276 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1S69. 



Norfolk a few pairs still breed annually, and are 

 strictly preserved. In Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and 

 Yorkshire, where this species was once plentiful, it 

 has now ceased to breed, and in the more northern 

 counties of Durham and Northumberland a nest is 

 very rarely found. We have lately been informed 

 that a few pairs have been found nesting in Lincoln- 

 shire within the last two years. 



During the months of August and September, at 

 which season" great numbers of shore-birds migrate 

 southwards, the Ruff and Reeve are more commonly 

 met with. 



Those who have had much experience in shore- 

 shooting or marsh-shooting, may smile at the con- 

 fusion which was thus created, but it must be re- 

 membered that at the time when Ruffs and Reeves 

 were first described by English authors, none of the 

 advantages which we now enjoy in travelling, cor- 

 responding, and collecting, then existed. Birds then 

 were not so easily procured as now, and very few 

 knew how to skin and preserve a specimen when 

 they had it. When we consider this, and reflect 

 upon the difficulties with which the practical natura- 

 list had formerly to contend, we can scarcely speak 



Fig. 219. The Ruff and Reeve [Machetes pugnax). 



We have found them at this time of year in the 

 tidal harbours on the east and south coasts, and 

 have several times shot them when looking for 

 snipe in marshy ground near the sea. More rarely 

 we have seen them on the Brent, within a few miles 

 of London. The males had then lost their frills, 

 and were only to be distinguished from the females 

 by their larger size and darker plumage. The colour 

 of the legs varies almost as much as the colour of 

 the frills. Orange, lemon, clay colour, lead colour, 

 and black may be found, with all the intervening 

 shades, and this difference of colour in the legs as 

 well as in the plumage led some of the older 

 naturalists to create much confusion by describing 

 different individuals as distinct species. 



too highly of the works of such men as Colonel 

 Montagu. 



But to return to the Ruff. The practice of netting 

 this bird for the table in the spring of the year, after 

 the pairing has commenced, is most reprehensible. 

 To destroy the breeding-grounds, and kill the old 

 birds is a sure way to make a species extinct, and 

 yet this is what is being done in the case of the 

 Ruff and Reeve. We would earnestly beg of those 

 who may meet with these birds in suitable localities 

 for nesting, in the spring of the year, to leave them 

 unmolested, and not to cause another name to be 

 added to the list of beautiful birds which have 

 already become extinct as residents in this country. 



J. E. Hakting. 



