586 RUFF. 



and Shetlands, but has only just been noticed in the Outer 

 Hebrides. In Ireland it is of uncommon occurrence — mostly in 

 autumn. 



As a straggler this species has been met with in the Faeroes and 

 Iceland, occasionally in Canada and some of the Eastern United 

 States, once in Barbadoes, and once on the Upper Orinoco in South 

 America. It breeds far north in Scandinavia and Russia, thence 

 southward, in Poland, Germany, Holland, Belgium and the north of 

 France, while on migration it is found over the rest of Europe ; its 

 winter-range commencing on the southern side of the Mediterranean, 

 touching Madeira, and extending down both sides of Africa lo 

 Cape Colony. In Asiatic Siberia the Ruff nests up to 75° N. lat., 

 while during the cold season it visits Japan, Burma, India and 

 Turkestan, at times wandering to Borneo. 



Ruffs are polygamous, and in spring they /////, that is, they assemble 

 upon knolls of ground, where, erecting ihe long feathers, from which 

 their name is derived, they spar — bill to bill — ostentatiously, but 

 with little damage to themselves, for the females. The latter make 

 their nests about the middle of May in tussocks of grass on the 

 driest part of wet swamps ; the eggs, 4 in number, are greyish-green, 

 blotched and spotted with reddish-brown : average measurements 

 I "8 by I '2 in. The males keep apart and appear to take no share 

 in rearing the )0ung, which are somewhat less able to take care of 

 themselves than are the nestlings of most waders ; but in autumn 

 flocks are formed, sometimes of very large numbers. The food 

 consists largely of insects and their lar\ffi, worms &c., but seeds of 

 aquatic plants, rice and other vegetable substances are freely eaten, 

 while in confinement the birds used to be fattened on boiled wheat 

 or bread-and-milk. The note is a low kack, kick, kack. 



In spring the males shed the feathers of the face, caruncles 

 taking their place, curled tufts of feathers appear on the sides of 

 the head, and a shield-like erectile ruff is developed by the beginning 

 of May, lasting through June. Every variety of purplish-black, 

 chestnut, grey and white is shown on this ruff and also on the 

 feathers of the back, each bird annually regaining the same colour. 

 Length about 12 in., wing 7*25 in. ; ordinary weight 6 ozs., but of a 

 fatted bird 10 ozs. After the moult the male resembles the female 

 (in the foreground) in plumage, though he is about one-third larger ; 

 the neck and upper breast are buff, lower breast and belly dull 

 white ; primaries dusky-brown, feathers of the back dark brown 

 with buff margins ; the latter being especially conspicuous in young 

 birds. Length of the female 10 in., wing 6 in. 



i 



