MACHETES PUGNAX, 
875 
central one, three dark longitudinal bands ; beneath whitish ; thighs mottled with brown. Bill at front 0-66 inch ; 
tarsus 1 - 13. 
Y 0un g just fledged. Breast and flanks tinged strongly with fulvous ; the head still in down : brown, mottled with 
buff • feathers of the back and scapulars blackish brown, with broad buff margins on all but the interscapulary 
region, where the edgings are narrow and rufous ; wings brown, greater coverts broadly tipped with white ; 
secondaries the same ; lesser wing-coverts tipped with dull buff. 
1st autumn (male). Wing 7T inches. Throat and under surface white; sides and front of neck, breast and chest 
uniform tawny grey, blending into the white ; head brown, the feathers edged with rufous ; hind neck brownish 
grey, lower part with the interscapulars and scapulars black-brown, with buff edgings to the feathers , tertials 
mar a-ined with rufous ; wing-coverts broadly margined with buff, the tips being white , tai c ai v now n, v>i u 
indentations at the outer edges. In an older male specimen shot in February at lvirinde, Cey on, the wing-coverts 
are only edged with fulvous ; the wing measures 7'2 inches, tail 2-7, tarsus P9, bill at front 
Ols. The Ruff in winter plumage, in which dress it will alone be found in Ceylon, might perhaps be mistaken for 
the Large-billed Stint ( T ring a crassirostris ) by those who are not well versed in this family of birds ; but it may 
be distinguished always by the somewhat curved bill and peculiarly forward position of the gape. T. crassirostris, 
which is about the same size, has a straighter and longer bill and shorter legs ; it will be found noticed m my 
article on Tringa subarquata. 
Distribution . — For tlie introduction of tliis interesting and well-known bird into the present work my 
readers are indebted to my friend Capt. Wade-Dalton, 73rd Regt., who met with the only specimen yet 
recorded from tlie island at the Bundala Lake near Kirinde in February 1877. It is not unlikely that, being 
a bird of wandering disposition and extensive southerly range in the breeding-season, it may now and then 
visit Ceylon, and will no doubt be procured on future occasions within its limits. The south-east coast oi the 
island constitutes by far the most southerly Asiatic point which the Ruff has yet reached in winter. 
It is a bird of wide European, African, and Asiatic distribution, but, singularly enough, does not extend 
to China or the islands to the south-east of that Empire. .... 
Jerdon states that it is found “ in large numbers in India during the cold season ;" hut I imagine it is 
rare in the south. This author does not state any locality; and recent observers, with the exception o 
Mr. Davidson, have not seen it in the peninsula. He procured a - specimen from a small flock which arrived 
at Pundharpur in September 1877, and saw another large flock towards the end of that month. Its visits 
so far south are evidently uncertain, although it may now and then he found m considerable force. Again 
towards the east it seems to be local. Messrs. Ball, Blanford, and Cripps do not make mention of it; but 
Mr. Hume writes that it is rather common about Calcutta, large numbers being brought to the market at the 
close of the season. Blytli likewise speaks of specimens with growing ruffs being shot at Rajmehal. In the 
north-west, where it first arrives from Western Asia, it is abundant in the autumn, winter, and spring , but, 
according to Mr. Hume, is less common in the two latter seasons than elsewhere. It is plentiful in 
marshes between Ahrnedabad and Deesa, writes Capt. Butler, and appears as early as the end of July. 
Mr. Hume learns that at the close of the inundation in Sindh large flocks appear, disappearing in about a 
month. He met with it at the Kunkrowlee tank in Oodeypore. Mr. Adam says that it visits the Sambhur 
Lake in large flocks during the cold weather. Col. Irby met great numbers in Oudh and Kumaon. Eastward 
of the Bay of Bengal it is a mere straggler, not having been, as yet, recorded from Pegu or Burmah, and 
only having been once met with in Tenasserim at the mouth of the Sittang river. 
It breeds, without doubt, in Kashgharia, as Dr. Henderson states that it was very common near the city 
of Yarkand, many specimens being obtained in August and September, when tlie males had lost then m s, 
but not all breeding-plumage. Dr. Scully does not seem to have noticed it in this region, so that perhaps it 
is not a regular breeder there. At the Panir Lakes, westward of Yarkand, Dr. Stoliczka met with it m April 
before the lee had broken up. In Turkestan, according to Severtzoff, it occurs on passage tliroug lout t ic 
country up to an altitude of 4000 feet or thereabouts; but Prjevalsky does not seem to have met with it m 
any of his travels in the Mongolian region. . 
It extends in the summer as far north as Kamtchatka. In IS orth-eastern Siberia Y on Middendoiff met 
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