SCOPS
Walter,Imp.
ZOROA.
SCOPS ZORCA.
We find in the great family of Strigidtz as much diversity of form and colouring as 111 any other groi
birds o f similar magnitude and equally general distribution; and it is especially interesting to s t ay
structural variations and marked differences. Although generally nocturnal, many mei u .
visionary powers o f some of the genera enabling them to see as well by day as by mg , ,
know have bright yellow o r orange irides. while in others they are as black as sloes. Some genera
as Bu io and .Sen/«, arc adorned with graceful tofts of feathers springing from above the eye, wm ,
S * rm* have full and rounded heads, without a trace o f such appendages. 1 he members or gen ,
o f which onr Barn-Owl may be cited as a typical example, are distinguished by the extreme e ic
and love1' ¡leueilli'igs of their plumage. Some genera have bare tarsi, as etupa i
’ .1 tarsi and toes—for example, Scotapdia. Now each of these diversities of struc u<
a Z L d si,me , - eiitl purpose; thus the huge bird ju s t alluded to and the great Australian ffieracq?
„ re , u p .., large quadrupeds and birds, while the greater part o f the food of the m ore delicate *
„ . ,,f it,.eels. The forms above mentioned, however, are only a p a rt o f the great family ot t-
..[-,he is so general that no portion o f its surface is entirely destitute o f tl
, over which .he prCM-n. species ranges was formerly considered, to be much more extensive tin
1 ne area over j i ^ ^ ^ of Afr;ca. ;t , rallge „„ ,liat continent is some'
really is; thus, inste g a p™ » ^ «.„ato r, and that the birds from Senegal
r S ^ f o L T i ; . which were formerly regarded as identical with it, are really
remark applies to In d ia; for it is now excluded from the fauna of that country, and ‘' ' Y ' f T w
no longer Placed as a synonym of Scop, aorcu. In North Africa, Egypt, Persia, the Holy Land, *
d the whole of Southern Europe, including the islands in the Mediterranean, it is tolerably eommoi ,
eooallv numerous in France and some parts o f Germany; while in Belgium and Holland i t » rare,
becomes still more so in Sweden and Norway, which constitute the boundary of its range in a no
direction. In England, Scotland, and Ireland its occurrence is purely accidental; a n d if any ins i o c j
its having bred therein have been recorded, theyarefew in number, and have not been satis cto n y ieri
If we Lunijuh some o f the works relative to European ornithology published on e
i, ,u detail» respecting the habits and economy of this bird with which, for want o oppor
writers have not been able to make themselves acquainted, and have tlieretore a
little more than a fist of its various occurrences in our island, which are oo nu • -
here • I must not, turnover, omit to mention two or three that have been in y o
purposes o f the present work. Mr. E. H. Rodd’s specimen from the Spilly I s l a n d s was c s p e cm y ^ u,
‘t pencilled marking*- rivalling in minuteness those of the most deicate y maj" which
Wryneck • and another, equally beautiful, was presented to me by . „ , . • j i,,j
). " rvnMp-ht alive under ■ turnip-leaf in a field on his Lordship s estate a s .
,he year 1858. Lastly, at the moment I am writing, J a n e 1 8 a 8 ,M r .if a d te i U
Shropshire, sends me word that a fine male specimen as before it was obtained, otteri*«
Esq., o f Carden Park, 11a -hire: I t had been nea , s
peculiar note of “ kew, . . i - , ,,..v mi<rht be beard
■ 1„ the Djendeli district we found this Owl abundant^ every n jg h tr t. peculiar cry m ig ^ ^ ^ ^
one o r more individuals. Reiera ,