76 TRINGJNJS. NUMEN1US. 



reverse being the case in the rest of this family. Formerly 

 the Ruff bred in great numbers in the fenny districts along 

 the eastern coast of England ; but, owing to the draining of 

 the marshes, and the increase of population, it is now of rare 

 occurrence in those parts. It appears that many of these 

 birds now merely sojourn with us for a short time during 

 their vernal and autumnal migrations. On the east coast of 

 Scotland they appear as early as the middle of September, 

 and depart in about a fortnight ; but I have never seen an 

 adult male killed there, the little flocks that occur being young 

 birds, and females. The species is extensively distributed 

 on the Continent, breeding in the marshes. The males as- 

 sume a station in spring, where they provoke others, and en- 

 gage in protracted combats, fighting in the manner of domes- 

 tic cocks. The females form a slight nest on the ground, lay 

 four pyriform, spotted eggs, and rear their young, without the 

 aid of the males. These birds were formerly caught in great 

 numbers in England, and fattened for the table with farina- 

 ceous substances, which they soon relish. 



The male is named Ruff, the female Reeve. 



Tringa pugnax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 247. Tringa pugnax, 

 Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 725. Tringa pugnax, Temm. Man. 

 d'Ornith. ii. 631 ; and Machetes pugnax, iv. 411. Machetes 

 pugnax, Ruff, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



GENUS XCVII. NUMENIUS. CURLEW. 



Were we to view a Curlew-billed Sandpiper or a Dunlin 

 through a magnifying medium, such as would enlarge it to 

 eight or ten times its bulk, it would present the appearance 

 of a Curlew, with this difference, that its bill would not be 

 so much curved. The Numenii, then, are birds of mode- 

 rate size, especially remarkable for the great length and cur- 

 vature of their bill, which is at least twice as long as the 

 head, slender, arcuate, larger at the base, tapering to the 

 end ; upper mandible with the ridge broadly convex, the 

 edges involute, the tip elliptical, obtuse, and extending be- 

 yond that of the lower, the nasal groove very long and nar- 

 row ; lower mandible with the angle very narrow, extend- 

 ing to the middle, and bare anteriorly, the outline arcuate, 

 the sides of the crura a little inflected, and have a longitu- 

 dinal groove, the tip blunt* Both mandibles very thick, 



