1900.] Patten. — The N'aficral History of the Ricff. 203 



Fijthly. — According to Montagu, Ruffs seldom injure each 

 other. This is not because the shield protects them, for the 

 parts exposed are seldom scratched. It is because the beak is 

 soft and weak, like that of other waders and so incapable of 

 inflicting a severe wound. Hence the possession of a shield 

 is unnecessary. 



Lastly. — If the " frill" only functioned as a shield why 

 should it possess such rich, handsome, and varied colours ? 



The probable function of the modified neck feathers is to 

 serve as an ornament, as already pointed out by Darwin and 

 others. This brings us on to the second question, viz. : For 

 what reason is the "frill" and, indeed, the nuptial plumage 

 generally so rich and variable? It is now generally believed 

 by many observers that most female animals, including birds, 

 exercise a certain amount of choice in the selection of their 

 mate. Darwin lays stress on the fact that the more highly 

 ornamented males are those more often selected. Hence if 

 we assume that the female Ruff is particularl3^ fastidious in 

 her choice, then by a process of sexual selection not only 

 might the colours of the males become highly ornamental, but 

 even the feathers might tend to vary in colour. But this is an 

 a priori argument, and is only begging the question. We have 

 no evidence of the female Ruff being more particular in her 

 choice than any other birds of the same sex. However there 

 is evidence to show^ that it is not the victorious conqueror that 

 is chosen by the female,^ inasmuch as the battle between the 

 male Ruffs generally ends in a scoreless draw, and so, I think, 

 we are .safe in assuming that in the case of Ruffs the female 

 exercises her sense for the beautiful, and selects the most 

 ornamental and vigorous looking male. It might be asked, 

 why do the males fight when the females are more numerous ? 

 For two reasons : firstly, the females only choose certain males, 

 and so the latter sex enter into a competition of warfare to 

 "cut each other out." Secondly, although the males are 

 actually less numerous than the females, they have no ob- 

 jection to any number of waves (polygani}^), and so fight 

 among themselves to attain this end. Thus, through the 

 females exercising their selective powers, the male descendants 

 have kept up the richl} -ornamented nuptial plumage. So 



^ Differing in this respect from many gallinaceous birds. 



