Ruff (Calidris pugnax, here as Machetes pugnax), a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia. Illustrated by Joseph Smit, from the book 'The beautiful and curious birds of the world' by Charles Barney Cory (1883). Plates are tinted lithographs, some with additional hand-colouring. |