THE SEMI-PALM ATED SANDPIPER 



THE SEMI- PALMATE D SANDPIPER. 



Tringa pusilla, Linnaeus. 

 Plate 67, 



A specimen of this Sandpiper, a young bird in autumn plumage, was obtained 

 on Romney Marsh, Kent, on September 12th, 1907. In summer it inhabits the 

 Arctic regions of North America southwards to the mouth of the Yukon river on 

 the eastern, and Labrador on the western sides of the continent, whilst in winter it 

 migrates as far south as Patagonia. 



In its habits this species does not appear to differ from its allies, but is dis- 

 tinguished by the webbing at the base of the front toes. 



The eggs are of a yellowish or greenish stone-colour, blotched and spotted with 

 dark brown. 



THE RUFF. 



Machetes pugnax, Linnaeus. 

 Plate 67. 



This species, noted for the remarkable feathered shield which adorns the necks 

 of the males during the nuptial season, was once a common summer visitant to our 

 English fens, but owing to the draining and enclosure of its favourite haunts, and 

 also to the value put upon the eggs by unscrupulous collectors, it is now almost 

 banished from the land, except as a bird of passage. In summer the Ruff inhabits 

 localities suited to its marsh-loving habits in various parts of Europe and Western 

 Asia, and in winter visits Africa and Southern Asia. 



The plainly coloured female, known as the Reeve, builds her scanty nest on the 

 ground among grass or rushes, and lays four eggs, in colour pale greyish-green, 

 blotched with umber-brown. 



The food consists chiefly of various insects, worms, slugs, etc. 



In former days, when this polygamous species was so plentiful in the fens of 

 the eastern counties, the males soon after their arrival in spring betook themselves 

 to their breeding stations, and, collecting on some piece of ground a little above 

 the level of the marsh, known to fowlers as a " hill," fought for possession of the 

 Reeves. 



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