876 
MACHETES PUGNAX. 
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 lezo. In the lenesay 
valley Mr. Seebohm 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. Finsch 
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 Antinori 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 Andalucia 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 Frisia; 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 30tli 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 ) . 
Turning southwards to Africa we find Mons. 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 Yon Heugliu 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 in 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 lull summer 
dress. In West Africa it has been obtained in Senegambia and Beuguela; and further south it is found in 
winter in Damara Land, as regards which country Mr. Andersson 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 Colcsberg, 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 w T ith in Iceland ; and 
Professor Baird states, in the ‘ Birds of N orth 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 Ilodek, and which was collected by 
Herr Miinzberg in Guiana. I have communicated with Herr von Pelzeln on this matter, and he kindly 
informs me that there is no doubt that Herr Miinzberg 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 jhecls 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 
