T900.] Patten. — The Natural History of the Ruff. ] 89 



the shading of the feathers is very rich. The owner pointed out to me 

 the following minor differences in the plumages of the two sexes. Firstly : 

 the difference in the shade and distribution of the buff-coloured feathers 

 already described. In the female these reach almost as far back as the 

 under tail coverts, hence a considerable amount of the abdominal feathers 

 are buff-coloured. In the male the buff stops short about the middle of 

 the abdomen. Secondly : the rufous edges of the scapulars and inter- 

 scapulars are broader in the female than in the male, and the central 

 portions of these feathers are darker in the former sex. Thirdly ; the 

 tertiaries of the female are crossed with bars of black and buff,^ whereas 

 in the male the same feathers are only edged with these colours. 



Winter. 



Feathers of the forehead, crown, nape, and occiput ashy grey in colour, 

 with indistinctly marked darkish centres. The cheeks, ear coverts,^ 

 chin, lore, and upper throat are of a dirty white color.^ The lower 

 throat and breast feathers are lightish grey, dappled with faintly marked 

 irregular and broken transverse bars of a darker grey colour. The ante- 

 orbital feathers are dark grey. The abdomen and under tail coverts are 

 white, as in autumn. The rectrices are dappled grey and white. The 

 upper tail coverts and lower back feathers are similar in colour to those 

 of the autumn plumage, except that the rufous edges have nearly dis- 

 appeared. The inter-scapulars, scapulars and tertiaries are grey, with 

 dirty white-coloured margins. The tertiaries are in addition tipped with 

 black. The secondaries and wing coverts are also grey, the white edges 

 being more distinct. •* The primaries resemble those of the autumn 

 plumage. The leg feathers are dapoled grey and white. 



It is not m}^ intention in this article to enter into a detailed 

 account of the occurrence of each Ruff hitherto observed in 

 Ireland. Most of the facts concerning these have been 

 already published. It ib more expedient to draw up a table 

 containing many important statistics of the history of the 

 Ruff as a visitor to Ireland. In this way it may be possible to 

 review any changes which may have taken place in the dis- 

 tribution of this bird in time and space. 



In the fifth column of the Table, M stands for male, F for 

 female. In the sixth column, A = adult, and I = immature. 

 In the seventh column, N = nuptial plumage, A = autumn 

 plumage, W = winter plumage, S = summer plumage. 



■" I did not find this condition of the autumn plumage in all female 

 Ruffs examined. 



2 The ear coverts are fairly dappled with grey. 



^ In the winter, the white patch under the chin passes continuously 

 into the same colour of the cheeks and lore. 



4 In autumn the white edge is narrow and less defined. 



A 2 



