128 GRALLATORES. MACHETES. Rurr. 
grey, and spotted with blackish-brown. Back and sca- 
pulars black, with bronze and purple reflections; the 
latter feathers being long and narrow, with their outer 
webs of a rich cream-yellow, and forming two conspi- 
cuous bands down the back. Wing-coverts black, mar- 
gined with pale brown and white. ‘ail consisting of 
twelve feathers, brownish-black, and margined with pale 
chestnut-brown. Abdomen white. Legs and toes green- 
ish-grey. 
Genus MACHETES, Curzrer. RUFF. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bit straight, rather slender, as long as the head, with the 
tip dilated and smooth. Upper mandible laterally sulcated 
for four-fifths of its length. Culmen rounded. Nostrils basal, 
lateral, linear, placed in the commencement of the groove. 
Wings long, and sharp-pointed ; with the first and second 
quill-feathers of equal length, and the longest in the wing. 
Legs long and slender, having the tibiz naked for a con- 
siderable space above the tarsal joint. Feet four-toed ; three 
before, and one behind; the outer toe being united to the 
middle one by a membrane as far as the first joint, and the 
inner one free. Hind toe short, articulated upon the tarsus, 
with the tip of the claw barely touching the ground. 
In plumage, the head and neck of the male, during the 
amatory season, are adorned with long plumose feathers, 
springing from the occiput and throat; which, when raised, 
form a large ruff or shield around the head; and the face of 
the male bird, during the same period, is covered with small 
fleshy warts or papillee. 
In the systems of Linnxus and his immediate followers, 
the Ruff was included among the Tringas, a numerous 
genus, containing, besides the species still classed under that 
