VOL. XIV.] NOTES. 259 



dark horn colour, feet yellow, claws black : no white on tail. 

 Castings examined showed beak and bones of Grouse, bones 

 and fur of hare (also probably rabbit) and traces of sheep's 

 wool, most likely from carrion. C. H. Wells. 



BITTERN IN CO. ANTRIM. 



Mr. W. H. Workman {antca, p. 224) seems to have mis- 

 understood Ussher and Warren's statement regarding the 

 Bittern. In their Birds of Ireland they cite the counties 

 in which seven or more specimens have been obtained, only 

 mentioning Leitrim, Cavan and Londonderry as the counties 

 from which no notices appear. In their summary are included 

 Thompson's records, among which are three from co. Antrim, 

 viz., Bog ^leadows, Belfast, January 27th, 181 1 ; Claggan, 

 Februarj^ 8th, 1838 ; and near Ballymena, February 1839. 



Nevix H. Foster. 



THE RUFF— AN EARLY RECORD. 



With reference to Mr. W. H. Mullens's interesting article, 

 " The Ruff — an Early Record " (Vol. XIII., pp. 13-20, and 

 note, Vol. XIV., p. 68), which deals with a black letter 

 pamphlet of 1586, the following information may be of 

 interest. 



In the Field of May 29th, 1909 (p. 897 there is a short 

 paragraph, entitled " A Rare Tract on the Ruff," dealing 

 with a similar pamphlet which was sold " last week for 

 £4 14s." Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge have 

 informed me that this pamphlet was sold by them, as Lot 381, 

 on May 20th-2ist, 1909, but they are unable to give such 

 information as would enable its present whereabouts to be 

 traced, though prior to the sale it was the property of Lord 

 Dormer. The paragraph in the Field, which is unsigned, 

 states that although there is no copy of the pamphlet in the 

 British Museum, there is a German translation published at 

 Augsburg in which it is stated that a Dutch translation had 

 already appeared at Middelburg. 



An examination of the British Museum pamphlet (Press 

 Mark 123 14. d. 34 (2) ) proves it to be but an abbreviated 

 paraphrase, pubHshed in 1587, and omitting fully one-third 

 of the original. The woodcut of the Ruff occupies nearly 

 one half of the title-page and is quite different from that in 

 the English edition. The cut has been coloured by hand and 

 is easily recognizable as a Ruff, but of gigantic proportions, 

 which stands between and overtops two men who are 

 apparently much surprised at its appearance. In the back- 

 ground a castle with its dependencies stands at the foot of a 



