120 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



parties on our eastern and southern coasts ; whilst 

 the Green Sandpiper (Totanus ochropus) is a less 

 frequent visitor still. This species is remarkable 

 for its peculiar mode of nesting, for instead of 

 laying its eggs upon the ground as is the almost 

 universal custom of birds of this order it places 

 them in the deserted nests of other birds in trees. 

 We must also not forget to give a passing reference 

 to the singular-looking Ruff (Machetes pugnax). 

 Drainage of the fens has long banished the Ruff 

 from its ancestral haunts, where it was once so 

 common that a regular trade was carried on in 

 netting and fattening it for the table. The Ruff 

 takes it name from the singular, yet remarkably 

 beautiful, frill of elongated feathers that, during 

 the love season, adorns the neck of the male bird. 

 The extraordinary variation in the colour of this 

 fleeting sexual ornament can only be described 

 as marvellous, it being almost impossible to find 

 two birds exactly alike. This sexual development 

 of feather ornament seems closely associated with 

 the polygamous habits of the Ruff; the cock bird 

 takes no share in family duties, and during the 

 pairing season wages endless battles with his rivals 

 for the possession of the hens. Odd birds frequent 

 our coasts during the migration periods, and less 

 frequently during the winter. Two species of 

 Stint the most diminutive of the Sandpipers 

 also deserve a brief allusion. The first and most 

 frequent visitor is the Little Stint (Tringa minuta), 





