82 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



once recorded from South America. My personal 

 acquaintance with the Ruff is confined, with a few 

 British exceptions, to Southern Europe ; in Andalucia 

 it occurs in March in small flocks in the great 

 marshes of the Guadalquivir, and is met with in 

 these localities also on the return passage in August 

 and September ; I found some Ruffs in early spring 

 at a swampy spot near Algiers, near Tunis also, in 

 November; it occurs commonly on the double passage 

 on the coasts of the Ionian Islands and the adjacent 

 mainland, and I have several specimens from Cyprus. 

 In my experience these birds, unless they are keeping 

 company with some more wary species, are by no 

 means difficult of approach; they are very inquisitive, 

 and will sometimes hover over a dog, or fly round 

 any unusually bright-coloured object such as a red or 

 yellow handkerchief fluttering flagwise in the wind. 

 In the spring, even long before the assumption of the 

 protective shield of feathers, the males seem to be 

 always ready for a fight amongst themselves, or with 

 an intruder of some other species ; but from my 

 observations of Ruffs in captivity, even in the height 

 of the amorous season and in presence of the Reeves, 

 these hostilities seldom, if ever, have any serious 

 consequences. I have kept many of both sexes in 

 the aviaries at Lilford ; in the case of three pairs 

 sent thither from London during my absence from 

 home in the spring of 1888, the man in charge of 

 my collection assured me that although the birds had 

 plenty of room, the Ruffs would not allow their ladies 

 to feed at all, and drove them about to such an 

 extent, that he was obliged to put them into a 

 separate compartment of the aviary. When we re- 

 turned to Lilford early in June, I found the three 



