presenting a general appearance somewhat
like the adult mottled bird. They pair and breed in the red plumage, and
it is not unusual to find a mottled male and red female associated, or
the reverse. According to Dr. Bachman, the perfect plumage is assumed at
the age of two years. Intermediate specimens, impossible to be referred
absolutely to either of the plumages, are not uncommon.
This bird holds its place throughout the country in spite of the
constant destruction of the woodlands; and though universally known and
scarcely regarded favorably by our people, is seldom molested. Its food
is principally insects.
2. Scops McCallii. Cassin. _New species._ (July, 1854.) The Western
Mottled Owl.
In form and general appearance like the preceding (_S. asio_), but
much smaller; short and robust; wing with the fourth quill longest;
tail short, slightly curved inwards; tarsi rather long, fully covered;
toes partially covered with long hair-like feathers. Adult.
_Male._—Much resembling in color the adult of the species immediately
preceding, but darker; entire plumage above, ashy-brown, nearly every
feather with a longitudinal stripe of brownish-black, and with
numerous irregular transverse lines and points of the same; under
parts, ashy-white, every feather with a longitudinal stripe of
brownish-black, and with well-defined but irregular transverse lines
of the same; flanks and sides tinged with pale fulvous; quills brown,
with several transverse bands of pale reddish-white, assuming the form
of quadrangular spots on the outer webs, and pale reddish ashy on the
inner webs; tail, ashy-brown, with about ten narrow transverse bands
on all except the two central feathers, well defined on the inner
webs; scapular feathers and some of the greater coverts of the wings,
edged with white; bill greenish horn-color, light yellowish at the
tip; irides, yellow.
Dimensions. Total length, 7½ to 8 inches; wing, 6; tail, 3 inches.
_Male._
Hab. Texas (Mr. Schott); Northern Mexico (Lieut. Couch). Spec. in Mus.
Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington city.
Obs. This species very considerably resembles the adult or grey plumage
of the _Scops asio_, but is uniformly much smaller and darker in color.
The transverse lines on the under surface of the body are better defined
and more numerous. It also somewhat resembles _Scops choliba_ of South
America, under which name we suppose the female of the present bird to
be alluded to by Mr. Lawrence, in Annals N. Y. Lyceum, VI. p. 4.
This interesting species we have taken the liberty of dedicating to our
esteemed friend, Col. McCall, as a slight memento of long-continued and
unbroken friendship, and in testimony of our high appreciation of him as
a naturalist, who has contributed much of interest and importance,
especially to the ornithology of Western America.