Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

ORNITHOLOGY.
5 Li
INGA.
Si 7
;aracters.
Gen. 55. TrinGa, Sandpiper.
Bill roundisli, as long as the head ; nostrils small, li¬
near tongue slender *, feet four-toed 5 hind toe of
one joint, and raised from the ground.
558
i'gnax.
5S9
melius.
The birds of this genus frequent the plains and shores*
and hardly touch the ground with their back toe.
Ruffiand /Tree.—Bill and legs rufous 5 three lateral
tail feathers without spots j face with ilesh-coloured gra¬
nulations ; hill sometimes black or yellowish; irides ha¬
zel ; back of the neck with a large tuft of feathers,
which fall off in moulting season. Female pale brown ;
back spotted with black ; tail browfi; the middle fea¬
thers spotted with black; breast and belly white. The
ruffs, or males, are so very variable in their markings,
that two are seldom found alike. Buffon mentions that
Klein compared above 100 ruffs together, and found on¬
ly two that Were similar. About one foot long. Inha¬
bits Europe and Siberia. The male does not acquire
the ornament of his neck till the second season, and, be*
fore that time, is not easily distinguished from the fe¬
male, except by being larger. After moulting, at the
end of June, he loses his ruff and the red tubercles of
bis face ; and from that time, till the spring of the year,
he again, in plumage, looks like his mate. These birds
leave our island in the winter, and are then supposed to
associate with other congenerous species. In the spring,
as soon as they arrive again in England, and take up
their abode in the fens where they were bred, each of
the males (of which there appears to be a much greater
number than of females) immediately fixes on aparticii*
lar dry or grassy spot in the marsh, about which he runs
round and round, until it is trodden bare, wishing, appa¬
rently, to invite the female to take joint possession, and
become an inmate. As soon as a single female arrives,
and is heard or observed by the males, her feeble cry
seems to rouse them all to war ; for they instantly be¬
gin to fight; and their combats are described as being
both desperate and of long continuance, the female, at
the end of the battle, remaining the prize of the victor.
It is at the time of these battles, that they are caught
in the greatest numbers in the nets of the fowlers. They
are also at other times caught by day nets, and are
drawn together by means of a stuffed reeve, which is
placed in some suitable spot for that purpose. The ruff
is much prized as a delicious dish, and is sought after
with great eagerness by the fowlers who live by catch¬
ing them and other fen birds, for the markets of the me¬
tropolis, &c. Before they are offered for sale, they are
commonly put up to feed, for about a fortnight, on boil¬
ed wheat, and bread and milk, mixed with hemp-seed,
to which sugar is sometime's added ; in consequence of
which mode of treatment they soon get very fat. In
the beginning of May the female makes her nest in a
dry tuft of grass, in the fens, and lays four white eggs,
marked with rusty spots.
Lapwing, peivit, bastard plover, &c.—Legs red ;
crest pendynt; breast black ; bill black ; irides hazel;
crown shining black ; crest on the hind head four inches
long ; cheeks and sides of the neck whi'e ; a black line
beneath each eye ; throat black ; bind part of the neck
mixed with white, a h colour, and red ; back and sca¬
pulars glossy green ; S6me of the feathers with lerrugi
nous tips ; lesser wing-coverts shining black, blue, and
green ; greater quill feathers black, the four first with Craila-.
a white spot at the end ; lesser black on the upper half,
White on the lower; belly white; vent and tail coverts
orange ; outer tail feathers white ; the rest 011 the lower
half black, tipt with dirty white; upper white. Weighs
between seven and eight ounces. Is found in most parts
of Europe, as far north as Iceland; and in the winter is
met with in Persia and Egypt. The chief food ol the
lapwings is worms ; and sometimes they may be seen irt
flocks nearly covering the low marshy grounds in search
of these, which they diaw with great dexterity from
their holes. When the bird meets with one ot those
rolls of earth that are thrown out by the perforations of
the worm, it first gently removes the mould from tire-
mouth of the hole, then strikes the ground at the side
with its foot, and steadily and attentively waits the is¬
sue ; while the reptile, alarmed by the shock, emerges
from its retreat, and is instantly seized. In the evening,
the lapwings pursue a different plan, running along the
grass, and feeling under their feet the worms, which
now come forth, invited by the coolness of the air.
Thus they obtain a plentiful meal, and afterwards w ash
their hill and feet in the small pools or rivulets. 1 hey
remain in this country the whole year. The female la)S
four olive-coloured eggs, spotted with black, on the dry
ground, near some marsh, on a little bed ol dry grass
which she prepares. She sits about three weeks, and
the young are able to run within two or three days alter
they are hatched. The parent exhibits the greatest at¬
tachment to them, and has recourse to very amusing ar¬
tifices to allure hoys and dogs from approaching them.
In place of waiting the arrival ol the enemies at the
nest, she boldly pushes out to meet them. When as
near as she dare venture, she rises from the ground with
a loud screaming voice, as if just flushed from hatching*
though, probably, at the same time, not within 100
vards of her nest. She then flies with great clamour
and apparent anxiety, whining and screaming round the
invaders, striking at them with her wings, and some¬
times fluttering as if she was wounded. To complete
the deception, she becomes still more clamarous as she
retires from the nest. If very near, she appears altoge¬
ther unconcerned ; and her cries cease in proportion as
her fears are increased. When approached by dogs, she
flies heavily, at a little distance before them as il maim¬
ed, still clamorous and bold, but never oflering to move
towards the quarter where her young are stationed. The
dogs pursue, in expectation every moment of seizing the
parent, and by this means actually lose the young;
for the cunning bird, having thus drawn them oft to
a proper distance, exerts her jiovvers, and leaves her
astonished pursuers to gaze at the vapidity ol her flight.
These birds, when tamed, clear gardens of worms and
snails. Their flesh and eggs are both reckoned delica¬
cies for the table. In winter they join in large flocks,
but are then very shy. cOo
Gambet, gambet sandpiper, or red-legged horseman.— Gambelt^
Bill and legs-red ; body variegated with pale yellow,
and cinereous; white befieath ; hill tipt with black ;
irides yellowish green ; wing coverts and scapulars ci¬
nereous, and edged with yellow ; first quill and tail lea¬
thers dusky, the latter edged with yellow. About the
size of the gr enshank. Inhabits the northern parts of
Europe and America, but seldom occurs in France or
England.
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