152 THE r.IRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The nest is well concealed in long herbage ; the bird shown 

 on Plate 60 was photographed by Miss Turner in 1907, and is 

 perhaps the last authenticated case of nesting in England. It 

 is true that the bird formerly nested in Lancashire, as Mr. R. J. 

 Howard showed, but the statement that eggs were laid in the 

 county in 1910 has not been confirmed ; the evidence, so far 

 as was made public, rests on the identification of eggs said 

 to have been taken in Lancashire. The four pyriform eggs 

 show considerable variation in ground and markings ; they are 

 laid in May or June. The nestlings have buff and chestnut 

 down, streaked and barred with black, and frosted with white. 



In spring the face of the Ruff is covered with rough warty 

 and usually yellowish skin ; on the head are two erectile 

 bunches of long feathers, and a flowing frill hangs from the 

 neck ; the tufts and frill may or may not agree in colour, and 

 may be purple, red, brown, black, or Avhite, be plain or barred 

 or streaked with some other colour. The variation also extends 

 to the head, breast, and upper parts generally. There is, how- 

 ever, a conspicuous white patch on either side of the upper 

 tail-coverts which appears to be constant in both male and 

 female, and the central tail-coverts are almost invariably 

 barred. The Reeve is greyish brown, spotted with black, the 

 grey-edged spots forming regular streaks on the mantle. The 

 neck, flanks, and breast are greyer and mottled with black ; 

 the rest of the under parts are white. In winter the sexes are 

 alike, except in size, the male being much the larger ; the upper 

 parts are ashy, with dark spots, and the under parts white, 

 except on the neck and breast, which are streaked. The upper 

 parts of the young are variegated with black, brown, and buff, 

 and the breast is dull buff, but the same neatness of pattern 

 shows on the back. The white tips of the secondaries form a 

 narrow wing bar. The bill is not always straight ; I have 

 twice seen it almost as much curved as that of the Curlew 

 Sandpiper; this was especially noticeable in a bird which 



