192 GREAT SHRIKE. 



38. SANDPIPER TRIBE. 



The Sandpipers have a shorter bill than the snipes 

 but in their haunts, and general manners, they nearly 

 semble them. There are about fifty species. 



and Reeve. The very singular and grotesque 

 appearance of the males of this species, is such as attracts; 

 attention from even the most incurious observer. The 

 feathers on the back part of the head, and on the neck, 

 are long, and project to a considerable distance ; but] 

 in the female, these parts are quite plain and smooth. 

 The former have the name of Ruffs, and the latter of 

 Reeves. These birds are of more frequent occurrence! 

 in the fens of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and York-1 

 shire, than in any other parts of England. They ar 

 migratory, arriving in the spring and disappearing 

 about Michaelmas. They lay their eggs upon the! 

 ground, in a tuft of grass. These are four in number,; 

 and of a white colour, marked with large rusty spots, j 

 The males which are more numerous than the females,.; 

 are an extremely pugnacious race, fighting with greaa 

 vehemence and fury, for the possession of the females.* 

 Soon after their arrival, they assemble on some dry bank 

 near the water, and each of them occupies a small circu- 

 lar track, which he perambulates so often, that at length 

 the grass is completely worn away. On these spots they 

 wait until a female approaches, the appearance of which 

 always occasions a battle. When several of these birds 

 are kept in a room, they take their stand in the same 

 manner as if they were at liberty. They are caught in 

 great numbers, by means of nets, and are fattened for the 

 table. 



