THE RUFFS. 273 



Adult Female in Winter Plumage. Similar to the male, but dis- 

 tinguished by its smaller size. Wing only 5*9-6-2 inches. 



Characters. Reeves and Ruffs in winter or in immature 

 plumage are often sent to me at the Museum for identification, 

 and it may be as well, therefore, to state that in winter 

 plumage the length of wing, combined with the comparatively 

 short bill and the colour of the feet and toes, will generally dis- 

 tinguish the species. Mr. Seebohm also adds the following 

 characters : the white axillaries, and the absence of white on 

 the primaries, secondaries, and central upper tail-coverts. 



Range in Great Britain. This handsome wader is now chiefly 

 a migrant, but in the fens and marshes of our Eastern counties 

 it used to breed, and might do so still in limited numbers if 

 protection were afforded to the few birds which still struggle 

 to nest occasionally in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. In the 

 present day, however, but few Ruffs come to England in the 

 spring, though the species is more plentiful in the autumn 

 migration ; and it sometimes occurs even in winter. It 

 mostly visits our eastern and southern coasts, and is some- 

 times found on inland waters ; but on the western side of 

 England and Scotland, and in Ireland, it is much more rare. 



Range outside the British Islands The Ruff breeds in Northern 

 Europe and Siberia, and is also found nesting in Holland, 

 Belgium, the north of France, as well as in Poland and parts 

 of Germany. It migrates south to the Mediterranean and 

 occurs on both sides of the African continent as far as Cape 

 Colony. In the East its winter range extends to India, China, 

 the Burmese Provinces, and as far as Borneo. Occasional 

 instances of the occurrence of the species in the Faeroes and 

 in Iceland have been recorded, and it sometimes visits North 

 America, and has twice been met with in Barbados and once 

 in Guiana. 



Habits. In autumn single examples are generally obtained 

 on migration, and these are nearly always young birds of the 

 year. At least that has been my experience, but the species is 

 also known to collect in flocks, often of considerable size. 

 In May the male begins to moult and to put on his elaborate 

 breeding-dress, and nothing can be more amusing than to see 

 one of these birds trying to attract the attention of a Reeve, 



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