123 



her former tactics, crept off crouching close to the ground till she 

 was some 20yds. distant, and then walked away, seemingly 

 unconcerned, in the bunches of long, coarse herbage. I watched 

 her dodging in and out among this for a little while, till she 

 finally disappeared. The ruff, when courting, lowered his wings 

 like a blackcock, and strutted round the females, now and then 

 rising and flying in a circle. He spread his ruff, and repeated 

 these antics for fully twenty minutes. No. 2 reeve's nest is as 

 yet undiscovered. 



May 20th. — Went to the marshes with M. We saw the ruff 

 near the nest, where the eggs were partly hatched ; but some 

 unfortunate accident had befallen them, as they were broken, the 

 chicks dead, and the nest deserted. The ruff rose, and in flying 

 away hovered suspiciously over a certain patch of grass, whence 

 one of the reeves flew up, and on going to the spot M. found the 

 second reeve's nest with three eggs, similar to those first described 

 in ground colour, though not so heavily marked, and of rather 

 smaller dimensions. We saw both the reeves, and No. 2 flew 

 over our heads, calling out in a low tone, not unlike a godwit's, 

 but more feeble. While we were watching the birds, some cattle 

 that were pastured on the marshes approached the place, and, one 

 of them coming in the direction of the nest, alarmed its owner, 

 which flew at the beast's head in an excited manner that had the 

 effect of turning it, otherwise the eggs would probably have been 

 trodden upon. 



May 29th. — On the marshes, I saw all three birds. No. 1 

 reeve was evidently nesting again ; she flew round me for a long 

 time, then settled on a bare patch of ground, and fell on her 

 breast as though wounded, endeavouring to lure me from the 

 locality. M. joined me about 6 p.m., and we watched the ruff 

 and one reeve at quite close quarters. The ruff stood motionless, 

 looking at the reeve, which continually ran in and out of the 

 grass. No. 1 reeve had, doubtless, made another nest, and No. 2 

 was about to build again. We kept them under observation until 

 about eight o'clock, when they departed to a swampy part of the 

 ground to feed. 



June 10th. — I had been from home for ten days, and was 

 unable to visit the marshes until this date. C. had meanwhile 

 found No. 2 female's second nest near the place where the first 

 had been built, but, owing to the marsh being flooded by heavy 

 rains, it was deserted. I photographed the nest and eggs, which 

 C. then took. 



