72 RUFF SANDPIPER. Class 11. 



gives name to them, at once distinguishes them 

 Descrip- from all other birds. On the back of their 

 necks is a singular tuft of feathers spreading 

 wide on both sides. These, and the former, 

 in some are black, in others white, yellow, or 

 ferruginous; but this tuft and the ruffs fre- 

 quently differ in colors in the same bird. The 

 $:< v: feathers that bear an uniformity of coloring 

 through each individual of this sex, are the 

 coverts of the wings, which are brown inclining 

 to ash color; the feathers on the breast, which 

 are often black or dusky; the four exterior fea- 

 thers of the tail, which are of a cinereous 

 brown ; and the four middle, which are barred 

 with black and brown ; the bill is black towards 

 the end, red at the base. The legs in all, are 

 yellow. In moulting, they lose the character 

 of the long neck-feathers, nor do they recover 

 it till after their return to the fens the spring 

 following. It is then they regain that ornament, 

 and at the same time a set of small pear shaped 

 yellow pimples break out in great numbers on 

 their face above the bill. The Stags or male 

 birds of the first year want these marks, and have 

 sometimes been mistaken for a new species of 

 Tringa; but they may be easily known by the 

 colors of the coverts of the wings, and the middle 

 feathers of the tail. The older the birds are, 



