876 MACHETES PUG X AX. 



with it on the Taimyr river in lat. 73°, and on the 27th May saw them in great numbers on the Boganida, 

 where they had come to breed. Schrenck does not record it from the Amoor. In Japan it is rare, but one 

 specimen being spoken of by Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer as having been obtained in Yezo. In the Yeuesay 

 valley Mr. Secbohm found it common; he shot the "first on migration on the 9th of June on the Arctic 

 circle/' and afterwards met with them, as far north as he travelled, in the swamps on the tundra. Dr. Finseli 

 saw it with young on the lakes which dot the low marshy ground on the borders of the Kara Bay. It has 

 been procured in Arabia ; Mr. C. Wyatt shot a few about Tor, in the district of Sinai, and Autinori found 

 the young in Asia Minor, near Ephesus, in the month of July. It is found in winter, and on passage in the 

 spring, in the islands of the Mediterranean — Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, Malta, and Sardinia. It leaves Italy for 

 the north at the end of April ; but in Audalucia Col. Irby has noticed it as late as the last week in May. In 

 Southern Spain it is common in autumn, writes Mr. Saunders. In Southern Russia and Turkey it occurs on 

 passage. Mr. Durnford found it breeding in North Prisia ; and thence northward to Finmark and Lapland is 

 its ordinary breeding-ground, although it occurs in Heligoland only in spring and autumn. Messrs. Seebohm 

 and Harvie Brown met with it at Ust Zylma as early as the 30th of May, and found its eggs at Habariki on 

 the Petchora on the 12th June ; further north at Alexievka, at the mouth of the river, they saw flocks on 

 the 9th of July. The Ruff used to be a common bird in the fens of Lincolnshire, where it bred in great 

 numbers ; but drainage has driven it almost out of the county, and in some localities it is never seen in the 

 present day. Mr. Hancock found it breeding at Prestwick Car; but this locality has been long since drained. 

 Some still breed in Norfolk ; and it is also found on the east coast of Scotland (Dresser) . 



Turniug southwards to Africa we find Moiis. Favier recording it as a bird of passage in Tangier, crossing 

 to Europe in March, and returning in August and September. In Algeria it also occurs on passage. Further 

 east, according to Captain Shelley, " the Ruff is very abundant throughout Egypt and Nubia from August 

 until May, more especially in the Fayoom and the Delta, where it may generally be met with in large flocks, 

 frequenting the flooded fields in preference to the marshes/' According to Von Ileuglin it is to be 

 found in some part or other of North-east Africa throughout the year. In autumn, winter, and spring it is 

 very common iu Nubia, Sennaar, Takah, and East Kordofan, and ascends into the Abyssinian highlands to 

 an elevation of 10,000 feet ; and in July and August he shot it at the Bitter lakes near Suez in full summer 

 dress. In West Africa it has been obtained in Senegambia and Benguela; and further south it is found in 

 winter in Damara Land, as regards which country Mr. Andcrsson writes : — " This bird generally appears in 

 Damara Land with the return of the rainy season, when it is not uncommon, and leaves again before the ruff 

 of the male bird is put forth ; but I have reason to believe that it is to be met with in the Lake-regions 

 during the intervening period. It is chiefly found inland, and but rarely on the coast." In Cape colony 

 Layard records it from Colesberg, the Knysna, and Traka, and he himself obtained it on the Cape flats. 

 Further north, in Natal, it was procured by Ayres. 



Turning, now, towards the northern hemisphere again we find that it has been met with in Iceland ; and 

 Professor Baird states, in the ' Birds of North America,' that it has been frequently killed in Long Island. That 

 it strays, however, into the Neotropical region is much more remarkable ; for we have evidence as to its having 

 been obtained in South America on Von Pelzeln's testimony, who states, in ' The Ibis,' 1875, that he inspected 

 a skin submitted to him by an eminent taxidermist in Vienna, Herr Hodek, and which was collected by 

 Herr Miiuzberg in Guiana. I have communicated with Herr von Pelzeln on this matter, and he kindly 

 informs me that there is no doubt that Herr Miiuzberg did procure the specimen in question somewhere 

 in the territory between the Orinoco and the Upper Rio Negro, as the collection in which it was, 

 and which was made in that region, was forwarded to him by Herr Rohrdorff, who lived in Venezuela. It 

 is certainly one of the most remarkable instances known of the isolated occurrence of a species so far beyond 

 its normal habitat. 



Habits. — During the winter season the Ruff frequents damp land, marshes, flooded fields, &c. In Egypt 

 Captain Shelley noticed that they affected the last-named locality in preference to marshes. They, however, 

 locate themselves in India round the edges of jheels and tanks, and are also found on brooks, streams, and 

 rivers. Ruffs and Reeves consort together in large closely packed troops, and do not appear to associate with 



