THE RUFF 177 



ground at a marvellous speed being most extra- 

 ordinary. Very frequently no Reeve was present 

 during these exhibitions, and the persistency with 

 which the birds refuse to be driven away from 

 their selected ' hill ' merits attention." After pair- 

 ing, each female appears to select some spot for 

 the nest away from her companions. This nest 

 is made upon the ground in the swamps, and is 

 generally placed in the centre of a tuft of sedge or 

 coarse grass, which eftectually conceals it. It is 

 little more than a hollow in which a few dead 

 leaves or bits of withered herbage are strewn. The 

 eggs are four in number, varying from greenish 

 grey to greyish green in ground colour, spotted 

 and blotched with reddish brown and greyish 

 brown. But one brood is reared in the year, the 

 eggs for which are laid in May or early June. 



The plumage of the adult male Ruff varies in 

 colour to such an astonishing degree, that to 

 attempt any detailed description in the space here 

 available is absolutely impossible. We may, how- 

 ever, say that this variation is chiefly confined to 

 the nuptial plumes which are assumed in spring — 

 the ruff, the feathers on the breast and flanks, 

 and the ground colour of the upper parts. An 

 almost endless diversity or mixture of white, 



