154 scoLOPAcm/E. 



doubtful of the success which will give them a lord, as they 

 permit the victor alone to associate with them. Even in con- 

 finement this pugnacity is continued, and their appearance 

 might be amusingly contrasted with the godwits similarly 

 caged at the Leadenhall market, but separately confined in 

 long boxes. The placid stand and an occasional piping note 

 from the timid godwits, contrasted with the ruifs, who seem 

 in their pugnacity to have adapted for their motto, " Toujours 

 pres" to do battle with or without cause ; displaying also in 

 confinement their favourite attitude of standing upon one leg, 

 they are so lazy, that, when wishing to move forward, they 

 hop upon the one leg rather than put down the other, a fact 

 likewise noted by Degland.* At the termination of the breed- 

 ing season the males lose the sexual plumage which adds so 

 strangely to their appearance, and change to the more sub- 

 dued tints of the female. 



A remarkable fact is the colour of the ruff on the neck, two 

 specimens being seldom observed exactly similar in appear- 

 ance. From two specimens which we obtained in the month 

 of July, 1850, from the neighbourhood of the Bog of Allen, 

 it is not improbable that in some rare instances this species 

 may remain and nidify. 



Habitat Europe. 



GENUS LXXV TOTANUS (TATTLERS). 



SPECIES 144 THE SPOTTED REDSHANK. 



Totanus fuscus. Jard. 

 Chevalier arlequin. Temm. 



Spotted Snipe. Dusky Sandpiper. 



THIS handsome species is of the greatest rarity, and has only 

 been obtained in a single authenticated instance, obtained, too, 

 by a describer worthy of its rarity, the late William Thompson, 

 Esq., of Belfast, from whose work on the " Natural History 

 of Ireland" we transcribe : 



" When a very young sportsman, and out shooting in Hol- 

 lywood rabbit-warren, bordering Belfast Bay, on the morning 

 of the 22nd of August, 1823, I perceived at a distance a soli- 

 tary bird, whose call resembled that of a redshank, but was 

 somewhat different, winging its way over the sea towards 

 Belfast. To my surprise and delight, however, the stranger 

 made a sudden turn, and alighted on the beach at a short 



* Ornithologie Europeenne. 



