223 



THF RUFP. 



Machetes pugnax, CUVIER. 

 PLATE XVI. 



Tringa pugnax, Linn., Penn., $c Machetes pugnax, Cuvier 

 and modern writers Tringa littorea, cinereus, equestris, 

 Shore Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Sandpiper (female and 

 young of the year). Ruff (male), Reeve (female), of 

 British authors. 



THIS very remarkable bird is in England a summer 

 visitant, arriving annually to breed in the fenny 

 districts, to which it is at this time restricted, and 

 from whence it is gradually decreasing, both from 

 the numbers taken, and from the great and extensive 

 drainage which has been made in their favourite 

 haunts. In other parts of Britain it is a spring and 

 autumnal bird of passage, being occasionally met 

 with on the moors, in the way to these southern 

 stations, but much more frequently along our shores; 

 and on our mosses and salt marshes after breeding 

 has been completed, and all traces of the adorn- 

 ments of the male have passed away. 



In this species, we have one of the most re- 

 markable analogies existing between forms belong- 

 ing to distinct orders of birds. Among a family 



