AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 81 



1"2 in." As soon as the young birds are strong on 

 the wing they wander in search of food to a con- 

 siderable distance, but, as I have been assured, 

 generally return with more or less regularity for 

 several weeks to the marsh in which they were 

 reared ; about the end of September or before that 

 time, they assemble in flocks on the sea-coast, and 

 the great majority shortly depart on thejr southward 

 migration. A good many of this species still breed 

 in the marshes of the Netherlands, from which 

 country considerable numbers were formerly sent 

 alive in April to the London markets, and becoming 

 fat in a very short time on bread and milk and boiled 

 grain, found a ready sale at a good price ; these birds, 

 as far as my experience goes, were mostly males ; in 

 fact, although I have occasionally bought a few 

 Reeves alive in the London markets, I should say 

 that the proportion of females to the males thus sent 

 to this country did not average more than one in ten ; 

 this is, no doubt, to be accounted for by the fact that 

 the Ruff was not only more easy to catch than the 

 Reeve, but in his natural condition, or fattened for 

 the table, would average from three to five ounces 

 heavier than his mate. The curious ruff or tippet of 

 long feathers, from which our bird takes its common 

 English name, begins to appear in March, and has 

 generally entirely disappeared before the middle of 

 July ; it varies so much in different individuals that, 

 as has been frequently stated, hardly two are to be 

 found exactly alike. This species, according to 

 Yarrell, has a wide range in the Old World, extending 

 from Scandinavia and Siberia to Ceylon and the Cape 

 of Good Hope ; it has also, on the same authority, 

 been occasionally found in the Lhiited States and 



VOL. II. G 



