84 LAKES AND RIVERS. 



larger than the dunlin or sandpiper. It is more than 

 10 inches long, about 19 inches in expanse of wing, 

 and weighs only four or five ounces. The bill is not 

 so long as that of the purple sandpiper, the hind toe 

 turns inward, its feet are well fitted to walk on soft 

 ground, and in winter it frequents the sands and 

 fenny districts. It changes its colours much ac- 

 cording to season, so that it is known by a variety 

 of names. Like other marsh birds it is much 

 less plentiful in England than formerly, but in Lin- 

 colnshire and Cambridgeshire there are still consider- 

 able flocks of them to be seen. On the fens they 

 collect in August. Dr. Fleming mentions having shot 

 a specimen in June, 1808, in one of the Orkneys. 

 They are to be met with on the sandy coast of Aber- 

 deenshire, and they breed frequently, according to 

 Mudie, in various parts of the country ; they are shy r 

 and it is difficult to find their breeding-places. But 

 later observers have not confirmed their breeding in. 

 these places. It may have ceased to breed in these 

 islands; its true breeding-place is the shore of the 

 Polar seas, where Captain Nares's expedition found the 

 young birds, but were too late for the eggs. 



One of the best known of our marsh birds is the Ruff 

 (Machetes pugnax, genus Machetes) it is a polygamous 

 bird, and the males are very quarrelsome, and much 

 larger than the females. Their most distinguishing 

 characteristic is a large ruff of feathers over the breast 

 and neck, and a tuft of feathers behind each eye. 

 The ruff varies so much in plumage that it is almost 

 impossible to describe its colour. The male is between 

 ii and 12 inches long, the female a third less. 



