_Scops_, SAVIGNY, 1809. (Type, _Strix scops_, L. = _Scops zorca_ (GM.)
SWAINS.)
_Ephialitis_, KEYS. & BL. 1840, _nec_ SCHRANK, 1802.
_Megascops_, KAUP, 1848. (Type, _Strix asio_, L.)
GEN. CHAR. Size small, the head provided with ear-tufts. Bill
light-colored; iris yellow. Three to four outer quills with inner webs
sinuated. Wings long (more than twice the length of the tail, which
is short and slightly rounded); second to fifth quills longest. Toes
naked, or only scantily feathered. Ear-conch small and simple. Plumage
exceedingly variegated, the colors different shades of brown, with
rufous, black, and white, in fine mottlings and pencillings; feathers
above and below usually with blackish shaft-streaks, those beneath
usually with five transverse bars; primaries spotted with whitish, and
outer webs of the lower row of scapulars the same edged terminally with
black. Tail obscurely banded.
[Illustration: ½
_Scops asio._]
The species of this genus are cosmopolitan, the greater number, however,
being found in tropical regions. All the American species differ from
_S. zorca_ of Europe in having the fourth and fifth quills longest,
instead of the second, and in having three to four, instead of only
two, of the outer quills with the inner web sinuated, as well as in
having the quills shorter, broader, and more bowed, and their under
surface more concave. They may, perhaps, be distinguished as a separate
subgenus (_Megascops_, Kaup). Of the American species all but _S. asio_
(including its several races) have the toes perfectly naked to their
very bases.
Species and Races.
COMMON CHARACTERS. Plumage brown, gray, or rufous, and whitish,
finely mottled above; lower parts transversely barred, and with dark
shaft-streaks. Outer webs of lower scapulars light-colored (white
or ochraceous) and without markings. Tail crossed by rather obscure
mottled light and dark bars of nearly equal width. Outer webs of
primaries with nearly equal bands of whitish and dusky.
1. =S. asio.= Toes covered (more or less densely) with bristles,
or hair-like feathers. Wing, 5.50–7.80; tail, 3.20–4.10; culmen,
.50–.70; tarsus, 1.00–1.70; middle toe, .70–.80. Ear-tufts well
developed; facial circle black.
Colors smoky-brown and pale fulvous, with little or none of pure
white. Outer webs of the scapulars pale ochraceous-fulvous. Wing,
6.90–7.30; tail, 3.50–4.50. _Hab._ North Pacific region, from
Western Idaho and Washington Territory, northward to Sitka …
var. _kennicotti_.
Colors ashy-gray and pure white, with little or none of fulvous.
Outer webs of the scapulars pure white. Varying to bright
brick-red, or lateritious-rufous.
Mottlings coarse, the blackish median streaks above not sharply
defined, and the bars beneath heavy and distinct.
Wing, 6.10–7.75; tail, 3.30–4.35. In the red plumage, white
prevailing on the lower parts, where the red markings are not
broken into transverse bars. _Hab._ United States; except the
Southern Middle Province, the northwest region, and Florida …
var. _asio_.
Wing, 5.50–6.00; tail, 2.75–3.10. In the red plumage, red
prevailing on the lower parts, where the markings are much
broken into transverse bars. _Hab._ Florida and Southern
Georgia …
var. _floridanus_.
Wing, 5.50–5.80; tail, 3.20–3.30. Gray plumage, like var.
_asio_, but the mottling above much coarser, and the nape with
a strongly indicated collar of rounded white spots in pairs,
on opposite webs. Red plumage not seen. _Hab._ Eastern Mexico
and Guatemala …
var. _enano_.[25]
Mottlings fine, the blackish median streaks above very sharply
defined and conspicuous; bars beneath delicate and indistinct.
Wing, 6.20–6.50; tail, 3.35–3.50. _Hab._ Southern Middle
Province, and Southern California; Cape St. Lucas …
var. _maccalli_.
2. =S. flammeola.= Toes perfectly naked, the feathering of the
tarsus terminating abruptly at the lower joint. Wing, 5.40; tail,
2.80; culmen, .35; tarsus, .90; middle toe, .55. Ear-tufts short,
or rudimentary. Facial circle rusty. Outer webs of the scapulars
rusty-ochraceous, in striking contrast to the grayish of the wings
and back. Other markings and colors much as in _asio_. _Hab._
Mountain regions of Mexico and California, from Guatemala to Fort
Crook, Northern California.
Scops asio, BONAP.