272 BIRDS. 



brown. The bird's breeding-grounds and egg are a mys- 

 tery, though the young have been taken but a few days 

 old. The knot is a great traveller, being found as far 

 south as Australia, whither it journeys from a presumably 

 arctic birthplace in incredibly short time. 



The northern Sanderling, which is found in numbers on 

 most of our coasts in early autumn (the old and young 

 Sander- birds arriving together), and again in spring, 

 ling. }g eas iiy known by the conspicuously black 

 back and white underparts, the absence of a hind-toe, and 

 the straight black bill, slightly swollen at the tip. I have 

 shot the bird on the mud-flats north of Leghorn, and I 

 noticed that, unlike a number of waders, it invariably flew 

 straight out to sea when disturbed. They were the small- 

 est waders on that coast, and were always very fat. 



The Ruff (the female is called "Reeve " J ) must be regarded 

 as an autumn visitor nowadays, though a few may still 

 breed in East Anglia, where formerly the birds 

 nested in hundreds. Thus the bird is seldom 

 seen with us in the full glory of his many-coloured ruff, 

 which he only wears for a short time during the breeding 

 season, and when flocks pass us in spring the sides of the 

 face are patchy, wearing a half -ragged appearance. The 

 spring " hilling," or sparring, of the males consists for the 

 most part of show, not unlike the similar mock-tourna- 

 ments observed in some of the game-birds. The ruff 

 feeds on worms and seeds. The nest is in the grass. 

 Eggs, 4, if inch; greyish, with brown spots. 



Buff- breasted Sandpiper. A straggler from arctic 

 America, which has been obtained about a dozen times 

 in England, chiefly in the south, three in Ireland, but not 

 once, it is thought, in Scotland. 



1 In the same way (among fish) the dull female of the Gemmeous 

 Dragonet goes by the name of Dusky Skulpin. 



