328 THE RUFF AND KEEVE. 



the extensive shores of the Mexican Gulf. About the middle oi 

 March, however, their lively vociferations of piU-will-willet, pill-mil- 

 willet^ begin commonly to be heard in all the marshes of the sea 

 islands of Georgia and South Carolina. In the Middle States they 

 arrive about the 15th of April, or sometimes later, according to the 

 season ; and from that period to the close of July, their loud and 

 ahrill cries, audible for half a mile, are heard incessantly throughout 

 the marshes where they now reside. 



OF THE SANDPIPERS IN GENERAL. 



The Sandpipers have a straight and slender bill, about an inch 

 and a half long ; small nostrils ; and a slender tongue. The toes are 

 divided, or are very slightly connected at the base by a membrane ' 

 the hinder toe is short and weak. 



THE RUFF AN'D REEVE. 



• 



The Ruff is about a foot in length, with a bill about an incli long. 

 The face is covered with yellow pimples. A few of the feathers of the 

 Iluff stand up over each eye, and appear not unlike ears. The colors 

 of the Ruff are in no two birds alike : in general they are brownish, 

 and barred Avith black ; though some have been seen that were 

 altogether white. The lower parts of the belly and the tail coverts 

 are white. The tail is tolerably long, having the four middle feathers 

 barred with black ; the others are pale brown. The legs are of a dull 

 yellow, and the claws black. The female is smaller than the male 

 and of a brown color. 



The name of Buff has been given to the male of this species, from 

 the long feathers which stand out on the back part of the head and 

 neck, and which remind a casual observer of the ruffs that were 

 worn by our ancestors. The female, which is called the Reeve, ia 

 destitute of this singular appendage. 



The male bird does not acquire Lis ruff till the second season ; 

 and till that time he is in this respect like the female ; as he is also 

 annually from the end of June until the pairmg season. After 

 the time of incubation, the long feathers fall off, and the caruncles 

 shrink in under the skin, so as not to be discerned. 



The males are much more numerous than the females, and they 

 have many severe contentions for their mates. The male chooses, 

 near a sphish of water, on some dry bank, a stand, round which he 

 runs so often, as to make a bare circular path : the moment a female 

 comes in sight, all the males within a certain distance commence a 

 general battle ; placing their bills to the ground, spreading the feathers 

 of their neck, and using the same action as a Cock : and this oppor- 

 tunity is seized by the fowlers, who, in the confusion catch them, by 

 means of nets, in great numbers. 



