A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
Scops flammeola, LICHT.
FEILNER’S OWL.
_Scops flammeola_, LICHT. Mus. Berol. Nomenclat. p. 7, 1854.—KAUP,
Trans. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 226.—SCHLEGEL, Mus. de Pays-Bas, _Oti_, p.
27.—SCLAT. Proc. Zoöl. Soc. 1858, 96.—SCL. & SALV. P. Z. S. 1868,
57; Exot. Orn. VII, 99, pl. l, July, 1868.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 47,
1869.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds Am. I, pl. xxviii.—COUES, Key, 1872, 203.
SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (42,159, Orizaba Mountains, “rare,” February 3, 1865;
Professor F. Sumichrast). Ground-color above pale cinereous, this
overlaid on the top of the head, nape, and back by a brownish-olive
shade, the ash showing pure only on the borders of the crown and on
the wing-coverts and scapulars; the whole upper surface transversely
mottled with white and blackish, the latter in the form of fine zigzag
lines and a splash along the shaft, this expanding transversely near
the end of the feather; the white is in the form of larger transverse
spots, these largest across the nape. Outer webs of the scapulars fine
light orange-rufous (becoming white beneath the surface), bordered
terminally with black. Coverts along the lower edge of the wing spotted
with pale rufous; outer webs of the several lower feathers of the middle
and secondary wing-coverts with a large conspicuous spot of white.
Secondaries crossed by four well-defined narrow pale ochraceous bands;
primary coverts transversely spotted with the same; primaries with about
five transverse series of very large white spots on the outer webs,
the spots approaching ochraceous next the shaft and towards the end of
the feather. Tail profusely mottled like the back, and crossed with
about five ragged, badly defined pale bands, the last of which is not
terminal. Ear-tufts inconspicuous.
Eyebrow white, feathers bordered with blackish; eye encircled with rusty
rufous; lores strongly tinged with the same; cheeks, ear-coverts, neck,
and jugulum with numerous transverse dusky bars upon a grayish-white
ground. Facial circle rusty-rufous spotted with black; throat with a
tinge of rufous; chin white.
[Illustration: _Scops flammeola._]
Lower parts, in general, white; each feather with a black shaft-stripe,
this throwing off bars in pairs, across the feather; the medial stripes
are very broad, forming longitudinal spots on the breast, and have here
an external rufous suffusion; lower tail-coverts very sparsely marked.
Tibiæ and tarsi white, with very sparse transverse dusky spots. Lining
of the wing plain yellowish-white; bars on under surface of primaries
very obsolete, except basally. Wing-formula, 3=4; 5, 2–6; 1=8. Wing,
5.40; tail, 2.45; culmen, .35; tarsus, .87; middle toe, .55.
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