CHARADRIID.^. 



599 



THE RUFF. 



Machetes pugnax (Linnsus). 



The Ruff and Reeve— the latter being the name appHed to the 

 female— used formerly to breed in many of the marshy districts of 

 England ; but drainage has greatly restricted their haunts, while col- 

 lectors have done their best to extirpate the birds which arrive in 

 spring and attempt to nest. On the autumn migration the species 

 is more abundant, and a few individuals are occasionally met with 

 during the winter. In the west of England the Ruff is decidedly 

 rarer than in the east, and it is seldom obtained in Wales. In Scot- 

 land it occurs from Berwickshire to the Orkneys and Shedands, but 

 has seldom been noticed in the Outer or Inner Hebrides. In 

 Ireland it is of uncommon occurrence, and is usually seen m 

 autumn, though occasionally in winter and spring. 



